Lens Bubbles

Dillon

2012-02-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Dillon -- 1D Mark III & EF 135mm f2 @ f2

I picked up a used Canon XS Rebel a little while back for Dillon, hoping that this time it will ignite the photography passion in him then the last time I got him the 30D, which I eventually sold as he wan't really into it. I am happy to say that he is somewhat more enthusiastic this time around, and we went out together once in a while for a shoot. Perhaps the fact that his cousin Sally, who has caught the photography bug, has an influence on him. In any case, it's a good thing. Some of his pictures are quite good. Hope he will keep it up.

Ryan at Music Recital

2012-02-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

Ryan on piano -- 1D Mark III & EF 50mm f1.2L @ f1.2, ISO 1600

My kid's music school had another recital today, and Ryan was asked to play. I was awed by some of the very young but extremely talented players at the recital. Few of them are younger than ten years old, but played complex pieces with ease. Not only that, they played more than one instrument without breaking a sweat, not at the same time of course. I think it was a great event for kids to learn from each other.

Canon FL 50mm f1.4

2012-02-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

Boat -- NEX-5N & Canon FL 50mm f.14 @ f1.4, ISO 1000

The Canon FL mount was the predecessor of the Canon FD mount. Basically, it's a very simple mount without any sort of automation, such as aperture priority or speed priority. All these are really the same mount. Most FL lenses will work on FD bodies as with stopped-down metering. I did try the FL 58mm f1.2 on the Canon T90 and it worked well. The Canon FL 50mm f1.4 lens has the same build quality as the FL 58mm f1.2. Both lenses have the A/M switch for manual aperture control. This feature was removed from the later FD and New FD mounts.

Red Tulips -- Panasonic G1 & Canon FL 50mm f1.4

In terms of optical quality, it's slightly less sharp wide open than the FD 50mm f14 SSC or the nFD 50mm f1.4, but is still usable. Lots of purple fringing at wide apertures on scenes with strong back lighting, but improves when stopped down. There isn't too much difference between f4 and f8. All three mounts of this lens are excellent when stopped down a little. I find the colour of the FL 50mm f1.4 to be very neutral, compared to the FD and nFD versions.

In all, I like this lens. When you hold it in your hands, you feel the quality of the all metal construction. The 8-blade aperture helps this lens' nice bokeh. I don't see too many of this lens, but lots of the cheaper, but not any less well made 50mm f1.8 version, which is also a nice lens. All the FL lenses I have were made with quality regardless of class. The FL 50mm f1.8 feels just as good as the FL 58mm f1.2. For us manual focus lens addicts, a well made lens is just as important as its optics. In this department, the FL lenses deliver, and their optical quality is not too shabby either. Grab them if you see them cheap.

Colours!

2012-02-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ryan Playing Video Game --1D Mark III & EF 50mm f1.2L

Itsn't it unbelievable that our digital cameras capture colour images with a black & white sensor? Ok, cameras using the X3 Foveon sensors are excepted, as it uses a vertical filter on the sensor itself, but majority of digital cameras use a Bayer Array sensor, which was invented by Kodak, and colour is interpolated from the RGBG filter. Today's Bayer sensors are so good, colour accuracy is truly amazing. Luckily, we don't have to worry about the technical side of this stuff. We just point, and click, so to speak.

William

2012-02-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

William -- Canon 1D III & EF 50mm f1.2L

I like taking candid pictures of my kids. It was a lot easier when they were young but as they grow older, they are more aware of my presence, especially with camera in hand. Occasionally, I am still able to snap a picture here and there without them paying much attention to me. I look at it this way, any picture I can take of them is a bonus. A little piece of memory that I will enjoy looking back when the kids have all grown up and live their own lives. That, I think, is why so many of us love to take pictures. We are capturing our present for the future to see.

Canon 28mm f2.8 IS & 24mm f2.8 IS Lenses

2012-02-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

Mystic Lamps -- NEX-5N & Kodak Anastigmat 50mm f1.6 Cine Lens.

Today we are bombarded with product announcements from many companies in the photography business. The Nikon D800 got a lot of attention with the highest resolution sensor on a consumer DSLR; a whopping 36MP of it. This kind of resolution was strictly medium format back just couple years ago. It shows how far digital photography has gone. Anybody needs that 36MP is completely another business. Just imagine 70+ MB RAW files. Storage is cheap, but this is insanity.

