Lille, daytime, 35/2.8 PC

[Airy]

Df, as expected, is the perfect companion for such lenses. The lens itself is convenient, but has a somewhat lackluster rendering (Zeiss 35/2 plays in another league). It is generally well corrected. Some barrel distortion becomes noticeable at short distances, but such a lens is not supposed to be optimized for short range photography.

[Airy]

And three more, same day (today) and setup.

[John Geerts]

Sharp and detailed.  Great lens. Useable for all kind of purposes because it has a lot of resolution.

[Airy]

You’ve been using it a lot recently, it seems.

[Akira]

I like the tranquility of the series, perhaps partially because of the absence of figures but probably because of the aptly controlled perspective.

[John Geerts]

You’ve been using it a lot recently, it seems.

Yes, exploring the PC lens on the Z6-Z7. Focusing is a lot easier.

[Airy]

I like the tranquility of the series, perhaps partially because of the absence of figures but probably because of the aptly controlled perspective.

In addition to having a somewhat "bland" lens and "bland" weather, we got a relatively empty city here, and it is indeed difficult to capture people "incidentally", you have to fetch them. This holds particularly true in the southern part of downtown Lille, where the former industries and workers' homes gave way to administrative offices and very few housings, after WWII. During weekends, it is no man's land, and confinement does not help. And yes, all shots ensured "vertical verticals" (handheld - one or two slight corrections in PP at most), maximizing boredom

[Airy]

Yes, exploring the PC lens on the Z6-Z7. Focusing is a lot easier.

I find the 35/2.8 PC rather easy to focus (wide open of course) on the Df.

How about exposure ? is it still necessary to set it manually before shifting ?

[John Geerts]

I find the 35/2.8 PC rather easy to focus (wide open of course) on the Df.

How about exposure ? is it still necessary to set it manually before shifting ?

Yes, the 35PC is not so difficult to focus, but you see more clearly with focusscreen at 100% were the lens is sharpest.  Especially usefull when in shift.

As the Z6 is measuring the light through the lens, no extra exposure work here.

[Akira]

In addition to having a somewhat "bland" lens and "bland" weather, we got a relatively empty city here, and it is indeed difficult to capture people "incidentally", you have to fetch them. This holds particularly true in the southern part of downtown Lille, where the former industries and workers' homes gave way to administrative offices and very few housings, after WWII. During weekends, it is no man's land, and confinement does not help. And yes, all shots ensured "vertical verticals" (handheld - one or two slight corrections in PP at most), maximizing boredom

Thank you for the details about the area you shot.  The omission of excessive expression rather conjures the imagination. 

Warning to myself: Airy and John are joining forces to stimulate my GAS for the PC 35.   

[Hugh_3170]

Come on Akira - you know that you want one!      

[Akira]

Come on Akira - you know that you want one!      

Hugh, I'm sorry I don't hear you!!!   

[Airy]

OK, a couple more photo series and there you go...

[Roland Vink]

I find the 35/2.8 PC rather easy to focus (wide open of course) on the Df.

How about exposure ? is it still necessary to set it manually before shifting ?

In my limited experience with PC lenses, sideways shift did not affect metering except for extreme shift. Vertical shift alters the angle that light gets to the meter which affects accuracy, so metering must be done before shifting. I imagine the Df is similarly affected?

[Airy]

With all PC(-E) lenses I used (24, 28, 35, 45), metering after shifting will cause moderate to massive overexposure. Tilt alone is not a problem.

Consequence is, one has to switch off auto ISO and revert to manual mode.

With the Df and using the non-E lenses, using the non-AI mode is convenient provided one does not forget to set the aperture on the camera's dial, corresponding to the preset on the lens. Takes some time before it becomes rountine.

When not shifted, I prefer to set the lens in AI mode + aperture priority mode + stopped-down metering + auto ISO. Sole downside is, the f stop is not recorded (so what...). With such settings, using the old PC lenses is pretty easy. The left hand has to focus as usual + close the diaphragm after focus + re-open it after the shot.

When using shift, the routine is : 0) pre-set diaph on lens and camera 1) frame (typically aiming at a distant point deemed to be at the same altitude as yourself) 2) focus 3) set exposure using the speed dial + fine-tuning with the thumb wheel 4) if that is not enough, change the manual ISO setting on the dial and frame again 5) close diaph 6) apply shift trying not to move the camera up or down, still looking through the viewfinder, and checking parallelism of vertical lines (for instance) 7) pull the trigger re-open diaph 9) remove shift 10) back to 0 or 1.

Now that makes photography enjoyable and will drive away any superfluous bad thoughts.