zerobuttons
Well-known
Fine shots, Jon.
Did you visit the old Chinese temple, that is now used as a mosque? I was in the area in 2008. That temple was a very beautiful place.
W-Nikkor C 3.5cm f/1.8 Photos!
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Fine shots, Jon.
Did you visit the old Chinese temple, that is now used as a mosque? I was in the area in 2008. That temple was a very beautiful place.
Thanks! If you mean the Great Mosque of Xi'an in the Muslim quarter, I certainly did visit it. Its a very old mosque (founded in 742), so I didn't realise it was a temple previously. I was lucky to visit at prayer time on a Friday and the mosque was very busy. I'm surprised they let visitors in actually. Unlike Muslim countries I've visited, there was no call to prayer and the service itself sounded more like a Buddhist service, though obviously it wasn't. Here's a few photos I took that day, all with an LTM W-Nikkor 3.5cm F1.8 lens.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Yes, great pictures again, Jon. It seems that the people did not notice that you made the pictures. Do you have a special candid technique? Usually muslims do not like being photographed.
Erik.
Erik.
Thanks Erik. I didn't do anything special, and just took photos in the same way I always do. I actually found it very easy to take photos in the Great Mosque and Muslim quarter of Xi'an, and in China in general, as people don't seem to react with the same suspicion towards cameras they generally do in the West and the Middle East.
zerobuttons
Well-known
Yes, that´s it. Again, fine shots. I´m almost certain we were told that the oldest buildings had other uses before the area became a mosque, but I could remember wrong. We were there on another weekday, on which both the yards and the prayer room (which we couldn´t enter), were almost completely empty.
kamshingk
Member
Shooting outside Ralph Lauren hk flagship store, Central, HK 2016
Nikon SP W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8 Kodak gold 200 at ISO 100
Shooting outside Ralph Lauren hk flagship store, Central, HK 2016 by kamshingk, 於 Flickr
Nikon SP W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8 Kodak gold 200 at ISO 100
Shooting outside Ralph Lauren hk flagship store, Central, HK 2016 by kamshingk, 於 Flickr
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jon,
I particularly love your night shots. The rendering is beautiful. I have only a few night shots that I have used my 35/1.8 LTM Nikkor. I have to use it more for night shooting.
Cal
I particularly love your night shots. The rendering is beautiful. I have only a few night shots that I have used my 35/1.8 LTM Nikkor. I have to use it more for night shooting.
Cal
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Thanks Cal. I love the W-Nikkor for night shooting. Actually, I like the W-Nikkor for any shooting hehe 🙂
Hi Erik, I think the W-Nikkor stamps its character pretty clearly on images in night shots, though I suppose scanning is also a factor. Not that I feel I'm doing anything special in that regard though. I just scan my B&W films using a Coolscan 5000 as grayscale with all other functions turned off, then do some minor PP to clone out scratches and marks and make minor contrast and unsharp mask adjustments. Very minimal really.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Does the Coolscan 5000 have a densitometer? It does a good job as the blacks aren't too black - without becoming gray - and also the lights show good detail.
Erik.
I'm not sure if the Coolscan 5000 has a densitometer, Erik. There's nothing in the specs on Nikon's website about anything like that.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
The Epsons have it, in any case, mine does, V600. It is a very handy device. It will help you to adapt the histogram. You can measure the density of small parts of the negative. You can determine for instance what the lightest and darkest parts of the negative are on a scale of 1 to 255 and adapt the curves, a bit like using harder and softer grades of paper when printing. Many users are not aware that the densitometer is there, but I always use it. It is better to do this adaptation before scanning than to do it afterwards in Photoshop.
Erik.
giulio stucchi
Well-known
Erik,
I am aware of the densitometer in my V600, I even follow the steps you provide in different threads on how to use it but I am so, so bad on the Technical side of things that I still need to figure out how to use it..aren't you by chance offering workshops on composition and editing 🙂 ?
btw, I will give a second try as soon as I find the time for it.
Jon,
great photos with or without the densitomer 🙂 !
Giulio
I am aware of the densitometer in my V600, I even follow the steps you provide in different threads on how to use it but I am so, so bad on the Technical side of things that I still need to figure out how to use it..aren't you by chance offering workshops on composition and editing 🙂 ?
btw, I will give a second try as soon as I find the time for it.
Jon,
great photos with or without the densitomer 🙂 !
Giulio
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Giulio, you are right, Jon's pictures have a perfect tonality, but that exactly was the reason I asked if he is using a densitometer. Apparently a Coolscan does not need one.
Erik.
Erik.
Giulio, Erik, thanks a lot!
Erik, I'll have to double check to be certain but I'm pretty sure the Nikon Scan software can be used to measure points on the negative to determine the lightest and darkest parts. But as you've already surmised, I've never used that function. Instead, I batch scan an entire roll in one go and let the scanner automatically determine the correct (according to the scanner) exposure and focus for each negative as the scanner scans the roll. I know Nikon Scan generally gets a bad rap in the forums but it does a good job for me and I've never found it to be lacking.
Erik, I'll have to double check to be certain but I'm pretty sure the Nikon Scan software can be used to measure points on the negative to determine the lightest and darkest parts. But as you've already surmised, I've never used that function. Instead, I batch scan an entire roll in one go and let the scanner automatically determine the correct (according to the scanner) exposure and focus for each negative as the scanner scans the roll. I know Nikon Scan generally gets a bad rap in the forums but it does a good job for me and I've never found it to be lacking.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jon,
Brutal. I love the look.
Thanks for the details of minimal post. Know that I am a lazy slacker and I always try to minimize post processing as much as possible to let the image be more organic and alive.
I find these images tastefully done.
Cal