But, I am more interested in the Canon lens announcements. The long waited 24-70mm f2.8L is a bit of a disappointment for many, as it lacks the image stabilization (IS). The more consumer friendly 28mm and 24mm f2.8 IS are far more interesting, in my opinion. This is the sign that Canon has finally started to revamp their consumer primes, at least for these two, which were introduced near the beginning of the EOS.

Frankly, these two lenses are a complete surprise for lots of people. In fact, I didn't read anything about them before they were announced. I would be completely happy with them, if the image quality holds up, which I have no doubt it would, until I saw the retail price of $800 for the 28mm and $850 for the 24mm. The currently selling price of them is $330 and $450 Can$ respectively. The addition of IS doubles the price of the existing lenses. Canon is getting a bit greedy here, don't you think?

Toronto Mounted Police

2012-02-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

Mounted Police -- NEX-5N & Kodak Anastigmat 50mm f1.6 Cine Lens

Even in this age where everything is motorized, Toronto still has the mounted unit that patrols the city. Quite often you will see them around the downtown streets, or the know that they have been there from the horse droppings left behind. I guess it's more of a tradition than mobility. Sure the horses will run faster than human, but pretty much everything that requires mobility is done on cars and motorcycles. I do welcome the presence of the horses though. I think they look great and is sort of an attraction for tourists.

The End of the Kodak Moment?

2012-02-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

Young rose leaves -- Kodak SLR/c & Carl Zeiss S-Planar 60mm f2.8 Makro. Click for larger.

I meant to write about my thoughts on the demise of the once great Kodak company when they announced that they were filing for Chapter 11, but never got around to it. I will never know how Kodak has fallen so hard and eventually on the last draw of its breath, but I think the executive management has a lot to do with it, along with the marketing department. In so many ways, Kodak was a pioneering company that has given us so many advances in photography, analog or digital. It was the first company to market a professional digital SLR (and of course the sensor in it), and for a long time, they were the only game in town. Sure, the bodies came from Nikon and Canon, but the digital technology was all Kodak. It was the slow adaptation to consumer digital cameras that kill them. They were holding on to film, and hoping that digital would not make it. It's too bad that they were wrong, and I am sure it's a little too late trying to regain any market share, not to mention the paper thin margins on consumer digital cameras these days.

I had the Kodak SLR/c full frame for a few months, and that was my first full frame DSLR. Unfortunately, as much as I love the colour and image quality from base ISO, it was a clunky camera and wouldn't even work with my 135mm f2L lens (won't focus, but other lenses were OK). It was based on the old Sigma 7 body and everything about it was slow and the LCD screen is next to useless. The dinosaur like 1Ds was like a race car compared to this ancient piece of hardware. I simply couldn't stand it.

I hope they will restructure, at least keeping the Kodak company alive, but I highly doubt it will ever be a photographic imaging company again, at least not in the consumer market, especially if they sell off their sensor technology.

My Love

2012-02-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

My Love -- 1D Mark III & EF 85mm f1.2L @ f1.2, ISO 1600

The person in the picture above is my wife, Jessica. We have been married for just over 16 years, and we dated for 11 years prior to that. I know for fact that we will be together till the very end; we are made for each other. You see, we never dated anyone else before we knew each other. My life has changed in so many ways, to the better, because of her. I am amazed of her tolerance of my many faults, one of which is the addiction to photographic gear. She is way smarter than she gives herself credits for, and she never wavers in the principles that she believes in. She is a person I can trust and believe in; a person who will be there when I need her the most; a person who will never abandon me when I have nothing left; a person who I can't wait to come home to, regardless how far away I am. I love this woman!

The Conductor

2012-02-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

The conductor -- 1D Mark III & EF 85mm f1.2L @ f1.2, ISO 800

This little kid was play conducting along side the real conductor at my kid's winter concert. I thought it was funny. Too bad the angle wasn't good to include the real conductor with the more of the players. Usually these plays lasts about a minute and a half, so there wasn't a lot of time to change lens or get a different angle. Another plug for the 85mm f1.2L. It's one of those lenses that never lets you down, even at f1.2. The only other 85mm f1.2 lens that I know of, and is on par with image quality, is the Zeiss Contax 50 anniversary 85mm f1.2.

Flash Back on the Old Love

2012-02-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Megan -- Canon 1Ds & EF 50mm f1.8 Mark I

Going through some of my old pictures and found this one above that I took more than 3 years ago for testing the 50mm f1.8 version I (metal mount) on the original, very old 1Ds. For some reason, I LOVE the colour from the 1Ds and its image quality at low ISO is still one of the best. If not for the abysmal LCD screen, very slow operation and the one level of image magnification on playback, I would have kept this beautifully made full frame camera. I really took this camera everywhere I went since it was my only camera at the time, and I am really glad that I did.

By the way, the 50mm f1.8 Mark I is really nice. If Canon can upgrade the Arc-Form Drive motor to Ultra Sonic Motor (USM), it will sell like hot cakes if priced under $200. But then again, Canon wants you to buy the 50mm f1.4 or 50mm f1.2L.

Manual Focus Lenses and Exposure Issues on Canon DSLR

2012-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Canon 1D Mark III & EF 180mm f3.5 Macro

If you have been using manual focus lenses on Canon DSLRs, you will know that the exposure is not accurate as you stop the lens down. Basically you need to compensate -1 stop for each stop down. On the 1-series of bodies, this is not as bad, but it's still there. The severity depends on the lens. Some are better than others, but all seem to exhibit this problem. You will eventually get used to it and automatically adjust. When live-view appears on the Canon DSLRs, and if you take pictures using it with manual focus lenses, the problem is gone. Very accurate exposure on any aperture using live-view.

For EVIL users, they never knew what the fuzz is all about, since all of them use some sort of live-view and exposure has never been an issue. This is one reason I like using manual focus lenses on EVIL cameras -- very accurate exposures on any aperture.

Dynamic Range & Colour Depth of Current Sensors

2012-01-31T09:35:00.000-08:00

Downtown Toronto in the evening -- NEX-5N & Olympus OM 35mm f2

Couple days ago I was driving towards downtown Toronto on Eastern Avenue, and I commented to my wife on how beautiful and interesting the sun was behind the buildings. I stopped the car (no car was coming behind me) and took a couple of shots. The picture above is one of the two, but it is not even close to the actual scene. It was far more brilliant and colourful. The sensor in the Sony NEX-5N is pretty good, but despite turning on the D-Range, the bright and dark range was still not captured large enough. I think current technology is already there to increase the dynamic range and colour depth, but manufacturers are not willing to give it to us, at least not as much as we want. The Canon 1DX sensor should be an indication of the trend that sensor makers are starting to make dynamic range and colour depth as new features, rather than high pixel count, which is encouraging. I am sure in a few years time, sensors in digital cameras will be able to capture scenes closer to what human eyes can see.

Dillon on Guitar

2012-01-29T17:26:00.000-08:00

Dillon on Guitar -- NEX-5N & Astro-Kino Color IV 65mm f1.5.

Dillon has been learning to play the guitar on his own. He did ask for an acoustic-electric guitar for Christmas and guitar lessons. Well, he got the guitar, but not lessons, so he is learning by himself. I must say I am quite impressed with his progress. His rendition of Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven was very good indeed (with a few mistakes here and there).

Rest In Peace, Mr. Yamaki

2012-01-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

I am saddened to learn the passing of Mr. Michihiro Yamaki, founder and CEO of Sigma Corporation. Sigma is one of the largest third party lens maker and I am a big fan of many of their lenses, old and new. Sigma provides alternative lenses for the photographers with more affordable prices, and sometimes unique focal lengths that OEM lens manufacturers don't make.

Little known to most people, is their YS mount lenses (similar to the Tamron Adaptall mount). The Y in YS stands for Yamaki, as in Yamaki System. Though the mount was short-lived and not particularly successful, it was one of the few interchangeable mounts that competed with Tamron interchangeable mount.

Of course, Sigma was the only manufacturer who tirelessly pushes (and most likely not making much money from) the X3 Foveon (now Sigma) sensor, and was the first to introduced a pocketable digital camera with an APS-C sized sensor. They have my respect for trying so hard to make a difference in the camera business where everyone else uses a Bayer sensor.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Yamaki. Thank you for all the nice lenses and cameras you have made (and will make).

Sigma YS Mount 55mm f2.8 Macro & Canon T2i. Click for larger size.

Streetcar on Queen & John Sts.

