Going Old School and Reviewing a Lens that I Can't (Won't) get Rid Of. Right.

 

I'm writing today about a miraculous lens that I've used on and off for, well, decades. Not always the same one but the same model. It's the Canon FD 50mm f1.4 and it's wonderful. I've adapted it to work on a number of cameras and since the dawn of the mirrorless age its value to me has only grown. In fact, an earlier Canon 50mm FD lens, the f1.8 version, is probably to "blame" for my long term addiction to the 50mm focal length on a full frame or 24x36mm sensor or film frame. It's just so right for the way I see. 

The 50mm f1.4 FD lens (breech mount) is the "chrome nose" version and not labelled as a "SSC" (Super Spectra Coating) version but both variants have the same 7 element, 6 group construction and it's widely believed that after the first version the coatings stayed the same but Canon just chose to drop the SSC on the front ring. The chrome nose weighs 13 ounces, is made of glass, brass and complementary metals. It feels dense and even though my current one is at least 40 years old it operates as smoothly as they did when brand new. The aperture works perfectly as well. The lens focuses as close as 1.5 feet but close focusing wasn't really a big selling point for fast 50mm lenses from the 1970s.

While there are many newer lenses and some improvements in glass formulae by the mid-1970s the very, very popular 50mm f1.4 lenses from all the major camera makers were considered the flagships of their lens lines and were, by this point, very mature and well tested designs. Most improvements since then have focused on fixing that last 2% of unsharpness in the far corners when modern lenses are used at their max apertures. But, and this is significant point for me, from f4.0 down to f11 the best of the premium 50s from the 1970s deliver performances that are indistinguishable from the results from contemporary standard lenses. And those older lenses accomplished this very high level of achievement completely without the aid of in camera software. 

That being the case I was pleased to find that Adobe has a lens profile for the Canon 50mm f1.4 FD lens in Lightroom and it brings this lens even closer to the performance of more modern lenses. 

I like using this lens on a high resolution camera like the Leica SL2. It's such a solid platform and the in body image stabilization works well with legacy lenses like the Canon. Set the focal length in the camera menu and it fine tunes the IBIS to match. 

Obviously, a lens from 1970 is completely manual focusing. Another plus point for the mirrorless revolution is that one can "punch in" to a high magnification in the EVF of the camera and fine focus with an accuracy that would have been like science fiction in the film days. That alone is probably responsible for the good performance of the lens --- even on a camera that provides nearly 50 megapixels of sensor resolution!!! 

Since the lens was designed with mechanical linkages for an old Canon film camera it's also obvious that the lens in no way communicates with a new digital camera from a different camera company. Especially so when used with the necessary adapter to mount it on the body.

I find the lens to be good wide open if your basic photography goal is great portraits. It's sharper at f2.0 and really, really good by f2.8. From f4.0 onward you are in a zone in which there are many rivals but few clearly superior performers. Yes, you could see a difference in super fine detail if you locked your camera down on a tripod but most of us have become acculturated to shooting our fast lenses without the addition of tripods and that small but real drop in quality from camera vibration and human unsteady-ness quickly equalizes the big differences between a modern lens and this older classic. 

I mounted the lens onto the Leica SL2 body and dialed in the focal length in the lens profile menu. The Urth adapter I'm using has a ring close in towards the body of the camera that allows me to focus at the widest aperture and then turn the ring and close the lens down to a preset aperture for shooting. That goes a long way toward getting sharp focus and depth of field to cover any focus shift. The adapter was less than $50. This copy of the lens came on the front of a Canon FTb camera I bought from Camera West for a grand total of $125. I put a 50mm f1.8 lens on the FTb and gave it to a swim coach friend who had just recently graduated from UT Austin and wanted to try his hand at film photography. I kept the 50mm f1.4 lens because that's what I was after all along.

The 50mm f1.4 fits well with the heavier SL2 body and the nearly 6 million dot EVF makes manual focusing, even un-magnified, a snap. The only thing that hints at the age of the lens is a tendency to flare differently when  strong light sources are in the frame. A bigger flare than a modern lens but the parts of the image that are outside the "splash zone" of the flare patch are usually very useable and have enough contrast. 

Using an older, non-coupled lens is slower but there are few things we shoot around here that require lightning fast responses and light speed focusing. There is a sureness to the older tech that reminds you that you are less dependent on the algorithms of the camera's processor and more in tune with you as the actual operator. 

