Saturday, November 30, 2024

Comparing compact 85mm lenses

After obtaining a new lens I enjoy making a few quick comparisons with what I already own, so that I can determine the strengths and weaknesses of each optic. These test are not meant to be scientific, so please take with a grain of salt. Sample variation may have a large bearing on the results. 

In this article I will compare three compact 85mm (or thereabouts) lenses available (from Olympus, Carl Zeiss, and Pentax) with the native Panasonic Lumix counterpart. I find this focal length particularly useful for gig photography, since in the small places I frequent, anything longer would put people between myself and the subject on stage. Anything shorter won't have the reach needed to isolate a performer.

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

The banana as post-symbolic currency

This is a brief response to the hullaballoo concerning a duct-taped banana. Naive knee-jerk responses have been anticipated by both artist and buyer, both aware of their roles in this game of post-symbolic trade. 

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Optical design of the Olympus Zuiko 85mm

 

In my previous articles I introduced the Olympus Zuiko 85mm and discussed the thorny problem of variants. This post will conduct a thorough examination of the optical formulas that Olympus deployed and their relationship to the classic Ernostar and Sonnar designs.

Friday, November 22, 2024

Olympus Zuiko 85mm variants

In my last article I introduced the Olympus Zuiko 85mm and compared its properties to my other two 85mm lenses. In my next article I will describe the optical formulas employed by Olympus.

In this post I'll explore a mystery that haunts this lens. Various writers claim that there are from two to four different variants. They don't agree on the particulars beyond the important fact that there were two different optical designs. Early lenses used 6 elements in 4 groups while later lenses used 5 elements in 4 groups. Photographers enjoy the original for its classic soft portraiture and claim the latter has superior sharpness and aberration correction. 

My goal is to sort out the confusion. Further information or corrections are welcome!

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Olympus OM 85mm lens: introduction

 

Olympus launched their range of single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras with the M-1 in July 1972. The next year this camera was renamed the OM-1, the initials apparently standing for Olympus Maitani, honouring chief designer Yoshihisa Maitani (1933-2009). So began the famed OM System.

This article provides information on the Olympus Zuiko 85mm. The second article will examine the mystery of the different variants. I've now finished a third article that dives into the optical design.

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Codec limitations of DaVinci Resolve: HEVC, 10-bit, and RAW

Note: This information has been greatly expanded from my previous article on Windows video support.

Introduction

Like any application DaVinci Resolve has limitations, especially in the free version. Some authors claim that either Microsoft Windows or Resolve (free) don’t support 10-bit video. But this is false. The limitations are more particular than such blanket statements. Read on for solutions.

Saturday, November 09, 2024

Asahi Takumar and Pentax normal lenses

My interest in Pentax lenses should be obvious considering the articles on this website. One of the reasons I went down the rabbit hole of lens design history was to discover how the numerous lenses released by Asahi Optical related together over time. This article compiles the results of that research.

The format is original even if the lens data is available in numerous places. Read on to get a spreadsheet organised chronologically by lens family and optical design. 

Updated 26 November 2024 to include some lens diagrams.

Sunday, November 03, 2024

Photography and Lens Design SERIES

This series of articles provides historical information on lens design for cameras, specifically those using 135 film, but also their SLR and DSLR offspring. Today's mirrorless camera systems allow us to adapt almost any lens from the history of photography. So there has been renewed interest in how families of lenses are related in their optical design.

This series is for readers interested in learning the basics without being overwhelmed by technicalities and mathematics. Here you will find a solid basis for any further readings.

Sunday, November 03, 2024

Lens Design Glossary

This article provides a glossary of useful terms, written in such a way as to flow from one concept to the next. The first section covers basic lens terminology. The second section provides capsule descriptions of the most common lens aberrations, defects that the lens designer struggles to overcome.

In the interest of time I haven't provided illustrations. Please consult other sources after familiarising yourself with this primer.

Sunday, November 03, 2024

Lens Design References

This article will provide further reading for those interested in pursuing the subject further.

Sunday, November 03, 2024

Development of Symmetrical Lenses

This article will outline the development of symmetrical lens designs conventionally described as double Gauss. These include the Zeiss Planar, Lee Opic, and Biotar, as well as the vast majority of normal lenses made from 1896 to the end of the twentieth century. It's not too much to claim this innovation as the most important in lens design for camera systems.

In the appendix “Lenses and Their Makers” Cox lists many symmetrical lenses that were on the market at the time. Pages 484-97 of his book (see my references) contain no fewer than 64 different lens diagrams. But if we restrict the survey to 35mm film cameras, only four of the designs were used by more than one lens. That's remarkable consistency!

Sunday, November 03, 2024

Camera Lenses of the Nineteenth Century

 

This article will outline a brief history of early lens design, starting with the simplest 2 element topologies for daguerreotype cameras. This can be considered as background my article on symmetrical designs. This is by no means complete. For that you will need to read many chapters in the books I list in my references.

