Here's the beardy bit for all of those camera freaks out there...
Nikon System
Nikon F70
My first proper SLR, the F70 comes in
very useful for reportage style shots due to the speed and accuracy of
the metering and autofocus and the exceptionally quiet motordrive. A superb
camera, sturdy in construction, quick to operate (despite the criticism
levelled at its quirky interface), very good metering. My primo system.
Nikon F70 with Sigma 28-80mm f3.5-5.6
Macro lens
Sigma 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 Macro
The zoom lens I had on the front of the
F70 more often than any other, I recently part-exchanged it for the AF-Nikkor
50mm f1.8 because I wanted the crisp bite of a Nikon prime lens for the
more artsy stuff. It's hard to tell from the pics on the web, but trust
me, the difference is impressive! That said, I missed the versatility of
the 28-80 so much...
Tamron 28-80mm f3.5-5.6
....that I replaced it within a couple
of weeks with this, bought for only £15! Works perfectly, far sharper
at the edges (even wide open), tends not to hunt as much in low light as
the Sigma, but not as robust in feel. Still, for £15.....
AF-Nikkor 50mm f1.8
Gorgeous, lovely, wonderful, crisp, bright
lens. Images from this are sharper than a razor blade, with superb contrast
and colour. It is as sharp as the Pentax Super-Takumar 55mm f1.8, at the
least, but the bokeh is not quite as subtle, looking a little harsh. Not
a portrait lens, unless you have a model with utterly perfect skin. And
whose skin cells are very small. And with no arm hairs - this lens *will*
pick them up.
Nikon E series 100mm f2.8
Bought cheaply on eBay as it has a screw
missing (shock horror!), the reputation that the glass in this lens has
precedes it. So the E lenses lacked the robust build of the AI ones - what
am I gonna do with it, smash concrete blocks up? Hammer in nails? Having
had a couple of films back from it, I can say lovely contrast and sharpness,
and most satisfactory bokeh. A nice, moody lens that is especially good
for portraits.
Sigma 70-210mm f4-5.6
The other zoom I bought with my F70, not
used very often, but essential when I do need it. I have vowed to use it
more this year to get right into the details on buildings. A nice, sharp
and surprisingly contrasty lens for a cheap zoom.
M42 System
Zenit-B
My first manual SLR. I never figured out
how it worked when I had it (years ago) but started taking pics with it
after using my F70 for a while. It then started developing a fault with
the mirror return, so....
Zenit-B with Carl Zeiss Jena 29mm f2.8
lens
Zenit EM
...I got this from a charity shop for
a tiny sum. It worked valiantly for a couple of months, but with intermittent
shutter faults, until the 1/30th of a second speed gave up the ghost and
left me without a second studio camera.
Zenit EM with Cosmogon 58mm f2 lens
Praktica MTL-5
Another charity shop buy, this time at
£15, and worth every penny! It has worked reliably from day 1, has
a far better range of shutter speeds than the Zenits, a faster flash sync
speed, better construction, live hotshoe, the list goes on. Now dearly
departed, sold to fund the purchase of a Pentax SP500 - good and reliable
though the Praktica is, the mirror kicks like a mule and having the shutter
release at the front is annoying when you're trying to brace the camera
to avoid shake from that powerful kick.-
Out of focus Praktica MTL-5 with Carl
Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8 lens
Yashica TL Electro-X
Cost a fiver from a tat shop because the
meter didn't work (only it does), this heavy beast has a mirror lock-up,
beautiful mechanics, rubbed off paintwork, and seems to be just as reliable
as the Praktica. Used it constantly now for a couple of months, and performance
is excellent. This, at a fiver, is cheap enough for me to bung in a pocket
and take everywhere with me! I actually prefer the weight and handling
of this to the Pentax. The solidity of the heavy body and the subtle touch
of the shutter button makes for smoot, jog-free shutter action. Just repaired
a light leak with a chopped up mousemat in this baby!
Yashica TL Electro-X, Carl Zeiss Jena
Tessar 50mm f2.8 lens
Asahi Pentax SP500
One of the popular Spotmatic series of
screwmount bodies, this was a cheap Ebay acquisition - the meter is dead,
but then I always did seem to get better exposures using a handheld selenium
cell meter anyway! Beautiful feel to it, smooth wind-on, solid and accurate
shutter speeds (even the 'hidden' 1/1000th!) - not quite as well-featured
a body as the Yashica, and not quite as well mirror-damped, but a world
better than the Praktica!
Pentax SP500 with Super-Takumar 55mm f1.8
lens
Carl Zeiss Jena 29mm f2.8
Wide open, a dire lens, with nasty spherical
aberrations around the edges. Stopped down to f8 and above, a wonderfully
pin-sharp lens with awesome resolving power. Needless to say, only comes
out in the bright sunlight or when the old Neopan 1600 goes in the camera.
Since departed to be traded in for a Sunagor 24mm f2.8.
Sunagor 24mm f2.8
My passion for ultrawide lenses was finally
realised when I traded in my Zeiss 29mm against this piece of kit. Truly,
it is a Sunagor lens, which means that it needs to be stopped down to f5.6
at least to be useably sharp, but frankly with a lens this wide, I really
don't care. It is fantastic! Next stop, Vivitar 19mm....
Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 28mm
f3.5
Recently bought on Ebay for £20,
this little beauty outperforms the old Zeiss Jena convincingly. Edge sharpness
suffers only slightly wide open, but at f5.6 it thrashes the pants off
the old East German lens. Awesome, crisp, contrasty, the works. A superb
purchase, methinks!
Pentacon 29mm f2.8
Only 2 weeks after coming back off holiday
having parted with one 29mm lens, I find another crying to me in my favourite
charity shop, saying "Buy me, buy me, I'm only a fiver!" Needless to say
I could not resist, and now this East German lovely fills a space in my
lens line-up! This is the newer auto-aperture version (Trish has the preset
version). Not quite as sharp as the Zeiss jena at its best, but also not
as crap at its worst (wide open), although there is still some distortion
in the corners.
This lens has now gone the way of the
others since I tested my new 28mm SMC Takumar!
Pentax Super Takumar 35mm f3.5
Compact, lovely, with crisp biting sharpness
that the Zeiss 29mm can't match at the edges. A recent acquisition via
eBay, put to the test as soon as it came in. Flare makes it suffer badly,
though, as it is only single coated. One for shots that don't include bright
sky.
Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8
Not the sharpest lens in the world, but
the Tessar design gives lovely, crisp contrasty images that look sharper
than they are. There is no shame in using this lens! Sold on eBay when
the 55mm Takumar arrived!
Pentacon 50mm f1.8
A lens I inherited with my Zenit-B, a
very nice lens, about as sharp as the Zeiss Tessar 50mm. I have absolutely
no issues with it at all, and it now sits permanently on my Russian bellows,
awaiting the addition of a reversing ring to complete my macro setup.
Fujinon 55mm f1.7
Bought cheaply in a bargain bin in a camera
shop, the resolving power of this lens is huge, far and away the sharpest
M42 lens I own. Flares badly if the sun is anywhere in front of you,
though, despite its coating, but hey, that's what you get for a fiver.
Currently the lens on my Praktica.
Yashinon 50mm f1.7
Very sharp old lens, this one, not quite
up to the standards of the Helios 58mm (though it is better wide open)
or the Fujinon 55mm, but still a solid performer. Sold on eBay to buy....
Super-Yashinon 50mm f1.4
Not a replacement for the Fujinon, but
a supplement for those old low-light ordeals. Load up with Neopan 1600
rated to 800 and get them shots! NOt awesomely sharp, but more than adequate
for most purposes.
Pentax Super-Takumar 55mm f1.8
The king of standard lenses (until I get
an SMC f1.4 Takumar), the sharpness makes me want to weep. Right in to
the edges, the resolving power is awesome; the contrast is beautiful and
the bokeh, oh , the lovely soft and swishy bokeh.... I rather like this
lens.
Helios 58mm f2
Old Russian gear, was on Tricia's Zenit
TTL until I swapped it for my Pentacon 50mm because it performs better
wide open - this lens has unpleasant aberrations wide open. Stopped down
to f5.6 and beyond, however, and its sharpness is unreal - only the Fujinon
beats it!
Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm f3.5
Extremely contrasty, very sharp, but not
as bitingly sharp as Tricia's 135mm Helios. Now that is a bloody
sharp lens indeed. Still, much better than the usual cheap M42 crud
gumming up the second hand market. The contrast and bokeh have a certain
pleasing quality to them just not found in the Vivitars and Soligors you
find going for 10p on Ebay. The built in lens hood is annoying, though.
I usually use a metal Takumar telephoto lens hood on it. One of those lenses
where your slides and negs put a smile on your face from that indefinable
quality it possesses.
Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 135mm
f3.5
Like the other Takumar lenses, the reputation
of this one precedes it. Just bought on Ebay, not arrived yet as I write
this, but eagerly awaited!
Optomax 80-250mm f4-5.6
A tenner from a charity shop. Soft, but
contrasty. Not really used it much as it weighs a ton and is about the
same length as an old Nikkor 80-200 f2.8. Recently sold on eBay in order
to fund further purchases....
Helios 75-150mm f3.8
A Japanese made Helios zoom of moderate
telephoto length and constant aperture, this lens is mega! Edge resolution
and sharpness is superb at f8, well in excess of what I would expect from
a cheap older zoom. Eminently useable throughout the zoom range, corners
suffer wide open, but not as badly as my old Sigma 28-80mm on the Nikon.
An impressive £5 buy!
Check the standard lens tests to see comparisons of a few of the above standard lenses.
Other Gear
FED-2
Russian rangefinder camera from the 1950's,
still in perfect working order, with a fairly nice Industar 52mm f2.8 lens.
My newest acquisition, and a fine carry-everywhere camera - light, compact,
and totally manual! The lens loses a little wide open, but stopped between
f5.6 and f11 is wonderfully sharp.
Out of focus FED 2 on a spangly settee
Nikon Coolpix 800
Much loved and recently departed to make
way for a digital video camera, the Nikon was bought to catalogue the early
months of Cordelia's life. Now I do that on film and with video, not to
mention on Tricia's Kodak DC240. I wonder if I made the right choice in
the swap...I do miss my little Coolpix quite often. It had a fantastically
sharp lens, the fastest and most sure AF system I have seen on a digital
camera (except on the other Coolpix models) and great handling.
My sorely missed Nikon Coolpix 800. Beautiful
quality images, sharp lens.
Olympus Camedia C2020 Zoom
It had to happen, really. I have missed
my Nikon since I parted with it last year so much that I have been saving
my Ebay earned cash for a new digicam, and here it is; a superbly specified
piece of kit. I don't need a 5 megapixel monster just yet, 2.1 blew my
socks off with the Nikon, and this Olympus is every bit as sharp, with
the added bonuses of full manual control, a flash sync socket for plugging
into studio lights and an infra-red shutter release! Oh yeah!
Kodak 66 Model II
6x6 folding camera, over 45 years old
and the lens is still as sharp as ever, right in to the edge. Particularly
cool is that the electronic flash sync still works, and the manual wind
on and seperate shutter cocking mechanism allow easy multiple exposures.
My first medium format camera, and about the smallest camera I have, when
folded up!
Kodak 66 Model II and my mouse
Kodak 35 AF2
Compact autofocus camera, with a surprisingly
sharp lens. Bought as a pocket camera with a fixed 35mm lens, this proved
invaluable when photographing Horseman, the elusive tramp!
Kodak 35 AF2 and my mobile phone. Mega!
Zenith 80
Kindly given to me by a nice chap in Wales
who was having a clear-out, this Soviet medium format beast is my first
6x6 system camera. It came with an Industar 90mm f2.8 lens and two film
backs (but only one dark slide, unfortunately). I have passed a roll of
Fuji Reala through it, and all looks excellent on the exposure side.
Zenith 80 with Industar 80mm f2.8
Industar 80mm f2.8
This standard lens has the same problem
as the Zeiss Jena 29mm; wide open the edges suffer from dreadful aberrations,
but closed down a couple of stops and the sharpness is excellent. The spring
loaded full-aperture viewing can take your hand off if you're unwary, though....
Tayir-33 300mm f4.5
Another eBay acquisition, this monster
is enormous! It dwarfs the camera, itself no wee beastie! Sadly had to
go as I could never lug it more than a yard before my arm fell off.