Category Archives: photography

Analogue Adventures – Part 2: First Roll of Film

Introduction

Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 III | f/1.2 | Ektar 100 expired | color corrected

In one of my drawers I found two rolls of Ektar 100 from the times a roll was only 8€. Expired 2015. Not exactly properly stored. So a good opportunity to see if the exposure meter works and where I stand with the rangefinder calibration of this camera.
Processing and scanning was done at urbanfilmlab in Germany.

What lenses to use?

Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 75mm 1.5 | f/1.5 | Ektar 100 expired | BW conversion

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Analogue Adventures – Part 1: Choosing a Camera

Introduction

Agfa Isolette – roughly worth its weight in strawberries

I shot analogue with two cameras in the past, a Nikon F80 and a Nikon FE2.

The F80 is actually a very modern camera which supports AF, VR, matrix metering and a few other things, but the rubber got sticky and I got rid of most of my Nikon lenses quite some time ago, so I have little incentive to use it these days.

The FE2 was better at giving the “analogue” feeling, but some parts of the mechanics are broken as the film advance doesn’t work properly. So on my first and only roll of film with this camera I ended up with a bunch of useless quadruple exposures.

The adventure of analogue photography ended for me here.

Until the day I was strolling through Stuttgart and discovered a camera store displaying a Nikon FM2, FM3a and F3 – all in mint condition and all – at least to my eyes – beautiful cameras. I got the idea of getting one of those, because: why not shoot some film for a change?

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Review: Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art

Introduction

The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art is one of many fast 85mm lenses for the system. Is this lens the cheaper and lighter alternative to the Sony GM 85mm f/1.4 we were hoping for?

Sample Images

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art | f/4
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art | f/1.4
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art | f/1.4
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art | f/1.4

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Bokeh Explained

Introduction

ttartisan 50mm 1.4 m m-mount leica m10 sony a7riii a7riv sharpness bokeh resolution contrast review
Leica M10 | TTArtisan 50mm 1.4 | f/1.4

The bokeh quality – or a lens’ rendering for that matter – is probably one of the most discussed and maybe also most important aspects of a (fast) lens. While many people think only the focal length and the maximum aperture are important, there is actually much more to it, as I will try to show you in this article. This knowledge may also aid you in finding the best lens for your specific needs.

Sony A7rII with metabones Leica-M adapter and MS-Optics Aporis 135mm 2.4 bokeh loca
Sony A7rII | MS-Optics Aporis 135mm 2.4 | f/2.4

There are two main things to consider here: bokeh quantity and bokeh quality, which we will both have a look at.

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Best lenses for Sunstars

sunstar sun sunburst blendenstern diaphragm stroke 10 7 8 14 18
Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8 | f/11 | 10 straight blades

The shape and appearance of sunstars is very important for landscape and architecture photographers. For some of them, they are even a defining element in their photos. Sunstars can appear around strong point light sources under certain circumstances, in this article I will talk about how to get them and how certain lenses (being more specific: number and shape of aperture blades) can influence their rendering.
Last update: December 2021

Sample Images

sunstar sun sunburst blendenstern diaphragm stroke 10 7 8 14 18
Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8 | f/5.6 | 10 straight blades
sunstar sun sunburst blendenstern diaphragm stroke 10 7 8 14 18
Zeiss Loxia 35mm 2.0 | f/11 | 10 straight blades
sunstar sun sunburst blendenstern diaphragm stroke 10 7 8 14 18
Zeiss ZM 35mm 1.4 Distagon | f/11 | 10 straight blades

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