Category Archives: photography

The complexity of deciding which lenses to pack

Introduction

Now I have way more lenses than anyone possibly needs – luckily this was listed as kind of a requirement in the job description here –  but when that is the case it also gets more difficult to decide what lenses to bring on a trip or an assignment. Going by the discussions in the forums I participate, and on our Discord, it seems I am not alone here.
A community member said it would be interesting to know about my thought process of deciding which lenses to bring on a trip, so here we are.

My approach

These days I often build my kit around lenses that still need to be reviewed. This will also heavily influence what cameras I pick. But let’s forget about that for now and keep it to the lenses I actually own.

ms-optics ms-optical apoqualia 35mm 1.4 fast noctilux angenieux leica m10 24mp 42mp review sharpness bokeh vignetting
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/2.0 | Gold 200

Continue reading The complexity of deciding which lenses to pack

Analogue Adventures – Part 14: Agfa Vista 200 (expired)

agfa vista expired 200 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Agfa Vista 200 Color Negative Film

These days whenever I come across a photo store I check if they have any film stock available, especially some I didn’t use before. In Istanbul I found a store selling these Agfa Vista 200 24+3 which expired 17 years ago. They were cheap enough and for only 2.5 € I could add processing including scanning so I decided to give it a try.
Processing and scanning was done at Karaköy Fotoğrafçı in Istanbul.
Because there were some issues with a few of the scans I had it rescanned by urbanfilmlab in Germany.

agfa vista expired 200 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/2.8 | Agfa Vista 200
agfa vista expired 200 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/4.0 | Agfa Vista 200
agfa vista expired 200 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/2.8 | Agfa Vista 200
agfa vista expired 200 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/11 | Agfa Vista 200

Continue reading Analogue Adventures – Part 14: Agfa Vista 200 (expired)

Review: MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar

Introduction

ms-optics ms-optical 50mm 1.1 sonnetar f/1.1 fast summilux leica m10 24mp 42mp review sharpness contrast resolution
MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar on Leica M10

The MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar is probably Miyazaki’s most famous lens. While it wasn’t his first lens it was to my knowledge the first one that was produced in “greater” quantities and widely recognized across the globe.
As is still typical today for his lenses it is small, fast and quirky, so let us have a closer look…
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10
Last Update: February 2023

Sample Images

ms-optics ms-optical 50mm 1.1 sonnetar f/1.1 fast summilux leica m10 24mp 42mp review bokeh sharpness contrast rendering
Leica M10 | MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar | f/1.4
ms-optics ms-optical 50mm 1.1 sonnetar f/1.1 fast summilux leica m10 24mp 42mp review bokeh sharpness contrast rendering
Leica M10 | MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar | f/8.0
ms-optics ms-optical 50mm 1.1 sonnetar f/1.1 fast summilux leica m10 24mp 42mp review bokeh sharpness contrast rendering
Leica M10 | MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar | f/1.1

Continue reading Review: MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar

Working with Tilt/Shift lenses

Introduction

canon tilt shift ts-e pc-e perspective control TS T/S sony adapter how to
Canon TS-E 17mm 4.0L via Sigma MC-11 on Sony A7rII

Tilt/Shift lenses are rather exotic, they are mostly used for architecture or table top photography, and with the wide availability of post processing (correcting converging vertical lines and focus stacking) you see them very rarely nowadays, even amongst professional photographers.
In this article I will tell you what Tilt/Shift lenses are all about and what they can be used for.

Continue reading Working with Tilt/Shift lenses