WARREN CONNECTICUT – Still shooting with my Sony A7rii and an uncoated Carl Zeiss 5cm Sonnar lens from 1936. I’ve shot this tree before but it’s completely different through this lens, which produces transparent shadows but with good local contrast. The overall look amazes me. Autumn 2015 in living black and white.
Day 2180 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day two years ago (day 1450): Freedom Tower captured with my Leica Monochrom.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Still shooting ancient Carl Zeiss glass with my Sony 7Rm2. Around the neighborhood.
Day 2179 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day five years ago (day 353): Methodist Church, South Britain CT.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Today I experimented with old lenses. I have a small collection of Carl Zeiss Contax-mount lenses from the 1930s including an early and a late f1.5 50mm Sonnar, an 85mm f2.0 Sonnar and a 35mm. These lenses were notable for their speed and brilliant quality. They are mostly unusable today because the Contax mount is weird – the 50mm focusing helix was actually part of the camera body – but fortunately I was able to buy on eBay an adapter from the 1950s that adapts these lenses to a Leica screw mount. Another part adapts the screw mount to a Leica M mount, and a further adapter lets me put M mount lenses on my Sony 7Rm2. These lenses don’t actually work very well on an Leica M because the rangefinder doesn’t couple properly and the wides don’t fit at all. I’ve also got copies of legendary Nikkor lenses from the 50s, also in Contax mount.
All of these lenses work well with the Sony 7Rm2 – which is turning into the universal platform for all lenses ever made. I spent some time experimenting with the old Zeiss lenses today. They are uncoated, so there can be a slightly dreamy quality and veiling flair tends to make shadows look transparent. Dreamy wide open; thoroughly modern stopped down.
I’ve included a night image through the 1938 f1.5 Sonnar 50mm shot wide open, and a picture of the lenses and their adapter.
Day 2178 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day four years ago (day 717): Laura
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I took the subway to Wall Street today and spent a couple of hours exploring the Trinity Church graveyard. Not much going on there other than flocks of tourists.
Day 2177 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day three years ago (day 1081): Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Out with a very wide lens on my Sony 7Rii – a view of the Lipstick Building that I hadn’t seen before.
Day 2176 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day three years ago (day 1080): Overpass out of a taxi window.
NEW YORK NEW YORK. I poked around Grand Central Terminal today with my Sony A 7RII and a Contax mount Nickkor 35mm lens from the mid-1950s. I tried some very long exposures handheld, without much success. Here you go.
Day 2175 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day five years ago (day 349): South Street Seaport
NEWQ YORK NEW YORK – Back home shooting with my Sony alpha 7RII and some vintage Leica and Carl Zeiss Jenna lenses.
Day 2174 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day last year (day 1809): A way through the forest
