Two interesting tools. The Kodak DCS 760C camera with its amazing 6 megapixel CCD sensor and the Nikon 105mm DC lens. I photographed this person for an ad campaign for the Austin Lyric Opera. The background is way, way far away. It's lit with a 1,000 watt tungsten light shining through two layers of 6x6 foot silk on a frame. The background is also lit with a tungsten light.
It's a nice look even now. Today's highly corrected lenses are too linear in the way the background focus falls off. It looks too "cookie cutter" even with (or maybe even more!) with today's highly corrected lenses. The sharp is too sharp and the transition to "blur" seems too obvious.
The Nikon 105mm and 135mm DC lenses had it just right. Designed at a time when unique-ness was more highly valued?
7 comments:
I really like the look of this portrait. I would have guessed that it was film. When was this shot?
A buddy of mine has one of those lens. Awesome piece of glass.
This is one of my favorite lenses.
I love to get my picture on blur mode. Although i have no camera till now. But have a plan to buy Nikon.
I’ve always kind of lusted over the 105, but never requited. I still perk up when it’s mentioned, though.
I wonder if the new 100mm macro “R” lens that Canon just announced will work for n a similar way.
Get yourself an old Soviet Jupiter-9 f/2 85 mm lens in 39 mm LTM (Zorki mount). It's a WWII-era Zeiss Sonnar design with all that implies in terms of bokeh and the mysterious "glow" that images have. There's a review here:
https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-jupiter-9-85mm-2-0/
I have that lens too. The Nikon D780 I picked up has made it focus better than ever before, with the same delicious bokeh I love.
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