The Nikon Df - A Take from a Non-Nikon User

The retro looking Nikon Df has generated a lot of interest, especially among Nikon users. As usual, some love it, some hate it, and some are indifferent. My feeling of the Df is that it's ugly. I had a few Nikon film bodies before, the cheap EM, the fabulous Nikomat FTM, and the controversial Nikon FA, but I like the look of the Nikon F3 the best.  Aesthetically, the Df to me is kind of a botched job, especially when view directly from the front. The proportion looks like someone put it on a vise and squeezed it from the sides, but it looks better from the top. The back looks just like any other digital SLR on the market.

I know the old timers love manual controls on the camera, and the Df has lots of it. I do question if the ISO dial is necessary. In the age of auto ISO, how useful is it to have a dedicated ISO dial? Personally, I set my ISO to Auto and never have to change it. Perhaps, the purpose is to slow you down and force you to take your time; same thing can be said about the shutter speed dial. This camera is definitely not created for operation speed. In a way, I guess it makes sense if it's targeted at the group of people who like to shoot their digital camera like a 1980s film camera.

The pricing of the camera is a surprise to me. Nikon has a tendency to price new niche cameras way too high. The Nikon 1 series comes to mind, and I think this one is overpriced for what it offers. No doubt many will pay for it purely for the look, but a D800 or a D610 is a better value.

I like the sensor in the Df. 16MP is a sensible solution that satisfies the majority of needs. I wish others will create a 16MP full frame sensor using today's technology. The low light performance would be phenomenal.

For me, I feel no love for the Df. Your mileage may vary.

Drums - Canon 5D Mark II & EF 135mm f2L @ f2. Click for larger.

Bike Accessory Theft in Toronto

Within the last few months, I have lost two mud guards and today, someone removed the brake, complete with lever, from my bike. I only had the front brake on my bike and was riding on a freewheel single speed, and without a brake, it was not easy to ride home. I was, and still am, so freaking mad. The mud guards were stolen on rainy days, so that might have been impulsive, but removing the brake is clearly a planned theft. Frankly, I am more disappointed than angry, at how some of my fellow Torontonians have become. The bike was locked right in front of the video surveillance camera, but the low life thief just didn't care. I just shook my head in disbelief when they took my mud guards the second time, but removing the only brake from someone's bike is downright inconsiderate and dangerous.

I guess the only option is to ride an ugly beat-up bike so worthless that nobody wants to take it for free.

Unbelievable.

Rain drops on maple leaf -  Sony NEX-6 & Taylor-Hobson 75mm f2 TV Lens. Click for larger.

A Few Thoughts about Sony's New Products

Sony maybe a giant in the electronics and broadcast TV industry, but they are an underdog when it comes to interchangeable lens cameras. While the giants are becoming complacent, iterating their product lines with minor changes and call them new products, Sony is truly creating new and unique products or product niches. This may sound funny coming from a long time Canon user, but I am not a Sony fanboy. I use products that meet my needs and budget and at the moment, Sony products are the best match for my needs right now.

The RX series are brilliant ideas. Certainly not a new category, but Sony combines great sensor technology with very good optics and body design that is appealing and desirable. If I want good quality and pocketability, I would go for the RX-100/RX-100II; if I were rich, I wouldn't think twice buying an RX-1/RX-1R; if I were a serious enthusiast who demands great image quality and optical performance, I would get an RX-10.  In fact, despite the high price, I think Sony will sell a lot of the RX-10s; the zoom range and constant f2.8 aperture of the lens on this camera is simply too good to resist. If I were not a lens slave, the RX10 would satisfy 99% of my photography needs and in the long run, saves me tons of money buying mediocre lenses that most people would buy for their low end cameras, like the 55-200mm f4-5.6.

But my desirable camera is the A7/A7r. The A7/A7r may not appeal to some, especially those who only want to use it with auto focus lenses. The auto focus lens selection is a bit limited at the moment, but the two prime Zeiss lenses are exceptionally good, though pricy. To a lens whore who has lenses in many mounts, the A7/A7r is like a wet dream. Like everyone else, I realize there are issues with ultra wide angle rangefinder manual focus lenses which exhibits colour shift and severe vignetting. It's totally a non-issue for me.  I don't own any wide angle range finder lenses. The widest I have is the 40mm f1.4 Voitglander Nokton. Most of my lenses are in reflex mounts, like Canon FD, Minolta MC/MD, and of course EF mounts. The A7/A7r can use all of them through adapters; exactly what I am doing with my NEX-6, except now all the lenses will see the light as they were designed with no cropping.

