Hey Ya'll! How's your week going? Mine? Pretty good. It's a rainy day so I thought I would catch up on writing some Blogs. This week I want to talk about an old camera I just got off of eBay for 100 bucks. As you know by reading my blogs I like used and old stuff. I have a photography project shooting film that I'm in the process of and I do have a couple of great film cameras. But I just needed one more! LOL I was looking at a camera that could shoot manual and maybe auto a little and had a fixed lens. There is all kinds of newer automatic plastic camera's but I wanted one a little more advanced and it needed to look good too. I like the rangefinder style of cameras especially for what I'm going to used it for. Street and walking around a EDC (Every Day Carry) film camera.  I have a 1961 Canon Canonet (the original) but it's big and heavy and the lens is 45mm. A little long for what I like for walking around with. I have a Pentax MX a great camera and I have all the lenses to go with it but I will bring all of the lenses (I can't help myself) which makes it too heavy and bulky and no auto on it at all its fully manual. What I decided on was a Canon Canonet 17QL GIII. It is the last version of the Canonet that Canon released in 1972. They produced the camera until 1982.  They were very popular cameras and that means there are lots of them out there so the prices will stay down. Now buying from eBay is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of trust going on because these are not established camera companies that you are buying from . Usually it's an individual that is selling them. I have been very lucky on the things that I have bought and sold on eBay and have had no problems. So I found one and purchased it. One of the main reasons that I got it was because the light seals had been replaced already something that you have to do with old cameras because they just go bad so I just went for it. When it came in I was pleasantly surprised it was in good shape . I cleaned it up and inspected it . Everything seemed to work. There was no visible fungus on the lens and all functions worked. So I had to put it to the test and run a roll of dummy film through it to make sure it advanced and rewinded when I wanted it to. It passed again. Now it was time for a real test . So I got a roll of Kodak Gold 200 and loaded it up.

So now lets talk features of this new to me but old camera. It is a rangefinder camera which means when you look through the viewfinder you're not looking through the lens but through a window on the side of the camera. Inside that window you can see a yellow frame which is where you're photo will be. There is a meter on the right that only works in the auto mode. Auto mode for this camera is Shutter priority . You pick the shutter speed and the camera picks the aperture .  If the camera thinks that you are over or under exposed it will not let you take the photo.  The meter runs off of an odd sized battery. The original batteries were Mercury and newer ones are Alkaline . The mercury ones keep the correct voltage longer so the meter will read accurately longer. Alkaline work but they don't last as long. I checked the meter and it reads accurate with a new battery in it. Meters in older camera's are usually broke or don't read properly so this is a plus for this camera. This camera comes with a battery check button where you can push the button and a light will shine letting you know that the battery is okay. The lens on this camera is a 40mm f1.7 which is a nice fast lens although I would like a wider one but that's what it comes with. The lens is very sharp and crisp and has good contrast. It is a 48mm filter thread which is a odd size. I had lots of filters and lens hood for 49mm so I got a set up ring that goes from 48-49mm so all of my old stuff would work on this camera. When shooting in Manual mode you have to use an external meter or the Sunny 16 rule. I will have a blog on how to meter for film on old manual camera's like this one. You can use a meter or an app off of your phone. This camera is a quick loading camera that means you don't have to thread the film into a slot when loading it you just lay it down and it will do it for you. It has a film indicator window on it so when you advance the film it will let you know that the film is advancing. It also had a ready to fire indicator window that will be orange when the shutter is ready to advance. And of course it has a counter to let you know how many shots you've used. It uses a leaf shutter which goes from B "bulb" to 1/500 of a second. Not super fast so I might need a ND filter if I want to shoot at open apertures in sunlight. This will mainly be a walking around camera so I think that I'll be good with the Sutter speed. It does have a self timer on it although I have read and heard on Youtube not to use it because if it breaks you're camera will not work and this function is prone to failing on this model. Not a problem I have a I phone for that. It does have a hot shoe that I haven't tested . Not planning to shoot flash with it but its nice to know I could.

