1.17.2024

Strolling with the ZM 50mm f1.4 Milvus lens. First long walk in a week. First walk with the new lens. First walk since the big freeze began. A lot of firsts.

 







What if Stephen Shore and William Eggleston hooked up and then their offspring 
became fine art photographers in the modern age. Would it look like this? 
Or is this one not boring enough?


There are limits to dining al fresco. 


currently in love with the reds that result from the Leica SL2
And I think the new lens helps maintain the high level of "red overkill."

ice sculpture outside a bar on our popular Sixth St. 



if Ed Ruscha photographed buildings in Austin.... But with better technical chops.
would you believe that Frank Lloyd Wright designed this parking garage?
I didn't think so...

loose homage to Larry Sultan






Not a chance.




my friend Mary baked me a lemon cake embedded with pistachios.
made with almond flour, no white sugar and lots of ricotta cheese.
they serve this in heaven. It's amazing.

first frame out of the camera with the Carl Zeiss Milvus 50mm f1.4 distagon

11 comments:

Robert Roaldi said...

It may be cold outside but the mannequins look warm enough.

I like the Zeiss lens names, Milvus, Loxia, Batis, Touit, they sound so exotic.

Gordon R. Brown said...

What? No mention of Alec Soth?

JoeB said...

Nifty Fifty strikes again. The lens is a keeper.
Thank goodness the mannequins made their appearance.
This walk was taken with the light at its best.

How much different is this lenses characteristics
compared to your other 50's? Of course the web
really does not compare to looking at the files on a
large monitor.

Kirk, Photographer/Writer said...

Gordon. Who? Never heard of him...

Eric Rose said...

"There are limits to dining al fresco." Well at least Austin is a step up from San Fran. There you not only would have had the boxes etc but what comes out the other end after digestion as well.

Sultan, now there's a character!!

Only you, after gazing at your monitor, can tell us if the lens is really any better than your other favourite 50's. That's a lot of weight to pack around for only an incremental improvement. An improvement that as you've mentioned won't be enjoyed by others on their phones, tablets, laptop and average monitors.

However at the end of the day if you like it, even if no one else can see the difference, and keep it, that kind of dovetails with those photographers that still spend time in the darkroom. They like it. It means something to them and they don't care if no one else gives a crap. Each to their own.

I see lenses like this 50mm as platypus. What is it really and what's it's best use scenario? Probably over kill for todays still photographic needs and not quite good enough for high end professional video work. Plus too expensive for mid range video work.

Eric

Craig Yuill said...

For some reason all of the “First”s in this post’s title brought to mind the “world first” features touted in Olympus ads in the late 1970s and early 1980s. (World’s first compact SLR. World’s first camera with off-the-film metering. World’s first compact zoom lens. Etcetera. Etcetera.)

You sure got some nice pictures with that Milvus. And the reds your Leica produces reminds me of the reds I used to get from Kodachrome. Happy photographing with that combo.

Rich said...

WoW. Colors, contrast, detail - really PoP !

Rich said...

# 10 & 11 (&others) = bravo

TMJ said...

Punchy and standout image quality

I've just downloaded the Zeiss brochure, thinking the 5DSR needs the 18mm Milvus, plus maybe the 35mm, etc.......

Stormkingmaine said...

306A, hands down.

Jim said...

Over a decade ago I watched a video about Jay Maisel in which he said that he sets his camera on Auto ISO and Aperture Priority and leaves it there. With few exceptions, I have done the same ever since. The camera warns me if the light is so low that it can't set a handholdable shutter speed but my newest camera, an OMD E-M5ii, has such good stabilization that it virtually never happens. I shoot RAW though, never JPG. I do have to suppress some noise in post occasionally. I find that Topaz Denoise AI works fine for that.