Russar (Russian 20mm Wide Angle) Remake v. 2014

The folks at Lomography have been doing some interesting things lately. For me, any company that keeps film photography alive is okay. But their latest antic is really pretty interesting.

Image Source: http://microsites.lomography.com/russar-lens/

 

Lomography is producing an updated version of the 1958 Russian "Russar" 20mm f5.6 lens with what seems the perfect combination of classic optical design and modern materials and manufacturing methods.

 

The new Russar+ will be made in Leica Thread Mount (LTM), also known as "L39," which is great for us Leica users. That makes it native on the Barnack cameras, and easily adaptable to Leica M cameras. It also makes a nice base for adapting to other mounts, like Micro 4/3.

 

It sounds like they really are making some upgrades to the lens. For example, while the original lens body was made of aluminum, the new one is brass. Reportedly, it's being manufactured by Zenit in Russia. I don't know Zenit's full history, but I know from classic camera shopping that they've been around a while.

 

Now, a maximum aperture of f5.6 is a little hard to live with, especially if you're shooting film. But, that's the classic design, and one of the tradeoffs of using them. I have a Cosina Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 lens that rarely sees use because of that small maximum aperture.

 

But, any way I look at it, this is a cool development. One of my highest-use lenses is the awesome Carl Zeiss C-Sonnar 50mm f1.5. If the Russar+ implements a classic design with modern improvements in even a slightly similar fashion, it will be worth having.

 

You can pre-order yours by (Clicking Here). The price is US$649, and they're scheduled for delivery in July 2014.

 

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Low Tech Wonder - Lomography Sprocket Rocket and Nikon Flash at an Indoor Event!

 

Making the Mochi (Rice Cakes), by Reed A. George

Lomography Sprocket Rocket, Nikon SB-30 Flash

iso400 Color Print Film

 

I've mentioned in the past that I find myself only using my film cameras in easy shooting situations. This post takes me out of that limitation a little. My family and I attended a Japanese New Year celebration in Washington, DC. Having been to this event before, I knew that the lighting was weak in the hotel meeting rooms. Weak and kind of yellow - you know, like attending a convention at any other hotel.

 

I wanted to take my new Lomography Sprocket Rocket and give it a try. But, with a maximum aperture of f10.8, how could I pull it off? Simple! Use the hot shoe on top to mount a flash. I used an old Nikon SB-30, a tiny little flash unit. I knew I'd get huge light dropoff with distance, using a small flash like that. But, I decided that was what I wanted.

 

Nikon SB-30 Flash

Image Source: http://reallyrightstuff.com/mmrrs/Others/Newsletter/newsletter4.html

 

I loaded up a roll of iso400 film in the Sprocket Rocket, set the SB-30 to the automatic setting for f11 at iso 400 (third row down in the little table on the back of the flash shown above), and went to town, literally.

 

Another Form of Mochi Maker (Automatic), by Reed A. George

Lomography Sprocket Rocket, Nikon SB-30 Flash

iso400 Color Print Film

 

 

Outgoing Vendors, by Reed A. George

Lomography Sprocket Rocket, Nikon SB-30 Flash

iso400 Color Print Film

Parallax Correction? Well, Not So Much, by Reed A. George

Lomography Sprocket Rocket, Nikon SB-30 Flash

iso400 Color Print Film

 

When you shoot up close with the Sprocket Rocket, parallax can be a real problem. I thought I had this young man's face almost in the middle of the rangefinder in the vertical direction. As it is, he ended up with a sprocket hole over one eye. Sorry about that, kid.

 

I had a blast walking around the event with the Sprocket Rocket and flash. With these types of toy cameras, the normal "no-no"s, like using a tiny flash and small aperture almost add to the images. I am thoroughly enjoying dropping all pretense and shooting for pure fun with this camera. More low tech wonders to come!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

The Creative Process, or How I Got the Shot

First off, I want to let you know that I'm very proud of the first picture below. I understand that it's not going to win the Pulitzer, but it's exactly the type of image that I strive for, and is pretty elusive. For me, it brings together a lot about my project in the local music scene and why I enjoy it. It was taken during a recording session for the local band "Jake and the Burtones," at Shepherd's Ford studio in Berryville, Virginia.