I really like the lens and have no intention of letting it go. 

Here are images I made with this lens and the SL2 on a walk through UT Austin this morning: We show our work to prove our points... 

f2.8

f5.6

Outdoor seating at Dirty Martin's, home of the KumBak burger.

each table comes with a bottle of "presidential sauce." 

the temporary bar at Dirty's...

No clue what these towers (in progress) are for. They looked odd...

My photography has been awarded a "thumbs up." 

The saint of gas meters everywhere....

Sulphurita Dioxidita. Matron saint of odorants.

But, can my "fancy" lens do Monochrome? You betcha.

Couple hours walking and photographing makes one hungry for lunch.

Old school was good school. Now available for next to nothing...

OT: A strategy for staying in good physical condition: Exercise More.

 

Hydrostatic Pressure. That's why swimming is the best exercise in the world. Resistance in every direction. New studies show that swimming fast interval training actually thwarts sarcopenia. Swimming every day improves balance and reflex reactions that can save seniors from falls. The constant pressure on all parts of the body from just being in water makes one's heart work a bit harder and helps to build cardiovascular endurance. And with water pressure in every direction it's an all muscle workout instead of just working one set or the other...

And for those folks who don't want to chew on kale all day long in a valiant attempt to maintain or lose body weight I have to say that there were no fat swimmers in our workout this morning. Eat what you want. Swim more. 

Long fast swimming also helps older swimmers sleep better. A long career of swimming daily can turn back the clock too. Or at least slow it way down. You don't have to do it with total focus but three hours of swimming a week is going to make a huge difference. 

It's all choices. 

Today was backstroke day. Our coach on Thursdays is getting her inspiration over at the UT swim program and decided that every Thursday for six weeks we'd work on drills and sets that would improve technique in one stroke at a time. Last Thursday was breaststroke day. The next day everyone has sore triceps and calf muscles. Two weeks ago was butterfly day. Everyone slept well that night. 

Backstroke is a weird stroke for me. It's all about having a good and flexible kick. And fast arm turnover. No gliding as one does in freestyle. Your head shouldn't move but your body should rotate in order to get a deep catch with each arm. Sitting here nursing sore core (abs) muscles. But it's that kind of sore that means you'll look good later. 

Looking forward to a mixed up workout tomorrow. And by mixed up I mean a nice combination of all four strokes and multiple distances. 

With Michael Phelp's former coach, Bob Bowman now heading up the UT Austin swim program Olympians and incredible swimmers from all over the world are coming to Austin to train. Fast swimmers everywhere. I joke occasionally about Austin being the center of the universe but when it comes to competitive swimming it seems to be coming true. Fun times for Austin swimmers!!!

It was that kind of day. Adventures of an unsupervised photographer.

I'll start out with the bleak news and we'll get that behind us quickly. I went out for a walk through downtown this morning and I took my cute little Leica DLUX8. I had it all tricked out with a cool half case that has an integrated handgrip, and I have a thumb grip on the back side of the camera to facilitate one handed shooting and also provide a cool look to the rig. Things were progressing smoothly until I realized that I had forgotten to tighten the screw on the bottom of the half case which adheres it securely to the camera body. At some point, while the camera swung lazily on its strap over my left shoulder, the friction with my shirt, enhanced by my ripped muscles, caused the case to fall off. And where and when it fell off I have no real idea. But when I was near the end of the walk I pulled the camera up for the above selfie and... yikes! .... the case had disappeared. So tragic. But I guess it was largely vestigial if I didn't notice its loss while making photographs. Perhaps my focus on the "ART" is so laser-like that I am able to compartmentalize and ignore all distractions while in the process of creation. From whole cloth. Like a painter.

You buy some, you lose some. That's life. Yes, I chastened myself for a while and then realized that I could just order another one and in all likelihood it will be on the camera by tomorrow, midday. One of the few advantages of modern life. Well, in addition to vaccines and penicillin. Oh, and air conditioning. 

