Modern lens with an "old school" look

 In my search for a lens that would perform well (read sharp) wide open on distant subjects, as well as close-ups, I stumbled across a Chinese made lens touted to be usable even wide open, at a blistering aperture of f1.2. 

This manual-focus only lens, Pergear 35mm f1.2, is rather new and there were only a few sample images that I could find online. The samples  were promising and since the lens was inexpensive I had to try it. 

Now, I can get a native lens from Olympus is a similar focal length that is also super bright but it's way heavier, bulkier and needless to say way more expensive. 

The bokeh of this Chinese lens reminds me of some Russian vintage glass, where the out of focus areas are rendered with a "swirly" effect. That particular trait and the inability of holding back flare when direct light falls onto the front of the lens are the things I was looking for in this lens, that I often use for "dreamy" concepts when creating a non-clinical image.

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me, hipster?

It was his expression while looking intently at me that made me think: is he the original hipster that started the trend?


adapted Kodak Cine 102mm f2.7


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More Russian love

I had no idea that the cumbersome Russian would deliver so much love.
At first I had my doubts I would be able to handle such a big thing and appeared rather difficult to get along with.
Then I worked out where she shines best and how to focus on her strengths; if I am careful and don't push her too hard she does reward me.


refitted Russian projector lens 35KP-1,8/120  1/3200sec

The images I can create with that big lens, that never was intended to make but rather show (it's a projection lens after all), are unique.
The blend of relative sharpness and the quirky bokeh for the background really help to isolate subjects where I want to tell a story, instead of just mere recording a place or event.


refitted Russian projector lens 35KP-1,8/120   1/10000sec

refitted Russian projector lens 35KP-1,8/120  1/1250sec

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Texture and patterns in the bokeh

I am drawn to the abstract pattern that a lens can create when the the whole subject can not be in focus resulting in some areas of the image blurred.
Much can be said about bokeh and it's rather impossible to be fully quantified or describe it but most purist cherish the "smooth" out-of-focus backgrounds.
I, on the contrary, prefer to find lenses that offer "texture" in the blurred areas of my images.


refitted projector lens 35-KP 1,8/120   1/640sec

I do understand that such traits in these lenses are not so well suited for subjects where the attention should remain in the in-focus areas but a lot of my photographs are often of close-up and semi-abstract subjects where a "busy" bokeh might be the crucial component of an image


adapted Pentacon 50mm f1.8  1/1600sec

Initially my visual adventures were concentrated on "bubbles" in the bokeh; now I am pursuing the textured, busy and "weird" bokeh.
Some lenses are specifically sought after for those incredible traits and unfortunately my favorite looks are out of my price range (like the Dallmeyer Super-Six 102mm f1.9 lens)

Slowly I am starting to understand which subjects, what patterns and what light will be a suitable theme for my experiments. Repetition of small objects and lines, combined with the correct subject/background ration and lens will reveal surreal images.
And it's a look that the mighty iPhone has not conquered yet :-)


adapted Kodak Cine 63mm f2.7  1/50sec



refitted Helios-89 30mm f1.9 (from FED Mikron)  1/4000sec



refitted Russian projector lens 35KP-1,8/120  1/800sec


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The foreground bokeh

In an image, bokeh quality is more important to me than sharpness.
While most of the photographic world seems to be stuck on one single way to measure I.Q. (Image Quality) by carefully analyzing resolution of a lens, I go beyond the simple charts and brick walls test-shots.
I look for how a lens renders the areas that are out of focus.


adapted Kodak Telephoto 152mm f4.5   1/125sec

There were a few lenses that reportedly sounded absolute stunners and I was interested in them. Through sample images I found however that they displayed horribly looking (to my eyes) out of focus areas. The whole image was kind of ruined for me: my eyes were drawn away from the main subject that was in focus, there was a certain "nervous" look to the background, the bokeh was not pleasant.
I never got those lenses despite being very sharp...

