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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Role reversal

What happens when one reverses the role of the intention?
When a lens that was meant to "show" images suddenly "captures" them?
That is what actually happens when I use a projector lens mounted on a camera, the role is reverses.


refitted projector lens Meyer-Optik Diaplan 100mm f2.8  1/30sec

Technically speaking a lens from a projector lens is designed and optimized to show images there were once created with a different lens.
A projection lens, apart from being often not corrected for optical "faults", lacks mechanisms that most camera lenses have: a focusing helicoid and an aperture control diaphragm. They are really just a tube with several lenses arranged to project an image on the wall or screen.


refitted slides projection lens Will-Wetzlar Maginon 85mm f2.8    1/2000sec

So why would I want to cripple myself trying to capture images with a tool that clearly is "inferior"?
There is no clear answer and most likely not one that most people accept: because images photographed with projection lenses for me are more capable to deliver the concept of fantasy rather than reality.


refitted projector lens Meyer-Optik Diaplan 100mm f2.8   1/2500sec

Since trying to faithfully represent real life in a 2 dimensional format is a futile exercise that is simply limited by conventional constraints (perceived accepted unspoken rules) I much more prefer to explore the emotions that an image can create. Projection lenses enable me to create an in-camera look that modern lenses designed for digital imagery often can not.
While I am not interested in manipulating excessively a concept in post production, by compositing and editing conventional photographs, I allow myself to exploit the design faults of old simple optics to convey a sense of supernatural in my images.

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The judgement

"Yes, but that is Photoshopped..."  with a consternated tone of voice.


refitted projection lens Will-Wetzlar Maginon 85mm f2.8   1/125sec

So, if those images were created in camera, would it have more value?
If one works magic with in-camera settings, plays with lenses that are unusual, uses unconventional angles and cleverly crops an image, is then held in higher esteem?

I have that discussion often when on topic of editing: some are up in arms that images are manipulated but perfectly accept black and white ones :-)
To me however sounds like ignorance and laziness; somebody's defense for unskilled results.

*PS for the record, above image was created in camera....

We are all photographers

We are all photographers. Some like to record the world in front of their eyes, others create art from reality.


refitted projection lens Meyer-Optik Diaplan 100mm f2.8  1/400sec

Pretty much we are all photographers, from the simple tiny mobile phones to the invested amateurs with hefty monsters around the neck. The difference lays in what we want: a record of an event or place to share socially (or file for posterity), or is it an outlet to express our creativity?
This goal alone will define us as we pursue our passion.

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Dragons at sunset

The Westerly wind blew in kitesurfers to my beach.
Like dragons with colorful wings they scooted along the shore occasionally taking flight.


refittted Russian projection lens Triplet 78mm f2.8  1/1250sec


refittted Russian projection lens Triplet 78mm f2.8  1/3200sec



Cintagon 100mm f3.5  1/60sec


There was an angel among them and at the end of the day she carried her wings when the wind dropped.


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/60sec


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Same place: 3 different moods

I was hoping for a fiery sunset that evening.
All week long the sky has been turning spectacular with powerful red skies; but I was stuck in the city.
Now it was Saturday and I headed to the beach: it was going to be low tide at sunset.
But one thing it's sure with outdoor photography: I can't control the light.
What I thought was going to happen didn't: there was no fiery sky, no dramatic clouds.
The sun lowered to the horizon and then it met low dark clouds. The light went from soft warm to steel cold and flat.

I had a few vintage lenses with me, none of them really designed for my camera. One was a slide projection lens from a Kodak Carousel that I mounted on some macro bellows to be able to focus and certainly the hardest lens to use. Very low contrast, not very sharp and rendering highlights with a glow.


Kodak Ektanar C 102mm f2.8 slide projector lens  1/4000sec

As the light quickly changed I suddenly was faced with a very blue light that robbed all the typical colors of a beach at sunset. What it gave me instead is the opportunity to create a different look, of a more somber and pensive style.


adapter lens from miniature SLR system Pentax-110: 70mm f2.8 (fixed aperture)  1/640sec

Eventually the light faded away and just as I was heading back I notice the mangrove tree silhouetted against the sky.


adapter lens from miniature SLR system Pentax-110: 18mm f2.8 (fixed aperture)  1/200sec


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Lost lives

I don't like war memorials as they only remind me of the lives that were lost fighting for a cause that was never truly disclosed.
Visiting one just recently I was confirmed of the absurdity.


Adapted 16mm film projection lens Bell&Howell 2" f1.6   1/640sec




Adapted reverse optics from a vintage Canon 110ED: 26mm f2.0   1/160sec

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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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