The Flirty Thirty: the Sigma 30 mm f:1.4 DC Art lens

Well what the heck. We have talked about 50mm focal length lenses as "The Nifty Fifty" for years. Why not push the linguistic boat out, eh?

Why not indeed. And there are good mathematical reasons why you should consider this focal length. As mathematics are the food of the photographer let us begin the feast.

The standard focal length of a lens for a 35mm camera used to be stated as 50mm. It also used to be stated that the standard focal length was the diagonal length of the gate in the film plane. Here's where the two statements differed: the diagonal of the 35mm frame is about 43.4 mm. Thus if you were shooting with a 50 mm, 52 mm, or 55 mm said to be standard you were really shooting with a very mild telephoto...

That's enough to disturb some people so we'll pause while they breathe into a paper bag or lie down briefly.

There were some manufacturers - like Voigtländer - who put out good fast lenses close to this focal length - you could still get them a few years ago for the Nikon mounting and they were cracker sharp affairs. And just that bit wider than the 50 mm jobs. In many cases that were considered just perfect for universal use.

Roll on the digital time and the APS-C camera sensor...and the 18 mm x 24 mm sensor size approximating the half-frame of the  film era, but not hoiked vertically. ( Separate blog post will be coming on the naming conventions and sales mystique of sensors in the near future. Prepare to be infuriated...). If we apply the mathematics to this sensor that we did to the film gate we get a standard measurement of 30 mm...and we arrive at the subject of this post:

the Sigma 30 mm f:1.4 DC Art lens

It's only for the small frame cameras - the DC defines that - but there are no restrictions after that. It is MEANT to be the standard lens for a small DSLR and to do that job superbly.

Sigma have immensely improved their lenses in the last few years, in both optical design and barrel construction. They offer a full two-year warranty. They can compete with in-house branded lenses from the major body makers and users can confidently use them as their complete kit.

My investigations with this lens were via a mirrorless camera and adapter - this has been explained before. Thus I cannot comment on autofocus performance - but they were completely successful as far as resolution and freedom from the various forms of colour and shape distortion. So extrapolating my experience for those who have Sony, Nikon, Canon, or Pentax bodies, you can go for it with full confidence - you're not restricted to your own optical paddock.

The Midnight Laboratory Of Dr. Ernest...

Approach the the old castle, open the creaking door, and avoid the large Tesla coil machine making lightning in the corner. Welcome to the laboratory of Dr. Ernest. It is as near to Transylvania as most of us ever get...

Disregard the shrieking. It is just the staff looking at the latest work roster. Pay them no mind. Look on the bench...

Notice the Canon camera sitting with the lens off, and strange wires leading from the inside...leading to the dismantled Voigtlander lens nose-down on the workbench. Now listen and watch as Dr. Ernest triggers the continuous exposure drive of the camera and captures the result in slow motion...

Notice how the actuator lever in the lens bounces back and forth as the diaphragm of the lens is stopped down - and how it comes to the end of its travel and meets as simple a device as a brass wire to arrest it...

See the shutter open in perfect synchronisation with the diaphragm, even though the camera is banging away like a maxim gun. And look into the mysterious depths of the camera at the living, breathing sensor...sensing things...

Notice how every paragraph ends with three dots...

Behold! Dr. Ernest breathes life into the separate parts! Behold! He knows how to make them operate in unison! Behold! He knows how to put them back together again and not end up with extra screws and springs! The science of the Repair Department! Life!

And one last thing...

Don't Apologise...

Folks, don't apologise when you visit us. We understand.

If you're not a professional - don't apologise. We like to help amateurs and enthusiasts as much as professionals. And as a non-professional you'll probably be better dressed...

Lost your charger? Don't apologise. Join the club. We've ALL lost chargers. That's what we stock the Hahnel range of universal chargers for. Chargers in hotel rooms are like socks in the drier.

Don't know how to set our camera? Don't apologise. No problem - we know how to set cameras. " Automatic " is a good setting for cameras and Maxims, and for many of the same reasons. Just tell us what you want to do with it and we'll turn the dials and push the buttons.

( Secret Squirrel Club...many of the cameras you can get have a 'reset' button that returns it to factory default settings. Lots of times this is what you want.)

