Just published at my website.  Here is a link;

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/JapaneseLanterns/The_Japanese_Lanterns_7_Portrait_Lenses.html

and here is a teaser...

This image is the result of using the most unsung Classic lenses, the Wollensak Velostigmat II, and sheer luck.  That's because the image was made w/almost 10yr old Polaroid 804.  

Exposure was using the Ray Charles exposure technique, I set my meter to its 'OLD ASS FILM' setting, which was EI40, metered the light source @ F8.5, and then set the lens to F4.5 as a guestimate to compensate for bellows extension and 10yr old outdated film.

I went in my garage looking for simple tools/items to shoot, the subject matter by itself isn't what intrigues me about the shot, but texture.

 Seasons Greetings to all of you...

 May you always ride an easy-walking horse,
 compose underneath a light-sealed dark cloth,
 enough light for your f2.5 bokeh,
 sleep 'neath a rain-tight roof,
 and eat high on the hog every day of the year.



MERRY CHRISTMAS
HAPPY 2008

John D. esq

Driebergen - Netherlands 

A very special 'thank you' to the folks who took the time to participate in a dream of mine which was to start a site devoted to 'Classic Lenses'.  

More important than that, and most important to everybody is you and everybody close to you staying safe and staying healthy, and I hope everybody was able to accomplish that for 2007, and you have my best wishes for staying safe and healthy for 2008 and beyond.

Happy Holidays everybody, and best wishes for 2008 and beyond.

Take care

Jonathan 

Three Flutes

I did some more images with the SW lens.  I usually stear clear of naval gazing but I included some questions that I've been mulling after reading some of what Alvin Langdon Coburn wrote nearly 100 years ago.  The rest of the images are here if you're interested.  Funny thing is I'm not nuts about most of Coburns pictures.

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/Secret%20Weapon%20Lens/More_SW_Lens.html

The lens is the front element from a type of modified petzval that theatres used to use.  It has a big magnification at the front that gives a larger f1.9 aperture number.  Used alone it is just a grossly uncorected doublet that throws a lot of light everywhere.  It focuses at about 7 inches but the defocus happens so fast that you can get a total merge of everything in just a few inches.  It can't "see" to the end of the 3 flutes which was only about 5 or 6 inches from the point of focus.  More techy stuff.  I used Efke 100 film rated at 100.  Exposure with normal overhead kitchen lighting was 1/1.6 sec at an effective f10.  The D200 has that setting so I simply "listened" to the Nikon about 5 or 6 times, practiced with the packard a couple of time, and squeezed the bulb.