Leica vs. Zeiss – Episode #1 – 2/50 vs. 2/45

Summicron-M 2/50 v4 vs. Summicron-R 2/50 v2 vs. Contax G Planar 2/45 Being a lensoholic for almost 15 years I have now graduated to Leica lenses, something I was sure I'd "never" do, a couple of years ago. Provocatively I just used the term graduated, but I don't intend to suggest, that I'm wise enough...

Sticking up for the underdog: Petri lenses

When getting into "Altglas", more commonly known as "vintage lenses", your research on the net will certainly tell you quickly that Petri lenses aren't worth looking for. Many users that haven't even tried them will repeat the same verdict: "Low quality". If you turn your back then, you're missing out on some lenses that are...

Taking a spin through spring …

... using ... Rollei Zeiss HFT Distagon 1.4/35, Tamron SP 8/500 (55B), Sigma Telemax YS 2.8/135, Rollei Zeiss HFT Distagon 2/28, Helios 2/92 Meyer-Optik Primoplan 1.9/58 Contaflex Pro Tessar 4/115 After a winter that at the end just wouldn't stop I'm very happy that spring has finally arrived. In fact here in Bavaria, Germany it...

50 Fifties – bokeh overview – the ones with character

As far as Bokeh goes this is the great experimental field. Many lenses that will be shown today are quite cheap and can still shoot beautiful pictures. Especially for portraits, when corner or even border sharpness are not required, when absolute sharpness is not always wanted, they can make a difference. If you like shooting...

50 Fifties – bokeh overview – the fast ones

How and why I chose my setup Bokeh is a very difficult thing to grasp. Every single lens produces different kinds of bokeh depending on the distance, aperture, light, etc. . This is why I'm planning to look at my lenses one or two at a time later on. But since I already did shots...