[pinholecam] A week with ...... (random ramblings of a lens junkie) - 2015

[pinholecam]

A week with Lucky 7

Excerpt from an old 2009 article on the Luminous Landscape (a contributing piece from Mike Johnston, the man credited to bringing the term 'bokeh' into the English speaking photographic community)
https://luminous-landscape.com/sm-02-05-02/

On the best (auto focus) lenses money can buy.
"It’s got to be Nikon or Canon, right? Each of these Goliaths, with their vast lens lines and cost-no object fast lenses and zooms, have won the battle of public opinion going away. So here’s a shocker. The real answer may be Zeiss and Pentax! Zeiss, with the jewel-like little G lenses for the Contax G1 and G2, and Pentax with its little-heralded but lovely Limiteds."

Thats 2009 of course and things have moved on.
(a cheap 14mm bettering many legacy UWA in most respects for example)
Its also just the opinion of one user (though one who has used a fair bit of stuff with an experience to match)



Graduations of the Sun on Nature by jenkwang, on Flickr


But fundamentally, more new and good stuff, does not mean the lenses of the past suddenly degrade to junk.
Instead, there is certainly room for all (and individual preferences/views )
The old remain good, the new are good too.
So for the lens junkie, more is better.

 

[wonglp]

A week with Lucky 7

Excerpt from an old 2009 article on the Luminous Landscape (a contributing piece from Mike Johnston, the man credited to bringing the term 'bokeh' into the English speaking photographic community)
https://luminous-landscape.com/sm-02-05-02/

On the best (auto focus) lenses money can buy.
"It’s got to be Nikon or Canon, right? Each of these Goliaths, with their vast lens lines and cost-no object fast lenses and zooms, have won the battle of public opinion going away. So here’s a shocker. The real answer may be Zeiss and Pentax! Zeiss, with the jewel-like little G lenses for the Contax G1 and G2, and Pentax with its little-heralded but lovely Limiteds."

Thats 2009 of course and things have moved on.
(a cheap 14mm bettering many legacy UWA in most respects for example)
Its also just the opinion of one user (though one who has used a fair bit of stuff with an experience to match)



Graduations of the Sun on Nature by jenkwang, on Flickr


But fundamentally, more new and good stuff, does not mean the lenses of the past suddenly degrade to junk.
Instead, there is certainly room for all (and individual preferences/views )
The old remain good, the new are good too.
So for the lens junkie, more is better.

Nice information & shot, I still have the G45/2 lying around, I'm a lens junkie too ;p

 

[pinholecam]

Nice information & shot, I still have the G45/2 lying around, I'm a lens junkie too ;p

Thanks LP.

Its fun to have both some extra lenses and also get out and use them.

 

[pinholecam]

20150619-DSC03694-2400 by jenkwang, on Flickr

The Pentax 77/1.8 limited is a lens of another time.
Introduced in 1999, during a period where digital SLRs were in their infancy.
The lens follows a more 'descriptive' way of lens design still possible in those days compared to a more numerical way (ie. spec chasing) more common nowadays.

Even its focal length is a unique choice (though 75mm, 80mm do exist before this).
77 was chosen because it is a lucky number for the Japanese and the shape of the Chinese character "Xi" (ie. happiness) resembles the written characters for 77 (Qi Shi Qi)

 

[pinholecam]

Blow me kisses by jenkwang, on Flickr

Diam x Length :64 x 48 mm
Filter Size : 49 mm
Optics : 7 elements, 6 groups
Close Focus : 70 cm

The Limiteds follow a design goal that differs quite a bit from most more modern offerings.
Well made all metal build in as small a size as possible without sacrificing optical qualities.
Luxurious finishing like built in hoods, felt lined hood interiors and fine metal finish.
Physical aperture ring for manual use as well as a lightly damped focusing ring for manual focus.
On top of its design considerations for manual use, this is also an auto focus lens with auto aperture and EXIF data.

Probably the closest thing there is to a well made RF lens but with AF in the DSLR world.

To have a rough guide to its size, here is a 77mm short telephoto that is perhaps close to the size of a Canon EF 50/18, with a convenient built in hood as well.
Good close focus distance of 70cm which is always welcome.


