Author Topic: Daily commuting, seen differently  (Read 4296 times)

Airy

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Daily commuting, seen differently
« on: April 05, 2016, 22:57:20 »
Fooling around with Df + a fresh 2nd hand Zeiss 25/2. Its notorious field curvature, which I could check before buying (and I can tell you it is noticeable) is not a reason to shun that lens, which has other qualities : reasonable size and weight (apportioned to the Df), very good nighttime behaviour with low coma, low smear, and moderate, non-invasive flare, and ... the handling. MF is a bit stiff with a relatively short throw, like other Zeiss lenses, and many Nikkors are better from that point of view, but the manufacturing quality and the absence of any slack make one feel confident.
Airy Magnien

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2016, 23:31:05 »
You are relly "in a pipe" ... no wonder Elon Musk proposes the Hyperloop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperloop

Which is only the consequence of what we got now. Super shots transporting a mode of life.
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

Airy

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2016, 23:35:56 »
well... usually I prefer organ pipes...
Airy Magnien

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2016, 23:39:33 »
Sure. I added to our effort ... [Theme] ... today.
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

Akira

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2016, 00:14:58 »
Love the last one.  Nice "double-exposure" outside the camera.  :)
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Mongo

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2016, 02:50:33 »
great set of images and theme. Mongo particularly likes #1 - great interwoven architecture going on there. Also quite stunned that in such seemingly busy public places, you have managed to get each shot without a depictable person in sight - amazing ! Cannot comment on the lens itself

Airy

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2016, 04:59:16 »
Thanks Akira. The key to such "double exposure" was the sky, and most importantly - the place where I stood is normally occupied by a pond...

Thanks Mongo. The trick for the emptiness is as follows : in the first one, I stood on the tramway arrival side, so I just had to wait between two waves. You will still see shadows on the escalator, dwarfed by the wide angle.
Second shot from inside: my coach was at the platform end, and the shot was taken seconds before departure.
Third shot: I stood long enough to let the "arrival" wave go. Also, standing near the end of the concourse hall which is less busy.
Fourth: the sky is not densely populated ;)

I tend however to shoot "empty" shots in public places. It may well be that I interiorized the general public aversion against photographing people in France, former country of liberties and human rights. What Ron does in the US for instance would be hardly feasible here, where you get verbally attacked even for shooting buildings from the street. Maybe I should wear a far eastern tourist attire. In one case I got verbally attacked for just carrying a camera - but that was in an (unknown to me) drug trafficking place nearby. Unfortunately drug trafficking tends to take place anywhere now.
Airy Magnien

Gary

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2016, 05:28:23 »
I like your seemingly random captures of sky, reflections, pipes, et al ... But I know that the difference between 'random' and 'seemingly random' requires a high degree of skill.
"Everywhere you look there are photographs, it is the call of photographers to see and capture them."- Gary Ayala
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Critiquing my snaps are always welcomed and appreciated.

Akira

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2016, 06:18:50 »
Thanks Akira. The key to such "double exposure" was the sky, and most importantly - the place where I stood is normally occupied by a pond...
I tend however to shoot "empty" shots in public places. It may well be that I interiorized the general public aversion against photographing people in France, former country of liberties and human rights. What Ron does in the US for instance would be hardly feasible here, where you get verbally attacked even for shooting buildings from the street. Maybe I should wear a far eastern tourist attire. In one case I got verbally attacked for just carrying a camera - but that was in an (unknown to me) drug trafficking place nearby. Unfortunately drug trafficking tends to take place anywhere now.

Airy, thanks for the tip.  :)

For similar concerns, I'm also reluctant to include people of the sizes in which they can easily be identifiable in my images recently.  If people are unavoidable, I would try to include them only as assembled anonymous crowds.
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simsurace

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2016, 09:13:30 »
Fooling around with Df + a fresh 2nd hand Zeiss 25/2. Its notorious field curvature, which I could check before buying (and I can tell you it is noticeable) is not a reason to shun that lens, which has other qualities : reasonable size and weight (apportioned to the Df), very good nighttime behaviour with low coma, low smear, and moderate, non-invasive flare, and ... the handling. MF is a bit stiff with a relatively short throw, like other Zeiss lenses, and many Nikkors are better from that point of view, but the manufacturing quality and the absence of any slack make one feel confident.
I like the color and compositions in these shots. They convey your commuting experience very effectively.
I've been looking for a 2nd hand Zeiss 25/2 for quite a while. They don't show up often, maybe because whoever buys them will not part with them, or maybe because they are not owned by many people in the first place. You must have been lucky.
How is the field curvature behaving? Does it curve away from the camera or towards? Do you have any means to compare the lens to, say the Nikon/Sigma 24/1.4? To me it seems that it is much more tricky to choose a 24/25 lens than a 35.. lots of options in the 35mm length. I'm very much fond of the Zeiss 35/2 and would like to add a wider companion (not as wide as 21mm). I've tried the 25/2.8 and it is not for me.
Simone Carlo Surace
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John Geerts

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2016, 09:14:54 »
Impressive Airy. The Zeiss really handles the reflections well.

Mongo

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2016, 10:20:52 »
Airy, thanks for the explanation of how you got these images so "peopleless". Mongo wishes he could do the same when sight seeing landscapes on holiday. For some ridiculous reason, everyone that stops near you cannot wait to get themselves in the image completely spoiling any chance of a decent natural landscape.

Also, thanks for the heads-up on the street photography attitudes in France. Must say, Mongo is very surprised and a little disappointed to hear that. Got that treatment in Tunisia but those Government troops had automatic weapons hanging from their shoulders. Mongo's street shooting had to be abandoned lest he be shot for real..... ;D

Airy

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #12 on: April 06, 2016, 13:46:30 »
@Simsurace: the field curvature is bending backwards (i.e. you may have a sharp centered subject at some mid-distance, and corners at infinite sharp too).
I could do direct comparisons with the Sigma 24/1.4, indeed. Not had the opportunity so far. My first impressions (if memory serves well):
- The Sigma seems to have a flat field, and possibly a nicer daytime bokeh
- The Zeiss has the typical Zeiss rendering (high contrast, high color saturation). It seems more neutral than the warmish (yellowish) 50/2. It also seems to better handle night shots than the Sigma, despite a flare behaviour that is hard to predict (e.g. on a 3-lamp array near a corner, the central one would cause massive flare and the two others none at all). Its distortion, while low overall, is more conspicuous than Sigma's: barrel, but with a more pronounced center distortion, so the observer might notice it since the center seems to buldge.

Use case: Sigma: architecture, ambient or street (great subject isolation)
Zeiss: travel, night

Like all sharp short FL lenses, focussing the Zeiss manually is difficult; in critical cases, check on screen. Here the Sigma AF is helpful (after calibration).


By the way, what was it that put you off with the 25/2.8 ?
Airy Magnien

Airy

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #13 on: April 06, 2016, 13:50:35 »
Also, thanks for the heads-up on the street photography attitudes in France.

One reason for my looking for an unconspicuous WA, to avoid shooting people in the face. The 20/2.8 AIS was a wee bit too wide for streetshots though.
Airy Magnien

Airy

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Re: Daily commuting, seen differently
« Reply #14 on: April 06, 2016, 13:51:08 »
Impressive Airy. The Zeiss really handles the reflections well.

Also my impression. More to come tonight.
Airy Magnien