Five Frames With A Lumix G 14mm F2.5 Asph., Pin Holed and Framed

Digital Moments - Garden Flowers with a Lumix G 14mm F2.5 Asph., images post-processed with Pin Hole Art Filter effect.

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Photographing flowers come with the norms of having the right gear and setup, which includes having an appropriate lens, a steady tripod, and the right lighting ambiance to work in, and other considerations which include how you are having the image cropped, the focal point of interest, depth of field, view angle, and of course, fore and background elements.

Olympus E-P5, Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 Asph.

Preparation is the key, and getting the flowers in the right frame isolated from other distracting elements may need you to move in close and shoot at the macro level. Shooting at this level means you need a very steady hand or a tripod to set the camera up properly, a close focus or even a macro lens, good lighting or flash support, and last, but not least, a good grasp on what depth of field is all about.

My session was a bit stringent though. As an amateur snapshooter, I do not have nor carry around more than just the camera and a lens, this time with the E-P5 and a Lumix G 14mm F2.5 Asph. Shots were taken wide open and really close, almost at the minimum focusing distance of the lens, cropped, and given the pinhole and white frame border art effect on Olympus Viewer 3 (OV3) to further alienate the subject from its background.

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Five Frames With A Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4, The Zoom Range

Olympus Pen E-P5, Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 @21mm

Olympus Pen E-P5, Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 @24mm

Olympus Pen E-P5, Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 @28mm

Olympus Pen E-P5, Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 @31mm

Digital Moments - Vintage lens test, testing out the zoom range of the Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 lens.

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Testing out the zoom range of the Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4, the first 2-ring version of Sigma's Gamma series of ultra-wide-angle zoom lenses. This version was introduced in 1979. Economical, as it covers all four of the most important wide-angle focal lengths, the 21mm, 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm, in one compact combo.

Olympus Pen E-P5, Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 @35mm

On an MFT (Micro Four-Third) digital, the Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 will be that of a standard zoom with the equivalent focal lengths from 42 to 70mm. The lens incorporates Sigma's unique floating element system, virtually eliminating all types of aberrations throughout the entire zoom range.

It is a super solid all-metal with 11 elements in 7-group construction, weighs about 465 grams, and measures 105mm in length. The F stop range is 3.5 to 22 with half-stop clicks, and the lens is fitted in a floral pattern hood and takes in a 67mm filter size.

Olympus Pen E-P5, Sigma Zoom-Gamma 21-35mm F3.5~4 @35mm

Images were shot with the lens mounted on the Olympus Pen E-P5, at the focal length indicators of 21mm, 24mm, 28mm, 31mm, and 35mm. Post-processing and print finishing was done on Olympus Viewer 3 (OV3) and Google Nik Sharpener Pro 3.

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Five Frames, Found Slides, Converted to Black-and-White

Vintage color film slides from the '80s, found, scanned, and post-processed for web publishing.

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Another batch of found slides, 30+ years old, shot in color, but for this session, the images have been scanned and converted to black-and-white with the Monochrome & Sepia tool, and tweaked for Auto Tone Correction, Contrast, Tone Curve, Brightness & Contrast, Hue & Saturation, Unsharp Mask and Noise Reduction, on the image editor Olympus Viewer 3 (OV3). Why? Well, for one, the originals are slightly faded and the colors are off and could be a lame sight to see these slides in their original disposition.

Black-and-white images, with their broad tonal ranges and deep rich blacks, relax you and sets your mind into the subconscious, deciphering the image is then simply visual impact and resonance. Light, form, and texture are more compelling in an image rather than the hues of the subject matter, and color serves more as a distraction than the means to an end.

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Five Frames With A Konica C35 Automatic, Chasing Colors

Analog Diary - Film photography favorites with a Konica C35 Automatic, chasing the colors of the stadium structure.

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Looking rather unkempt, the public portal of the stadium is equally colorful in orange and a shade of deep blue alternated with white under slabs, with patches of the paintwork flaking off, showing a general lack of proper maintenance schedule.

Konica C35 Automatic

The Konica C35 Automatic, by the way, is a very lovable fully automatic 35mm rangefinder introduced in 1971. It was fitted with a 38mm f2.8 four-element Hexanon lens (46mm filter thread) and a Copal B Mat shutter.

In its fully programmed automatic mode, the camera will select a combination of both the aperture opening, from f/2.8 to f/14, and shutter speed, which ranges from 1/30 to 1/650 second for the exposure setting. ASA film speed is maxed at 400. The camera was designed to run on the 1.3v PX675 mercury battery, which I have replaced with the LR44 cell with no ill effect.

A lightweight, weighing in at only 370 grams, the C35 Automatic has one of the nicest and brightest viewfinders I have ever experienced, and it comes with a display that shows you the aperture/shutter speed combo that is being used.

Konica C35 Automatic

The camera is equally forgiving if you tend to miss out on using the rangefinder for focusing, in fact, what I have done is to put the rangefinder on the hyperfocal distance, point, and shoot away ...

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