Juan Valdenebro
Truth is beauty
Some time ago, I would have sweared this would NEVER happen in my life...
Well, this is how it happened:
These days I enjoy different sets, and feel happy shooting six cameras at the same time, and soon I'll load the seventh... I've been playing around with different cameras combinations (2 of them) to use on sunny days, when you are in front of both sunny scenes and flat light scenes at the same time in the same place, like both sides of the street, under a few trees, etc...
I tend to use 400 film for sun so my sun camera can be prefocused and well stopped-down: ready to shoot... The two I've been using the most this way are my R4M with the CV 28 3.5 and my XA...
Then the other camera for shadows, has TMZ because I try to get huge DOF too... Sometimes I use a Bessa T with the CV 40 1.4, good in case I go into a church so I have the right lens already on... And lately I've used (and enjoyed a lot) the Oly Wide 100 (a zoom compact) for soft light with TMZ too...
A few days ago, I wanted to try something different, and then in the night I went out with an AF Nikon SLR with the AF 85 1.8 and TMZ to be used wide open only, and I really had a lot of fun... That's why another day this week, on an overcast day, I did something I hadn't done for more than a decade: I used my old AF 28-85 zoom as the only lens for the day, with TMZ and obviously the lens well stoppped-down too... I felt incredibly free! Yes, the camera sounds and weighs, and a prime is a prime, but it was amazing after shooting without zooms, AE or AF for so many years, how fast I could shoot... Just nothing escaped!
Then I thought, as I posted here a few days ago, that maybe a good company for that shadows AF SLR with AF zoom, would be a mechanical SLR for sun with a prefocused manual 35: that's why I was looking for a small 35 in F mount (I have 20, 50 and 105 only)...
The idea of using a zoom on my mechanical SLR came and went away in a flash as I didn't want to use one ring for focusing and another ring for zooming, because that isn't very fast in general: at least not as fast as what I get with my AF zoom with just one ring for zooming...
I did almost order the small 35 Series E: as my only interest was using it at f/8-f/11, I checked some examples and descriptions, and the image quality is not just enough, but great at that aperture. Even if the construction was less expensive, series E lenses aren't bad at all: a lot better than modern plastic lenses I own an have used for many years... They tried to retain IQ untouched... Not perfect wide open, and they can flare with the sun in front, though: I never shoot with the sun in front, and won't use it wide open... But, then I thought, I would just stick to my 50 1.4, and carry -just in case- my 20 2.8, instead of buying the 35...
Finally, yesterday I discovered (had only heard about primes...) there were some series E zooms too! And I just couldn't believe it when I found out those were designed with just one ring for zoom and focus... Wow! I have never seen or tried something like that! Perfect for my mechanical SLR street shooting under the sun: by f/11, just a bit of fast zoom and fast focus with the same ring and hit the shutter... Not even too much precision required when focusing...
So today I just ordered the small 36-72 3.5 series E zoom, only 6 cm. long! I'm so happy again! I found one image -stopped down- done with it after lots of web searching, and I couldn't believe how sharp and contrasty it was: I would have never believed it was done with such a cheap zoom...
Long live evil!
Cheers,
Juan
Well, this is how it happened:
These days I enjoy different sets, and feel happy shooting six cameras at the same time, and soon I'll load the seventh... I've been playing around with different cameras combinations (2 of them) to use on sunny days, when you are in front of both sunny scenes and flat light scenes at the same time in the same place, like both sides of the street, under a few trees, etc...
I tend to use 400 film for sun so my sun camera can be prefocused and well stopped-down: ready to shoot... The two I've been using the most this way are my R4M with the CV 28 3.5 and my XA...
Then the other camera for shadows, has TMZ because I try to get huge DOF too... Sometimes I use a Bessa T with the CV 40 1.4, good in case I go into a church so I have the right lens already on... And lately I've used (and enjoyed a lot) the Oly Wide 100 (a zoom compact) for soft light with TMZ too...
A few days ago, I wanted to try something different, and then in the night I went out with an AF Nikon SLR with the AF 85 1.8 and TMZ to be used wide open only, and I really had a lot of fun... That's why another day this week, on an overcast day, I did something I hadn't done for more than a decade: I used my old AF 28-85 zoom as the only lens for the day, with TMZ and obviously the lens well stoppped-down too... I felt incredibly free! Yes, the camera sounds and weighs, and a prime is a prime, but it was amazing after shooting without zooms, AE or AF for so many years, how fast I could shoot... Just nothing escaped!
Then I thought, as I posted here a few days ago, that maybe a good company for that shadows AF SLR with AF zoom, would be a mechanical SLR for sun with a prefocused manual 35: that's why I was looking for a small 35 in F mount (I have 20, 50 and 105 only)...
The idea of using a zoom on my mechanical SLR came and went away in a flash as I didn't want to use one ring for focusing and another ring for zooming, because that isn't very fast in general: at least not as fast as what I get with my AF zoom with just one ring for zooming...
I did almost order the small 35 Series E: as my only interest was using it at f/8-f/11, I checked some examples and descriptions, and the image quality is not just enough, but great at that aperture. Even if the construction was less expensive, series E lenses aren't bad at all: a lot better than modern plastic lenses I own an have used for many years... They tried to retain IQ untouched... Not perfect wide open, and they can flare with the sun in front, though: I never shoot with the sun in front, and won't use it wide open... But, then I thought, I would just stick to my 50 1.4, and carry -just in case- my 20 2.8, instead of buying the 35...
Finally, yesterday I discovered (had only heard about primes...) there were some series E zooms too! And I just couldn't believe it when I found out those were designed with just one ring for zoom and focus... Wow! I have never seen or tried something like that! Perfect for my mechanical SLR street shooting under the sun: by f/11, just a bit of fast zoom and fast focus with the same ring and hit the shutter... Not even too much precision required when focusing...
So today I just ordered the small 36-72 3.5 series E zoom, only 6 cm. long! I'm so happy again! I found one image -stopped down- done with it after lots of web searching, and I couldn't believe how sharp and contrasty it was: I would have never believed it was done with such a cheap zoom...
Long live evil!
Cheers,
Juan
