VinceC
Veteran
In a previous thread we discussed whether the Nikkor SC 5cm f/1.4 was actually optimized for shooting wide open and close up. Thus inspired, I spent Saturday and Sunday shooting a 24-exposure roll of film exclusively at f/1.4.
The results actually surprised me quite a bit. I expected the images to be flatter and softer. I tend to shoot my 2.8cm, 8.5cm and 13.5cm lenses wide open, but I've always stopped down my 5cm 1.4 a bit, to say 1.5, in order to improve contrast and reduce chance of flare. (Same with the 3.5cm f/1.8, which has an old-fashioned glow wide open, so I usually shoot it at f/2 and above). But the roll of film produced a bunch of really pleasing photos (pleasing to me, anyway). I've posted 11 samples in my VinceC gallery and will try to remember to attach two or three below. I'll also be a lot less skittish about cranking the lens wide open in the future.
FYI. the pictures were taken on Kodak consumer B+W ISO 400 film. I had the film processed at a one-hour lab, then scanned the 4x6 prints at 300 dpi. No image manipulation except to remove the worst dust spots.
The lens seems to perform equally well at close and middle distances. I only took one long shot, and this showed more vignetting than the close-ups and middle-distance photos. Depending on the light, some of the photos, notably the one of my daughter reading her Harry Potter book, do have that old-fashioned glow of a single-coated lens around some of the highlights. I'm not sure how well the scans captured it. The prints generally look sharper than the scans.
Take care,
Vince
My Gallery
The results actually surprised me quite a bit. I expected the images to be flatter and softer. I tend to shoot my 2.8cm, 8.5cm and 13.5cm lenses wide open, but I've always stopped down my 5cm 1.4 a bit, to say 1.5, in order to improve contrast and reduce chance of flare. (Same with the 3.5cm f/1.8, which has an old-fashioned glow wide open, so I usually shoot it at f/2 and above). But the roll of film produced a bunch of really pleasing photos (pleasing to me, anyway). I've posted 11 samples in my VinceC gallery and will try to remember to attach two or three below. I'll also be a lot less skittish about cranking the lens wide open in the future.
FYI. the pictures were taken on Kodak consumer B+W ISO 400 film. I had the film processed at a one-hour lab, then scanned the 4x6 prints at 300 dpi. No image manipulation except to remove the worst dust spots.
The lens seems to perform equally well at close and middle distances. I only took one long shot, and this showed more vignetting than the close-ups and middle-distance photos. Depending on the light, some of the photos, notably the one of my daughter reading her Harry Potter book, do have that old-fashioned glow of a single-coated lens around some of the highlights. I'm not sure how well the scans captured it. The prints generally look sharper than the scans.
Take care,
Vince
My Gallery
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