Oh... and it comes with a nice leather pouch.

 

[hjbyeo]

Blow me kisses by jenkwang, on Flickr

Diam x Length :64 x 48 mm
Filter Size : 49 mm
Optics : 7 elements, 6 groups
Close Focus : 70 cm

The Limiteds follow a design goal that differs quite a bit from most more modern offerings.
Well made all metal build in as small a size as possible without sacrificing optical qualities.
Luxurious finishing like built in hoods, felt lined hood interiors and fine metal finish.
Physical aperture ring for manual use as well as a lightly damped focusing ring for manual focus.
On top of its design considerations for manual use, this is also an auto focus lens with auto aperture and EXIF data.

Probably the closest thing there is to a well made RF lens but with AF in the DSLR world.

To have a rough guide to its size, here is a 77mm short telephoto that is perhaps close to the size of a Canon EF 50/18, with a convenient built in hood as well.
Good close focus distance of 70cm which is always welcome.


Oh... and it comes with a nice leather pouch.

It's one of my favs when I used to have it. Images just renders differently. I thought it's just quite magical when I shot it with my MzS in the past.

 

[pinholecam]

It's one of my favs when I used to have it. Images just renders differently. I thought it's just quite magical when I shot it with my MzS in the past.

Same for me, just a very strong drawing style with the colors and contrast.

 

[pinholecam]

20150619-DSC03698-2400 by jenkwang, on Flickr

I think its easier for me here to just quote the Japanese article where they interviewed the lens designer Jun Hirakawa with regards to the design goals.
(Its an English translation of the Japanese article of course, so any translation errors is not the fault of the original article)

"By not giving a priority to resolution, MTF measurements, and other numerical evaluations, the limited lenses achieve a degree of aberration correction unattainable by earlier lens designing practices. This enables us to manufacture a lens capable of producing images that leave a vivid impression on the mind. This is because, under current lens design practices, numerical evaluations of the subject plane take precedence over how well that lens depicts (or renders) solid objects. While numerical evaluations are important, they should not be given first priority when designing a lens.

As an example of this new attitude toward lens design, I will explain how we dealt with field curvature and astigmatism correction. An ideal of current lens design is to make the subject plane as flat as possible. Through specific techniques [detailed in the original article], field curvature is reduced, leading to a lens that will produce excellent scores on numerical tests. However, flattening the subject plane comes at a cost: pictures taken with such a lens will lack spice. With the Limited lenses, small amounts of field curvature were left uncorrected so that we could remove “astigmatic difference.” While this reduces the overall numerical score of the lens, without the “astigmatic difference,” the point of focus can be depicted with a more tactile, three-dimensional rendering, leading to a better overall image."

 

[pinholecam]

20150619-DSC03711-2400 by jenkwang, on Flickr

Again from the interview
"Real PIcture Taking

As explained above, the design goals of the Limited lenses are difficult to evaluate on a numerical basis. No tests can measure the suitability of aberration correction on solid photographic subjects or the effect of flare and ghosting on rendering. These things only be evaluated by taking real pictures. With the help of professional photographers, we made qualitative evaluations of our designs"


I tend to subscribe to this line of thought.
That the proof in the pudding is in the eating.

 

[pinholecam]

20150619-DSC03706-2400 by jenkwang, on Flickr

Focal length wise, as a 77mm, it really sits in between a 50mm and 85mm in terms of working distance.
Giving that little more reach or working distance, the little more perspective compression.

To me, there is a sort of combination of sharpness, contrast and drawing style about it that simply 'outlines' the in-focus subject.

 

[ltsee]

I love the way your pictures had the 'pop' effect. Those lenses are in good hands!
The more I read this thread, the more I learn to appreciate the different characteristics of different lenses. Keep going!

 

[pinholecam]

I love the way your pictures had the 'pop' effect. Those lenses are in good hands!
The more I read this thread, the more I learn to appreciate the different characteristics of different lenses. Keep going!