Can't remember what you bought before? Don't apologise. We can - the computer remembers back to a week before The Flood. We can tell the insurance company what you paid for it.

Want to take some sample pictures? Don't apologise - we do this all the time. No end of customers have sold themselves on a lens after seeing the results in 100% on their home computer. We hope that the portraits they take of the staff with the test lenses will become treasured works of art. Some of the staff are works of art...

In a hurry? Don't apologise - just don't load us up with two dozen technical questions while we try to operate the till at lunch time. Come earlier or later and you'll get more speed.

Want to know when the latest piece of goods will be released? Don't apologise - we want to know too. If you find out before we do come and tell us.

Three - Layer Sandwich From Voightländer

This device has three layers.

The front layer is Leica M-series mount.

The middle layer is Voigtländer.

The back layer is Sony E-series mount.

The side ring says it is a VM-E Close focus adapter but when I combined a Leica 50mm Elmar lens and a Sony A 6000 camera I got infinity focus looking east towards Bulwer Street. I initially thought that this was just the effect of Bulwer Street...

But then I noticed a small red tab on the side of the adapter - once triggered, it allows the ring to screw open to provide the effect of a small extension tube. VERY useful for the Leica lens user who dos not want to haul boxes of gear to capture flowers and insects.

Well-made in Japan.

Wide Ideas From Voigtlander and Leica

If you are into landscape photography or architecture with the Leica, Fujifilm X-Pro1, Olympus micro 4/3, Panasonic Micro 4/3. or similar cameras that can take the Leica M-mount lenses, here are two very good ideas.

The first is the Voigtlander 21mm Ultron f:1.8lens. It has an integral metal lens hood as part of the mount but also has a filter thread on the front. heavy, solid construction and 1/2 stop detents between the full stop markings on the aperture ring. Apertures down to f:22. We have one for sale new at $ 1195.

The second lens is the multi-focal type from Leica. The 16-18-21 Tri-Elmar is intended to be used without an additional view-finder - eminently suitable for the Leica M or the new Leica T with the appropriate adapter. It is a little more - $ 6365 - But you can console yourself with the thought that the RRP is $ 7000.

Back In Black - And Better For It

A month or so ago I reported on a chrome version of the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f:1.5 lens that was passing through the shop stock. I am ashamed to say that I made fun of it for looking like a refugee from a the set of  "Metropolis". The lens is a good performer but I considered the aesthetics over the top.

Two more examples of this lens have come in - these are in black. The appearance is greatly improved, and should you elect to take it out with your Leica or Voigtlander or Fuji  or Ricoh ( with adapter ), you will have a wonderful street shooting lens. Discrete where the other was garish.

Build quality? Superb metal finish and  smooth operation. Aspherical formula.

Shinier Than A 1958 Cadillac...And Heavier Too

I am always amazed by what the manufacturers will do to catch a niche market. We have seen orange Leica MP cameras, green Voigtländer Bessa T's, and Pentax DSLRs in very colour of the rainbow. Now it is the turn for a lens design that harks back to Russian Chrome Days.

Or maybe they are channelling the Swiss - or a minor German manufacturer in 1954. Whatever started it, the end result is an M-mount lens for Leica and Voigtländer bodies that has more shiny bling than anything that has been seen since Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor.

It is a Nokton f:1.5 and focusses as close as .7 of a metre and can shoot in very dim circumstances. If course as soon as the first ray of light hits it, there will be no dim circumstances. This is a rare and exotic bird and wold suit the retro-camera scene to a tee. It is metal, heavy, and bright.

Latest Breakthrough In Lens Technology Delivers New Word To The Lexicon

Students of photography have always had to learn new words - the nature of the subject seems to generate them; bokeh, scheimpflug, and low-pass being examples. Lens makers have added their share, and have used the language shamefully in the effort to make a model name stick in the minds of potential buyers.

Would you know what a Distagon is? Or a Nokton? Or a Summarit? Are they small-vineyard wines? Diseases? Towns in Bohemia?

