Category: photography

Chinon 135/2.8 Test

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Spiny Flower

My friend Jimmy loaned me this Chinon 135mm f2.8 lens in Konica AR mount. It’s a beautiful build with a really unique shape. It’s a little broad at the aperture ring and tapers a bit at both ends. It’s a beautiful lens and worth having just for those characteristics.

I’ve been carrying it on walkies the last couple of days. Yesterday morning the light was right on this small flower. The lens doesn’t focus particularly close (about five feet), but with a 200mm equivalent focal length on the Sony’s APS-C sensor it’s still close enough for a decent image. The bokeh of this lens is very smooth and it’s plenty sharp wide open.

I think it’s a keeper, even if I already have four or five (or more) 135mm lenses.

Post Processed Pink Flowers

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Pink Flowers

A friend asked to use this image, shot with the Pentacor 135/2.8 a few mornings ago on walkies. So, I decided a bit of post production work would be appropriate to bring the image up to my standards. I generally post test images without much post because it better reflects what comes from the lens. However, for actual use they need some clean up.

The adjustments I made were pretty straightforward. I adjusted the contrast and luminance using curves. Then I sharpened the image just a bit to clean up the edges. I passed the result to an external program, Dfine2, for noise reduction. Finally, I exported the result as lossless PNG for delivery. The entire process took me a few minutes. (It took longer to describe it than to do it.)

I decided to post the result (reduced size, of course) here for comparison with the original. Enjoy.

Flutterbye Reprise

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FlutterbyeWednesday near noon I took a short break. The Girl was bored and wanted some time together playing in the backyard. We played a bit, then returned to the house so I could work.

On my way back from refilling my water bottle, I glanced out the back door and saw another flutterbye. The lens on my NEX was the Yashica 135/2.8. It’s good glass but doesn’t focus as closely as either the Pentacon or the Kiron (macro, of course). Nonetheless, it was what I had at hand, so I grabbed it and slipped out the back door.

The insect only allowed me a couple of frames. I took what I could get.

Later, as I ate lunch, I wondered to myself whether Wife is sending these creature to me. I love to watch them and they are so beautiful.

Soon it will be time for the quail to come around again. I’ll start putting out bird food near the end of October as the days grow shorter, colder, and there is less forage for the little creatures. I’m going to move the feeders around so I can get pictures of the birds as they work. I have tools that will let me get close. I’m looking forward to those images as well.

More Flowers

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Oly 35/2 Test Shot 2

The other morning while the Girl and I were one walkies, I came across this patch of flowers that begged to be photographed. I had the Olympus Zuiko 35/2 on my NEX. It’s a new-to-me lens that has been begging to be shot for a couple of weeks. So, I made a few captures while the Girl did doggie things. Then we went on our way. I really find the bokeh of this lens interesting. It’s unlike any of my other lenses.

Flutterbye

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Yard OrnamentI’ve been working at home a lot the last few weeks. With all the smoke from the Rim Fire, I didn’t want to go down into the valley south from my house. The smoke was always worse there. I have remnants of my childhood asthma to this day and atmospheric conditions like heavy smoke are just not healthy.

So I worked from home. The truth is that I have a better place to work at home than I do at the office. One of the advantages of setting up my own workspace is that I can make it the way I want it. It’s just not like that at an office. In addition, I have control over my environment. I can play a little music lightly while I work. This is good because of my tinnitus. I don’t disturb anyone with my music. I make my own coffee and use the brand I like. I am uninterrupted by my neighbors. I have a quiet house, which means I have a quiet workspace.

As I wrote before, I don’t need anyone looking over my shoulder to ensure I’m working. I’ve been autonomous most of my life and nothing is different now.

The space gives me opportunity to grieve when it’s necessary. I have a profound sadness with the loss of Wife that just doesn’t go away. It’s not awful, but I know what is lost. That’s not going to change. I’m learning to live with it. It will take a long time for this to pass, if it ever does.

“You can have what’s second best, but it’s hard to get enough.” says the David Wilcox lyric. It’s simply true. I had no idea it would be worked out this way in my life.

