Same as it ever was

I know every single inch of this house. This house and the objects in it are like a picture.

Everything is in the same place… standing absolutely still… decaying and getting older.

Sure, once in a while someone opens up a window. The sunlight gets in and the air is renewed however… standing still objects inside the decaying house… don’t get your hopes too high.

No one will be moving in and once that window is closed again everything will return to what it always was.

I visit that house many times and I remember every single object. I remember how my grand father used to hang his shirts behind the bedroom door, they’re still there.

I remember my grandmother’s old pots. I remember I hated the bathtub texture for being so harsh and I’ve always loved the kittens painting.

I’m connected to that house in many ways. What once was alive and filled with joy is now just waiting to… vanish.

Memories are a good thing. They are like little trips to what once was, an escape, but as that house decays, so do I. Some things are already broken beyond repair.

The appeal of lenses

One of the things I like the most about lenses is the way they render what’s in focus and what’s out of focus. I’m not talking about bokeh and I’m not talking about sharpness. I’m talking about the way they behave from their maximum aperture to f5.6.

I can’t deny, I like short depth of field and I almost never use a lens above f8 so it is interesting to go through a bunch of lenses to see the differences between them.

A “softer” lens can render a scene in a way I prefer over the sharpest of lenses.
A slow lens opening at f3.5 can have more character than a lens that opens at f0.95.

I do believe that some lenses have charm, a very special signature… do I dare to say… soul?
In the most naive way I do dare to say that some lenses have soul.

It’s not about quality, certainly not about the price, it’s just about the way they do what they do.

So… here are some samples from various lenses and cameras.

Zeiss 60mm CT for the Hasselblad

 

Zeiss 150mm CT for the Hasselblad

 

Zeiss 80mm CT for the Hasselblad

 

Zeiss 120mm Makro Planar for the Hasselblad

 

 

Zeiss 80mm for the Rollei 6006

 

Zeiss 150mm for the Rollei 6006

 

Zeiss 80mm for the Contax 645

 

Zeiss 45mm for the Contax 645

 

Mamiya 80mm for the Mamiya 645 Pro TL

 

Mamiya 80mm for the Mamiya 645 AFD

 

Zenzanon 80mm for the Zenza Bronica SQ AM

 

Mamiya 80mm for the Mamiya 7ii

 

Summicron 50mm/f2.8 on a Zeiss ZM

 

Summicron C40mm for the Leica CL

 

Zeiss G35mm on a Contax 62

 

Zeiss G45mm on a Contax G2

 

Nikon 28Ti

 

Ricoh GR1s

 

Konica Hexar AF

Zeiss G35mm/f2 lens for the Contax G

This post is a love statment.
I’ve been using the G2 with the Zeiss G35mm lens a lot and what can I say about this lens…

I own the 28, the 35, 45 and 90mm and since I got the G35 it has never left the camera body.

I’ve read a lot about this kit and this is no review, this is just me saying the Zeiss G35mm lens is my favorite lens of this system so far. I’m yet to try out the 21mm and the 16mm.

I mean, there’s a lot of wide angle photographers out there who prefer the G28 or the G21which is fine of course. For my style of shooting (if I have one) I like the 35mm angle of view. When I compare it to the G45mm is does make a diference. I also like to use big apertures and the G35mm, like the G45, delivers a beautiful f2.0 widest aperture.

An f2.0 lens is wide enough, for me, and using it in combination with the tack sharp focus from the Contax G2 one can really see how good this system is. Razor blade sharp focus and the ever present harsh and organic out of focus which is the Zeiss signature.

All the pictures were taken using f2.0 up to f5.6.

Contax G2 + Zeiss G35mm + Agfa APX 100

Gear:
Contax G2
Zeiss G35mm

Recipe:
Agfa APX 100
Xtol
1+1
11 min
20 º C
Agitated for 10s every minute.

Never used the APX before. I always go to Ilford Delta 100 or Kodak TMax 100, but this APX has a nice price and I wanted to give it a go.

Soft film, low contrast but increasing the development time for a minute or so, should give it a bit more “kick”. At least it does work with Xtol.

Please forgive my poor English.

Contax G2 + Zeiss G35mm + Kodak Trix 400

Gear:
Contax G2
Zeiss G35mm

Recipe:
Kodak TriX 400
Xtol
1+1
9
20 º C
Agitated for 10s every minute.

Okay I admit, It’s addictive. The Contax G2 system I mean…
I just got the Zeiss G35mm a couple of months ago and finally I had the chance of testing it for a couple of hours.

I’m a sucker for shallow depth of field and I wanted to see how the G35 behaves between f2.0 and f5.6. What can I say? What an amazing and contrasted lens. Typical Zeiss out of focus areas, harsh and organic… The G35mm, Trix and Xtol are a winning combination…

Please forgive my poor English.

Contax G2 + Zeiss Planar 45mm + Fujicolor

Gear
Contax G2
Zeiss Planar 45mm

Film
Some color negative Fujifilm

I almost never use color film. From time to time yes, I get a cheap color film and shoot away. That’s more out of curiosity than the attempt of doing something artistic.

These are some pictures from a test roll using the 45mm lens with a color film.