Exciting times.

Downtown Toronto - Sigmarit 30mm f2.8 @ f8 & Sony NEX-6. Click for larger.

Bokehlicious

Autumn is my favourite season and I usually take a lot of pictures, but not this year.  Seeing that the colours of the trees are quickly changing, and the weather is getting colder, I know if I don't go out and take some pictures of fall colours, that would be it this year.

I like to use long lenses to shoot the fall and the at wide apertures, because I like the look of the bokeh. The Canon 200mm f1.8L would have been great for this, but it's semi-dead; I can take pictures with it, but it would not focus. Then I thought about the Kinoptik 210mm f2.8 Speciale Cine and it's beautiful rendering, I thought it would be a good lens to use.  I was not disappointed.

There is something about the cinematic lenses that renders pictures so beautifully that I like a lot. If it were not so large and heavy, I would have used it far more often.

All pictures below were taken with the Canon 5D Mark II & Kinoptik 210mm f2.8 Speciale Cine.

Kiron 28mm f2 Photo Samples

Kiron made some very nice wide and mini-wide angle lenses in variety of mounts. Two of my favourites are 24mm f2 and 28mm f2. Being consumer grade lenses, these little gems do not have the sharpest corners but much better than the zooms of the same era. I have two or three 28mm f2 in different mounts and they all suffer from oil getting into the aperture blades.  My 24mm f2 is now so bad that the aperture blades are all stuck. This is a common problem for Kiron lenses and you may want to make sure yours does not have a stuck aperture.  I won't consider a little bit of oil on the blade is a deal breaker if the aperture can be opened and closed smoothly, but if you see excess amount, sooner or later, you will have problems.

Aside from the oil issue, there is much to love about this lens. It's very well built and small, and it focuses smoothly. Optically very good for just a little bit of money.

Converging lines - Kiron 28mm f2 [MD] & Sony NEX-6. Click for larger.

Yellow and Red - Kiron 28mm f2 [MD] & Sony NEX-6. Click for larger.

The old soap factory - Kiron 28mm f2 [MD] & Sony NEX-6. Click for larger.

Sunset in the city - Kiron 28mm f2 [MD] & Sony NEX-6

The Other Hektor

This one is actually a projection lens - Hektor 120mm f2.5. As usual, it's mounted on a focusing helicoid, this time on the Vivitar 2x Macro Teleconverter that I made into a helicoid. This lens is actually pretty sharp, as good as the Hektor 13.5cm f4.5 that I used yesterday. The only negative is the contrast being pretty low. Being a relatively fast lens without aperture, this is expected. It also shows quite a bit of purple fringing on high contrast, backlit scenes. The bokeh is not bad at all, and the lens is quite a bit easier to focus than the other Hektor.

Well, another fun lens to shoot with :)

City of Toronto - 5D Mark II & Leitz Hektor 120mm f2.5 Projection lens.

The fountain - 5D Mark II & Leitz Hektor 120mm f2.5 Projection lens.

Scooter - 5D Mark II & Leitz Hektor 120mm f2.5 Projection lens.

Leitz Hektor 13.5cm f4.5 on Canon 5D Markk II

I know what you are thinking - how can you use an M-mount lens on the Canon?  Strictly speaking, it's no longer an M-mount lens. I got this one from the photo show that came on an Visoflex extension tube. The Hektor's lens group can be detached from its focusing tube. I mounted it on the Yeenon 18-32mm focusing helicoid plus a couple of thin 52mm filter rings and it's slightly past infinity focus on the 5D II. The tiny lens looks funny on a big camera like the 5D II, as you can see below.

Hektor 13.5cm f4.5 on Canon 5D II. Click for larger.

This is probably one of the cheapest Leica M-mount lenses you can buy, and for a good reason; it's not the sharpest lens, especially in the corners. I do have another Hektor that is a complete lens and I used it on the NEX and the result is similar. This one is probably much worse, the way I mounted it on the 5D II, with glue, filter rings, and all. But, it's how much fun you have shooting it that matters!

Fall Colours - Canon 5D II & Leitz Hektor 13.5cm f4.5. Click for larger.

One thing that I notice is that the Canon has a much stronger, more vibrant colours without much processing. I kind of like it as I prefer vibrant colours; much more pleasing to my eyes. One advantage of mounting the lens on a helicoid, is that it lets me focus much closer than otherwise possible. Being able to focus close is one of the attractions for me, as I do a fair bit of close up pictures.

Seagull - Canon 5D II & Leitz Hektor 13.5cm f4.5 @ f4.5. Click for larger.

