Amazon Frieze & 50mm f1.1 VC Nokton

[frederick_muller]

<p>Have been taking the new 50mm f1.1 Nokton out for trials. Yesterday was encouraging at the British Museum. I am finding the lens astonishingly good wide open. I'd been considering buying a used Noctilux, or converting a Canon f0.95 to M-mount, but I'm beginning to think that the VC lens is a better choice than either of those options.</p>

<p>Most of the following series are of the Amazon Frieze, from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, at the British Museum. All shot with the Nokton at f1.1 on an RD-1s. You do have to watch the plane of focus, because the depth of field is very shallow, but the lens is more forgiving than the Canon 50mm f0.95.</p><div></div>

[frederick_muller]

<p>Woops, obviously a typo ... March, 2010.</p>

<p>More from the frieze ...</p><div></div>

[frederick_muller]

<p>The details of battle on the frieze are amazing. I wish I'd been able to see see the frieze whole. Apparently the original was painted, and the weapons were guilded.</p><div></div>

[frederick_muller]

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[frederick_muller]

<p>''</p><div></div>

[frederick_muller]

<p>All of the above shots were wide open. Most were shot head-on, perpendicular to the face of the frieze. The frieze is 3-dimensional, and you can get very interesting views of the detail by viewing it from an angle. If you shoot at an angle, wide open, you immediately run into the shallow depth of field limits of the lens.</p><div></div>

[frederick_muller]

<p>'''</p><div></div>