But case or no case you have to admit that the new bucket hat, hauled back from the recent trip to Chicago, is just perfect for a full on photo nerd. Right? And I don't even play golf. But it's the perfect hat for a golf outing. But, I'm not currently a golfer... Although I played two rounds with famous athletes a while back. One with "Sugar" Ray Leonard and one with Dave Robinson. Both at corporate events and both at Barton Creek Country Club. "Sugar" Ray was a lousy golfer but a great story teller. He insisted on driving the cart. Robinson was a very good golfer and he had his own cart. So, good hat for golf, but no golf these days. Why? Because I would only play if the games were paid for by major corporations. Of course. 

The hat and golf stories also remind me of the time I was photographing a golf event for an enormous tech company. They'd hired Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite to be part of the event. I set up with them on the 7th hole T-box of the Fazio Course at Barton Creek. They were tasked with teaching each foursome that came by a few technical moves, then watch and critique the amateur players' strokes, and then have a group photograph made by me of the foursome with the pros. 

Something broke down in the tournament play. I think it was a couple of foursomes who had never played golf before but decided, "what the heck? how hard could this be?" and decided to make their virgin attempt at golf that morning. Tom, Ben and I had a lot of time on our hands waiting for the backed-up foursomes to arrive. They asked me about my game and I hemmed and hawed and, sensing that they were both bored, told them that I had the world's worst drive. They instantly smiled and lightened up and called the clubhouse to order a big bucket of ball be brought over. Then they proceeded to fill every schedule gap with an intensive course, two on one, on driving long shots over the lake in front of us. At first most of my shots made it accurately into the lake but as the day dragged on I got more and more of them over to the other side and nearer to the far off green. It was fun.

I was telling this story to a friend of mine who has been a lifelong, avid golfer. Almost to the exclusion of everything else in life. After hearing my tale he just frowned, shook his head and muttered, "That's like taking a gay man to a strip club." We have never discussed golf since... 

What memories a nice hat from a small camera store can bring back!! 

I had lunch yesterday with one of my favorite creative directors. A guy named, Greg. We've worked on projects together since 1988. That's a long time ago. I did yet another project for his company this last August. The one out in the heat at the real estate development. The one that finally cinched the idea of retiring from commercial work for good. 

I'd made a lunch reservation at a restaurant called, Salt Traders which specialized in "coastal cuisine." I made the reservation a while back because the place is always packed at lunch and I didn't want to wait around for a table. 

We had a very pleasant lunch and during our main courses I told him that I was "hanging up the serious business cameras and retiring from assigned advertising and public relations photography work." He asked me almost in a panic: "but who's going to do our portraits???" I told him to start looking at portfolios and websites. It's part of the process of turning a great client into a full time friend. He's a fine art painter on the side. My advice to him was to quit soon and become a full time painter. Both kids out of college, financially fine, bored with work. No better time to start planning the "glide path." 

Today, after my walk and the sad realization of my tragic case loss, I headed into the Whole Foods Flagship store at 6th and  Lamar Blvd. for a healthy lunch. What constitutes a healthy lunch? A serving of organic strawberries, a serving of freshly cut, organic mango chunks, a fun little collection of blueberries, some roasted zucchini, a smattering of roasted Brussel sprouts, a naughty tablespoon sized serving of mashed potatoes and about six ounces of baked fish. Washed down with....water.  About $10. Then I shopped for necessities to tide me over while my significant other is out of town. Greek yogurt, fresh blackberries, a ready made salad of kale, Brussel sprout shavings, cabbage etc. Oh, and a bottle of wine to take over to a friend's house tonight for a little dinner party. Love being invited by this couple because they are both incredible cooks. And artists. And I've known Will for about 50 years...

The only camera I took on the walk was the DLUX8. It's really a good camera. It should be for nearly $2,000. It's nice to be able to go wide and tight without carrying lots of heavy lenses. I've been shooting in the DNG setting and single frame. Only 12 bits of color but what the heck? Sony got away with 12 bits in some of its bestselling ICL camera over the last ten years. 

Here are some photos with captions:

For some reason some people like sunstars. Don't know why. Don't need to know why. But they write and ask me if the DLUX 8 has good sunstars. Like that's the most important feature of the camera. Like, if the sunstars are wrong, awkward or mischievous then the camera is all "DEAL-KILLER".

So when I see a bright line shining through something I go to town with apertures

like f11 and f16. The "forbidden" apertures that are sure to induce perilous diffractions. 

Not sure it's important in the grand scheme of things. It's the distraction of diffraction.

