The world of M42

Having seen some beautiful examples of images taken with the M42 Helios lens (produced by and for the old Russian Zenit 35mm SLRS), I decided to purchase one. For the equivalent of 30 quid, I managed to buy the lens (it also came with an old zenit camera, that was a bonus!) and an M42 adapter.

Due to my lack of research, I purchased an adapter without a lip to press down the aperture pin on the lens. Refusing to buy a new adapter out of stubbornness, I opened the lens up and modded the pin with the help of some Q-tip tubing to keep it permanently depressed so that the aperture ring worked. It's truly beautiful glass. Here are a few images I took on my first time trying out:

I know they're nothing special... for a guy with bad eyesight, likely incorrect dioptre adjustment, and a first time [applied] manual focus user, they're also not pretty bad. That DoF is lovely. I'd really like to try this out in some night shooting or in an environment with lots of lights behind. I imagine that bokeh would be fantastic! Now. This experience is only the first part! I began to think - are there any other interesting M42 lenses out there? My lord, there is!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Lenses-/3323/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=M42&_sop=2
http://allegro.pl/obiektywy-50590?order=d&string=M42

Look at all those lenses! LOOK AT THOSE PRICES! I think I can even commit to purchasing one or two of those every (or every other) month. I may even become a lens junky. The fact that there are so many [high quality] lenses out there at such low prices opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Now, of course, I'm a realist - I know there are downsides to the world of M42. Very few (if any?) lenses will be "factory new"; all (with a few very rare exceptions, a la some Sigmas) will be manual focus (I need to work on that); and from what I've read, different adapters work to varying degrees with adapter pins on lenses without an A/M aperture switch, so I may have to do some more 'modifications'. After the last one, I'm slightly hesitant. Those lens screws are tiny and ridiculous tight, and the aperture pins are so damn fiddly.

Anyway, that was just a slight rant. I'll certainly keep this updated if (rather when) I decide to purchase more M42 lenses (or perhaps even old FD lenses? oh no, I've opened Pandora's box)

Woah!

What a busy few weeks it has been! I spent 6 days visiting my family back in the UK (I even got sunburned!); non-teaching work has been booming; milady destroyed micomputer and I had to spend 5 days getting everything back to relative normality, and I've been so lethargic due to fighting off an infection, the heat, and some troubled sleeps.

I'll have a few images and videos of my time spent in Brighton to upload shortly, hopefully within the next few days. For now, though, I wanted to talk about Photoshop CC

I currently own Photoshop CS6, having effectively skipped to it from CS3 which served me well for a number of years. The pricing for Photoshop is very steep and not really something you can just go out and buy, like most other software. So when you see that the new Photoshop CC is only $30 / 100zl a month, it's easy to think it's not that steep, especially when you consider that CS3 back in 2007 was $650 / 2100zl (that's a lot of mulch to hand over).  What's important to consider, though, is that the license for CC is on a per-month basis. That is, if you stop paying, whether now or in 5 years when you've invested $2000 / 6400 zl, you lose access to that software. Certainly, it could work out being cheaper in the long run, when you factor in that updates are a part of the license fee, so you continue to receive updated versions of PS through CC, and you'd have to subscribe for a little over 2 years roughly to invest the same amount as a full retail copy. However, it's an extra thing you have to pay at the end of the month and those sorts of things add up, don't they? I'd much rather save up a bit and shell out in one lump sum and OWN the software, indefinitely.

Anyway, my rant about CC licensing over, I wanted to say that I'm currently using the trial version. As much as I have no intention of paying the CC subscription, the new features are quite delicious and, if they are a taste of things to come, it's very tempting.

. One of the new features in CC is the ability to open Camera Raw as a filter (which can be used as a smart filter, non-destructively, if you convert the layer to a smart layer). Naturally, you won't get the same benefit if you use it on a non-raw file as if you'd use ACR on an actual RAW image, but the tools do work very well.

This one was a 5 minute job to simulate a wider-angle shot, using the new Lens Correction interface (more on that soon), I simple leveled it out, increased distortion and in a not-so-precarious way, used a mixture of content aware fill / scale to fill in the edges, then slightly cropped to keep the width the same while reducing the height, changing the aspect ratio to give it more of that illusion. (Though, the canvas size IS wider, hence content aware). Certainly not something I'd add to my portfolio, or even print, but not bad.


