This is a sweet lens.  It's just a lot of fun to use.  It's light and small for a change, and there is no aperture, so you find your best focus compromise and your decisions are finished.

'36 Desoto

It is different from any of the other soft lenses I've experimented with.  A respected source in UK told me not to bother looking for a Plasticca, that it was a POS etc etc.  I'm very glad I didn't listen.  (Do I ever listen??)  In any case, it can be quite sharp in the center and then it goes to pieces fairly rapidly as you radiate out from the axis.  But not like a Petzval.  I think it has a fine look.

     Santa Claus came back to my house for a second time just after Christmas, and this time he was disquised as Jim Galli.  After showing me some of his wonderful toys including one of the nicest 5x7 wooden Graflexes I've ever seen, I was presented w/his 12" Pinkham Smith Semi-Achromatic Ser I which he has loaned me for a brief while to play with, and for that, I'm eternally grateful.  I never thought I'd be able to shoot with all three of the major lenses from Pinkham Smith line.

     I'm going to shoot as much as I can in my fashion and see what happens.   I've shot enough to notice the difference in personalities between my bucket, the SA Series III, and the SA Series I.   Jim's Series I is 'SPARKLING', w/a lot of 'POP/FIZZ' kind of boldness.   The glow/flare hangs closer/tends to produce a narrower band of flare around whatever SM is producing the glow.   The Series III is naunced and crisp and cerebral, the Series I is visceral and bold, it's got 'Panache'.  

    Take these as generalizations that may not hold true for every shot, because each shot I've ever shot w/the Ser. III, is different and sometimes way different and I'm sure Jim would say the same thing, and in terms of what I've said about these lenses and their 'personalities', depending on the shot, they could very 'switch places' in what they produce.   Unpredictability is their ultimate charm anyway.

   This is my first shot w/the Ser I.   Picking up on what I've learned from the Ser. III, I decided to go straight 'down the pike' into one of my beauty dishes w/the modeling light on, and see if I could come up w/something.   This is very similar to a beauty dish, its a mid-grey coated 18" refector that's no longer sold by White Lightning.  I can't fathom why they quit producing this reflector, because I've always considered its light very beautiful because of it's grey tone texture instead of the white coating most reflectors/beauty dishes tend to have.     Being mid-grey instead of white, I used this reflector to shoot into because I thought I'd have more of a chance of getting detail/nuance instead of garish/detailess white when shooting at a light source like this w/this type of lens.

   I took several shots to approach getting something I liked, since wideopen F6 shooting at this produced nothing but a white garish, detailess nightmare.   Around F11 brought in some detail and nuance w/Polaroid 804(the last of my 804 will be expended on my work w/Jims Ser I.).

   Thanks again to Jim, I'm taking care of the lens, nobody else goes near it.  After this project is over I get to say I had my hands on a Semi-Achromatic Ser. I  from 'Santa Claus' long enough experience this great lens close-up.

Hallo!

Here is the begining of a new serie from old woods, that look like strange birds from the past.

All the best for Chrismas to all of the members from these wonderful blog

stefan d

thomas script, 1907 thomas flyer that won the new york to paris race in 1908

From a series of images made with a Karl Struss Pictorial lens.  It is easy to understand why a pictorialist might have chosen this lens in 1915 and never looked further.  It is one of the finest lenses I've ever used.

This is with a 300mm Heliar, shot wide open on 220 Kodak Portra 400VC (6x9).

Depth of focus is about 1/4 inch.