No - just maker's family names that describe either a lens formulation or an aperture that you can hopefully achieve. If you attach one lens to the front of another by means of a reversing ring or glue, you can get Summicro-Planars and Oresto-Heliars and I can assure you that someone, somewhere will try it. There will be no real purpose for this and no expectation of success and it will look manky and horrible but then so did the the 1979 Nissan...

One of the current rude blasts of the advertiser's trumpet is to alert us to the fact that a lens has an aspherical element in it - to improve the lens by reducing chromatic aberration most likely. A laudable thing, but it needs an explanation - most lenses have a simple curve on either side of their structure - it might be convex or concave as needed and the radius of the curve can vary but it is the same curve fro the entire surface.

Aspherical elements can have a combination of curves on that surface, and can bend light rays so as to plop the red, blue, and green rays at the same spot on the sensor. Of course the path of the light rays through the completed lens is complex and is altered each time it his another glass or air surface but aspherical element can mean a very high degree of resolution indeed.

But what if we are trying to be artistic and haven't a clue how to do it apart from wearing an earring and an exotic haircut? How can we get a lens that will make our career? The answer was surprisingly simple for a number of major lens makers.

The answer was to cut down on the amount of mounting resin that is used to put the raw glass elements onto the lens-grinding machine and to pour a bucket of hot water into the lubricating spray that keeps the grinders moving smoothly over the surfaces being ground. This is put in 4 minutes before the scheduled end of grind. The effect is to slightly soften the blank on the mandrel and let it slide out of position. The grinder therefore puts an series of odd shapes into the glass at the end of the process and as these elements are incorporated into the finished product, artistic effects are produced.

These artistic effects may be somewhat of a surprise to the artist but then surprise has always been a feature of great art. In the case of Edvard Munch I have always been surprised that he was not lynched...

So - what do you look for when you want one of the new lenses?  Look carefully on the box or in the instruction sheet for the words " unsymmetrical element". You will get what you want and what you deserve. Remember Munch...

The Wurst-Käse Scenario

Many people have seen the uniforms of troops in the German army and noticed the various pouches and attachments that they have on their gear, ammunition pouches, entrenching tools, gas mask containers, etc. Few know the significance of the small sealed box on the upper left hand strap of the 1917-model field webbing.

It is seen in old photographs of the period and can sometimes be offered in militaria auctions. Rarely is it seen in the unopened form, but recently at Denby's in El Paso one of these originals showed up and after it was sold the collector who had bought it agreed to open it for the camera. It contained the  remains of three small sausages and a block of extremely hard cheese - the seal must have been good enough to prevent total spoilage over the the last 90-odd years.

The collector explained that this was the emergency ration of the observation-corps soldier, to be used only if all other rations had been expended, he was trapped far behind enemy lines, and on the point of death from starvation - the seal was to keep the food edible but there was a military law that forbid breaking it under any other circumstances.

It was the the sort of dire situation that gave rise to the Wurst-Käse scenario...

Which brings us to the topic of this post. Most people come into the shop looking for the best camera. They all ask for it. They all search for it on the internet. They all know someone who has advised them to get it...

Hardly anyone comes in looking for the worst camera. Oh, there are a few who do - they are very special people. Very. Special. And they have got me thinking that their approach to the art and science of photography might be a good test for the rest of us.

To that end, I shall be proposing a small contest later in the year - open to amateur and professional alike. There will be publicity, prizes, and probably art. Or artillery. Either way, there will be sausages and cheese.

Fun Buttons - Press Yours Now

 

Well there are some products in this place that are just purely for fun. You see them and you want them and you can have them but you have to admit that they are just to make your heart sing. Not to be a professional or to be and artist or to impress the girls. Just for fun.

These shutter buttons are in that class - they go onto the cable release sockets of Leicas, Zeiss Ikons, Voigtlanders, and Fujis and you press them down with your finger. Or your nose, at a certain stage of the party...

They might ease the shutter release and give you a smoother shot and less vibration and finer definition and a chocolate milkshake and world peace, but I suspect they are still just to look cool and make you feel happy.
And for $ 19.95 that seems to be a pretty good deal.

 

Note: The other fun products - the Carl Gustav kit and the box of weasels - are out on loan to one of the private schools - they'll be back in a few weeks.