Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/06/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Looks like you used an exceptionally expensive Softar - wonderful portrait Cheers Douglas Didier Ludwig wrote: > This is a portrait of my 8 yrs old son Orion, shot yesterday evening: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Didier/color/orion_nikkor.jpg.html > > The reason why I post it is that I am positively surprised about the > special character of the lens I used. It's a beaten LTM Nikkor 2.0/50mm I > bought very cheap last year. It has has some minor, hardly noticeable > haze, the barrels are very brassed and the aperture ring gets stiff above > f8. > > After some B&W test shots I was rather deceived - too much glow around > highlights, and not much contrast. I thought I would have it CLA'd by John > van Stelten one day and almost forgot it. > > For luck I didn't sent it in. Yesterday I gave it another chance, in > color. The sun was already gone but the sky still bright and the light > soft and diffused. I shot that wide open portrait of Orion with the R-D1s, > one meter distance, one picture only (because Orion hates being > photographed, and I'm very glad he exceptionally smiled). > > After I opened the RAW file on the computer, I felt like having found a > pearl in a mushroom. This lens has a unique, very natural (and thus > oldfashioned) color rendering, and the softness, when not combined with > too much contrast, becomes very nice for portrait shots in such light. The > background bokeh is also very consistent. This lens will not be cleaned > for shure! But it will see significantly more usage in the future... > > Comments & critiques welcome as always > Didier > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >