A Few More Photos From 50mm f1.1 Nokton

Voigtlander 50mm f1.1 Nokton Test Shots

I have finally entered the world of super fast 50s with The Poor Man's Noctilux: Voigtlander 50mm f1.1 Nokton. First impression: HUGE, its bigger than any 50mm lens I have ever used, include Canon and Nikon's 50mm f1.4. That said, I was pleasantly surprised when I lift the camera to my eye and found it did NOT block a quarter of my M9 viewfinder. It is a heavy lens, it may not feel as dens as a Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux, but it is non the less hefty. Which is only natural when you take the lens cap off and discover the huge chunk of glass that makes up the front element. 

I put on a 58mm ND8 filter immediately and shot some photos in the afternoon sun and later at a near pitch black resturant, the dinner plan somehow worked out to be perfect for testing this lens. All shots were taken wide open at f1.1 (thats what I bought it for right?). The first thing I noticed when I saw the photos on my computer was how sharp it was wide open, I was expecting Nikon and Canon 50mm f1.4 kind of performance wide open, but the Nokton is head and shoulders above these two, actually more like full body length above them. Then I noticed the purple neon light, oh wait that is the chromatic aberration. This lens does not hold back when it comes to giving you purple fringe, however that was expected with lens of this "speed", even Leica's f0.95 monster can not avoid it, the chromatic aberrations can be fixed in Adobe lightroom with a few clicks, and is not something to be overly concerned, its just a price you have to pay. 

I was amazed at how much light this lens can take in, mind you that 2 shots in the resturant (#4 and 6) were only lit with candle light, and were shot at ISO1600 at f1.1 on the M9. I will follow this up with a review after in a few month.

2013 European Trip - Part 1: Rome

I have just finished my 2013 European trip, visiting 5 cities, with 1 camera (and 1 fixed lens). First stop was Rome, first word came to my mind when I stepped off the airport bus was "history", this place is steeped in history, for every corner I turned, there was a historical building or monument in the horizon.

I lived in Hotel Grand Olympic, which was 5 minutes walk from Vatican city. Vatican city itself is actually smaller than I had imagined, but more than make up for it for the amount of detail and attention in the architecture and decoration gone into its buildings and interiors. The place is also great for photography, no matter if you are an architecture shooter, or a documentary/street shooter, there is loads of photo opportunities, there is just so much going on in the square it self (excuse me for coming from a quiet city like Melbourne where there is not so many people). The interior inside the St Peter's Basilica is worth every single pixel/film you spend shooting it, from the ceiling art, statues on the wall, light coming from color windows, etc. The cupola on top of the basilica is definitely worth going up to, where you get a panoramic view of the Vatican and surroundings, although it is a little bit of a climb.

Other touristy attractions worth going is the Colosseum, the Roman forum (next to the Colosseum), they are one of the oldest structures remaining standing in Rome, and are true showcases of what ancient civilizations were already capable of building when technology was rudimentary.

One place worth special mention is palace of Barberini, aside from all the famous paintings exhibited in the gallery, the ceiling painted by Pietro da Cortona is worth the admission  alone. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed, and for a good reason too, most of the art work are better seen with your own eyes.

Taking street photos in Rome is fairly relaxed, people generally do not care, I was never told off once. The ever present historical buildings and monuments provide great back drop to your subject, and the subjects tend to be well dressed. It was a fun experience, a lot of walking, but one will never feel tired, as there are literally pleasant surprise on every street corner.

Infront of St Peter's square

Columns Surrounding St Peter's square.

Cupola of St Peter's Basilica

Statue on Columns inside St Peter's Basilica

Carabieneri

Carabieneri

Colosseum

Pantheon

 Palace of Barberini

 Staircase of Barberini

Lunar New Year Festivals

Lunar new year is probably the most celebrated holiday in Asia, in Australia, Chinese and Vietnamese communities celebrate lunar new year with lots of festivals. Last sunday the festival was in Richmond, where there is a strong Vietnamese community. The festival is mostly about food, lots of street food stalls selling meat skews to sugar cane juice, the festival will go on for another 2 weeks until end of lunar new year celebrations, anyone who is interested in good food should have a look at this website for details:

http://www.chinesenewyear.com.au/mel_locations.html

It is recommended that you bring your camera and an empty stomach, there will be lot of photo opportunities and lots of good food.

2013 Melbourne Sunset Series.

Took a long 3 month break from any photography at end of 2012, mainly due personal reasons. 2013 has started well so far, photography feels fresh again, just taking out the camera and shoot simple things around me has been joyful. 

2013 summer Melbourne Sunset Series is a great even organised by Melbourne city council, highly recommended, lots of great activities and food, great photo opportunities too, theres Suzuki nights on wednsdays, night markets and other activities on weekends. The even will last until March, so there will be plenty to do on summer night. (Heres a link to more info: http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Whatson/Music/gigs/Pages/942696ea-7921-443d-af91-28a390f9d0ee.aspx)

Here are some photo of China town night market on Friday night and Bollywood dancing night on Sunday night.

Take a break

Took a break from updating my blog and didn't shoot as often as I normally do. It was a refreshing break. Like everything else in life, a hobby needs a good break sometimes, and when you come back to it, its all new and fresh again, and you might even shoot differently than you did before. Anyways, the break wasn't long before the itch comes back again.

Also got myself a GRD IV to play with, not thinking too much about technicalities of the shots like depth of field (you wont get much), metering and so on (it has excellent metering), just concentrated on capturing what I see, basically a real point and shoot. The fixed lens makes things even simpler, and 28mm field of view is growing on me :). Its an excellent break from shooting more serious cameras.