Charles, I really like the number 2 of your first set, gorgeous color. Both Noct portraits are nice and like you said, its rendering like 75lux's brother from those shots. DOF transition are very special.
Ron, As always, I like your city series. I get some inspiration from your shots and took some shots in San Jose yesterday. I will post them later.
Ryan, Those shots from beach are some best of your works. you not only capture good color with good using of DOF, you capture the mood, which is really make those pictures stand out. If last one from 75lux, the lens should be in your bag
Here are two pictures from 50 rigid.
Hey, now I got my poor man’s M9 backup, I no longer need change lens in filed.
I recently bought a M3 after some research cause 50mm is my favorite focal length. I got it on Monday. (I am really a victim of GAS.) I want to get a feeling of Film. I haven't touched it for almost 15 years. No, this doesn’t hint I know anything about film before other than some P&S camera with maybe twice a year usage in college.
The seller is kind enough give me some films for trying. My first roll is Kodak Ektar100, I took the whole roll in my backyard with my family after work. Later on, I know that this film is not suit for portrait/people shot, so the skin tone are on the hot side, especially in golden hour. But, but, this thing is really pushing my interesting in Photography into another level. It is not about how real it is, but how the outputs are different from Digital.
Below are some shots from that roll, I develop the whole roll from my local lab. Those are from 3M low resolution scan with 1800X1200, (I am sure they will be a lot better if I have high resolution scan).
I slightly touch up with contrast, curve, saturation and sharpness in LR.
Charles - looks really nice! I'm interested in what you do with this lens. Will you take it on your Thailand trips, etc.? Having recently tried a couple 1950s era LTM lenses, both had long focus throws which I really appreciated for focusing ease. Not necessarily fast focusing, but it was a lot more reassuring how easy it was to align the rangefinder.
Ryan, again, great colors and feel in those images - where was it?
Michael, very moody feel to the power line images. Love the film images! TBH, I think you could have done that with the M9. Where I think the film mystique comes into play is in regards to predictability and anticipation. There is no instant review of the shot you just made, so you have to wait until it's back from the lab. And the look is very much a characteristic of the process, or processing, dependent on the film characteristics, the lab's chemistry, the lab operator's printing preferences, etc.. In other words, there are more variables in the stages between capture and final image, many of which are outside the photographer's control.
In terms of film to try - I think Kodak Portra would be a good one. Maybe some Kodak BW400CN if you want B&W but can have processed at a one hour lab...
I look forward to your San Jose images!
Here are the last few odds and ends from the photo walk with Andrew:
Ryan, great colour palette and toning. Very nice set!! Love the dreamlike effect with the 75 Lux
Michael, congrats on the M3 Nice powerful feel to the power lines, and love the film shots! I really like the tonality and your interpretation of your shots! Yes I agree, the fascination in photography, is not always the sharpness and colour correctness, but how we wish to express the images we perceive. This is so evident in the excellent thread with Philippe and Boris
Ron, excellent set! I really like the effect and play of shadows in this set. This a great attribute in your shots, on how you use shadows, and the play of light.
The 50 Nocti f/1.0, will be part of the standard set of lenses on my trips. Great for low light shots and portraits. One of strengths is not always at f 1.0, but at higher f stops, f 1.4 to f 4.0. giving a very unique look different from the 50 Lux
The rest of my shots from Bali are here in these links
Charles, I enjoyed the links. The one of the woman on the street in Ubud with the red basket on her head made me chuckle a bit. Looks like she's not so impressed with having her photo taken. How safe are the monkeys? Looks like they get pretty close... The one resting on the step calls for a close-in portrait, but I'd be worried about it jumping me at that distance.
Thanks for the reply Charles - very moody look from the beach. Weather here has been nice, though a bit cool. Here's one with the 28 Cron from a couple days ago:
Charles, looks like pretty good subject separation in the one of the surfers. Some purple fringing around the traffic signals, but it doesn't come as a surprise with such a fast lens.
Luka, great set and really love the first one - the green organic shape contrasts nicely again the linear background, yet echoes the texture of the concrete in the weave of the material...
BTW, here is my pipes contribution from the same day as the previous image I posted:
While this one doesn't fit to the theme of the previous three, I can't resist posting it as well. Just love the cloud and the overall feel. It's also a significant building here in Hamilton - long abandoned and a symbol of the city's decaying downtown, it was recently completely renovated.
Luka, Vovkinson and Ron, thanks guys
Vovkinson, focusing is just like with normal lenses. The focusing is very accurate and well calibrated, marginally slower, but once the subject aligns which is easy to adjust with the long throw, I take the shot. There is more margin for error at MFD, wide open for portraits, trying to catch the near eye with any slight body movement.