Monday, October 28, 2024

Planar / Tessar / Sonnar / Distagon

A recent question about the naming scheme adopted for Carl Zeiss lenses encouraged me to do a little research. So I wrote the first version of this article... but then I couldn't stop reading about lens design! So now you can enjoy an entire series by clicking on the banner above.

Creative names like Planar, Sonnar, and Tessar were initially used to describe families of optical designs. But later they were used for marketing reasons, so the original meanings were not always preserved.

I now have more detailed articles on the development of lenses in the nineteenth century and those that used the symmetrical pattern. This article repeats some of that information, but from the perspective of Carl Zeiss offerings, in particular the Contax-Yashica line. (Since these are personal favourites.)

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Brooks / Faustine / Seyrig / Karina

On Morel and Marienbad

I wonder why it has taken until now for me to read The Invention of Morel (Adolfo Bioy Casares, 1940), given the fascination it exerted on Borges. That writer's many stories, poems, and fake encyclopedia entries provided a fluid substrate for my own imagination. I read him early and enthusiastically, relating his fabulist output back to more conventional science-fiction. 

So how did I forget Bioy, his colleague and friend? Borges even wrote the (original) introduction to this book. 

There is a story here to uncover through figures of representation and obsession. Brooks / Faustine / Seyrig / Karina. I've made a few belated discoveries.

Saturday, October 05, 2024

Why you shouldn't learn from YouTube

This article risks being read as an "old man yells at cloud" post. But I am driven to write it to counter a lack of critical thinking about what YouTube means for education. Specifically, how that channel misleads learners and damages learning itself.

Before I itemise the problems with YouTube tutorials, I will provide some context.

Friday, September 27, 2024

what flowers say about your photo gear

What do flowers say about your photography gear?

It's all good. Stop chasing more equipment. What you have is fine.

They say: F4 and be there.

And: Aren't we pretty?

With the punchline out of the way, I'll explain in some detail.

Thursday, September 12, 2024

Recommended headphones 2024

Buying headphones is confusing since there are dozens of manufacturers and hundreds of models. The popular style brands (e.g. Beats) promoted to the mass public are consistently over-priced, badly made, and terrible-sounding. The high-price models promoted to audiophiles cost far more than you need to spend.

This article is for people who record, mix, and compose music. It's for listeners who need to hear what their music actually sounds like, without embellishment or false augmentation. For you my decades of experience will come in handy!

Monday, September 02, 2024

Günther Berkus and I

It would be presumptuous for me to call Günther Berkus a friend, but he was sometimes a collaborator (in live improvisations) and our paths crossed regularly. On meeting we'd talked passionately about various music technologies. Indeed, for several years our techniques ran in parallel, for example our explorations of Max/MSP. 

When Berkus (as he preferred to be called) began work using the voice of W.S. Burroughs (released in 2014 as Pay Back Your Stolen Colours), I referred back to my own generative exercises using Burroughs texts, conducted in the nineties. And by coincidence I was simultaneously revisiting the voice as sonic material for The Absence of Baudrillard. In such ways our interests threaded.

Monday, August 12, 2024

Comparing Vintage 28mm Lenses: Revisited

Three months ago I compared five vintage 28mm lenses. Based on those results I've obtained one new lens and dug up an old M42 from my archives. Here are the lenses in today's comparison, with their official designations:

  • smc PENTAX 1:2 28mm 
  • smc PENTAX 1:3.5/28
  • SMC PENTAX-A 28mm f/2.8
  • Vivitar Series 1 28mm 1:1.9 VMC Auto Wide Angle
  • Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 28mm f/2.8 
Sunday, August 04, 2024

Pentax-K 28mm F3.5 under review

I didn't exactly need another 28mm lens. If you doubt that statement you can read my previous comparison of this focal length, or jog over to the Great Vivitar 28mm Bestiary. Yep, I own dozens. Nonetheless, here I am with my latest purchase, the "smc PENTAX 1:3.5/28" (to give the formal name). In this article I will provide an overview of the lens and present some photographs. 

Thursday, July 11, 2024

On lens hype... and a bargain vintage set

I write a lot of blog articles in reaction to external stimuli, even if this is not immediately obvious. People ask me questions in the pub or on Facebook. I need to explain something in detail to my students. A topic required documentation before I myself forget what I already know. 

This post is in reaction to those YouTube videos fronted by some egotistical talking head who pretends to be a photography expert, discovering, as if struck with a bolt from above, the merits of some old system. You know the type. They use phrases like "game-changer" and "GOAT". 

This tendency leads to particular lenses shooting up in price beyond all reason. Let me provide a few examples of over-hyped gear, before suggesting a set of vintage lenses that won't kill your bank account. 

