<warning> Fuzzy Picture Post </warning>

[Jim Galli]

Lovely images, Jim. The rice grass was a wonderful choice; it shows a lovely glow with those old lenses. And the blogs with all the info are much appreciated... I sometimes feel like I'm watching the start of a bit of a renaissance movement in photography, seeing the work you, Kerik, and others here are posting here with the soft focus optics. After all, if "masters" are judged by how much they influence those around them, you're right up there!

Coincidentally, I bought an 18" Plastigmat Portrait lens a couple of months ago; hoping to give it a good workout this summer. How does one tell if it has the "modifier" on it? I noticed it has an aluminum hood on the front of the brass barrel, and the iris is surprisingly close to the front element.

And btw, you should consider hosting a soft-focus/wide-open workshop/get-together someday!

Thanks for all the nice responses. Keep them coming. Mark, if yours has the glass up front, that's it. Mine just has the aperture. Try it both with and without the front glass and you'll be able to see the difference quite easily. Focal length is changed slightly with the front element, but not like a Verito. It's more like a 10 or 15% change.

As to workshops, I've toyed with an idea of giving one on one workshops for folks who would like to play with a host of giant cameras and weird optics to see what is what without making the corresponding huge investment.

Ash, can folks in UK get equivalent custom number plates? California USA is even more generous and would allow me to register the beasty with original matching 1939 plates if I found them. Nevada won't allow that. My kids bought me the fancy plates for a fathers day present

[Joe Forks]

Love it Jim! Every time I visit your site I get stuck browsing for an hour or more. That's a good thing though. Thanks for sharing.

Best
Joe

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Jim,

Thanks, you did it again. Is that the Gundlach Hyperion with the 'rain drops' ?

For your Ford gas tank, Harley-Davidson used to carry a "slosh" for coating the inside of gas tanks, might help.

Hollywood was right, that lens puts on 20 pounds.

[Jim Galli]

Jim,

Thanks, you did it again. Is that the Gundlach Hyperion with the 'rain drops' ?

For your Ford gas tank, Harley-Davidson used to carry a "slosh" for coating the inside of gas tanks, might help.

Hollywood was right, that lens puts on 20 pounds.

Yes, it's the one with the water spots, and the seperating front element, and, and, and....... It's got more problems than a 13 year old mother but it still manages to make a fine photograph

[Brian Ellis]

As an aside, when your tax lady solicited your contribution she hopefully didn't mislead you into thinking you would be able to take a tax deduction based on the fair market value of the photograph you donated. The only deduction you can take for self-created art is the cost of the materials, i.e. the cost of the sheet of paper on which your photograph was printed (plus mat and frame if applicable).

[Ernest Purdum]

The triplet is interesting. I don't suppose many people would have thought about it, including me. Do you have any idea about the aperture?

[Amund BLix Aaeng]

Always a pleasure seeing your photographs Jim, you really make those old lenses sing!
That old Kodak Portrait lens had a really cool look.


I actually took a photograph because of you today, I remembered you spoke about your Ford truck, so here`s one for you:



Not the supercracy bokeh of your classics, but smooth enough.

[Jim Galli]

Thanks Amund. Glad I inspired Ernest, it's about f5.6 iirc. Pretty fast and no aperture to get in the way.

[m messerly]

#4 and 5, I love that 'look' with the rice grass (plant bits). The portraits are quite striking. I greatly enjoy exploring the 'discards' of the 'just exactly perfect' school to see if they can be applied in a creative, pleasing way. The artifacts/effect with the softness, the glow, is wonderful.

[adrian tyler]

a lot of food for though there jim, thanks