2012-01-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

Streetcar -- NEX-5N & Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8 Exaktar Mount

The intersection of Queen & John streets are one of the busiest around the area, especially in the afternoon or evening. I also like to come by this area on my lunch break as there always seems to be something to shoot here. CityTV (now CTV) is located on the south east corner and once in a while, you may see a celebrity making an appearance there. Lots of eateries everywhere surrounding this intersection.

Will Cell Phones Replace Entry Level Digital Cameras?

2012-01-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Megan -- Canon 1D Mark III & EF 85mm f1.2L II @ f1.6, ISO 1600

I have been going to my kid's school concerts for about 10 years. At first, there were mostly film point & shoot cameras brought to the concerts by the parents. Gradually, more and more digital point & shoots, and in the last couple of years, there are quite a few digital SLRs. Today, I saw many parents were using their cell phones to photograph/video their kids. Come to think of it, it's not surprising. Cameras in cell phones are getting better and better, and some actually rival that of the dedicated entry level digital point & shoots. The only advantage I can see for the digital cameras, are longer optical zoom ranges on the lenses.

In a few years, entry level point & shoot digital will mostly disappear and be replaced by cell phones. This may not be a bad thing, as it will force the camera manufacturers to innovate and create better cameras to compete with cell phones. Even more, Compact System Cameras (EVIL) will become much more popular with parents, as I have already seen at least three of them today, where a year ago, I didn't see any.

Over Joy

2012-01-25T19:19:00.000-08:00

Joy Squared -- NEX-5N & Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8 Exakta Mount

My experience with East German lenses is that most of them are optically pretty good, but their build quality leaves much to be desired; they don't age very well. I have gone through many of them and majority of them have some problems. Most common problem is very rough focusing, and the other is aperture issues. The rough focusing is due to the grease drying up. If you handle a Takumar lens, at about the same age, the difference is like, day and night.

This particular Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8 (zebra verison) is no exception. The focusing is rough, and the aperture is starting to lose control. It's a very good lens, especially its amazing close focus capability, right down to 0.18 meters!

Reflections

2012-01-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

Reflection -- NEX-5N & Tokina RMC 17mm f3.5 FD mount

Walking by a store on King street and saw these hanging things inside. From a certain angle, the reflection of a tree on the outside makes for an interesting picture. Two bad the power lines kinda destroyed it. Perhaps I should do clean version with them removed in Photoshop :)

Window Washing

2012-01-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

Window Washing -- NEX-5N & Leica-R Summicron 90mm f2

Was driving to work today since it was raining pretty badly. Stopped at the red light outside the Canadian Opera Company and saw these two men on the hoist cleaning the glass. I was ready! The camera was by my side and was able to take a few shots before the light turned green. It's not a good picture by any means, but it captured a moment of the city that I love.

Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Curgagon 28mm f4 Revisited

2012-01-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

Out Shooting -- NEX-5N & Schneider Curtagon 28mm f4.

Last time I wrote bout the Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Curtagon 28mm f4 when I used it on the Panasonic G1, and I didn't have much nice thing to say about it. I decided to try it again on the NEX-5N and see if it fares better. Well, indeed it seems to be slightly better at the corners, even on a larger sensor. Still it's not a very sharp lens, but definitely good enough for a lot of people. I like the colours out of the Schneider DKL lenses.

Gooderham Flateron -- NEX-5N & Curtagon 28mm f4 @ f8.

Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SG 28mm f3.5

2012-01-20T21:21:00.000-08:00

Most lens makers have at least two versions of a same focal length. One priced as entry level, and the other as a premium model. The common example is the 50mm lens. We have the f1.8 version, which is much cheaper than the f1.4. In the olden days, the most common focal lengths are 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and 135mm. Of the wide angles, 28mm is most popular. For Minolta, it has at least four versions: 28mm f2, 28mm f2.5 and 28mm f2.8 and 28mm f3.5. I posted some sample pictures of the MC W.Rokkor 28mm f2.5 a while back here, and here. I like it a lot. The f3.5 is of course the cheapest of them all. It can be had for a very low price even today.

Crane -- NEX-5N & Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SG 28mm f3.5

The MC W.Rokkor 28mm f3.5 reminds me of the Takumar 28mm f3.5. Both are extremely well made, and feels great in the hand. The Takumar is smaller and looks better in my opinion, not that the look matters much. In normal use, the f3.5 and f2.5 version of the W.Rokkor is almost identical, since one would normally stop it down. Both are very sharp lenses and frankly, at around f8, the difference is practically nil. The f2.5 version is a full stop faster, so if do shoot wide open often, it may be worthwhile to get the faster one. For most occasions where this lens is intended to be used, they don't make much difference. If weight is an important issue, you may like the f3.5 version better.

