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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Outback camping.

Long time sea kayaking buddy, companion of many expeditions, joined me on an overnight ride to the country. We picked the roads less traveled and in the late afternoon we ended up on dusty unsealed ones. We were looking for a secluded spot to camp for the night.


Canon TV-16 50mm f1.4



Vanilla sporting that kind of look that commands respect, the face of wisdom.     Canon TV-16 50mm f1.4


Towards sunset we found what we wanted: a seldom used rural track that was a wide corridor of trees and short grass, with the occasional tree-trunk to sit on.



We were travelling light with tarps instead of tents for shelter. There was a light breeze in the air but it calmed down once dark. No frost yet but it is just a matter of weeks before that will happen.
Clear skies and no light-pollution from the urban sprawl; there was a meteor shower although peaking too early in the morning for me to care waking up and getting a proper look.




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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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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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Park session

Only now that I am rediscovering the joy of manual focus lenses I started to seek locations where action is not the essence to create an image.


Russian lens, Jupiter-9 85mm f2  (@f5.6)  1/180sec

The hidden natural little gems of the numerous parks in my city allow me to explore the creativity and challenges that vintage manual focus lenses offer.
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First light in the grass

The night has left just a veil of dew that quickly evaporates at the touch of the first sunlight.


Lumix G 14mm  f13 1/30sec