NEW YORK NEW YORK – Out again with the old lenses. Today I’m shooting with a Carl Zeiss Jena 3.5 cm f2.8 Biogen from 1937. Pre-war Zeiss lenses quote focal lengths in centimeters, rather than millimeters – this is a 35 mm lens. It was about as wide as things got back then. I have 28mm Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar from 1937, but its maximum aperture (f8.0) and tendency to flare make it a bit of an odd ball. The 3.5cm lens that I’m using today is uncoated so it’s prone to flair but produces lovely transparent shadows. A real winner in the high contrast world of Manhattan. Today I found myself on Lexington Avenue in the 50s with Citicorp Center acting as a gigantic reflector.
Day 2272 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
NEW PRESTON CONNECTICUT – I’m continuing to explore the capabilities of antique Carl Zeiss Jena lenses. Today I put a 5 cm f1.5 Sonnar from 1936 on my Sony camera. This is actually a lovely lens, quite modern in its performance. Apart from its quirks (the aperture ring doesn’t have click stops, turns the wrong way, isn’t linear, and can’t be moved without changing focus; the focusing ring turns the wrong way) it’s a joy to use.
Day 2271 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – I spent a few hours in the actual town of Warren today. In keeping with my New Years resolution, these images are made with a 1936 Carl Zeiss Jena 5 cm f1.5 Sonnar lens, which is interesting in that the optics are coated, making this one of the first coated lenses ever.
The first image is of of a presently-closed inn. It’s four frames stitched in Photoshop, which might run slightly counter the spirit of shooting with an antique, but whatever. I’m a wide shooter and as we will see the wide lenses from this era just aren’t very good. The grave marker is in the Warren town cemetery; I found it moving that someone is bothering to maintain (with a flag) a marker for a young soldier killed in the Civil War in 1862, and that his body found its way back home to Warren. Litchfield County was an hotbed of radical Abolitionists, so many young men volunteered for service and many died.
Day 2270 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – I generally post to this site about a week late. I generally take 30 or more images a day – the analog equivalent of a roll of film – exploring at least four or five ideas. The one week lag between photographing and posting gives me the benefit of some distance in deciding which photos to post. Of course the lag creates a problem with holidays: If I post a Merry Christmas images a week late, it feels stale and used, like the bottom of an ashtray. This is why I avoid seasonal images.
So here I am in the second week in January writing a post about New Years Day.
Let’s focus on resolutions. First (I’ll get to “second” in a later post): I have a collection of Carl Zeiss Jena lenses dating from the early 1930s through the mid-1950s. They were made for Zeiss Ikon rangefinder cameras, which have an odd lens mount: the 50mm focusing helix is actually part of the camera body and other focal lengths have bayonet mounts that clamp onto the outside of the 50mm focusing helix. There are very few of these cameras in existence that are operable today so the lenses sell for very little on eBay. But a few years back I found a rare adapter, also from the 1950s, that adapts these lenses to a Leica screw mount, which can be attached to a Leica M mount adapter, which in turn can be attached to a Sony adapter. This Rube Goldberg arrangement permits using ancient lenses on a modern 42 megapixel full frame camera, the Sony 7Rii, which for technical reasons is turning out to to be a universal platform for old lenses.
Why would I use an old lens? They have a different (some would say more interesting) character than modern, highly correct multi coated lenses. They create images that look like they were made in the 1930s, 1940s or 1950s. There are all kinds of aberrations wide open but stopped down they are actually generally fine performers from a resolution standpoint. Contrast is much softer than modern lenses, giving the impression of transparent shadows.
So my New Years resolution: for the month of January I’m shooting only with legacy Carl Zeiss lenses.
Day 2269 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
Inn
On this day four years ago (day 808): Taos Mountain, a very high and very cold ski resort.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – We had some old friends up as houseguests and put on a major meal for New Years Eve. Self-catering on a large scale is a bit involving, and I didn’t feel like photographing the party, so I made a few quick runs outside for views of a bleak day.
New Years resolution: I have a small collection (actually four) of Zeiss Ikon lenses from the 1930s. I’ve resolved to fill out some focal length gaps on eBay – these lenses sell for very little, and spend the month of January shooting only with Carl Zeiss Jena lenses from the 1930s.
Day 2268 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
Pool
On this day three years ago (day 1172): Luke Tanner’s Truck. I was obviously having a similar experience three years ago.
MILLBROOK NEW YORK – We’re here again, blasting away at clay pigeons on a generally rainy and bleak day. Here’s a tired old tree stuck in the middle of a parking lot.
Day 2266 of one photo every day for the rest of my life.
