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.

.

Story telling through an image

I like the concept of story-telling through a static single image.

While beautiful landscape photographs do capture my attention and I often admire the location and the capturing techniques, rarely are those images remembered.

And then there are moments that are captured where the photograph goes beyond the initial visual appeal: an image that tells a story.

Alone

Cosmicar 50mm f1.4  1/320sec

These images however have limited appeal because each viewer perceives them on a different level, depending on his/her personal life experiences and cultural background.
Images that evoke a certain emotion are very subjective as individuals draw on their emotional precedents (and image memory-bank) to be stirred by the two dimensional representation of a feeling that might have experienced in the past.
To reinforce one's perception the title usually gives away the photographer's intention.

PS. If all you see above is a poorly executed photograph of an old park bench and a blurry passerby in the background, then this concept might be lost on you...

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


.

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.


.

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

.

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





.

Swirly bubbly world

I am slowly discovering an new way to create dreamy images: from bubbly bokeh to swirly backgrounds.
Majority of vintage lenses, simple in optical design, are often technically riddled with faults, something that modern auto-focus lenses have overcome.
But it's those faults that I really seek to create photographs that offer a certain unusual visual appeal.













And the lens that creates this magic? a diminutive cine lens from 1955 : Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9

.