Laowa was already responsible for releasing the world’s fastest 35mm lens and now they are back doing the same for the 28mm focal length. This time around it isn’t f/0.95, but f/1.2 at 28mm – in a more compact package. This is just as impressive, especially when most manufacturers seem to have neglected the 28mm focal length altogether. But is it only impressive on paper or does it also deliver in the field? Let’s find out in this review.
Kodak Gold 200 again? Hasn’t there been an article covering this film already? Yes, but the Silbersalz35 guys started offering a new lab service in 2022 for developing some of the popular C-41 still photography films with the more complex ECN-2 process. But is it a good idea? I wanted to find out, I received the scans, so let’s have a look together.
Processing (ECN-2) and scanning was done at Silbersalz35 in Germany.
Update May 2023: more pictures added
Continue reading Analogue Adventures – Part 16: Kodak Gold 200 ECN-2 processed
In Part 1 of this series we tried to figure out what things might be interesting to take pictures of where you live, this time I want to talk about collections. A friend of mine was looking for some Stuttgart specific decoration for her walls at home and asked me if I may be able to help out. When going through my archive (read: Lightroom library) I noticed that several of these Stuttgart related pictures can be summarized in categories. It seems I actually started several collections – and subconciously so.
I will show you small collages of these collections I made and I am also curious to find out: what do you collect?
Continue reading Finding photo opportunities near home – Part 2
Over the decades some exotic lenses saw the light of day that have a bit of a legendary status now and these also happen to be my favorite lenses to review. One such lens is the Contax-G 16mm 8.0 Hologon, an eccentric ultra wide angle lens still made by Zeiss in Germany, when every other part of the Contax-G system had already been manufactured in Japan. The Hologon sure looks cool, it has a history, but is it also still relevant today? We will try to find that out, see how to change its bayonet for M-mount and I will tell you what cameras it can best be used on.
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10
Leica M10. The Camera. Photography reduced to its essentials. This is what Leica says about this camera. If you care what I think of it: keep on reading.
Update: this article is now 3 years old and because of it some Leica fanboys still show up outside (or rather in the comment section) with pitchforks and torches. Joking aside, this is one of the most commented-on articles I ever wrote, reason enough to revisit it and see what happened in the meantime and also tackle some arguments from the comment section.
For many people owning a Leica camera is a dream. But why is that so? Is it simply the high price tag, the Bauhaus look or the huge “Made in Germany” writing, not hidden on a sticker at the bottom of the camera, but easily visible on the back?
It surely isn’t image quality or ease of use. You get more of both, elsewhere, for less. This is why Leica cameras are often perceived as vain men’s luxury items, that happen to be able to take photos from time to time.
