Shooting wide open...
...is not something that I usually do when shooting landscapes. Lately I've been experimenting with "vintage" lenses. These lenses were not designed on a computer and they do not enjoy the benefit of modern lens coatings. While most are coated, you will have flare and washed out contrast if you shoot directly into a light source.
What these lenses do seem to have, especially when shooting at their widest apertures, is a very unique and pleasing out of focus background. That is mainly what I was trying to achieve. This lens is almost 70 years old. My grandfather bough it with a Leica FIII when he visited Germany in 1951. Glad I can still use it. (the camera does not work anymore. )
Fuji XT-1
Ernst Leitz Wetzlar 50mm summitar f/2
Erich
some swirls in the background. Narrow dof is an issue
(
Download)
This is my favorite. Nice light on needles, swirly background. Wish that tree were not there.
(
Download)
when subject is almost at infinity, the background effect goes away even wide open.
(
Download)
kymarto
Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy
The Summitar has very characteristic bokeh of a double gauss lens design. I have one and like it a lot. Nice images!
kymarto wrote:
The Summitar has very characteristic bokeh of a double gauss lens design. I have one and like it a lot. Nice images!
When I was in high school, my father taught me how to shoot using that lens (which his father bought for him) mounted on a Leica FIII. In those days I was interested in shooting FI cars at places like Monza and the Nürburgring, so I really did not pay attention to oof backgrounds. Glad I still have the camera and the lens. Very glad that I'm finding a way (thank you adapters) to still use it. Thanks for taking a look.
Erich
That lens definitely has a very pleasant bokeh. Please enjoy safely and keep on sharing.
As soon as I began reading your post I thought about Toby. I am really fascinated with the various renderings of bokeh that he has so thoroughly explored. I hope you will give this lens a good workout. Glad to see you getting into this.
fergmark wrote:
As soon as I began reading your post I thought about Toby. I am really fascinated with the various renderings of bokeh that he has so thoroughly explored. I hope you will give this lens a good workout. Glad to see you getting into this.
So far, because of the convenience factor, I've been shooting with these various lenses on my Fuji digital. I think I will have to explore more with film. There are three cameras that I think will work pretty well. For the m42 mount lenses, I can just use the Spotmatic. For the m39 mount lenses, I'll have to buy a m39 to m42 adapter. Or buy a camera that has an m39 mount on the body. (Really wish that old Leica IIIf still worked). The Zorky 4K comes to mind. Rangefinder that is very reasonably priced and usually comes with a Jupiter 8 attached (or an Indostar 50mm. But I've got one of those coming in the mail. I think some of these lenses will produce gorgeous Ektar scans. I'll keep you posted.
Erich
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.