Five Frames With A F.Zuiko 38mm F1.8, A Clear Choice

Digital Moments - Vintage lens test, images with an Olympus F.Zuiko 38mm F1.8, an Olympus FT era lens, a clear choice for a favorite.

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Adapting legacy manual focus lenses to your interchangeable lens digital camera means that you are not only giving yourself the chance to select a lens from thousands of mainly low-priced options offered by different manufacturers, or picking one that is not available from your current camera brand range, but also giving yourself the choice of lenses which have been acknowledged to have outstanding optical qualities.

Olympus E-P5, F.Zuiko Auto-S 38mm F1.8

An example of a very good and compact lens for adaption to mirrorless digital camera bodies is the Zuiko FT 38mm F1.8, or officially the F.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm F1.8. The lens is from the series produced for Olympus Pen F/FT, the half-frame SLR camera system which was designed with a body thickness and focal flange distance almost resembling current mirrorless digital cameras.

Olympus E-P5, F.Zuiko Auto-S 38mm F1.8

The 38mm F1.8 is 6 elements in 5 groups construction, comes with a 5-bladed diaphragm, and is lightweight at 135 grams. The minimum focus distance is a short 0.35 meters and filter threads are standard 43 mm. The lens is said to have a degree of softness which seems to be the main trait of Olympus manual focus lenses, characteristic neutral mid-tone colors, and a pastel creaminess to the backgrounds that adds to the classic touch of the images.

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Five Frames With A Nokia Asha 300, A Morning Walk I

Mobile Photography -Images with a vintage candy-bar Nokia Asha 300, an early morning walk in the park.

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A brisk morning walk (in the park) might be just the right tonic to get your body system rejuvenated, give you the energy for the rest of the day, and helps you to create a positive mindset. Alternatively, a rather leisurely one instead, with a camera in hand, could be a refresher for the creative, a feast for your five senses, and quick decision-making moments.

It is the time of day when sunlight begins to flow over the landscape in a way the colors of nature are intensified and where equally spectacular shadows are created. And as we photographers know, this is one of the two periods within a day when the light is most ideal for capturing breathtaking images.

Choosing a vantage point that gives you the best impact when shooting either into the sun or away from it may also give you spectacular results.

In the early morning, when the sun is low on the horizon, the stillness of the air may affect the stillness of bodies of water as well, the presence of humidity images may disperse the light rays which may leave a slight blue cast on the images, and areas shaded from the sun may be seen as slightly underexposed.

These images here, as you might have guessed, are captured on the 5MP camera on the candy-bar Nokia Asha 300 feature phone that I have been using for the past few sessions, and for a few more to come.

Nokia Asha 300

Despite its vintage, sensor size, and the technology it was built with, I have to admit that the camera, with a little bit of help with post-processing, is still up to the mark with the clarity and sharpness of the images captured.

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Five Frames With A Konica Genba Kantoku 28WB, A Day Trip

Analog Diary - Film photography favorites with a Konica Genba Kantoku 28WB, on a day trip to the city.

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A round trip downtown for a street shoot session, this time with a Konica Genba Kantoku 28WB, a ruggedized 35mm film camera manufactured by Konica who produced a range of these construction cameras in the '80s.

Konica Genba Kantoku 28WB

The series was designed for building construction supervision, it is waterproof (JIS protection grade 7), dust, sand proof, and anti-shock. The model range includes bodies with 28mm and 35mm fixed focal lengths, a 40-60mm switchable dual lens, and a 28-56mm zoom lens.

The 28WB is fitted with a sealed autofocusing 28mm F3.5 lens constructed of 8 elements in 7 groups, a sure sign that the camera was destined to be a super sharpshooter. Later ECO models, with orange body panels instead of utilitarian blue or dark green, come with a +2 EV compensation selector and low-consumption flash units.

Using the camera, an autofocus point-and-shoot is fairly straightforward. One thing you have to remember to do on powering up is whether you want the autoflash on auto (default), on, off, set self-timer, or infinity focus on. This is done by rotating the selection via the Mode selection button. The setting will be displayed on the LCD panel.

Konica Genba Kantoku 28WB

Film loading, film advance, and rewind at end of the roll are automatic. The Genba Kantoku 28WB is powered by a 2CR5 for its motor drive and electronic camera operations, while a date version, which records up to the year 2019 needs an additional CR2025 battery for the calendar operation.

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Five Frames With A Yashica ML 50mm F1.9, Subtle Pastels

Digital Moments - Vintage lens test with a Yashica ML 50mm F1.9, in subtle pastels.

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Last, in the series of image captures with a Yashica ML series lens I can safely mount on an el-cheapo lens adapter on the Pen E-P5. The Yashica ML 50mm F1.9, after the ML 28mm F2.8, and ML 35mm F2.8, is another scintillating example of what the Yashica ML series is all about. Shooting with a wide-open aperture adds to the softness of the focus and the intensity of the colors.

Olympus E-P5, Yashica ML 50mm F1.9

The Yashica ML 50mm F1.9 lens is part of the Yashica ML series, pro-line multicoated lenses developed and produced by Yashica (Kyocera) to bridge the gap between their consumer-grade DSB line and the state-of-the-art Zeiss T* lenses built for the Contax/Yashica system.

Generally, the ML series are well known for their sharp images, contrasty colors, beautiful color rendering, and given the right aperture opening, swirly bokeh. The 50mm F1.9, individually, is said to be tack-sharp at F8.

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