From the creative point of view a lens must have a certain look, character if you want, for the areas that happened to be not in focus. I often specifically look for subjects where the areas of blurred background will add so much interest to the image to sometimes become the main point of interest.


adapted Meyer-Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9  1/400sec

In my quest for creating images that are more fantasy than reality I am constantly experimenting with new optics, mostly of them are old and obscure, some never intended to used on a camera
The focus has now shifted to create images with a dual field bokeh, where the intention is to look for subjects that have a busy depth of field, often natural elements.
On my photowalks I look for vegetation that is veiling a subject that is interesting to me and then I try to photograph it. By carefully focusing and shifting my point of view I search for the angle and composition that will create that dreamy surreal look.


refitted projection lens Will-Wetzlar Maginon 85mm f2.8    1/250sec




refitted projection lens Will-Wetzlar Maginon 85mm f2.8    1/6400sec


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Going deeper into the weird

Further and further I slip away from the norm, from what most want.
I find the pursuit of perfection futile and senseless if only applied to one parameter: sharpness.
I find less focus in images that are regarded as technically sharp but lack direction and emphasis on the subject that matters.


adapted Kodak Anstigmat 63mm f2.7  1/640sec

Lately I have been exploring the style applied to impressionist paintings: dots and brush strokes that form an image but are not intended to document a scene but rather give a feel for the moment.


refitted Helios-89  30mm f1.9  1/800sec

Purist photographers are applauded by such "low standard" style and a few years ago I would have been too...
Oh, how things change :-)


adapted Jupiter-11 135mm f4  1/250sec



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Photography and phone-photography

I had a little discussion with an enthusiast on how the public perceives that mobile phones have killed digital cameras.
Then the discussion turned to what is photography...
I wrote:
Once a person acquires a phone with a camera (pretty much any current offering) he/she becomes a photographer. I don't know anybody that has not taken an image on their phone, or others', myself included (I regard phones as phones, not as cameras!).
Then comes the difference: are we just happy recording and sharing or are we driven by the desire to create unique art, with little to no intention to record an event/place for memory/history sake?
I think the latter might be better served by a tool that is dedicated to create images versus a multitasking tool that acts primarily as a mobile phone and happens to have a lens in-built too. While incredible (yes, I use the right word: hard to believe) work has been created on the iPhone (great marketing from them) I just can't bring myself to get in the frame of mind to create something photographically that doesn't make me wish I had a better tool.
Documenting is no longer my priority...


adapted Helios 44-7 58mm f2  1/1600sec

Semantically anybody that makes images is a photographer but I distinguish between mere recording and consciously be driven by the passion to create an image. Occasionally I am just recording but it doesn't feel right; I am more in tune with myself when I "create".
Any camera however is just a tool, although the line blurs sometimes when I hear people defending their choices like it's religion ;-)
So, if it's a tool, I view the phone as a multi-tool affair with screwdriver, pliers, wrench cutting blade and god-knows-what else in one place. A dedicated camera (ideally with interchangeable lenses) is to me a finely tuned job-specific tool.
I know which one I prefer if I want to find pleasure and satisfaction in doing the task hoping for a decent result.

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Image softness storytelling

Following my thoughts on image storytelling (in this post) I now can reason why I like this image I captured the other day.
Would the photograph "tell the story" in the same way if the image would be pin sharp?
I don't believe so...


adapted X-Fujinon 50mm f1.6   1/8000sec

This image is a combination of slight miss-focus with a lens that is not that sharp to start with.
As I used an adapted old SLR manual-focus lens wide-open the view appeared slightly blurry and glowy. That lens renders a sharper image and much better contrast when I close its aperture a bit; but in doing that I would have lost the vintage appeal and separation of the main subject against the background.

Would I have been using instead my superbly sharp (comparable angle of view) modern lens done a better job?
Maybe.
If the viewer is bent on sharpness and precision, recording an event and place with minute details, then yes, by a long margin.
But if the viewer can create in his/her mind a story around that image then I am afraid to say that the super sharp lens would probably not help to create that look of nostalgia.
And that is why I burden myself with the awkward old glass from film days, where I can create "the feel" that my modern lenses can not.

Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm

In my discovery of adapting old manual-focus lenses I have come across the wonderful old ones intended for 16mm cinema cameras of the 40's and 50's: specifically the Kodak Ektar and Anastigmat.
It is possible to use them on smaller sensor digital cameras that have a flange distance so much closer than a typical DSLR. Micro 4/3 cameras are ideally suited for these old beauties.
The images that one can produce with them are truly unique, where the edges of the frame start to darken and the background that is not in focus begins to swirl.
Among them I found the Anastigmat 63mm f2.7; a rather long focal length with a unique capability to extend the focusing for close-up subjects.