Walk in the snow -- NEX-5N & Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SG 28mm f3.5

The Changing City Scapes

2012-01-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

"The only constant is change..." -- Isaac Asimov

If you live in one place for a while, you can't help but witness the changes; sometimes slow and small changes, sometimes fast and huge changes. Here in Toronto, I have seen so much changes in the last two years, mostly in the area of construction of buildings. On my daily commute to work, I used to be able to see downtown Toronto from the Queen bridge, but now there is an apartment building right in front of my view. It's increasingly common to see nothing but building in front of ones eye in many places in Toronto.

Downtown Toronto - December 2010. NEX-5 & 18-55mm Kit Lens.

Downtown Toronto - January 2012. NEX-5N & Minolta MC 28mm f3.5

The West Don Lands, once a deserted space, is now under feverish construction. Many apartment buildings will be built. I guess this is natural progression as the population grows and living spaces must keep pace. The views where one can look far before will no longer exist and instead, buildings will be there to block it.

Getting Started, May 2010 -- Canon T2i & SMC Takumar 35mm f3.5.

Fundation, January 2012 -- NEX-5N & Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SG 28mm f3.5

The picture above, left side, you can already see the foundation of the building is already in place. More will be built where the crane is. In a few months, we will see nothing but buildings. Is this good? Is this bad? Probably both.

Minolta MD 85mm f2 -- First Impression

2012-01-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

Rise Up -- NEX-5N & Minolta MD 85mm f2

Got this Minolta MD 85mm f2 along with the RF Rokkor 250mm f5.6 mirror lens. Compared to the MC-Rokkor 85mm f1.7, this lens is much smaller and half as heavy. Very compact with a 49mm filter size but of course is a 1/3 stop slower than the f1.7 sibling. Unfortunately, the focusing ring is a tad too tight, making it hard to adjust fine focus. It's usable but annoying. It needs to be adjusted.

As with most Minolta manual focus lenses, the image quality does not disappoint. I haven't really gotten any really bad MD/MC primes yet. Practically all of the old Minolta lenses (no zoom) I have tried are excellent. Many people like this better than the MC-Rokkor 85mm f1.7 due to its smaller size/lighter weight. To me, I still prefer the all metal f1.7 version, not to mention the 1/3 stop of extra light coming into the sensor. Perhaps, one day, I will find some time to do a comparison of these two very desirable lenses.

The Conurus-Metabones EF Lens Adapter for NEX

2012-01-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

Walking in the rain - NEX-5N & Canon nFD 50mm f1.2. Shot through car window.

Conurus is of course famous for the conversion of Contax Auto Focus N lenses to Canon EF bodies which retain auto focus function of the N lenses. Now they have teamed up with one of my favourite Japanese lens adapter maker, Metabones, to produce an adapter for the NEX mount at allows the NEX cameras to control the aperture from the camera. Auto focus is not available, unfortunately, but it's a huge step towards making EF lenses to work like E mount lenses, without the auto focus. We all know that EF mount is all digital and there is no easy way to set the aperture, except to set it on the Canon camera, then press the Depth of Field Preview button while unmounting the lens. This will retain the last aperture setting on the lens, but if you need to change the aperture again, you will have to remount the lens on the Canon body and repeat the steps again.

The price of the Metabones EF adapter is $399. Not cheap by any means for an adapter, but for those who want to use the 35mm f1.4, 50mm f1.0/1.2, or the famous 85mm f1.2 lenses, this adapter may be worth it. However, my thinking is that if I already have these kind of lenses (which I do), why not just use them on Canon bodies? $400 is a lot of dough for an adapter.

I know of at least one other company in China is doing the same thing, to reverse engineer the communications protocols of the EF and E-mount camera/lens. So far they have not succeeded in building an adapter that makes the EF lenses talk to the NEX cameras, but I am sure it will be a matter of time. When that happens, a flood of other imitations will be everywhere and hopefully we will be seeing much cheaper versions. I don't mind buying one of these if it's under $100.

No doubt it's an interesting product, but I don't see a lot of people will buy one at this price.