royall_berndt

I have a 135mm Heliar lens from an old Voigtlander Avus 9x12 camera. I have mounted it on a board for Pacemaker Speed Graphic. What can I expect from such a lens? Will it outperform my 127mm Kodak Ektar? I have an Avus with a Skopar lens. The lens is fantastic, especially in mono. Are Skopars considered superior to the Heliars? Some people say the lenses produce different moods.

I thought AIS lenses were equal to those being made now. Are the AF D lenses superior?

My favorite MD glass was the 85mm f2.0 Rokkor. Great color rendering.

If you use a large soft box, do you not need to add strength to the highlights with a low-power flash or a bare bulb?

Not razor sharp, but nice rendering of fine detail and smooth tones.

Yes, 6x6 cropped. I like tan lines, so I didn't lay on the makeup. This was one Lowel-light, as I recall. Maybe out of an umbrella. Cramped quarters. That probably is sweat on her face. In a small space, the light was too close to her. And those Lowel things are hot.

That's a Jag!

About the old bank. I can look back in time and see two aged men in those chairs, saying hello to everyone and discussing how the old town was vanishing. They would have used the pots as spittoons. I took this in Swannanoa, NC, where indeed the old part of town is in ruins. I moved on to Flat Rock, NC, where the downtown is also crumbling...except for a new plaza built as a gathering spot for teenagers. And the kids were there! Flat Rock faces heavy competition from nearby Asheville, which has become a mecca for young people and a profusion of great food and locally made beer and good street musicians.

I ran across this recently, up on a shelf where all good thing lie in wait. First off, I noticed that the advertisements have lots of text. You don't get that now. The Nikon FM2 got a write-up that I would call a little better than lukewarm. The writer would be amazed by the lasting popularity of that elegant machine. The fanciest ad promoted the Nikon FG: also with abundant words. There were articles about darkroom work! And, heartbreakingly, a long piece about the glories of Kodachrome. I almost beat my head against the wall.

The copyright info is outdated, very outdated, going back to a previous owner. The picture was shot in 2020. You named the right lens, Mike. I failed to pack a couple of other lenses, so I had to shoot everything with this lens that I did pack. It turned out to be a real gem. Not much good for street shooting, though. The body was a D7000. I had to replace a busy background with pure gray--in PS. The selection tool grabbed part of the bed, so there's color spill. I liked the effect, so I left it. I shot this in Asheville, NC, where the model lives. She's a gymnast. Muscular, but discreetly. Her skin is satiny and beautifully hued. .

My AIS lenses were chosen for their good reputations. I would like to try them on a FF camera. I have a couple of D type AF Nikon lenses. They are really good. Here's a shot from D 35mm focal length.. Hand-held.

Leica M3 Deserted Bank

With a film camera, I usually set the lens at 10 ft. and use a small aperture. That's a 28mm lens. I shoot from the waist. The results are often quite good. And a nice thing about a film camera: no one can demand to see your shots.

Estate sales are good places to look for F Rolleis. What you want is the estate of someone who had so many cameras that he couldn't wear out any of them. I got my 3.5F in that manner, and it is so pristine that sometimes I just sit and look at it.

Are current Nikon lenses far and away better than the AIS's? Anyway, I shoot mostly street candids, at which the D7000 is quite good. But would the D750 give me better AF and speed? For studio work, the D7000 is excellent. The addition of a tripod makes the images really sharp.

I am quite happy with my D7000 but wonder if I wouldn't see an improvement in image quality with a D750. I have plenty of AIS lenses to use. I bought them for a Nikon FM2.