This weekends photography was shaped by a lens I came across recently and decided I must have – a Soligor 400mm f6.3 M42 (screw fit) monster which is in remarkably good condition considering its age. Going by how difficult getting a usable result from it turned out to be I’m going to guess the previous owner(s) thought the same and its hardly ever been out of its case.
Elephants foot?
Ooo – the excitement!
Will you just look at its magnificence
Now I love a challenge, which is handy as you know I love experimenting with old lenses because the rendering, look, feel and overall results they produce is wildly different to modern glass. Photography for me is not all about pixel peeping (a disease I’d love to irradiate) but more about going out with my camera simply because I enjoy taking pictures. Some days that will mean my X-T3 on a tripod, the best lenses I own, careful metering, remote release and absolute care of every raw file right through to the final output. Some days its slinging my X100T over my shoulder when I’m out with the dog and a quick Wi-Fi then tweak in Lr on my iPhone. Then we have days like this – grabbing an unusual lens, switching my thinking away from absolutes and just seeing what I can get.
Are these the best photographs I’ve taken – are they heckers like.
Am I saying you should all rush out to raid your local charity/thrift stores for old lenses – not really.
Am I suggesting that some days you should forget about how perfect a photograph can be and instead go wild, be loose and think outside the box – ABSOLUTELY!
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