But there's a sample. 

Linear exploding background clouds. Cat napping along the railroad tracks.

currently wearing Birkenstocks with socks. They look perfect in concert with the bucket hat.

You probably can't tell but that's my shadow. I was following the sage advice of an online influencer who counseled putting the sun behind me for a better shot. I gave it a try. Fail!!!

Just waiting for the next Peter Lindbergh...

Okay. So let's talk restaurant prices. Does anyone else think $255 is too much to pay for a Tomahawk steak? Advertised at 36 ounces but you have to mentally subtract the weight of the bone as this dish is served "bone-in". And that's the pre-cooked weight. But still, jeepers! that's a lot to pay for one steak. Oh wait! I see! It includes seasonal vegetables. That makes everything okay...

This place has no reputation. No Michelin star. No glorious reviews. 

But man, they sure know how to put out a menu on steroids...

The gilded age comes to Austin--- with a vengeance. 

And watch out for that "Dry Aged Bone-in Ribeye" they've been keeping in the back of  the fridge for the last 40 days. Might want to order that one well done. Just sayin.  

Insensitive photographer probably doesn't even realize he lost his chic half case somewhere.

Too busy being scandalized by menus...

Mannequins welcome Fall Fashion. Ho hum. 

See all the destruction in the foreground?

That used to be our convention center. Now we have

no convention center. All the legit businesses in the area have closed down. 

It'll take years and years to replace the old structure. 

in the meantime all the potential convention customers will have found 

other venues. We're pretty dumb sometimes. 

The full time job of these folks is to sweep dust up into the air after the big trucks go by.

I coughed a lot. They must be doing a great job.

It's coming up soon. The Austin Day of the Dead Parade and Festival. 

Can't wait to sit in the office and try to decide which camera and lens to 

take with me. Hope it's cloudy and overcast. Last year it was 

super sunny and it was tough getting great shots. 

Well, tough for me. I'm sure someone else had it all figured out....

Who's up for swim practice tomorrow? Should be a doozy. 

counting down the days till my 70th birthday. 

Instead of dropping hints about what might constitute a nice gift

I'm sending links to products that might fill the bill. 

Hope my family and friends can read German.

Bucket hats with store logos. Birkenstock sandals with thick socks

De-cased Leicas. It's all scandalous. 

 

Sculpture in situ. Chicago Art Institute. Fun with focus.

 

Not sure this would have worked as well as a monochrome (black and white) image...

 Calder. Flamingo. Chicago. 

A random architectural detail from the Art Institute of Chicago.

 Skylight. Q2. A break from the crowds...

According to James... There is no profound difference in image quality between competing brands. Included Leica SL, Sony and Canon. Here's how he came to this conclusion...

For a change of pace I'm going to write something today that might piss off Leica aficionados; well, at least those who photograph with the SL series of cameras and lenses. But, it's based on some very in-depth work by my friend, James who is an accomplished photographer, videographer and brilliant post production expert. And he has NO dog in the hunt, no reason for dissembling or putting a thumb on the scales of one camera system or the other. His views about three of the better cameras in the universal camera-scape come from an exhaustive, one month long assignment to do post production on over 600 raw images from three photographers all shooting for the same client; albeit in slightly different locations but of almost identical subjects and in almost identical lighting conditions. Take it all with the necessary grain of salt...

Way back on August 9th, in the blistering heat of the Summer, three different photographers were commissioned to make advertising photos of one large, connected real estate development project. I was one of them. We were each given different shot lists but most of the images were lifestyle shots in and around neighborhoods as well as images of lots of the development's amenities (pools, a small lake, schools, community centers, etc.). We each had human models to work with. All three photographers were pros with lots of experience. One was using a Canon R5, one a Sony A7Rv and I was using a Leica SL2 camera. We each photographed in our cameras' raw modes and we each used the premium available standard zoom lenses for our respective systems. I was using the well regarded Leica 24-90mm zoom. 

When we finished shooting we transferred our raw images over to a large ad agency which, during contract negotiations, said they wanted to do the post processing of the images in-house. For whatever reason the in-house idea fell through and a couple weeks after the shoot I got a call asking if I could submit a bid on doing post processing on images from all three photographers. 