I took my new little camera with me on a photowalk to Kinston NC about 20 miles from my house and walked around town shooting things I saw. I used either a phone app that I had calibrated to be accurate or my digital camera to compare to make correct exposures.  So when I shot it was a little time consuming. I'd have to Meter , Set the camera , Focus and shoot. Focusing on this camera is a little different than other camera's. There is a little patch in the middle of the screen and when you're out of focus there will be two object there you focus until there is one object . It works really well as I got some really sharp shots from this photowalk. I got kind of into a grove shooting this little camera and enjoyed it quite a bit. The next day I developed and scanned the film myself and was shocked on how good this camera did.  So for about 120 dollars (which includes shipping) I've got a good little rangefinder camera that will shoot in auto and manual with a nice sharp lens! Well that's it for this week . I've been having a ball shooting film again and going through all of the processes of developing and scanning. Until next week . Get out and Shoot!

Hey Y'all! Hope you're having a Super week. This week I want to talk about gear again. LOL ! Thats what I do. Now you know I love shooting used gear. And if you've been reading my blogs from the beginning I do like shooting film also. But what about shooting vintage lenses on your new mirrorless camera? Can it be done? You bet it can and it's pretty easy and fun to do.  Bringing life into old and vintage lenses is great. The older lenses were built to last. Film lenses and camera's were built to be used a lifetime and still have lots of life left in them. I personally shoot a camera that is over 60 years old and it still functions like it was new. New 60 years ago not like new today. If that makes sense. Now I'm not saying that a vintage lens is sharper or quicker than a new lens is because it's not but it has a quality that gives it  character.  Vintage lenses are manual focus lenses and have an aperture ring that you have to manually have to set.  So getting sharp focus is up to you.  But why would you ever shoot a vintage lens on a new mirrorless camera? The first reason is that it's just cool and fun to shoot. Some of these lenses come in focal lengths that just aren't common anymore. I have three or four vintage lenses but the one I like to use the most is a 28mm. It's a focal length that you just don't see anymore on modern lenses. Another reason to use vintage on new cameras is to get some photography mojo working again. It slows us up to take time to compose and focus the shot. Instead of just pointing and shooting like we can now with our modern cameras and phones. So how do I find a vintage lens to shoot? You may already have one on an old film camera that is stuck way back in the closet. If you have an old SLR film camera chances are you've got a 50mm f1.4 lens on it.  It really doesn't matter if your old camera was a Canon, Minolta, or Nikon you can adapt it to your new camera. If you don't have one you can find one on Ebay or in a pawn shop very cheaply. Sometimes less than 100 bucks. Now think of that a 50mm f1.4 for 100 bucks. These old lenses are built with high quality metal and glass and are fantastic.  Now these are manual focus lenses but can easily be zone focused for street photography for fast shooting. All the markings are there for easy set up. Speaking of set up how do you make your new camera use vintage lenses?

I shoot Sony cameras but I'm sure you will have the same settings on whatever camera you have you will have to dig a little in the manual or look up online. The first thing we need to do to shoot vintage lenses on new cameras is to get a lens adapter. For example the vintage lens that I use is a Pentax 28mm. I shoot Sony so I have to get an adapter that takes the Pentax mount and adapts it to a Sony mount. You can get these adapters off of Amazon for 25 bucks or so. Modern mirrorless camera's are little computers with all kinds of sensors on them. Old vintage lenses have no electronics at all so when you put the adapter on your vintage lens and hook it to your camera your camera doesn't know that there is a lens there. Most camera's are set up by default not to release the shutter if no lens is attached. So you will have to go into the menu and find that setting and change it. Most modern camera's have Focus Peaking to help focus when in manual.  The camera highlights in some color the areas of the image that is in focus. You will have to also turn this on to help you focus. My cameras have in body stabilization. How great is that to have a 50 year old lens and now it is stabilized ! When you put a modern lens on the camera it can see what focal length it is through the electronics on the camera even if it's a zoom lens.  The camera adjust the Stabilization to match the focal length. When you use a vintage lens you have to put that number in. For example I set it to 28mm for my lens. Then when the camera can't see the focal length it goes to 28mm otherwise it's in Auto and adjust to what lens I have on. Now if I changed to a 50mm vintage lens instead of the 28mm I would have to go and change to 50mm. But since this is the only one I am using currently I don't have to change this setting. And that's about it. You can set your camera on Manual or Aperture Priority like I do. I adjust my Aperture by the ring on the lens and focus and shoot. If you're in Manual you do the same but set the shutter speed like normal. So that's really all there is to do. So if you have a vintage lens you only have to come out of pocket about 25 dollars or so for the adapter and you can rock and roll with a vintage lens.

So be the cool kid on the block like me? LOL ! And until next week Get out and Shoot!

