CCC Forum

There was some interest yesterday when Tom kindly brought in the mounting card that he had purchased for CCC members.
It can all be purchased at Amazon with free shipping (no need for Amazon Prime).

Logan 350-1 Compact Elite Mat Cutter- Grey
This will cut half boards into quarters and precise windows too. I watched a 5 min YouTube Video to remind myself how to use it today. EASY
Do NOT get the cheaper Logan 300!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logan-350-1-Co ... 659&sr=8-1

Q-Connect KF01138 Cutting Mat A1 - Green
Must be A1 Size which we used yesterday to cut large card in half which then fits on Logan 350-1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Q-Connect-KF01 ... 19&sr=8-11

Silverline 731210 Aluminium Rule with Handle 1200mm
120 cm long
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-731 ... 601&sr=8-1

Folding Utility Knives with 10 Extra Blades,Craft Knife with Safety-Lock
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Safety-Lock-Wa ... 69&sr=8-19

FREE Shipping on orders over £20.00

If you get board cut at the club, you can get away with just purchasing the Logan 350-1 Compact Elite Mat Cutter for £148.

Thanks for the useful info, Iggy.

I use a Longridge mount cutter which is good, but also considerably more expensive than the Logan. Over the years, a few components have failed or become worn and each time Longridge has replaced them free of charge despite the equipment now being several years old. I cannot fault the company for customer service.

I bought a second hand Longridge Duo mount cutter on eBay last year. To mark out the aperture I use this framing square from ScrewFix: https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-framing-square-16-x-24-405-x-610mm-/6641V?tc=YT2&ds_kid=92700048793290430&ds_rl=1244066&gclid=CjwKCAiA7t3yBRADEiwA4GFlI1BKXzV9sVc8HtBawOseUY5oLM_4OtWIdPiubWvQT-FjPT-fKEgjbxoCMsIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hi Rose,
Thanks for the details of the framing square.
How is your photography at your club going?
Kind regards,
Iggy

Thanks Iggy - going well! I've been exploring impressionist photography for the last year and getting into vintage lenses too. Am about to have a 5 page feature in the next edition of DIGIT, the magazine for the RPS Digital Imaging Group. And am preparing for an exhibition alongside a local artist in our village in May

Am about to have a 5 page feature in the next edition of DIGIT, the magazine for the RPS Digital Imaging Group.

Hi Rose,
Congratulation on getting your 5 page feature published in DIGIT! I will look out for it.
Would love to see an example of your impressionist photography.
Exhibition sounds wonderful too.
Time to give CCC a lecture?
Iggy

LOL maybe... ?!

Rose wrote:....... and getting into vintage lenses too.

Same here. One of my recent SPA acceptances was taken with a lens that is nearly 50 years old, although the design goes back to the mid 50s. Not that you would know as its rendering is quite modern rather than classic.

Which are your favourites? I have a number of Zeiss lenses from the Icarex system, as well as more recent ones with the Contax/Yashica mount. There is just something about the way Zeiss glass renders. Minoltas are another favourite. Not to mention modern recreations of classics which is a Voigtländer speciality.

I also presume that you have found the various groups on Facebook. A friend of mine, Simon Forster, is one of the people behind "Photography With Classic Lenses" and "Classic Lenses Podcast". There are also websites such as https://phillipreeve.net/blog/, https://www.35mmc.com/, https://www.casualphotophile.com/ which are useful sources of information. The Fred Miranda forum can be good as well, but frequently that can involve wading through masses of posts. There are some truly massive threads there.

Good luck with the exhibition and Digit article.

Hi Mike

My interest in vintage lenses is in their creative potential. Characteristics that might be considered optical imperfections such as edge distortion, flare, or soft focus, are great for creative image making. I have two Helios 44-2 f/2 58mm lenses, one of which has had the front element reversed, creating some really quirky, swirly bokeh. I also have a Jupiter 11a f/4 135mm lens and a Pentacon f/2.8 29mm lens. I very often use the Helios and Pentacon close up with extension tubes. In particular, the Pentacon's MFD is 25cm and with extension tubes I can focus within an inch!

They are very addictive - it's so easy to get hooked into trawling online for another example you just 'have' to have ! But they're so cheap there's no real damage to your pocket I haven't paid more than £35 for any of my vintage lenses

Hi Rose

Those lenses you mention are all based on pre-war Carl Zeiss designs, mainly made in Russia but the Pentacon is East German, of course. The Soviets acquired the rights as part of war reparations and some Carl Zeiss employees were forcibly taken to the USSR*. The 135 is a Sonnar which renders in a way many people like, myself included. I have the Pentacon 29 which I bought new** but cannot say that I really enjoy it much today. Which is not to say that in the right circumstances it would not produce a good result, just I have yet to find what that is. The Lydith 30 f/3.5, with a near identical focal length is a bit more to my taste. Interestingly, that is one of the lenses which the newly resurrected Meyer Oreston Goerlitz company proposes to reintroduce. The price looks to be a bit more than I paid for mine, though. By several orders of magnitude.

https://www.meyer-optik-goerlitz.com/en ... 30-f3.5-ii

The Helios is the most interesting of the bunch as it is noted for its swirly bokeh, most notably when used on a full frame camera and especially with the front element reversed as you describe. The Soviets made it by the bucket load in a number of different factories as the standard lens for their Zenit cameras. Over time and a number of versions, the Russian lens designers refined the optical formula and removed most of the aberrations which give it its character. The resulting 44-7 is sharp and the most sought after, albeit it has a reputation for forgeries created by replacing the front name plate on a lesser lens with a fake one. Some say that the best combination of attributes comes in the 44-3. Like you say, there is a lot of fun to be had in finding a cheap 44-2 or 44M and mounting it onto a camera using an inexpensive adapter.

Not all East German and Russian lenses are bargains, though. The 50 mm Jupiter 3 f/1.5, another Sonnar design, commands respectable sums of money as does the 85 mm Jupiter 9 f/2. The 85 mm Helios 40 f/1.5 is another example. All three have a soft focus style of rendering, especially when shot at or near wide open. The Grandaddy of them all, by quite some way, is the Zeiss 75 f/1.5 Biotar. Be prepared for an assault on your wallet and lifestyle if you get the hots for one of those.

Anyway, enough of the nerdery. People should care about the results, not how the photographer got there. Enjoy your lenses.

* Most, though, were relocated to by the Americans to what became West Germany and created the modern Zeiss company based at Oberkochen. Zeiss' original location at Jena became the basis for products manufactured under the Pentacon brand but still using the Carl Zeiss name. Following a court case, the East Germans added Jena to denote the place of production and differentiate the two companies which operated independently of each other.

** Which really dates me.