For a long time now I've toyed with the idea of creating a blog to document my journey and experience with various vintage lenses. What holds me back is motivation but also wondering what it is I can offer to vintage lens enthusiasts that hasn't already be done. By that I mean the usual sort of lens review that discusses lens design, wide open and stopped down sharpness with images and charts. You know the drill.
So what I'm going to discuss is how these lenses have connected with me or not. Any or all of the following may or may not be discussed.
- The logic behind the purchase. Why was I buying this lens and what was I looking for.
- The story behind the purchase. Was it a lucky find. Was there the thrill of the dash across town or country? Did I just decide to invest in a collectible.
- Was there a back story? We all know what it feels like to find a dusty old gem and bring it back to life with a painstaky restoration. These are often become lenses I can simply never part with.
- What is my real world experience with the lens.
I'm largely a creative photographer who post processes extensively and vintage lenses offer me something I just can't produce with my expensive fine art lenses. Mostly my images are adapted to mirrorless bodies. I'm not overly invested in colour science and images 'straight out of camera'. If that is something that is important to you then I genuinely celebrate your passion for this type of work but perhaps this blog isn't for you.
Overall what you'll find here are stories of my journey in recent years but mostly it's about the character, rendering, and the base raw images that I can produce to enhance my creative images. I will touch on other aspects like aesthetics and build quality because all these elements combine as part of the creative process.
To start things off I'm planning to write a series of articles discussing my 6 core lenses. It's been quite journey experimenting with many lenses and narrowing my collection to what I think is a gathering of exquisite lenses that are creative tools I can use for various shooting scenarios. In no particular order my first series of posts will explore this set of lenses I affectionately refer to any artisans:
The Artisans:
- Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm - Nov 1950 17 blade black version.
- Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f/2 - Late 1959 (restored copy) - Exakta. Model with leatherette band on focus ring. Not thorated.
- Meyer‑Optik Görlitz Oreston 50mm f/1.8 M42 Mid 1966 (double zebra version).
- Contax Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F1.4 Lens AEG C/Y Mount.
- Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f/1.4 | Late Version 3 (F22) | Dec 1981 | 8-Blade | modified with hand made Aki-Asahi leatherette focus ring.
- Tomioka 55mm f/1.4 Auto Chinon M42 | est late 1973 or early 1974 - mid 73-75 production run| leatherette focus brand. Tomioka name on lens ring.