Sometimes Still, Sometimes Not

Photographed using a Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 lens in M42 screw mount on a Fujifilm X-E1 camera via an adapter.

Photographed at the White Swan, Riverside, Twickenham, using a Nikon D50 and a Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 lens in available light. Hand held at 1/25th and f/4; 1600 ISO. With thanks to the customer for readily agreeing to be photographed. Also the dog for good temper.

Nikon D2Xs + Tamron SP 35mm F1.8 Di VC USD lens. f/4; 1/40th. 200 ISO.

Photographed with a Canon EOS 40D + Canon 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 EF lens. This is a very good lens, although sadly my copy is temperamental and won't function at all in manual focus mode. It has had a long and hard life, yet can still turn in a virtuoso performance. Sadly the number of missed opportunities, where it seizes up, have led to it being designated a paperweight.

Photographed using one of the relatively early Helios-44 lenses, a preset with unusual positioning of the aperture ring at the front and a scalloped focussing ring close to the camera end. The filter ring is 49mm and there are 13 aperture blades. When I bought it on eBay it was screwed into a Zenit-E. The logo engraved at the front reveals it was manufactured by the KMZ company. It is quite good, if a bit counter intuitive in use. It was a more up-to-date auto version of this lens that was on my first SLR, a Zenit-EM. I don't think I realised at that time just what a special optic I had. I have been reading a blog about the Helios-44 used in combination with a Fuji-X camera - www.sharkandpalm.com/photography-tips/walking-through-washington-heights-on-a-rainy-afternoon The writer enthuses about ‘the gorgeous lo-fi bokeh the Helios 44-4 offers wide open’ and remarks ‘Something I understand more every time I shoot with this lens is the limits of it's sharpness. Even when focus is spot-on, a subject on the edge of the frame hazes and blurs out of focus.’ He is surprised ‘that this cheap vintage glass can perform so well for architectural and landscape shots!’ In a blog reviewing the Helios-44 at www.sharkandpalm.com/camera-reviews/helios-44-4-lens-review-swirly-bokeh-for-portraits he opines that ‘for $30’ it is ‘one of the best portrait lenses for a mirrorless body you can find.’ Regarding the ‘Helios 44-4's Swirly Bokeh’ he finds that, ‘Funnily enough, this optical quality was also considered an engineering defect: newer versions of the Helios lens phased it out. The Helios 44-4, being one of the earliest models, exhibits some of the most dramatic swirly bokeh.’ Camera: Fujifilm X-E1.

Nikon D2Xs + Tokina SD 50-135mm f/2.8 DX AT-X Pro lens. Drastically cropped and processed in B&W resulting in a very small file.

Photographed with a Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AI-S lens on a Nikon D700 camera.

Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI lens. ISO 100; f/6.3; 1/160th. Interviewed for Camera & Darkroom magazine in the 1980s, photographer Sally Mann said she used Olympus OM cameras, and that, if she were going to do any art work using 35mm film, she would use the 40mm Zuiko. She felt 40mm was ‘about right’. There have never been many 40mm lenses on the market. Professionals tend to prefer 35mm for general work and amateurs have provided the market for the ubiquitous 50mm standard. And for many years now, manufacturers have provided zoom lenses with consumer cameras, and people take photographs without having to move to a better viewpoint. However, one thing the digital crop sensor has done is to breathe some life into the 28mm prime lens, the old wide-angle stalwart from the days when an outfit consisted of 28mm, 50mm, and 135 mm lenses. On a crop sensor a 28mm lens provides a field of view of 42mm (or 45mm in the case of Canon sensors which are even smaller). 42mm is exactly the diagonal of a full frame sensor. It is as normal a viewpoint as it is possible to get for photography. Ah! The joy of being normal!

When by chance I met this Italian visitor outside the 'Red Lion' in Avebury, she was on holiday from her home in Ireland. She was enjoying a glass of real ale and preparing a cigarette. Telling me about her day out, she opined that the Avebury landscape had its limitations. She said, 'You walked a bit, and saw a pile of stones. You walked a bit more and there would be another pile of stones'. Never before had I heard Avebury Circle described as 'a pile of stones' but she had a point, and she certainly expressed it amusingly. In days of yore the locals broke up the stones to make building materials, and so they didn't overdo the reverence and awe. They probably just said, 'here be a handy pile of old stones'. Photographed using a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D lens on a Nikon D2Xs. Cropped and converted to black and white.