Leica Correspondent limited edition.

Leica Correspondent

In collaboration with Lenny Kravitz – the musician, actor and designer– Leica Camera AG, Wetzlar, presents a special camera edition.

Don McCullin's Nikon F

Larry Burrows' Leica

A correspondent's camera bears scars from the situations in which it it has been, a correspondent bears scars from the things they have seen. 


No Lenny Kravitz, artificial wear and an inflated price is nought to do with photojournalism.

Lomography Belair X 6-12 City Slicker - First impressions.

Boxed Lomography
Belair X6-12 City Slicker

Lomography have shipped their first batch of  Belair X 6-12 Cameras. Pictures and specifications of the camera can be found at the Lomography Belair microsite.

Here are my first impressions of using the City Slicker with the 58mm wide angle lens;

• It is delivered in a nice cardboard package with the body, 2 lenses (58mm and 90mm) and matching viewfinders.
• The viewfinder is very approximate, particularly at less than 5m focus range.
• The 58mm lens is really soft at f8. As you would expect it gets a bit better at the f16 setting.
• Focus fall off from the centre is quite severe on the 6x12 format (this lens would be better with the 6x6 and perhaps 6x9 formats)
• There is a stop or two of exposure falloff from the image centre to the edges (for that lomo vignette effect)

Here are two sample images from the first roll;

Stone shed. Kodak TMax 400, Lomography x6-12, 58mm @ F8

A girl and her dog. Kodak TMax 400, Lomography x6-12, 90mm @ F8

However even with its flaws,  all in all it is a very light & fun medium format camera.

Leica M Monochrom

Leica M Monochrom

This week Leica have announced a new camera, the Leica M Monochrom. Surely, as a monochrome only sensor, it will cost ¹/₃ the price of a colour M9 ;)

As a Leica there is of course no possibility of such a "cheap" price.
The Monochrom is certainly a niche camera, but there will be a significant number of Leica affectionados who put themselves on the Leica Monochrom waiting list.
After all, Leica users have given up autofocus and other creature comforts, why not sacrifice colour to be more obsessive about the sharpness that a monochrome sensor can deliver.

Nifty fifties and Canon EOS cameras

An un-scientific comparison of 50mm lenses.

There are available a plethora of lens mount adapters that allow one to mount almost any lens onto a Canon EOS digital camera.
It is possible to mount lenses using the Nikon F mount, Olympus OM and M42 lens mounts (among others) by the use of a mechanical adapter. The Canon FD mount is not usable for general photography unless an adapter with optical elements is used to maintain infinity focus.
So... what's the point of mounting an older or off brand lens on a modern digital SLR camera?
Only one way to find out, let's take some pictures!
First, here's the selection of 50mm lenses that were tried.

Selection of nifty 50mm lenses
(click image for a larger view)

Below are examples of the same photo, or as near as can be, taken with these lenses and the appropriate lens mount adapters. (Click on the pictures to view a larger version)

A Global "Camera Style"

Global Camera Style - Yahoo Pipe

A number of "Camera Style" blogs have popped up on the web in recent times. These sites document some fantastic, often vintage cameras and the people that use them.
It seems to have begun with John Sypal's Tokyo camera style.
From Ottowa to Jakarta and Oslo to Tokyo, courtesy of Yahoo pipes (please be patient, it may take a little time to load), here’s a mashup of the feeds from 30 or so similar sites to produce a "Global Camera Style".
If you’re a fan of any of the camera style sites and love browsing photos of vintage cameras, subscribe to the RSS feed here,  or view on NetVibes.

Obsolete Photo Gear #2

Obsolete photo gear cluttering up my bottom drawer. - #2 KODAK Dead Black.

No, it's not a pot of eyeshadow for Emo or Goth kids.
Dead Black is a matte black paint used to minimise light reflection.

M42 Adaptors - some are more equal than others.

Today there is an enormous range of affordable M42 or Pentax screw mount adapters available. Here is a Nikon Ai example under $10.
Using an M42 adapter you can adapt any ol' screw mount lens to fit many 35mm, digital SLR or even a micro four thirds cameras.
Such adapters are an excellent way to breathe some life back into older lenses.

However try before you buy,

Obsolete Photo Gear #1

Obsolete photo gear cluttering up my bottom drawer. -

#1 Kodak Monochrome Viewing Filter

This filter is used to visually approximate the relative tones of gray produced in black-and-white prints by different colors under daylight illumination. It is very dark with only 10% luminous transmittance.