From Fulda with Summicron

[Frank Fremerey]

Akira. A list of lenses is here: http://www.leitax.com/leica-lens-for-nikon-cameras.html

Airy: I love so many of them. I really like the way you look at the world. Spontaneously the huge beech tree in the first set and the wooden case organ in the Krypta are my favourites

[Akira]

Indeed. I was surprized by the "out of the box" quality of generated jpegs. Plus, the available PP tweaks are generally sufficient. The most missed thing would be the cosmetics function in LR or PS (to remove dirty sensor-originated stains).

Otherwise the Summicron is easy to work with. You can forget about distortion, and the pics are relatively aberration-free from f/2.8. (relative to Df resolving capabilities, I mean).

Just tried NXi.  Couldn't stand for the operation!  I'm too accustomed to CC (now 2017).  My problem is that I have accumulated image data of many different manufacturers over the years...

I mostly use standard lenses and in general only correct CA.  I like DXO Optics Pro much better than N-XD or MXi in all aspects.

The Angenieux 35-70/2.5 comes to mind.

Thanks for the suggestion.  The problem is to find a good sample for an reasonable price.   

Akira. A list of lenses is here: http://www.leitax.com/leica-lens-for-nikon-cameras.html

Yes, but they can only be attached to the camera, not very compatible with other functions...

[Airy]

Erik, this lens is another case for "slow photography". My previous experience was with the old PC lenses (28, 35); the difference is, the Summicron is optically far superior. Colours are not flashy though, and the overall WB tends to be cool when the camera is on auto WB; maybe that contributes to the relaxed results. Ah yes, the bokeh is much more "calm" than with the 50/2 Nikkor.

It would be interesting to put it side by side with the Zeiss Milvus 50/2. I'll try later.

Frank, I knew you would flash on the small organ The builder did a good job creating a "modern" organ case that fits the 1000 year old side chapel. Could not play it, unfortunately (I'll try and ask this afternoon, the janitor seems to be friendly).

Akira, I routinely use LR and sometimes DXO 11 (esp. for the geometry corrections and de-noising in critical cases), but on the road, ViewNX-i is unbeatable. On the high res screen of my surface 4, the menus are extremely small, the ergonomics are poor except for loading times, but I like the rendering. I'll try and emulate that in LR.

[Frank Fremerey]

Frank, I knew you would flash on the small organ The builder did a good job creating a "modern" organ case that fits the 1000 year old side chapel. Could not play it, unfortunately (I'll try and ask this afternoon, the janitor seems to be friendly).

Take a video of yourself doing so!!!

[Airy]

ooops that woud be preposterous. I gave only two formal organ recitals (in 2014) and the preparation was deadly. I'll not risk my reputation here...

[armando_m]

wonderful series, you seem to be enjoying the camera lens combination !

[Ethan]

Your Black is clipped in some pics while your White is clipped in other pics.
All pics are clipped one way or the other.

Is this part of your processing or limitations of whichever Raw converter used?

[Airy]

I never look at histograms

Processing was very limited. DR of the camera is sure limited. I expect blacks to be clipped on night shots (-1EV or more to avoid white clipping).

[Airy]

I never look at histograms

Processing was very limited (in particular: brightness and contrast unaffected). DR of the camera is sure limited. I expect blacks to be clipped on night shots (-1EV or more to avoid white clipping).

[Airy]

(especially to Frank) : Yesterday was my lucky day. After the conferences, I felt too tired to visit the city and just had a quiet lunch in the near-empty orangerie. Then back to St Michael church, 100 m  away. Had a chat with the "Küster" (sacristan) about the origins of the building and the al fresco paintings.

Then about the organ, which was "open". The sacristan said yes, the organist had left the shutters open. Of course there would be another mass later on, he said, but leaving the shutters open was no good idea, "da könnte ja jeder kommen" (typical German expression for disapproving exceptions to rules, because then "everybody could come up" and enjoy said exception). I said, yes, indeed, me for instance. He looked astonished; I went on saying that I was an organist. Then he said "maybe you do not know how to get it started". I replied "well, I guess you have to pull the Fischer+Krämer marked stop". That last response convinced him that I knew how to handle this contraption; Fischer+Krämer is the name of the organ building firm, and instead of having a standard electric switch for the blower, they disguise it as a stopknob, see photo.

So I sat at the organ for half an hour, getting my "sheet music" from my Surface PC. The sacristan went back and sat at the entrance to sell his postcards. Having finished playing, I warmly thanked him and wanted to leave a banknote for the maintenance of the organ, or maybe for him. He said fine, just put it into the box for collecting offerings. Bravo, Sir. There are still sacristans with some apparent integrity on earth.

[John Geerts]

Great story ! .

[Akira]

Airy, you are the hero for today!

[Airy]

It is just moving to play a fine (modern) organ in a small, 1000 year old church. There is no corresponding repertoire, but the meditative pieces by Aguilera de Heredia (Spain, late XVI th century) were a good proxy, especially in that catholic environment.