Saturday, July 06, 2024

Field recorders in 2024

I am a trained audio engineer who wrote extensively on field recorders over many years. You can access these articles from my field recording landing page. Two years ago I provided a detailed summary of the state of the art in portable field recording devices. This article brings my research up to date for 2024. 

First, download the PDF that charts every available portable field recorder priced at under a grand. I also include a table of defunct models for historical comparison.

Monday, June 17, 2024

Where is the perfect EDC bag?

For years I have been on the search for the perfect every-day carry (EDC) bag for a camera plus one lens and a few small personal items (e.g. headphones). I will explain my goals and describe the bags that I currently own. Maybe you can help me find something better?

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Which SD card?

SD memory cards are used for everything from mobile phones, field recorders, still cameras, and video cameras. The most common question is... which SD card should I buy? This article will decode all of the designations and provide simple answers.

Friday, May 24, 2024

Comparing vintage 28mm lenses

I love the 28mm field of view and wanted to update my insights now that I've returned to using a full-frame camera. Here I will compare five different 28mm film-era lenses, namely:

  • smc PENTAX 1:2 28mm (1976) 
  • Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 28mm f/2.8 (1978) for Contax-Yashica mount
  • Kino Precision Kiron 28mm f/2 MC (1981)
  • Vivitar 28mm 1:2.0 MC Close Focus (1983) made by Komine
  • SMC PENTAX-A 28mm f/2.8 (1984)

This article is the result of months of work shooting in real-world scenarios and staged tests. Hopefully of interest to other photographers... like you!

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Which audio production gear? (Robin Edition)

This article follows on my declaration of principles found in "Does your gear matter" located here. As a third-level teacher and trained audio engineer, I am often in a position to recommend audio gear to electronic music composers and producers. In this article I will set out a minimal threshold for professional audio production.

Friday, April 26, 2024

The best free audio plugins (Robin Edition)

It's been a while since I wrote an article in this series. Perhaps because I don't obsess over tools and am happy with what I have. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that I don't always obsess over tools... but when I do, I like to share with you!

Recently I've been asked what plugins I would recommend, assuming that you have no cash on hand. The problem is not finding plugins, as there are so many. The problem is finding tools worth using. 

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Cheap lens equals excellent lens?

St. Mary's interior
St. Mary's Church interior @ F4

Though sometimes I recommend lenses that might cost a few hundred clams, today I am evaluating a SMC Pentax-M 50mm F/1.7 that was €49 plus a tenner for shipping. If you are lucky enough to be in a populous country with boot sales or pawn shops, you might well find this model cheaper.

This lens was last manufactured 40 years ago, so I am somewhat late with this review!

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Does your gear matter?

Does your gear matter? Simple answer: yes.

Those populists who say otherwise are perhaps simply currying favour. Or, to be generous, perhaps they are attempting to counteract the overwhelming commercialisation of the internet, where everywhere you turn someone is proclaiming the newest trinket to be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).

But both extremes are wrong. The newest tool won't make your practice better. But it's also true that ignoring the quality of your gear is foolish. This article will assert the review principles that I abide by, so as to place my articles here in the correct context.

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

That elusive "3D pop" defined

"Chris" with the Pentax-FA 43mm Limited

Photographers have argued for decades about a certain appealing quality of an image called "3D pop". Some claim that it doesn't exist. Others concede that it does exist, but deny that lens design has anything to do with the effect. Those that promote 3D pop sometimes resort to hyperbolic claims about the characteristics of certain vintage lenses that (they claim) cannot be found in contemporary glass. The subject is so heated that a few years back it spawned a parody article which, in my opinion, did more harm than good.

Here's my take: 3D pop exists and can be well described. Certain lens designs encourage the production of this effect. While it's not necessarily true to say that older lenses are required for 3D pop, specific vintage lenses are desirable, for reasons that will be explored below.

Friday, April 05, 2024

Comparing fast vintage lenses (50mm F1.2)

I've been slowly going through my older lenses and seeing what works best with my Lumix S5. Historically, most of my photography has been on Pentax APS-C and Micro-Four-Thirds formats. A vintage lens made during the film era is more suitable for a full-frame sensor in terms of coverage, but any issues will show up more plainly. 

With that in mind, I decided to perform a quick comparison of three lenses I have on hand: Cosina 55mm 1:1.2 MC, SMC Pentax 50mm F1.2, and Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4.

50mm lenses front

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The very excellent Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 Auto Telephoto Close Focusing lens

Some years ago I reviewed this lens by adapting it to the Micro Four Thirds system. I was having fun today, so thought I'd remind my readers of this amazing lens, while sharing photos taken on a full-frame system.

flower
Tuesday, January 09, 2024

The best and cheapest laptop you can buy (2024 edition)

If you are looking for an excellent lightweight laptop for everyday use, I have a suggestion. My impetus for writing this article is not to encourage you to spend more money, quite the opposite. My goal is to highlight a strategy to counter the continuing wastefulness of the tech industries. Read on for a (slight) rant and some (excellent) advice.