S-M-C Pentax Takumar 105mm f/2.8

It sure is good to be back!

After a long distance marathon of work completing my writing contract for the awesome folks at Capcom Games Vancouver, I finally had a little free time. Miraculously, we got a taste of Spring here in Vancouver this weekend (although as I write this it's pouring rain again...).

It felt like forever since I took the camera out and I was surprised at how rusty I felt with it.

It was nice to see a few old friends.

Yes, I still get a kick out of photographing our feathered friends! This guy got a kick out of me...

I don't think any of these pictures are necessarily remarkable from an artistic standpoint but I'm happy with how they turned out simply because they were all taken with the manual focus Super-Multi-Coated Pentax Takumar 105mm f/2.8 - a lens that's FORTY ONE YEARS OLD!

Focusing manually can be a little challenging (especially with moving subjects) and the lens has some funkiness to it in certain light conditions but overall, it's an awesome piece of glass. There's a reason why the Takumar aficionados give it a 9.06 out of 10 rating. Though some would consider this lens outdated and too much work, there's something I find kind of cool about manual focusing and relying on my eyes and hands rather than the brain of the camera. With a very long focus throw compared to modern day auto-focus lenses, the Takumars are also great for shooting video which is another reason I love hunting down these hidden gems.

Most of these pictures are pretty much SOOC as the pros would say - Straight Out Of Camera, i.e. no post-processing or tweaking. I have to say, I love the way these particular vintage lenses render colour.

Nice bokeh too!

This particular lens I found off of Craigslist and got from a retired pro photographer who was the original owner and only used the lens a couple of times in the last 41 years so it's in almost brand new condition.

Hopefully I'll be able to shoot some video projects with it soon. Stay tuned!

Until next time folks, here's hoping Spring is here to stay!

2011 WEEK 37: Hey baby, check out my Lensbaby!

What, you ask, is a "lensbaby"?

It's my latest toy (and a cheap one thanks to Craigslist). As for what the purpose of it is, well, it's what the pros call a "selective focus" device. The principle is very simple - basically it's a stand alone lens with a focal length of around 50mm that is attached to a bellows which connects to the camera. The bellows allows the user to bend the lens (and thus the light passing through it) changing the focal plane with it.

"Focal what?" This is the area where the light hits the sensor of the camera and normally it is parallel with the subject - focus at 8' and everything on that axis in the range of 8' (depending on f-stop, depth of field etc. but that's a different subject!) will be in focus.

The Lensbaby allows the user to shift the plane of focus into different angles for various creative effects.

This is what it looks like:

And this is my first photo taken with it:

Pretty funky huh?! These are the stairs at the longest renovation/upgrade site in Vancouver - I swear they've been replacing shrubs, re-doing concrete etc. here for YEARS.

The Lensbaby is a tricky little thing to get the hang of. It's extremely sensitive and the first challenge is how to hold it and be able to move it while still being able to take the picture - Move it a millimeter too far in one direction and everything is out of focus. The fact that the bellows is free-moving and can be twisted into pretty much any direction and you can see where the challenge lies. This is one of those gadgets where one has to take many more pictures than normal just to get one that turns out.

Ah... Fall is definitely here. I love the colours in this one. It also gave me a false sense of confidence because I got this picture in just two attempts. Not so the rest... In two hours I took over 300 pictures and ended up with only 20 or so keepers.

A photo walk downtown wouldn't be complete without another entry in the "Vancouver's Weird & Wonderful Scupltures" series. Nor would it be complete without our infamous bike lanes...

This next one is one that only kind of works... I wish I'd been able to nail the focus on the flowers not the leaves.

I took many, many pictures of the fountains around the Art Gallery and this was the only one that had anything in focus. 

This next one was snapped in colour but as soon as I saw it I just knew it would be more effective with some high contrast black and white post-processing treatment. It has that dreamy New York period feel.

I don't know why Nelson Street is an enemy of God... Or is this a Simpsons reference?

The Lensbaby really focuses one's attention on the subject of the photo - It's a creative form of tunnel vision. Again, I took a lot of photos to get this one. I also got a lot of strange looks: "What the hell has that guy got on his camera?!"

Depending on where the light is and how it is hitting the Lensbaby, weird things happen. I brought out the funky in this next one with some post-processing warming and with the addition of a vignette.

No effect needed on this next one. Straight out of the camera as it was captured:

The same goes for this one too...

Something about this next one makes it my favourite. I love the colours and the dreamy softness.

All in all, for my first fumbling attempts, I think I achieved some moderate success. I'm looking forward  to experimenting a lot more with my new "baby".

FOR THE GEEKS: The Lensbaby product line has a whole bunch of different versions. I have the Lensbaby 2.0 which comes with an aperture adjustment kit and aperture tool (that's the odd looking gadget beside the lens in the top picture. The higher-end Lensbaby products come with Macro lenses, different shaped aperture kits and versions that allow the user to lock the focus in place which given my struggles I can imagine would be a very useful feature.

Until next time folks.