I was already committed to retiring, didn't feel like working on someone else's photos and declined the job --- but I like everyone at the agency, they are good people to work with, and my friend, James, is a much better post processor/retoucher/color grader than I will ever be so I recommended him for the project. He bid on it and won the bid. He spent 30 days taking out fire hydrants from front yards, retouching out dead patches of grass, straightening up the perspective on houses, adding humans to some shots via A.I., getting all the color between three different originating cameras and lenses to match up for consistency and much more. He worked on some of the files at 200 or 300% because he is beyond detail oriented and meticulous. He wrapped up and delivered his part of the project on the first few days of October and the client was happy. James was happy. And I was happy that they were happy.

James and I met up for coffee last week. We were sitting in the shade on a nice café patio enjoying a coolish breeze and watching the local talent hard at work on laptops at the surrounding tables. We chatted about all kinds of stuff and then James kind of hemmed and hawed and started out like this: 

"Now, before I say this I want you to know that I'm not trying to rile you up or insult you. Really. I just wanted to tell you what I saw during my month long, daily dive into the files from the three cameras and three photographers on that last project."

I nodded, wondering where he was going with this --- that it required such a long/strong disclaimer. After all we've been having these friendly discussions for ... decades. And I'd never been disclaimered before. 

he continued: 

"I have to tell you, I've spent nearly 100 hours doing pretty high end post processing on the files from the  BLANK project and I was kinda surprised at what I saw. When I zeroed out the color differences between the files from the different cameras and matched up the general contrasts I have to tell you that I really didn't see any difference in overall image quality between any of the three cameras. They are all sharp everywhere in the frames when you guys shot above f5.6. When y'all shot wide open every one of the lenses had some artifacts in the corners and a bit of chromatic aberration around the edges as well. If I take away the exif information from the files I'd have a hard time sorting between them. I mean, eventually I could see difference in composing styles and a preference to shoot slightly darker or slightly light but there's really no discernible difference between any of the three cameras or their lenses. There just isn't." 

Since James had no reason other than transmitting information about the cameras to bring this all up I had to believe his findings. There are a couple of caveats which, actually might accrue more advantages to the Sony or Canon than to the SL2. Both of those cameras have newer sensors and might do a better job in lower light but we were all shooting in bright light. Both of the non-Leica cameras were used with 24-70mm f2.8 lenses and it may be that the difference in focal range makes a slight difference. And finally, none of us were using tripods which means that operator glitches could make differences in the results. An example might be that being at least 35 years old than either of my photographer compatriots my ability to handhold my rig might not be quite as perfect. Finally, the SL2 is a contrast detect AF system while both the Canon and Sony are at the very top of the PD-AF game and so, with moving subjects (human models, dogs, etc.) there might be a discernible difference there. But clearly I am reaching for some sort of excuse. 

What this basically boils down to is that all cameras are really good now. And I think we've all known that for a while. Leica doesn't have a technical advantage if we are doing a competition that's basically all about lens performance and sensor performance. There are other parameters to consider but we've been over them and over them. After the point of technical equivalence is reached everything else is subjective. 

So, if you want to elevate Leica SL cameras and lenses I guess the takeaway is that you'd better be more interested in the some of the "soft" features of those cameras instead of believing that they'll deliver a higher quality product. A better experience while shooting? Maybe. A nicer menu? Sure. But a good pro should be able to pick up any of these cameras (and by extension, a Nikon Z camera and lens) and do a great job satisfying a client. 

Just thought I'd pass this along as a "thought exercise" for both Leica users and non-Leica users. But please note, this "study" only applied to the SL series. We'll have to go shoot a competitive project with the M series and Q series cameras until we've exhausted our fan boy adherence to our favorite systems. 

James squashing my dreams.... of camera perfection.

Ready for a little robotic surgery? 

B. In ancient times. On slide film. Scanned. Obviously.

The perfect child. Early digital times. Kodak SLR/n camera with adapted 

Hasselblad 150mm f2.8 F Zeiss Lens.

Blue sky and puffy clouds. 

we effectively survived the first weekend of the Austin City Limits

Music Festival where a couple of hundred thousand people each 

pay a fortune to sit in the dirt and listen to four different 

bands in the same space at the same time....

More next week....

Last week I swam six days in a row. I'm tired. 

We start again tomorrow. But, on the upside, I'll be in 

great shape for the Christmas Holiday

swim suit season.... :-)