My first photos with a borrowed R2

[Wiechel]

Like I mentioned here http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3756 I borrowed a R2 over the weekend to get to know rangefinder photography.

Here are some shots from my first staggering attempts.
http://wiechel.se/rangefinder/

Very haphazard, as I only got to borrow it for 2 days I just shot anything that moved or did not move, really 🙂.

The pictures were taken with a Nokton 35/1.2 using Kodak Portra 800 and Ilford Delta 3200 film.

BUT, I really liked using the Voigt, so now I think I will be getting myself one. More about that later in the other thread!

 

[felipe]

In no particular order:
Nice haircut, nice lens, nice girl, nice cat, nice flowers on the table, nice flat, nice city, nice computer, very nice PICTURES 😀

Are you getting the 35 nokton too? Looks like an able performer for portraits, allthough it might be a tad large as a carry arround..
Looking forward to more of your pics! 🙂

phil

 

[kneedropper]

She's pretty. And now that we have that settled, what marvelous piece of electronics do you use for scanning!?! And what sofware from there on? How do you get that gorgeous color? That chrystal clarity of the images? God damn... fan du är skicklig... :bang:

 

[Doug]

Thanks for the useful display of your "testing" pictures! I have a great curiosity about the Voigtlander 1.2/35mm lens, and perhaps others do as well. So I was looking at your pictures to find signs of the character of that lens. I still can't quite tell if there's any barrel distortion or not; some shots hint at a little while others don't show it where I'd expect it to be revealed. But if there's any rectilinear distortion, it's certainly not the pincushion type!

I was also looking at the out of focus backgrounds to see how this lens renders narrow lines and small bright spots. It seems very pleasant to me, not harsh, nicer than the other two Nokton lenses in this. Were you wide open, or nearly so, for the interior shots? Thanks!

So you like the R2... What lens will you choose? 🙂

 

[laurentvenet]

I did like your pictures and do agree with other comments. I then had a look at the price of Nokton 35 / 1.2 .... well ...big difference with my cheap scopar 35 - 2.5 but you obtained such a clear and pleasant result (your friend is beautiful too).

I prefered the color photos to B&W.

Maybe 35/1.7 Aspherical Ultron $379 or 40/1.4 Nokton $349 are some good affordable choices too.

 

[Peter]

Really like your test shots with the Nokton 35mm/1.2. Makes me wonder do I need the Nokton to complete my collection of Voigtlander 35mm! 😛 Glad that you like the R2. My R2 has yet to fail me.

 

[Wiechel]

In no particular order:
Nice haircut, nice lens, nice girl, nice cat, nice flowers on the table, nice flat, nice city, nice computer, very nice PICTURES 😀

Are you getting the 35 nokton too? Looks like an able performer for portraits, allthough it might be a tad large as a carry arround..
Looking forward to more of your pics! 🙂

phil

Thank you very much for your praise of...everything 😉

No, I think I'd rather spend the same money on an Ultron 35/1.7 and a Heliar 75/2.5 than on the Nokton 35/1.2. I don' really NEED the extra .5 and I would guess the Ultron is sharper anyway...

 

[Wiechel]

She's pretty. And now that we have that settled, what marvelous piece of electronics do you use for scanning!?! And what sofware from there on? How do you get that gorgeous color? That chrystal clarity of the images? God damn... fan du är skicklig... :bang:

Yeah, she is! 🙂

The pictures were scanned in a Frontier machine, so I can't really take any credit for that... No afterprocessing though.

Edit: BTW, nice to see that your Swedish is better than the Finnish ATMs' dito 😉

 

[Wiechel]

I was also looking at the out of focus backgrounds to see how this lens renders narrow lines and small bright spots. It seems very pleasant to me, not harsh, nicer than the other two Nokton lenses in this. Were you wide open, or nearly so, for the interior shots? Thanks!

Yep, wíde open or nearly some for some of the interior shots. Not al´l of them though, as I recall. I was a bit worried about my capability to focus the Bessa, so I tried to avoid wide open as best as I could.

 

[felipe]

Thank you very much for your praise of...everything 😉

No, I think I'd rather spend the same money on an Ultron 35/1.7 and a Heliar 75/2.5 than on the Nokton 35/1.2. I don' really NEED the extra .5 and I would guess the Ultron is sharper anyway...

The Ultron 35/1.7 and the Heliar 75 are very good performers, you will be amazed at the quality you get from them.

cheers,
phil

 

[gelmir]

Nice pictures, I like the colors ! The scanning is really good ! I wonder if one can achieve the same result with a home scanner ?

 

[kneedropper]

Nice pictures, I like the colors ! The scanning is really good ! I wonder if one can achieve the same result with a home scanner ?

The scanner is just the first step. With a filmscanner or pro flatbed, yes, but this has to be followed by use of good software for scaling down and optimising the "for the web" images. I'm just into experimenting if it's better to scan the images directly to screen size or downsize from max resolution... I'll be back. I'm using a Nikon Coolscan V ED, which has average optics.

 

[Pherdinand]

you have two beautiful cats there, wiechel. I foresee lots of more nice photos of them.

 

[Wiechel]

you have two beautiful cats there, wiechel. I foresee lots of more nice photos of them.

Thanks! It's actually just one cat. But there are lots of old pictures of him in my picture gallery (these were not taken with a rangefinder though).

The picture gallery is located at http://wiechel.se/galleri.html

Just check for any series with his name ('Simson') in the title!

 

[Pherdinand]

😀 Wiechel, the other cat I was referring to has only two feet and no moustache.

 

[Wiechel]

😀 Wiechel, the other cat I was referring to has only two feet and no moustache.

Heh. I kind of figured that one out once I had left the computer 🙂

 

[Roman]

Nice concert pics & low-light work with Delta 3200 on your site!

Roman

 

[kneedropper]

Wiechel, what Apple software are you using for putting up the gallery? And you sure spotted the best of Helsinki, ahem... and the ATM, I can't really make out what it was telling you, but it might be correct på finlandssvenska, you know, keep your rikssvenska to yourself 😛

"Bögelund" - haha.

...and I need to get some Portra 800 right away. Where do you get yours from and for how much?

 

[Wiechel]

Wiechel, what Apple software are you using for putting up the gallery? And you sure spotted the best of Helsinki, ahem... and the ATM, I can't really make out what it was telling you, but it might be correct på finlandssvenska, you know, keep your rikssvenska to yourself 😛

"Bögelund" - haha.

...and I need to get some Portra 800 right away. Where do you get yours from and for how much?

I use iPhoto with the plugin BetterHTMLExport and the theme DP_PolaFrame.

Haha, the ATM says "Ge din kod", "Ett ögonblick, varsågod" and other ridiculous excuses for Swedish phrases 😉

Uhm, I buy the Portra at YFO (Yrkesfotograferna) just a few blocks from me here at Södermalm. I guess I buy around 60 SEK for it.

But I would urge you to try the Portra 400UC instead (or also). THat's one helluva film! I mean, just check out the colours here: http://wiechel.se/kiruna/kiruna-Pages/Image9.html

 

[Cloudy]

Ha ha ...... my first roll (RF) was also shot with a borrowed Bessa R2 (with a silver 50/1.5 Norton), then ...... I bought two used R2s (black and olive green), one Nokton 50/1.5, one APO 90/3.5 and one classic 35/2.5! 😀

Btw, your friend is pretty! 😀