Monthly Archives: August 2016

Manual Photographers, Manual Photographers series, photography

The Manual Photographers Series Part 0.3: Jannik Peters

19 Comments

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 Hi Jannik,
can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you use manual Lenses?

Jannik: I am an automotive engineer from Wolfsburg, Germany. I started out with an Sony Alpha 200 in 2008 but I discovered photography as my passion when the first Sony A7 came out. I preordered it and was fascinated by the ability to revive all the legacy lenses, that were “dead” for a long time. My first manual lens was a Canon nFD 1.4/50 which was an eye opener for me. At this time, I only owned the Sony FE 3.5-5.6/28-70 kit lens and I was never really satisfied by it. The sharpness and the creative potential of the fast aperture combined with the bargain price (50€) were amazing. I added lots of Canon FD lenses soon and started to discover other systems like Olympus OM and especially Contax/Yashica as well. With some experience, I found the different rendering styles of specific lenses and I am happy that I can choose between several lenses depending on the look that I want to create.

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Sony A7 | Canon nFD 2.8/24mm | Na Pali Coast, Kauai
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Sony A7 | Samyang 2.8/14mm | San Francisco

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Manual Photographers, photography, The creative process

The Manual Photographers Series Part 0.2: BastianK

20 Comments

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Hi Bastian,
can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you use manual Lenses?

Bastian: I am a bridge engineer from Germany and my lovestory with manual lenses began with the 50mm 0.95 Mitakon and the 12mm 5.6 Voigtlander used with the Sony A7. I couldn’t believe it being possible to get consistently sharp results with a lens like the 50mm 0.95 after I have so badly failed using an Ai-s Nikkor 50mm 1.2 on my D800 (which was even equipped with an EG-s focusing screen).  The 12mm 5.6 on the other hand was a total relief in terms of size and weight and so I was hooked. Right now I have sold almost all of my Nikon gear. If you are curious you can read the whole story here: my transition from Nikon to Sony.
It is also a matter of fact that by the time I was using manual lenses I realised I don’t need AF for most of what I am doing and so today I am confident enough to even shoot weddings without AF lenses.

bastian kratzke sony a7rii a7s photography aspects important introduction manual lenses
Sony A7s | Nikon AF-S 20mm 1.8G | f/11.0 | higher resolution
bastian kratzke sony a7rii a7s photography aspects important introduction manual lenses
Sony A7s | Leica Summicron-M 90mm 2.0 pre Asph | f/11.0 | higher resolution
bastian kratzke sony a7rii a7s photography aspects important introduction manual lenses
Sony A7s | Loxia 21mm 2.8 | f/10.0 | higher resolution

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Canon EF-Mount, lenses, Review

Review: Laowa 12mm 2.8 Zero-D

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Introduction

Sony A7rII with Laowa 12mm 2.8 Zero-D and Sigma MC-11 adapter
Sony A7rII with Laowa 12mm 2.8 Zero-D and Sigma MC-11 adapter

It is a very interesting time for wide angle junkies like me: after the smallish Voigtlander 10mm 5.6 and 15mm 4.5 I now get the chance to review the fast Laowa 12mm 2.8 Zero-D. It is the fastest rectilinear lens wider than 14mm and the widest rectilinear lens as fast as f/2.8 and I am very curious to find out about the optical qualities!
Last Update: Review finalized, Longitudinal CA, Bokeh, Alternatives, preliminary conclusion added (08/09/16)

Sample Images

sony a7 a7rii a7rm2 laowa venus optics zero distortion wide angle 12mm 2.8 fast coma bokeh mercedes museum stuttgart
Sony A7rII | Laowa 12mm 2.8 Zero-D | f/8.0 | full resolution
sony a7 a7rii a7rm2 laowa venus optics zero distortion wide angle 12mm 2.8 fast coma astro astrophotography
Sony A7s | Laowa 12mm 2.8 | f/2.8 | ISO6400 | 25s | full resolution
sony a7 a7rii a7rm2 laowa venus optics zero distortion wide angle 12mm 2.8 fast coma bokeh
Sony A7rII | Laowa 12mm 2.8 Zero-D | f/11 | full resolution

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