My Vintage Cameras: Mamiya Sekor 80 mm Macro

Friday, August 11, 2017

Mamiya 1000S 645: Infrared Experiments I

I realized that I should have used a 'normal' film for testing the camera. But I was on an Infrared Binge, so I picked up a roll of Rollei IR 400. I also had the 720 nm IR filter to play with....

So 3 Exposures: 1 sec, 2 sec, 4 sec: Wild Grapes

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Saturdays Online: If you Need a NEW Film Camera, here you go.

As Followers know I have quite an extensive collection of film cameras. Some I bought new (like my Minolta X-700's back i the 1980's). But lately I've been purchasing lightly used medium format cameras in various Mamiya Formats.

But here's a link for those of you that want to work with film, but must have a new off the shelf camera. Seemingly only available in Japan, here are Medium Format Film Cameras Still Being Manufactured.

Poor me, I'll have to make do with my used equipment: Mamiya 645, 80mm Macro, Kodak Portra 160.

Monday, December 14, 2015

What Does a Portrait Really Say About Us?

A Picture may be worth 1000 words. But what are those words really saying about the Subject? And What are those words saying about the Photographer?

View an Interesting Experiment that reveals those 1000 words may tell us more about the Photographer than the subject.......

I'll be posting a series of Portraits of Me, taken by my husband & Some Self Portraits. Each one tells a different part of my recent life story.........What do you think this one is telling you?

From 2010: A little out of focus because I was experimenting with IR Film.

Saturday's Online: More from Clyde Butcher on Lenses and Sharpness

Facebook being what is is, I can't post the link to Clyde's comments, so I've copied the quote here:

Clyde Butcher, August 26, 2014 Facebook Posting:

"Sunday I took off to Myakka to test out a few lenses. The weather wasn't really any good for photography, but I wanted to test them before my trip to Bozeman MT where I have an exhibit in the Rocky Mountain Museum.

Using my Sony a7R digital body, I took the same photo at Myakka using the Cambo Artus with the RZ Mamiya 75 shift lens, then with the Cannon 17mm, then the Voigtlander 15mm, and then with the Zeiss 15mm lens. My conclusion has be introduced by saying that my eyes aren't what they use to be, and that none of this was done scientifically. Anyway, when I put the images up on the computer screen the two best lenses appeared to be the Cannon 17mm and Zeiss 15mm. Hard to tell the difference. Then the Voigtlander, which was so close to the other two that it wasn't worth saying it was to much different. As for the Mamiya, it too was very sharp, but in a much different way. It looked like…well, a photograph I had taken with film. It was sharp enough for me to enlarge it to a ten foot print on my computer screen and still look sharp, but it didn't have that HD quality to it that digital lenses have…it isn't a digital lens so it behaves differently. It's hard to explain.

Now that I know what each lens will do, I'm ready for some "real" photography!"

Clyde's been experimenting with digital photography, because he felt he couldn't carry around his large format cameras all the time. But an interesting discussion of experimenting with lenses from film cameras to eliminate that "Digital Look", something that I also find unattractive. I think you know what I mean, that "unnatural sharpness" of things your eyes can't actually see.

Remembering that people are not best served by HD television, why should all of your photography have that HD look too?

Thanks for the Test Clyde............Glad that the Mamiya Lens looked "real":