hope

On my last trip I actually moved out of my comfort zone quite a bit and asked some people whether I could take their picture. It was not quite on the level of street portraiture yet, because none of them were just random people off the street, but rather people who were dressed up in one way or another. The likelihood that someone turns you down who made an effort to get into costume is actually very low unless they are really running late or something like that. In any case, it was a new experience and I think I did pretty alright with it. One of the shots in question was on the roll I’m showing you today.

I have also been thinking about my M-Mount lens conundrum a bit more and have come to a conclusion. I was trying to decide between the Leica Summicron 35mm f/2.0 version VI and the Voigtländer 21mm f/4.0. At a bit less than half the price the 21mm had the advantage that I could also use it on my E-PL3, but then 21mm is a really difficult focal length. For street photography you have to get into punching range, so this is probably not the right kind of lens unless you’re shooting in really crowded places like New York or Tokyo where people don’t really care all that much. The 35mm lens obviously would be more useful to me also because it is my favourite focal length in general, but getting both the M6 and the lens seemed a bit much actually. In the end I decided that I needed a third option: A good 35mm with a lower price-tag. Both the Voigtländer 35mm f/1.4 and the Konica UC-Hexanon 35mm f/2.0 aren’t really an option for me because I’m looking for a lens that is sharp wide open, but then in the end I found the Zeiss C Biogon T* 35mm f/2.8. I hadn’t really considered it before, but after looking around a bit I realised that it can actually compete with the Summicron in sharpness and I have to say that I really like the character of it. Who would have thought that after having set my mind on the IV Summicron for a couple years I’d actually change my mind and go for something else! Obviously I’ll still keep lusting after that Summicron now, but maybe it’s even good to have something to work towards in the future.

By the way, I’m still pretty much convinced that this RPX400 is a very close sibling of Kentmere 400, if not a twin! I don’t mind since I actually like K400 a lot and find it very nice that I’m able to shoot this in medium format as well.

All pictures taken with: Rolleicord V, Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 75mm f/3.5.
Rollei RPX 400 stand-developed in Rodinal, 80min.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

With this one I got a bit too eager and didn’t check my settings before firing the shutter. I’m happy that this was medium format or else the grain would have ruined this one since it was really quite underexposed.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

I didn’t have my cable release on me, but this was almost sharp at least.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

It was already getting dark so I was battling the depth of field and a rather dark focussing screen. I did quite well though: one of the guys and the drum is in focus.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

I asked these two historical re-enactors for a shot and they happily agreed. The guy on the right even put away his mobile phone for me! Thanks guys!

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

The next day we had to get to the airport early, because of canceled and rescheduled flights, so I still had 3 shots to get through at the train station. It was really dark, but I managed to focus this correctly and didn’t have any shake in this.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

This one was a bit more difficult, because I had to focus at eye-level but shoot at waist level due to the slow shutter speed. Not quite as sharp as I hoped, but I like it despite that (I can live with the mobile phone too).

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