I have tried several times to use modern lenses for details photography and none offer me the ease of use and the instant feedback as much as manual lenses. But the way the out-of-focus background (bokeh) is rendered by the Anastigmat is superb, in my eyes.



Prone to flare, the lens can be used creatively to achieve dreamy soft images, something I can not reproduce with any "app" or post production work. The lens is however hard to use, with its small focus ring and stiff actuation. Not best suited for fast moving subjects.


When I want to create a photograph with precise level of blurriness and depth, a touch of vignette or a unique soft bubbly look, I generally reach for the Kodak Anastigmat 63mm f2.7.
And now Petra has discovered the same: it was "love at first click"


taken with adapted C-mount Cosmicar 50mm f1.4

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Re-porpoused cine lenses

My modern native auto-focus lenses are safely tucked away in my "special case" while my vintage adapted glass is constantly fiddled with and taken out for image gathering. I manly consider using the modern marvel on my extended trips to foreign places where I concentrate on recording more than creating images. At home I always grab my vintage lenses and recently discovered two gems from the 50's: lenses from Kodak intended for Cine 16mm film cameras.

I love the look that the Ektar 25mm has given me so far and wanted to try the longer focal lengths: the 63mm, and by chance I also discovered the 102mm
The image circle on those lenses was not intended to cover a sensor as large as the Micro 4/3 and the distortions are way more noticeable on the edges then they ever were on the smaller format of the film. And that is exactly what I am looking for: distortion and quirkiness that my Olympus M.Zuiko lenses can't give me.


Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/500sec

The edges are often darker (vignette) and the bokeh can have a hint of swirl; all traits that I desire for moody and unusual look that I want to create in my images with feel.
I have shifted from methodical and accurate recording of buildings (my previous professional work) to a more arty direction in my images. The real goal for me is to evoke or depict emotions, through images. Even with static natural subjects I seek to capture a sense of nostalgia, dream or fantasy. Blurry and funky bokeh is all part of the composition where a sharp edge-to-edge image might not convey that feeling.


Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/800sec

And then there is the part of manual focusing a lens that is a bit hard to handle, with small focus rings and tiny grip for the aperture control. Frustrating and fist and leading to missed opportunities but great for building skills and prediction of events.


Kodak Cine Ektanon 102mm f2.7  1/500sec

I notice that I am willing to observe a scene for much longer and pre-focus on the area where the subject might appear instead of just lift my camera, point and shoot leaving the focusing to the microchip evaluation. The results are often different; images taken while manual focusing tend to show, how to say it, more passion?

 
Kodak Cine Ektanon 102mm f2.7   1/400sec


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Analysis and synthesis

Does great Image Quality of a lens lead to brilliant images?
It depends.
Depends on your interpretation of a great image and Image Quality.

I feel that the definition of Image Quality for a photographic lens is too often a misnomer to describe sharpness as to me IQ is a complex blend of optical properties that create photographs.
But can all the pixel peeping and perusal of resolution charts for the sharpest lens lead to captivating images?
I doubt it.


image by Pete Ware , used with permission

If a photographer heavily concentrates on analysis too often gets lost with synthesis.
The individual that highly values the ultimate resolution in a lens, the highest pixel count on a sensor, the widest dynamic range in a camera, frequently fails to see the forest for the trees.

I see technically perfect images, probably taken on tripods with the largest camera possible that don't deliver emotions. And if a photograph does not stir me inside then it is just an attempt to record reality, sterile and soulless. While it might be useful for analyzing a place or event, possibly for record keeping, it lacks vision.

The deeper I venture into the art of photography the less I obsess over the sharpest results in my photographs and rather concentrate on the passion behind the click. I forego technical perfection while chasing the aesthetic beauty of a scene, and if the image I create does not evoke any feelings then I have failed in my synthesis.


image by Mattias Kühmayer, used with permission

Thank you to Pete and Matthias for being inspirational and showing me that lens IQ is overrated :-)
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Where is my master?

An opportunity to try my sudden acquisition of a really weird vintage lens.
This dog was a bit distressed waiting for his owner when  a friend (I assume) came to console him.