Thanks for the encouragement.
It's always nice to know that someone reads the ramblings

 

[pinholecam]

20150620-DSC03874 by jenkwang, on Flickr


Small size and hence portability, meaning the lens being there with me as a shooter more often than being left at home in the dry cab because it was big+heavy.
The Pentax 77ltd is such a lens for me.
So easy to carry around that when I want a short tele, often as a portrait/isolation/moderate reach purpose, this lens often goes with me 'just in case'.
Topped with very nice optical performance and luxurious build quality, this is certainly a small gem to me.

 

[pinholecam]

A week with Pentax M20/4


Smooth Morning by jenkwang, on Flickr

This is the last of the 3 lenses series for my Bandung trip.

I basically wanted a small wide lens.
Knowing that wide view landscape would not be the dominant focus for the trip (it was a planned genre mix of streets/portrait/landscape ) I did not want to bring along the usual combo of 2 UWA primes.
As mentioned in the earlier posts, I had quite a bit to bring along too, so wanted to keep the lens set small, low encumbering, yet highly functional.

The Pentax M20/4 just comes to mind when I think of such a small effective lens.
I may have a 17mm, but its quite a tank.
The Voigtlander 21/1.8 is nice, but again, getting towards big.

So the M20/4 it was.

 

[pinholecam]

20150621-DSC03899 by jenkwang, on Flickr

20mm perspective is very wide and does give quite a bit of context to people shots.
I'm usually a 50mm guy, but when I put on the 20mm and use it for people shots, I go "Wow!, this can be done"
It has never failed to surprise me and its certainly something I need to explore more in the future with wider focal lengths for street/people/candids.

 

[pinholecam]

20150619-DSC03677 by jenkwang, on Flickr

I'm also getting to appreciate slow lenses more.
Especially in such short focal lengths and in the genre of travel photography.
Very often, when we use that wide lens, we want to show off the environment (landscape; context )
The fast f-stop wide isn't necessary for this.

So coupled with the smaller size and less weight for this 20mm f4, its certain enough to cater for the real world usage of what I usually shoot/encounter/need for travels.

This old bakery was pretty dim except for the light streaming in thru the doors.
Nonetheless, bracing on the table, setting an f-stop that still gave me a reasonable shutter speed and reasonable ISO, the shot can be taken.

 

[pinholecam]

Tea Plantation #1 - Bandung by jenkwang, on Flickr

I notice that in other countries which have a larger expanse of space, 20mm is plenty.
The very distance objects make the perspective 'push away' of an even wider lens less necessary.
My guess is that its one of the reasons why the 24mm is a mainstay on many an overseas landscape photographer's kit (sometimes their widest).
Here in SGP, we have tighter spaces and we tend to go for that exaggeration that comes with a UWA, not to mention that we may not be able to step back for a wider FOV from the vantage point.

 

[pinholecam]

20150619-DSC03667 by jenkwang, on Flickr

In the end, I felt that it was a right choice for me as the 20/4 provided that wide FOV when I needed while not being too big/encumbering.
I'd have liked to break away from the usual reliance of the 50mm as a street lens and explore more on using the 20-28mm lenses in the future.
There's just many possible way to explore the use of a single lens, imo.

 

[pinholecam]

20150619-DSC03681 by jenkwang, on Flickr

If there was a scene that I struggled to frame in this trip with a 20mm, it would be this one.
There wasn't anywhere to move back on anymore.
Tilting upwards more is of course an option, but the converging verticals would be a bit much.

But its not always that one has towers that stretch so high with respect to the main building.
Kind of back to the previous comment I made regarding cityscapes and the more common use of the UWA.

 

[keithwee]

A week with Pentax M20/4


Smooth Morning by jenkwang, on Flickr

This is the last of the 3 lenses series for my Bandung trip.

I basically wanted a small wide lens.
Knowing that wide view landscape would not be the dominant focus for the trip (it was a planned genre mix of streets/portrait/landscape ) I did not want to bring along the usual combo of 2 UWA primes.
As mentioned in the earlier posts, I had quite a bit to bring along too, so wanted to keep the lens set small, low encumbering, yet highly functional.

The Pentax M20/4 just comes to mind when I think of such a small effective lens.
I may have a 17mm, but its quite a tank.
The Voigtlander 21/1.8 is nice, but again, getting towards big.

So the M20/4 it was.

very very good feel from this image. I love this shot.