Luka, excellent set!!! Favourite is #1 too, and love the graphic composition of #3. Yes, you picked it, finally have the 50 Noctilux f 1.0 IV. Of course, I could not justify the latest 0.95, but having a mint version, I really like the Mandler style rendering of this lens, and at the right price of course
Ron, great set of compositions! Favourite is #1! I really like #2 the colour palatte and lighting. You are right, at f 1.0 on the Noctilux, there is CA, with strong backlighting. This disappears quickly as you stop down. For most applications, at f1.0, there would be no strong back lighting. Normally I would use about f 2.0 - 4 during the day. For portraits, there is a very nice transition at f 1.0, so long as focus is nailed with the very narrow DOF, very similar to the 75 Lux. I only issue I do have is that the MFD is 1.0m, as compared to the 75 Lux which is 0.7m which is somewhat more limiting in getting the right FOV. A lot of the shots for portraits I have seen, are shot at f 4.0 during the day, and have a very different look to the 50 Lux at similar f stops.
Ron,
excellent set, you have me thinking about the 5cm! #7 is awesome, what a great shot! The 21lux is superb! I am super busy for the next 11days, then I will call and set up a meet if thats ok. love the bokeh in #9
Thank Ron! I have downloaded LR 4.1 RC2 update, as with LR 4.0 there only a check box for now! LR 4.1 RC2, is interesting. So far it is easy to use on the basic level and it seems to works very well !!!
Very nice samples particularly with 21 Lux. I really like the look of the 5cm too
that 21mm lux offers some pretty amazing possibilities, those wide open shots with it are wonderful.
I thought it would be pretty easy to tell the two apart. I like the Summarit because it's far from perfect wide open. It has busier bokeh, and the farther away the subject, the less sharp it will be wide open. For some things this is undesirable, but IMO, for a walk in the woods, it adds a quality to the images that the 'perfect' rendering of the 50 Lux does not. At minimum focusing distance, and depending on the background, the Summarit can be quite similar to the 50 Lux ASPH, though anything with a distant background will have a busier rendering. And I finally tried a few shots with it stopped down, and certainly by f/5.6 it's pretty difficult to tell it's a 1950s era lens. As I mentioned before, it flares very easily. The last backlit shots I had to shade with my hand, but it was also the same with the 50 Lux, which also flared badly with direct sun, though not as low contrast as the Summarit. And while it's low contrast wide open, still has very nice color rendering.
I'm also enjoying the 21 Lux wide open. I didn't think I would use it wide open for this type of scenic photography as I have, but it really adds another option. My preference with it is to shoot at f/1.4-2.0 or at f/8-11. It has a very nice quality wide open, but when stopped down a bit, the b-zone area is quirky and if the subject is placed in that area, may not look so great compared to the center. By f/8 it's fine, though the lens has strong wavy distortion compared to my ZM21 f/2.8 and a ton of CA (which cleans up pretty well). I think the biggest drawback of it is the 70cm minimum focusing distance. If it could focus closer, the subject isolation at f/1.4 would be even better. At 70cm you still get quite a lot in the image.
Some more from the Summarit wide open:
21 Lux wide open and at minimum focusing distance... I'd guess the diameter of the log behind the skunk cabbage was about 18", so you're never going to do much close up work with this lens, unless on a NEX with Hawk's adapter...
Ron, love the dreamlike quality of the Summarit! Even stopped down, the Summarit has a special qualities IMO. And the 21 Lux is one amazing lens, those shots really stand out!
Charles, very nice set from Spingbrook. The dreamy rendering of the Noctilux does works well - particluarly in the last shot.
Ron, cool shots with the Summarit. It does produce bokeh on the lively side, but not unpleasant. Very interesting comparison shots with the 50 Lux as well!
Funny (or sad perhaps) story - I was looking at the new green leaves on a tree with a degree of disaproval thinking "poor color separation, that doesn't look realistic at all". It took me a few seconds before I realized what I was doing - that I was criticizing reality for having a poor rendering style
Ron, thanks for the film info. I bought one roll of pro160H and one roll of Portal 160 to see how they are compare. Certainly, I will slow down a little bit instead of 20 mins shoot whole roll in my backyard, the M9 way.
As for M3, it is kind of extension of my addiction into M system, I start use manual exposure more and more with M9. It is a difficult path, but I am not planning use it as often as I do with the M9. And only use those for mostly family picture which I think it is a very proper tool for permanent record something in my memory. I also plan try some BW film to get some experience of those ‘famous’ films just for my curiosity. With more experience and better scan, I will decide how serious I will be into film.
Charles, I agree fully about fascination in photography, thanks for the encouragement.
Kelly, nice set.
Ron, Thanks for the LR4 update link, I will try it later.
Those are very interesting comparisons with some nice images. The 5cm’s bokeh is very interesting, and I can see the tunnel effect. I guess that what they call ‘Leica Glow’. It would be an interesting portrait lens by put people in center of the frame. Again, 28mm seems consistence deliver nice color and rendering image. Your 21 leaf shots are just beautiful.
Charles, I like the two people walk along the beach shot and the first one from Springbrook, Canyon Valley. How do you like Noct 50 compare to 50lux?
Luka, I like the texture of first and simplicity of last one from your first set and last green shot of 2nd set. 28cron? not again.