Jack Pugh of Jake and the Burtones, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Carl Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f1.5 Lens

 

Now, I want to analyze what went into the process for me, and how I ended up getting this shot. There were many preparations that allowed this to happen, including a lot of getting to know people and being around at music events, which eventually allowed me to get an invitation to the recording session. Let's leave that important part aside for now, and focus on the photographic approach that I took.

 

The first thing that struck me when I walked into Shepherd's Ford was how the musicians were walled off from each other, in separate little cubes. The second thing, which probably should have been first, was the light. It was a beautiful, promising challenge. Dynamic range was surely going to be part of it. At the north side of the room were big, un-cluttered windows, with dramatic sunlight pouring in at the low angle of winter. Diffused by snow on the ground, it made an enormous, gorgeous warm softbox to light the scene. The first five feet of the room were bathed in this awesome light. Ten feet in, the shadows took over - long, dramatic, every scene full of contrast. But, shooting while facing those windows required overexposing the outdoor light, in order to get any detail on the darker side, like in peoples' faces. This exposure adjustment was a technique learned from the books - sometimes you must compromise exposure in peripheral areas to get it right on your main subject. One approach is to spot meter your main subject, and make exposure decisions from there. The Leica M9 that I was shooting doesn't have a spot meter, so I just metered a characteristically-lit portion of the floor, took a few test shots, and adjusted from there.

 

In trying to capture the true feel of the whole scene, I started with an ultra wide angle lens, the Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 Heliar, and shot to include the cube walls separating the musicians. This is a lens that I don't use often, as it's just amazingly wide, I find composition to be very challenging. The ultra-wide approach was only moderately successful. However, I found that the lens allowed me to include a lot of details from the studio, including the Dolly Parton pin-up on the back wall. I also really liked how the lines of the rafters reached out from the distance to this lens. So, I used the ultra-wide lens and exposure compensation technique to capture the whole band, including lots of information about the studio setting. This was critical for me. I get to shoot these musicians under excellent stage lighting all the time. Just portraits, without environment, could be shot anywhere, at any show. I wanted images that could only be shot here, in the studio, which is a unique and priveleged situation.

Studio Walls, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 LTM Lens

Jake and the Burtones in the Studio, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 LTM Lens

 

Once I had these shots, I could then begin to work on individuals. I would say that I need more work on this type of shooting. The subject photo of this piece (the first picture above) was my one "aha" interaction. Once again using the huge softbox effect of the external windows, I'm sure that it was the light that attracted me to shoot from this particular angle, in front of the bass player, Jack Pugh. I chose the Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.5 C Sonnar lens, both because I needed the wide aperture for the low light shots, and because it has just the right balance of character and sharpness to produce the look I wanted.

 

This was when the magic happened. At first, Jack played it cool, like I wasn't bothering him standing there shooting away while he played. Then I saw him start to sniff and move his face in a funny way. Smirking from behind the camera,I guessed that his nose was itching. Making a series of expressions I chose not to capture out of courtesy, he started to smile. We both cracked up. I thought maybe it was over, time to move on, but decided to hang in and keep shooting. Then I saw the shot develop. We had just been through a tiny shared moment together. His urge to sneeze now abated and he really relaxed, with me still there. It was not the moment of connection when we laughed together that turned out to be the best shot, but the moment after, when it felt like normal again, even with my lens pointed at him. Magic.

 

While I typically shoot my Nikon D700 at live music shows, mainly due to its supreme handling of low light situations, I can honestly say I don't think I could've pulled this shot off with a DSLR. The Leica is just a less threatening thing to have pointed at you.

