Category Archives: photography

Analogue, Leica, Leica M, MS-Optics, Projects

Analogue Adventures – Part 15: Kodak Ultramax 400

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kodak ultramax 400 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Kodak Ultramax 400

The Ultramax 400 is Kodak’s cheaper – hard to use that term in this context – ISO400 color negative film. This is also reflected by the fact that it is available as 24 exposure film. These days it is just as expensive as any other color negative film and whenever I came across it, it had been sold out shortly after. So I should probably consider myself lucky for having seized the moment and bought a roll at the local camera store – for what felt like way too much for a 24 exposure roll…
Processing and scanning was done at urbanfilmlab in Germany.
The pictures you see in this article are from 1 roll.

kodak ultramax 400 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/2.0 | Kodak Ultramax 400
kodak ultramax 400 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/2.8 | Kodak Ultramax 400
kodak ultramax 400 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/4.0 | Kodak Ultramax 400
kodak ultramax 400 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om
Leica M6 | MS-Optics 35mm 1.4 Apoqualia | f/2.8 | Kodak Ultramax 400

Continue reading Analogue Adventures – Part 15: Kodak Ultramax 400 →

Meta, Opinion, The creative process

The complexity of deciding which lenses to pack

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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

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Analogue, Leica M, MS-Optics, The creative process

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

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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) →

Leica M, MS-Optics, photography, Review

Review: MS-Optical 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar

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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 →