It was a beautiful day today and the flowers are starting to bloom. I wanted to continue testing my new macro lens so I though that it would be interesting to try it with a film body. I used Kodak color 200 film and the PZ1-p. I then scanned the negatives with the Epson V700 at 3200 dpi. While it was interesting to do this I certainly missed the immediate feedback that you derive from using a digital camera and trying to squint through a viewfinder at odd angles is not as easy as using live view for composition. After all that though I am pleased with the results and can’t wait to shoot some more with this wonderful lens.
Well I thought I would be able to predict where this camera focused but apparently not. It’s a little too random for my liking, however as far as massively out of focus pictures go I like this one. Ohhh look at the pretty colours, aren’t they pretty.
With the limited time I’ve had to spend with this lens so far I have been very impressed. Although I want to take more pictures before coming to any conclusions, if the build quality is any indication of the optical performance, I will not be disappointed. The images I am including were all converted to jpegs using the K-7’s built in image processing however I re-sized them in Lightroom.
I thought it would be fun to expose a roll of film through my x-700 which I bought new as a teenager. I shot with colour film and converted to black and white using Lightroom which is just as real as a BW created by a digital camera. I may post the images that I left as colour separately.
Not too long ago I posted about being productive, now I have followed that up with a lull in output. I have been occupied with several thing including taking photo’s of dancers. Rather than continuing to make excuses here is an example.
Just a quick snap shot with my Sony DSC-V3 processed in Lightroom to create a split toned effect. It allows me to have my visual cake and eat it too. What I mean is that it indulges my desire to have some colour, yet is more like a BW print with heightened contrast. And it’s easy to bake too.
The Ql17 has a measure of cult status in the fixed lens rangefinder record. It’s f1.7 40mm lens is fast and the ability to set both shutter and aperture manually make it a very versatile camera. The shutter is extremely quite and it doesn’t have a pesky LCD screen on the back. I shot these pictures during a walk around the older part of downtown Abbotsford. I used Kodak 200 film and scanned them in after having them developed. The BW images are converted in lightroom where I now do most of my image processing.
One aspect of photography is nostalgia for the past. We capture a moment so that it is preserved for the future and we manipulate the present to re-capture the past. A contact sheet is an instance of what was once important but no longer has the same relevance. I can quickly sort through thousands of digital photo’s nearly at a glance. In a moment of sentimentality I created a pseudo contact sheet with my scanner. While no longer a viable tool when compared to image database software it is useful when paired with it’s negative.
The Lubitel 2 is an interesting camera, it certainly makes you think about composing your pictures. Primarily because you can’t. It without a doubt has the worst viewfinder I have ever encountered. Others have described it as tunnel vision, I would describe it as frustrating. It’s one thing to have everything reversed as with all TLR cameras but moving the camera can also make the image disappear entirely if you aren’t absolutely directly aligned. There are two focus aids though. One is that the finder can be configured as an eye level frame as seen in the picture of the camera and the other is the small magnifying element that can be flipped out to assist in focusing. While I’m on the subject of focusing, it also is unique. The image is not actually formed on a ground glass but is seen directly from a lens element that has a darkened spot in the center. It is very difficult to focus and requires the use of this magnifying loupe to ensure accuracy.