 

Once the pressure was really off, I shoot a couple of really risky images, using a new toy plastic camera I got for Christmas, the Sprocket Rocket (!) camera by Lomography. This beast shoots 35mm film panoramas, with the image going out and over the sprocket holes in the film.

Break Time, by Reed A. George

Lomography Sprocket Rocket Camera, Lomography iso800 Color Print Film

 

If you're interested in the Sprocket Rocket, click on my Amazon link at the bottom of this post to learn more, and maybe even buy one.

 

Finally, to round out my coverage of the day, I walked with the band down to the banks of the Shenandoah River and got a quick group shot.

 

 

Jake and the Burtones (and Brian), by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Carl Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f1.5 Lens

I had a great time at this shoot. The Leica M9 was a great choice for shooting in the studio. I also enjoyed playing around with the Sprocket Rocket.

 

Oh yeah. If you want to hear Jake and the Burtones (Click Here)! I can tell you from first hand experience - their new album is going to be great!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Wanna Turn Your Nice Micro 4/3 Camera Into A Holga? Olympus Body Cap 15mm Lens.

 

Olympus 15mm f8 "Body Cap" Lens

Image Source: http://www.photographyblog.com/news/olympus_15mm_f_8_body_cap_lens_for_micro_four_thirds/

 
Well, not quite a Holga. This little lens has a focus knob. But, if you push that to infinity, set your iso to 400, and shutter speed to 1/100 second, you've got yourself a "no-touch" craptastic camera, just like the Holga.
 
If you're not familiar with the Holga cheap plastic camera movement, (Click Here) to see the Lomography site.
 
That's right. This tiny little fix f8 (very slow, needs a lot of light) lens fits onto your Micro 4/3 body and can serve as both a body cap, and a rather constrained lens.
 
I found a nice post on Pekka Potka's blog about using the lens on walks with his dog. Pekka indicates all of the limitations of the lens, but still decides to have some fun with it.
 
(Click Here) to read Pekka's blog entry about this lens and see plenty of example images.
 
For me? Certainly not. But, at least Olympus is keeping it interesting.
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 

I Think I Got My Fisheye Fix - On The Cheap!

Distorted Metal and Structural Glass, by Reed A. George

Lomography Fisheye, iso200, f8, 1/100 sec.

 
Well, if you've followed my blog, you will know that I've toyed with fisheye, even ordering and then subsequently cancelling a fisheye attachment for my Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3. I knew that I wanted to play with the effect, but that it would not be a mainstay of my photography. At $200 for an attachment (the DMC-GF1) that only goes to 120 degrees field of view, to three times that much for a dedicated Panasonic fisheye lens (the Lumix H-F008, 8mm f3.5), I just couldn't justify it, even to myself.
 
So, when I saw the Lomography fisheye camera come up, I had to have it. Now, be warned, this is no high quality equipment. It is a 35mm film camera with 170 degree field of view. The body is very cheaply-built - think disposable camera. There are no adjustments - it is fixed focus (everything is in focus anyway), fixed shutter speed (1/100 sec.), and fixed aperture (f8). The only thing you can control is the iso of the film you use. I learned from my first two rolls that I should be shooting iso 400, as many of my iso 200 shots were underexposed. All those qualifications notwithstanding, this is a FUN little camera!
 
There is a newer version, the aptly named "Fisheye 2," which includes an improved viewfinder, 180 degree field of view, the ability to do timed and multiple exposures, and some additional flash capabilities. It costs about $60. Anyway, I went with the cheaper first version.
 
You will likely see some more images from my Lomo Fisheye. In fact, I have one or two from a music festival this weekend that I plan to share.
 
So, I didn't go Lumix for my fisheye solution. However, I'm thinking - since it's got such wide depth of field and is focus-free - I wonder if there's a way to remove the lens from the plastic camera body and attach it to an adapter for use on my Micro 4/3 bodies? It would crop the view quite a bit, but the distortion would still be there. Hmm... Maybe a future project.
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com