Lens Theory

Radioactive Pentax Lens

Don’t Sleep with Yellow Lenses, Darlin’

By / / Gear Theory / 25 Comments

Photographers who remember the Petula Clark 1967 hit single that’s paraphrased in the title will also probably know what it’s talking about! Regardless of how much one might love the above highly respected lens (and others of its era), try to resist sleeping with them under one’s pillow! You may also want to avoid hanging them on cameras around your neck for extended periods.

They’re radioactive. And I thought it would be good to share this story with the growing band of younger photographers who are even now discovering vintage camera equipment.

Je Suis Le Mal Aimé! – The One No One Likes

By / / Gear Theory / 6 Comments

Je suis le mal aimé is a French classic song and roughly translated means: the one no one likes! For this article I’m going to talk about three of my passions. I’ve spend a bit of time trying to find non-technical articles about these but failed to find something that grabbed my interest. This became the idea for an article to share with you, and I hope it inspires you to try them out for yourselves!

Focus Adjustment and Other Considerations when Shooting Infrared

By / / Gear Theory, Processes, Tutorials & Guides / 3 Comments

From very early in my photography I have been fascinated by the unique look and simply luscious tones infrared images can produce. Ansel on steroids. I have only been able to produce anything like decent images recently but pre-digital, inspired by Sir Simon Marsden’s work (www.sirsimonmrsden.co.uk or www.jamescwilliamsphoto.com), I tried some Ilford SFX 200 film that has extended sensitivity up to 740 nm (nanometers). At the time I only had a 6x red R25 filter which produced an infrared result of sorts and I didn’t take it any further. Sir Simon used the same R25 filter but with Kodak High Speed Infrared, sensitive up to 900nm and with less sensitivity to visible light. That combination and a lack of an anti-halation layer gave much more dramatic results with the halo effect so characteristic of his work.

Diffraction and sharpness 00

Diffraction and its Impact on Sharpness – By Tony Warren

By / / Gear Theory / 13 Comments

I recently had some disappointing results while trying out a colour negative film in a Retina IIc. I was shooting the urban art (and some graffiti) that has been created here in Dunedin, and some shots of the rhododendrons in the Botanic Gardens. Many of the frames are distinctly soft in places whilst others are bitingly sharp, despite careful focussing with a well adjusted, rangefinder camera.

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