Zeiss E-mail
 

Knowing that the chrome Leica lenses are different than the black Leica lenses---the chrome lenses have brass barrels, the black lenses have aluminum barrels---I wondered about the Zeiss lenses. So I e-mailed them.

"Dear Zeiss, these Teutonic beauts really look pretty in your pictures. I am interested in the 50mm F2, but I have questions. What is the metal used in the lens barrel? Is the finish chrome for the silver and enamel for the black? Thanks."

Zeiss answers: "thank you for your email. The metal in the lens barrel is made of aluminum. Both silver and black are coated, silver is silver coated and the black is black coated. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us again."

I have a question, since I've never seen Black on the periodic chart or any metallurgical chart...I'm assuming they mean silver(ag) and black (BS)...

It's for these reasons I rarely contact companies for information on their products...they never know, or they just don't understand English...

Their lenses are just painted, unlike the real chrome Leica M lenses. :-)

All my lenses are painted, by the way. I don't really care. :-)

has this ever happened to your "sweetie-pie?"
 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...newsletter.jsp

Of course there's no mention of CV glass (Cosina Voigtlander). Shame!

CV info: http://www.cameraquest.com

Voigtlander Nokton Aspherical 50mm f1.5
 

Note: This lens will work on all Leica screw-mount cameras, and M-mount cameras including the RD1 and M8 via a $50 Leica screw-mount to M-mount adaptor.

I bought a black one a few months back as a cheaper alternative to the Zeiss Planar 50mm f2. However, coupled with its reasonable cost was the necessary Leica M-mount to screw-mount adaptor, since the Bessa R3A is an M-mount camera. The lens feels like it's well-made despite it's light weight. The aperture and focusing ring are easy to operate though I would have preferred a bit more stiffness in the aperture---not that it is sloppy. However, this is a minor, personal preference. The Voigtlander lens adaptor is easy to screw in with the plastic mounting tool included with the adapter. Once mounted, the lens screws in snugly, but the alignment is slightly off. At first I was concerned but then I was reassured that this is normal with lens adapters.

The lens is large, as large as the Nikon E 100mm and with beautiful clear glass. It should feel heavier but due to its aluminum construction the "expected" weight is scaled back as with most of the Voigtlander line. I assume this is part of the philosophy: ergonomic and free from unnecessary weight, utilizing modern manufacturing materials and methods. With 6 lens elements, and the front element aspherical on both sides, makes this an interesting design. Standard 52mm threads make it easy to find Nikon SLR size filters and hood. F-stops are from 1.5 to 16 which "click" in half stops. Minimum focusing is 0.9 metres. Its 10-blade aperture provides plenty of bokeh, under the correct conditions.

Having shot 20 or so rolls of colour and B&W, my photos came out extremely sharp. However, sometimes background and edge detail was lost due to lens flaws such as vignetting, noise and flaring. Erwin Puts describes this in his review, "in backlightning and when recording specular highlights or small light-points." To somewhat minimize this flaring, I put on a longer lens hood from Hoya, and try to avoid these "small light-points" such as light reflections. This is less of a problem when shooting outdoors and especially when it's overcast---my favourite shooting condition. I found using F2 to F4 produces sharp, bokehful images; and the Nokton's peculiar personalty is something which grew on me. However, for that creamy B&W look for the lowlight/indoor stuff, I'm glad I have my Summicron-c 40 back. I use both lenses but for some reason I've been using the Nokton more, even indoors. I guess sharpness is my God!

infrared contamination
 

http://diglloyd.com/diglloyd/free/In...amination.html

Interesting article.

toss your camera
 

I was unfamilar with this style of shooting until I came across this flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/cameratoss/

That's awesome. Not sure I have the fortitude to try that with an HVX but I love the results.

Frank, let's try that the next time I get my hands on one of your cameras.

No way. My cameras are expensive and pristine. :-)

Gloria's latest article is up
 

http://www.filmlives.net/community/v...e6ec0d7fd2768c

She writes some interesting "how to" articles.

Canon Powershot S400 gallery
 

I guess this guy doesn't need an expensive camera to take great photos:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/member-...50&include=all

Leica M8 vs Hasselblad H3D
 

Or 10 megs vs 39 megs capture or Volkswagen Beetle vs Ferrari, by Erwin Puts. Excerpt: "many tests were done...compared a top grade 35mm SLR with a low grade Chinese medium format twin lens reflex and myself who compared Hasselblad/Zeiss with Leica M/Leica optics)." Read this shilling new Puts article here: http://imx.nl/photosite/leica/M8_6/m8_6.html .

Grant Feint
 

http://www.grantfaint.com/

An excellent Vancouver photographer (I thing he uses a Nikon DSLR). Enjoy.

Typo, it's Grant Faint.