Summicron 50 : Get the Leica and the iphone!!!!!!!!

I hope people arent getting sick of the Leitz lens overdose, but I only have 2 for my Leica , the 2nd one showed up today a 1958 elmar 90/4 , I spent 30 minutes with q-tips and tissue cleaning out the grit and extra oil
 Until I get some new shots done, here is a photo of last nights gorgeous magenta sunset

ISO 640 f4 1/500th of a second

 The best part was my 3 yr old yelling out " Look the skies all pink and purple"
and my eldest screaming " get the Leica and the iphone" :)  kids

1964 Leitz Summicron 50mm f2: Baby Numan

Another test from the reflector purchase, this time I reduced the exposure a lot, -2/3 EV and added some contrast to make the B+W look more *interesting*

 Let me know what you think

ISO 160 f2.8 1/90th sec 1964 cron 50 on the M8U

Obligatory Leica self-portrait :)

Seems every Leica owner does this, so I figured I would too :)

 to show how small the camera is, the lens takes a 39mm filter!

1964 Leitz Summicron 50mm f2: Clarity test for portrait

this shot came out absolutely fantastic , the clarity of this lens and camera combo amazes me! Im almost as excited over my 10 dollar reflector as I am about the camera, but the reflector opens up so many possibilities, who needs a flash? well me probably!

Summicron 50mm f2 at f3.4 ISO 320 and 1/1500 sec , I used a silver 80cm reflector for the fil light using the last bit of the sunset

1964 Leitz Summicron 50mm f2: Why a Leica?

Some people were wondering why I saved up and bought a fully manual Leica , instead of grabbing a new Pentax/Nikon or Canon product?  The main reason was, I wanted to SLOW down my photo taking so I could actually think about it more and take some care creating images like this one of my daughter. her jacket and clothing were really that purple, and the restaurant has weird lighting ( neon, tungsten and fluoro)

ISO 640 F2.8 1/30th of a second

  Of course, it was helped by the stellar Leica glass, but this lens is 47 years old! Imagine what a newer lens would look like? its a similar optical formula, but it has the benefit of being 6 bit coded to correct for any vignetting and/or aberration plus it has the most modern multi - coating to stop glare.

 Saying all that, picking up the M8 and adjusting the lens while looking through the crystal clear and large viewfinder is magical, it sounds hokey, but the feel of the camera and the art of photography just feels right.
 Sort of like an older 60s sports car   , you have to put up with shortcomings and play to its strengths, but once you realise what teh strengths are and could be, its a sublime experience. Like certain things in life, the end product is greater than the sum of its parts , especially when you look at the tech specs and compare to even my pentax KX.

Then again, a leica isnt the perfect camera, for my macro stuff I will continue to use my Pentax KX, and also for rapid auto-focus at kids parties etc , but saying everyone wants me to calm down and be more *ZEN*  I think we can call this mission accomplished!

full size here

1964 Leitz Summicron 50mm f2: Sharpness test with velvia filter

this is taken at the restaurant to see how sharp the lens is , the glass is so sharp it looks 3d!!

ISO 640 F2 ( WIDE OPEN!) 1/90th of a second , i did a minimal amount of post processing again, white balance and I also tried out the velvia 100 filter from alienskins demo of exposure 3

www.alienskin.com/downloads/

Super Takumar 35mm/3.5 : its here :)

A 1964 Leitz summicron M 50mm f2 , taken with a super tak 35mm at f4 and ISO 800

its resting on my maple tapletop with something in the background, I wonder what that is?

hmmm

Takumar 50/1.4 : Now thats a lens!

this is a macro shot of the C/Y Contax carl zeiss T* planar 85/1.4 on my rebel XT , whata chunk of metal and glass that was! now sadly departed along with the camera too :(

taken with the Super MC Takumar 50 at f1.4 :)  ISO 200 and 1/40th of a second

super multi coated Takumar 50/1.4 : Forgotten Flower

I took this during the summer and it was misplaced on my hard drive so I rescued it from oblivion

Super Multi Coated Takumar 50 f1.4 wide open and ISO 200 1/4000th of a second on my Pentax KX

I lurve the out of focus part, it reminds me of a watercolour painting

super multi coated Takumar 50/1.4 : Bokeh Xmas tree

another shot I found while cleaning up my Hard drives folders of pics

 Taken at christmas time , I think this is at f2 ISO 800 1/125th of a second
Asahi pentax Super Multi Coated takumar 50mm f1.4 on my Pentax KX

Helios 40 85mm : Reading at the museum II

Bookstore at the natural history museum, my eldest looking at a dinosaur egg


Helios 40 85mm f1.5 at f1.5 ISO 800 1/250th of a sec


full size here

Helios 40 85mm : Fauxdachrome kid

From the natural history museum trip

ISO 800 +  f2 + 1/400th sec

 I am experimenting with the kodachrome look using PP sort of fauxdachrome I guess

this is the one that looks the most authentic to me out of the batch I tried, let me know if it looks cool, or just too enthusiastic with the processing

cheers

D163

full size here

Helios 40 85mm : Reading at the museum

At the museum, one of the cool things was the bookstore and its array of science books, here is my youngest reading one

Helios 40 85mm f1.5 at f1.5 ISO 800 and 1 / 160th sec

full size here

I was sorting out the directories on my computer and I found a few shots from the summer/fall of last year that I was going to  " post at a later date"

 Well now its definitely later so here we go:

This one  was taken with a
Super Multi Coated Takumar 50mm f1.4 wide open at f1.4 and ISO 1600! 1/40th sec

Helios 40 85mm : beaver skull at the museum

In the natural history museum they had lots of skulls! here is a Canadian beaver taken with my tanktastic Helios 40

ISO 1600 f1.5 and 1/500th of a sec

Helios 40 85mm: Sue , The T-Rex

we drove 11 hours in 1 day to go to Halifax and back ( about 700 kms in all) as Sue the Trex was on display on loan from the Chicago Museum

 worth the trip for sure!

Helios 40 85mm at f2 ISO 800 1/60th sec handheld!  the red *blood*  is a light that shines on the skull and fades in and out

helios 44m6 58mm: Kodachrome part III

I found a shot that I liked , but didnt like the processing on it, so i redid it using my handmade Kodachrome preset , I think it looks lot better now , , which means it will get single digit views :)

 Helios 44m6 on my KX

Pentax FA 50mm f1.4: Kodachrome style part Deux

the family room at the aquatic centre was orange, and I used my kodachrome settings to make it look 70s
this change came out quite well I thought , especially saying the lens was wide open!

ISO 800 f1.4 1/500th sec

Pentax FA 50mm f1.4: Velvia Slide style

I was at a child birthday party at the aquatic centre and to take a quick break from the chaos I ventured to the quieter Olympic pool area

 This was processed to look like Velvia Slide film , I love the rippled light in the bottom right corner

ISO 800 1/2500 sec f 2.5

Pentax FA 50mm f1.4: Kodachrome style!

I was at a childs birthday party at the aquatic centre and to take a quick break from the chaos I ventured to the quieter Olympic pool area

 This one I adjusted the colour in lightroom to make it look like a 70s Kodakchrome slide
I need to save those settings as a preset!

ISO 800 f22! 1/50th of a second

Helios 40 85mm: Quiet boy

This poor guy was at the birthday party and the chlorine from the pool really hurt his eyes, so he was just relaxing with his head down during the goings on

Helios 40 85mm f1.5 @ f2 ISO 800 and 1/ 1000 th of a second

Helios 40 85mm: The Birthday Boy!

Taken with the helios 40 on my pentax KX, the birthday boy himself! taken at f2 ISO 800 1/640th of a second

Pentax FA 50mm f1.4: Modern lens!: Relax it was manually focused

I know, i know , its not a vintage lens, but I focused this manually, and processed it to look like 70s Kodak , so sue me :)

O ;iked this shot a lot so i put it up here ;p

Helios 40 85mm: Adams Birthday Cake

From a recent kids birthday party, another one! ( Adam)

Birthday cake taken with the Helios 40 at f2 ISO 800 and 1/800th of  a second

Pentax K 50mm f2: 70s Wife and Nephew

I used the vintage Pentax K 50mm f2 for some shots after the party,  my wife is the pretty lady

 The funny  kid is my nephew :)

this is f2 and ISO 800 1/250th of a sec

Pentax K 50mm f2: Too Human

My Sister in law had a K1000 like I said previously so I borrowed her lens at the birthday party for some shots,

 This one is shot at f2 and ISO 800 on my KX and I processed it a bit greenish  to make it more retro, and the line of light on my brothers face reminds me of the characters in the Too Human videogame

Pentax K 50mm f2: Infinity Beads

My sister in law has an old Pentax K1000 from her university days, so for a goof I popped off the lens and put it on my KX, it worked REALLY well and the camera focused nicely

ISO 800 F2 1/320 th of a second, and with hardly any post processing required! Its almost like a pentax lens on a Pentax body works like it belonged there :) and this lens is 20+ years old

helios 44m6 58mm: Im the Firestarter, twisted firestarter :)

Helios 44m6 58mm at f2 , ISO 8001/320th of a sec

My nephew blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, I didnt realise how crazy the flames get before they go out

poor spongebob looks like he is trying to escape!

Helios 40 85mm: dodgeball hitman!

a rare shot of me using th Helios 40 at a smaller aperture than f1.5 :)

ISO 800 + f2.8  this kid was quite intense playing the games!

Helios 40 85mm: Popcorn for the kids

This was a big hit with the kids, Orville Redenbacher ( sp) popcorn

taken at ISO 800 f1.5 and 1/60th of a second

full size here full size

Helios 40 85mm: Worn out Party director :)

Helios 40 85mm at f2.0 ISO 800 and 1/100th of a second, this poor gal had just played dodgeball and tag with a dozen kids aged 7-9 for about 30 minutes, phew!