Butterfly IIIMonday I broke for lunch about noon. It might have been 1230. It doesn’t matter. I haven’t been regimented in a long time. As I sat at the table eating a bite of lunch and looking out the window, reflectively, I noticed a butterfly come into the yard and begin working one of the butterfly bushes. I thought how excited Wife would have been, nearly as much as had a hummingbird come in. (I’ve seen several of them lately as well, and thought of Wife.)

I watched the beautiful insect working the small flowers, fluttering from one to another. I recalled how I learned to call them flutterbyes because of my dad. Wife and kids always got a big kick from that pun. I thought “I should go get my camera,” but elected to finish my bite instead.

When I did, the insect was still working the flowers. So I grabbed my camera (the Pentacon 50/1.8 happened to be on it) and went into the backyard. The light wasn’t great, but no matter. It was an opportunity. So I worked the flutterbye as it worked the flowers.

After a few frames, I decided to run back into the house and grab my Kiron 105/2.8 macro lens. It was already on a NEX adapter, so it was a quick switch to get out the bigger gun. I think f2.8 was a bit thin for depth of field, so I set the aperture to f5.6 and ran with it.

Butterfly II probably shot 35 frames before the insect had enough of the bush, or enough of me, and fluttered off to the other side of the house.

I returned indoors and set my camera aside. I cleaned up my noon mess and went back to work, reflecting on how much Wife would have enjoyed that and how she would have enjoyed the images. I can still hear her excited voice when a flutterbye would come into the yard. I know she tried to photograph them several times, but could never really get close enough.

I miss sharing these things with her. I always will. I hope you know I’m thinking of you, love. I hope you know…

Backlit Flowers

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Backlit Flowers

Yesterday morning, the Girl and I left the house for a short walk. Smoke from the Rim Fire hung in the air, not so badly as some mornings the last couple of weeks but bad enough that I didn’t want to be out in it very long. The neighbor’s flowers were backlit and had a bit of shadow behind them to give some contrast.

The glass was a Konica Hexanon 135mm f3.2 manual focus lens. The aperture was set about f4.

Sunflower

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SunflowerOn Monday-morning walkies, the Girl and I paused at the neighbors’ sunflowers. The light was interesting and I had the Pentacon 50/1.8 on my Sony NEX-5N.

The capture was pretty straightforward. I shot the flower at f2.8, f4, and f5.6. I believe this is the f5.6 shot. It’s decently sharp and has good image quality.

It’s a good lens and focuses quite close.

Pentacon 50/1.8

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Morning WalkiesMonday morning I decided to take my camera along on morning walkies. I haven’t been carrying the camera given the really crappy atmospheric conditions the last week and change. But, the Rim Fire seems to be producing less smoke, or at least we’re getting less smoke here in Carson City. So, I thought a bit more walk would be good and there might be a few things worthy of a capture.

My friend Jimmy gave me this Pentacon 50mm f1.8 lens to shoot. I was going to shoot the Prakitcar 135mm f2.8 that I also have from him, but it’s in a Practica B-mount and I don’t have an adapter. [Aside: I ordered an adapter from Hong Kong this morning. I should be able to shoot the Prakticar in a week or two. It looks like good glass.]

So, I put the Pentacon 50/1.8 on my Sony NEX-5N and headed off. The Girl waited more or less patiently… well, less patiently this morning. She was ready for walkies.

With the improving atmospheric quality I elected to walk a bit more than we have been. The smoke really bothers me. It was a good walk and I found some pretty flowers along the way. I never tire of the colors that flowers present. It was overcast this morning. so the light was quite flat. Yet, I think that’s some of the best light for flowers.

The Pentacon has some interesting image quality. It’s not the sharpest lens in my collection wide open. It’s adequate, though. However, it has some interesting bokeh. I’m not sure if it’s good or not as it borders on the busy. Yet, I find this particular image interesting enough to share.

Big Light

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Young SonYoung Son needed a portrait for his college profile. I guess some of the teachers there actually use the images to get to know/recognize their students. That’s a good thing.

So, he engaged the dadbeast to do the shoot. I like natural light and I like big light, so I use a big window whenever I can. The slider was the perfect source yesterday evening. So, I had him stand back a few feet. I put the Konica 85/1.8 on my Sony NEX-5N, made an adjustment to the white balance, and made the shot. I can’t get the white balance right with this smoke, so I made an adjustment in post-processing.

I’m pleased with the result. I love informal portraits with big light.