Kodak Cine Ektanon 102mm f2.7    1/250sec

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About the house

I am still not sure if this has more to do with my previous post or actually has substance, but I just can't help myself experimenting with unusual views of everyday objects.


adapted projection lens Cabin 75mm f2.5



adapted composite lens: optical block from a compact Canon 38mm f2.8 inside the body of an Industar 50-2



adapted lens: optical block from a point-and-shoot Canon 110ED

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Back-lit plants

More and more I dwell on the shapes and highlights that plants produce when viewed back-lit.
I used exclusively Pentax-110 lenses adapted from a miniature SLR system of the 70's to produce this set.


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/3200sec


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/25sec + adapter with 2-blade aperture control


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/320sec


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/2500 + adapter with 2-blade aperture control

At the same time I had with me a native auto-focus lens for my camera but I failed to produce any images that I liked.
For static subjects, where the bokeh is important to me, the modern lenses just can't give me what I look for. With a modern lens, as I compose my image I never really know what it will look like until the image is taken as the camera will close down the aperture of the lens only then and not show it while I compose. I find that for critical work that is not how I want to take my  photographs.
Manual focus and manual aperture glass on the other hand shows me that very instant I touch the lens how the final image will look like, no guessing or chimping after the shutter was released to see if I "got it".

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Swirly bokeh for portrait

Isolating my subjects from a distracting background has been a quest of mine for some time.
In the past I have mainly used longer lenses or wider apertures to create a bokeh that serves as backdrop, while still trying to give context of the location.
Lately I have been exploring the virtues and faults of lenses that were never intended for my camera, let alone a digital sensor and even less size of format (originally film).
I have been playing with lenses that were designed for 16mm film (much smaller than the sensor in my cameras).


Bell&Howell 16mm film projection lens 2" f1.6 (fixed aperture) 1/250sec

As the image circle does not fully cover my larger medium the edges of the lens render with great distortion. Most photographers would never accept that, myself included, just a few years ago.
Sharpness was absolute priority, anything else had to come second.
Times have changed: I have grown my artistic sense and I am distancing further away from razor sharp modern glass that unfortunately often lacks of character. My auto-focus lenses are gathering dust...
I have shifted from my professional days of capturing a "true" representation of reality where everything must be sharp to something that, through de-focusing fields and adding possibly motion blur, leads to different results. I want my images to create an emotion rather then a recording of a place/event.
Some lenses create a peculiar background blur when the focused subject and background are at the right distance from each other and the lens is often used wide open.
I call it swirly bokeh.


Bell&Howell 16mm film projection lens 2" f1.6 (fixed aperture) 1/1000sec

As I view now photography more art than science I gravitate towards images of a different nature; extreme sharpness has taken a back stage spot.


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Forest speed drive

The peculiar feeling of driving a fast car on a narrow twisty forest road.


Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9 (16mm film cine lens)  @f1.9  1/30sec

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Sunday afternoon feeling

A cold beer on the deck watching the sunset is what I associate with the "Sunday afternoon feeling"


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/500sec

As a photographer nut, I repurposed a vintage lens case to serve as beer cooler :-)

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Measuring up

To a photographer friend of mine celebrating his 60th birthday I wrote:

"I am obsessively adapting old crappy glass to fit my Olympus cameras and my images are getting more and more fuzzy.
 But hey, ​I never saw more creativity in me than now, using crippled and technically imperfect lenses.  Something about mellowing out and looking deeper in me to reach a level of expression that I always regarded as girly?
Heck, getting old I no longer am concerned about measuring up with the crowd that likes to measure and I am letting loose of convention."

These days I am more concerned with quality images rather then image quality :-)
Fuzzy lenses and weird swirls, in the woods.


Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9  1/20sec



Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9  1/40sec



Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9  1/80sec


Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9    1/3200sec





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Bubbles in the forest

The sun was shining through a gap in the rainforest canopy lighting up the soft flowers.
An old Russian manual-focus lens helped create the bubbles.


Helios 44M-7  58mm f2  1/3200sec

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Fence post

I live in a city but I long for the country.
It is so difficult to find some open space with tall grass and an old fence.


Cintagon 35mm f4.5  1/500sec


Cintagon 35mm f4.5  1/320sec

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