I certainly enjoyed shooting this lens, and was nice not having to worry about adapter tolerance, as I am sure mine is way off the chart. There are times when sharp corners are needed, but many pictures are simply enhanced by the lack of sharp corners.

Sign of Autumn - Canon 5D II & Leitz Hektor 13.5cm f4.5 @ f4.5. 

Texting - Canon 5D II & Leitz Hektor 13.5cm f4.5

Ultimate Precision Adapter Material - Duct Tape

I am joking about the duct tape having the ultimate precision, but while many people are debating the merits of adapters on the Sony A7/A7r, and how a few microns of tolerance could affect the edge sharpness, I was having a blast shooting the S.F.O.M 100mm f3.2 projection lens held together to the focusing helicoid by duct tape. I used this lens on the Sony NEX-6 a few times (here and here) and really like the way the pictures were rendered, but I want to see how it looks on full frame. I mounted the lens the opposite of how I did it on the NEX; I mounted it on the 5D II with the front of the lens toward the sensor because it's the only way it can focus to infinity.  Maybe I will try it again on a shorter helicoid next time.

I had high hopes, but the pictures didn't turn out as good as when shot with the NEX-6. It seems to have more internal flare, and less sharp. I think the inversion of the lens makes the difference, or the focusing using optical viewfinder makes it much harder to get critical focus. I definitely enjoy using the NEX-6 over the 5D II when it comes to shooting with manual focus lenses, and that's why I eagerly await the arrival of the Sony A7/A7r. The bokeh is still interesting with a bit of weirdness though today I did some torture test on bokeh (see last picture). Naturally, all pictures were shot wide open at f3.2 since there is no aperture control on the lens.

All the pictures below were shot using the S.F.O.M projection lens mounted on the Vivitar 2x Teleconverter converted to a focusing helicoid.

Photo Set with Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8

Maybe I am getting old, but I don't like to lug big heavy lenses for shooting anymore. This Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8 is huge compared to a modern Canon AF version, and at almost twice the weight. Strangely, it balances much better on the bigger Canon bodies than the NEX camera. I even get reasonably good in-focus ratio using the optical viewfinder to focus.

As I wrote before, this lens is best used on large sensor cameras, or on low density sensors. The 5D II is a good match for lens. If you need a long lens that gives you thin depth of field, and works on pretty much most camera systems, this one is a good choice, and it's quite a commonly available lens too.

All pictures below were taken with the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8 on Canon 5D Mark II.  

Sony A7 and A7r - Game Changing Cameras?

Sony today unveiled the leaked, and much anticipated full frame cameras in a small mirrorless body. Reactions have been mostly positive around the net, myself included. This is the camera I have been waiting for a long time. Small, full frame, and most importantly, with a mount that has short flange distance which will take pretty much all kinds of lenses. I think Sony has a winner here, especially when it's priced below its main rivals, the Nikon D610 and Canon 6D, but I think Leica has the most to worry about. For me, it's a Canon full frame replacement.

The EOS to NEX smart adapters is on its second generation and fully supports the EF lenses: AF and IS. Yes it's a bit slower but to me it's not a deal breaker. With the A7's phase-detect capabilities, it will only be a matter of time before the AF speed and accuracy will improve for the Canon EF lenses. In the mean time, I can get rid of my 5D Mark II, which I like, but not as often used as I had hoped; I tend to grab the NEX-6 on the way out because my backpack is often very heavy with a laptop, bike lock, lunch, etc., and with the 5D II thrown in, it becomes too much. I am eagerly waiting for the A7's arrival on November. I don't much care about the A7r's higher resolution. 24 MP is more than enough for me and A7's better image quality is icing on the cake.

The only thing I wish the A7 would have, is in-body stabilization, preferably with the capability of Olympus' EM-1, but it's a minor issue for me.

One thing I think Sony is making a mistake is Zeiss branded lens prices. I know they are quality lenses, but $1000 for a 50mm f1.8?  That's ridiculous, unless the lens barrel is made of 24K gold. I hope the NEX 50mm f1.8 OSS won't vignette severely. How much better will the Zeiss version be, over the NEX version, besides the fact that it covers full frame? The pricing will put off many people who want to use the A7/A7r with AF lenses.  Sony should make at least one inexpensive, but good prime lens, like the NEX 50mm f1.8 OSS at introduction. But again, it's a minor issue for me as I will be using this camera with mostly manual focus lenses.

Good job, Sony. Your competition should be worried.

Lone man & bird - Canon 5D Mark II & Olympus OM 35mm f2.