by johanniels.com
What do you need to do in order to get a decent photo? And what is decent anyway? This category deals with technicalities and philosophies.
A Leica IIIc arrived from the United States. It was a late wartime camera, likely produced between May 1945 and June 1946. And, all vulcanite came off in bits at the very moment I unpacked it. Camera leather replacement made easy in this how-to article!
Continue reading “Leica needs a new dress: leather replacement made easy”
Maybe you’re old enough to remember what it felt like to have a stack of prints, negatives or slides in your hand as the result of your photographic labour. Or maybe you’re less of a fossil than that and your results reside in a folder on a hard drive, on or off site. In either case, as a (semi) professional photographer you need to have a filing system that will allow you to locate a file, negative or print quickly and have some details on lens used, camera used, film or (digital) processing used, etc. so you can re-create an iconic image with some consistency.
This blog post shows you my MO when it comes to keeping tabs on what I did and where the results are stored.
Continue reading “Photos scanned and stored consistently: never lose an image”
After I discovered online that the 1940’s American Perfex Deluxe rangefinder was also available in a version with a Wollensak lens in a 38mm screw mount, I decided to buy one and find out if it would fit a Leica.
Only when it arrived I found out that the focussing unit of the Perfex is on the body, not on the lens. A bit like a really unsophisticated Contax focusing system. So much for easily adapting the lens for Leica, I thought. The camera sat on a shelf for quite some time. It wasn’t a feat of engineering either, using it was like photographing with a brick, both in ergonomics and in results. I didn’t even try, it was too obvious.
Continue reading “DIY: hack a Perfex Wollensack lens into Leica LTM mount”
On the net you can find all kinds of stories on this lens. Most say its very soft wide open, prone to flare and what else. But most of the time this is merely a side effect from shooting a 50+ year old lens that has gotten hazy inside. Most of these lenses have scratches in the front element coating, which cannot be remedied with this pictorial, but image quality still can be improved a lot by cleaning the lens up.
Wanna see how to get the most out of this lens again? Read on!
Continue reading “DIY: Cleaning a Canon 1.2/50mm rangefinder lens”