... to be continued! It's 7am, I should sleep :/

DIY Test shots

So, I decided to test out those two accessories I made yesterday (the flash diffuser and the reflector)

These images are straight out of camera, with no adjustments made. First, let's take a look at the diffuser:

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Both images taken at f/8, 1/200s, Speedlite 480 EXII on ETTL mode.  ISO 100

I'm kind of torn on this one. I did a few shots at varying exposures but got similar results. The light certainly appears less harsh, but then, it seems to be very similar to just stopping down the FlashEV by a full stop. It'd probably be easier (and softer) to just hold a piece of sandwich paper over the flash, rather than make a unit that attaches to the flash itself. Also worth noting that my diffuser doesn't really allow for spreading, so this test is a full on direct-light hit.  There are better diffusion materials out there. If I'd seriously consider using a diffuser for direct hits (which I should) then I'd probably build something a little better :) After all, this was only a spur of the moment thing I made without any research or preparation. Now, let's check out that reflector

CLICK TO ENLARGE

What a difference! I was completely able to light up the right side of the flowers, which otherwise would have been shadowed. I've never actually used a reflector before, so it took a bit of getting used to, trying to find the light and then direct that onto the flower. It's worth noting, that it's actually better to step back a little bit and not hold the reflector so close. It directs light more strongly than you'd give it credit for. I can definitely see myself using this a lot more, at least inside. The light reflection is quite small and focused, probably because of the size of the reflector and a few crinkles in the aluminum foil. Either way, I am quite happy with it for a 10 minute job :)


It's also worth noting, that trying to bounce the flash off the reflector is a terrible idea. Not only was it difficult to get the flash to bounce in the way I wanted it to, the light spread out quite a lot but had certain parts that were very intense silvery lines. My next project is going to be a portable flash bouncer and I'll probably use some pure white matte poster board for that - I'll need to do a little bit of research :)

In conclusion, I had quite a bit of fun making the two things. The diffuser is a bit duff, I'll have to make something better. The reflector is quite nice for illuminating small things, but I'd need something bigger and with less imperfections if I want to use it for larger shots (e.g. portraits), and I'll need to get some poster board to make a portable flash bouncer. I'd highly recommend doing some creative DIY like this, it's very fun and quite rewarding. Best of all, you can make stuff with things you almost certainly have lying around your house!

A little DIY

I've had a Speedlite 430 EXII for quite some time, but I've admittedly not used it very much. It's quite cumbersome for outdoor shots and as I don't have (a) a wireless / cable trigger, (b) a flash stand, or (c) walls in my home suitable for bouncing, it mostly gathers dust.

Rather than shell out on some accessories, I decided to make a few! What I really wanted to make this usable indoors (besides of a remote trigger, which I'll actually invest in soon) was a reflector and a diffuser.
So, while staring at an empty cardboard box that I was too lazy to get rid of, I decided I'd just make them!

The reflector looks a bit tacky, but I've since straightened out some of the creases and the surface looks a lot flatter now. I simply took a large plastic bowl and used the Stanley knife around the edge of the bowl to cut out a large circular shape. Then, using some scissors, I smoothed out the edges. I unrolled some aluminum foil carefully and placed the cardboard on it, I cut it from the roll, carefully folded it over the back and used some tape to tightly seal it down. Then I flattened out the surface with a book and it looks quite nice! Not had a chance to test it yet, but I'll do that tomorrow!

Next came the diffuser!

 Naturally, I wanted a 'reusable' one, so the important part was measuring out the cardboard perfectly so that it'd fit onto the edge of my flash, and could be used regardless of the direction I chose to tilt it. This was the most time consuming part (mostly, because I was silly and actually taped it to fit over the top before making the final cuts) Then, when I was satisfied with the size, and it was taped and I could actually put it on the flash and take it off easily, I added the 'diffuse' material.

The diffuse material is actually a roll of sandwich paper. I was going to tape that on as well, but I decided to use an elastic band instead, as it'd make it easier to change the diffuse materials in the future (plus, it's just easier and more taught than with tape). I'm not sure how effective this will be yet.  Mostly I did it just for the fun :) All of the tests will be tomorrow. I'll setup a scene with my tripod and so some tests with the reflector (I'll try bouncing the flash off the reflector, though I might get some odd silver lighting). I'll also try exactly the same scene with and without the diffuser, to see if it makes any noticeable difference. If not, I'll try either a different diffuse material, or I'll stack another sheet of the sandwich paper over it.

And... as you can see, it's totally legit!

I'm actually quite happy with what I've done. I feel a little bit creative and less lazy than usual :P The last DIY project I completed was the light box (below) and that was back in 2011! You can see the original lightbox post here: http://eye-gate.blogspot.com/2011/08/lightbox-project.html

PP - Black & White techniques in PS/ACR

Here is the first video I've made for quite some time, so please forgive the small mistakes!

In this video, I demonstrate some techniques in Adobe Camera Raw 7 and Photoshop CS6 for making a more contrasting and popping black & white image. We look at dodge / burn, adjustment layers for levels and the history brush.

I hope it can be useful for someone :) I perhaps might do similar videos in the future when I PP my images, as I find that while re-watching what I've done, I spot mistakes and find ways to do things a bit quicker :)