Hey Y'all ! Hope your having a great week. Me pretty good. This week I want to talk about my favorite lens and maybe you can tell me your favorites. Now lenses are not like children even though we may treat them as carefully as we do our children. We do have favorites! For me usually the favorite is the newest but not always. I've gone through lots of lenses during my photography career. I even own the first one I bought from a friend Cliff Clark while I was in high school. Back in the day when I started in photography it was film and I had a 50mm that came with the camera and longed for a longer lens. Cliff had one for sell a 135mm f2.8 Chinion lens. It was sharp with plenty of contrast. I still have this lens although I don't really use it I have adapted it to some of my miriness cameras. It was a manual lens like all lenses were back then and my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be. LOL My first Favorite Lens.

My Favorite focal range is in the mid-telephoto range like a 24-70. My first one in this range was back when I was shooting Nikon. I had the holy trinity of lenses. I had a 16-35mm , 24-70 and 70-200. But by far my most used was the 24-70 f2.8 lens. This Nikon lens was sharp had great contrast quick to focus and just a dream to shoot with. It was built like a tank and was heavy like one also. I've taken so many fantastic photo's with this lens and loved it dearly. This may be the reason I hung onto my Nikon gear so long after I started shooting mirrorless.  It was hard to sell this great lens but I had to let it go for newer gear in the mirrorless family I was shooting. The next favorite lens in this focal range was the Sony 16-55mm f2.8 lens. This is a crop sensor lens made by Sony for the crop sensor cameras that I shoot. The effective full frame equivalent is 24-82mm right in my wheelhouse for photography.  I still have this lens and love it dearly and am not planning on getting rid of it anytime soon. It is also very sharp and very quick to focus and built like a tank also. But what about other focal ranges?

Wide angle lenses. I've had a few wide angel lenses and have had a few that I really like. One of my first was a prime lens that I had got for my full frame Nikon. It was a 14mm f2.8 Rokinon lens. It was an inexpensive but sharp lens and built like a tank. It was a manual lens and was great for astro photography. My next favorite was on my crop sensor mirrorless Sony its the 10-18 f4 lens made by Sony.  It is an older lens but is still a fantastic lens. I've used it on lots of landscapes and waterfalls. Its super sharp lens and is still in my kit. I also have one for my full frame camera 16-35 F4 lens. It may be one of the few lenses that I have bought brand new as most of them I buy used. This lens works great for my full frame and has a aperture ring on it which I love for changing my aperture.

How about longer lenses? Besides my first lens I talked about earlier I've got two lenses that I have used that were my favorites in the past. The first one is when I was shooting Nikon a 70-200 f2.8 lens. This was a fantastic lens for many photography styles. First it was a great portrait lens super for head shots with great bokeh. I have used it to shoot weddings a great walking around lens to get all of those great candid shots. It was great for landscape photography for isolation shots and last but not least it was great when used in conjunction with a 2.0 converter for wildlife. This is a super lens and hated to see it go. It was built like a tank and was super heavy especially holding it for a wedding my arms would get sore. The next lens was built for my crop sensor camera its the 70-350mm that gives me a 105-525mm full frame focal length. This lens is super sharp and quick to focus and I always get stunning photo's when I use this lens which is still in my kit.

Primes. Lets not forget these great lenses. As a old film photographer I really love my primes since zooms back then were inferior to the prime lenses. Prime lenses are great! They are inexpensive , sharp, and  have wide apertures .  What's not to like. My first favorite was my Pentax 50mm f1.7. I've had many 50mm lenses but the first one is my favorite and I have a copy of one now on a Pentax film camera. My next one is the Nikon 85mm f1.8 lens. This was a fantastic portrait lens and street photography lens. I hated to sell this lens but the person I sold it to "Caitlin" loves this lens also. I've also had this lens in the Sony mount and love it. I now have a 20mm f1.8 that may be my favorite prime right now. Its a Sony and has an aperture ring and is a fantastic astro photography lens but can be used on my crop sensor camera as a street lens at a 30mm full frame  equivalent.

Now for the winner, winner, chicken dinner! This is an all purpose lens that touches the wide , mid and telephoto ranges. It is "spoiler alert" is my newest lens. I have used this lens for a couple of months now.  And it's been on the full frame over 90% of the time since I've got it. It's the 24-105mm f4 lens by Sony. It's sharp quick to focus and is built like a tank. It's my all in one lens. I bought it used from MPB. I traded some not so favorite lenses for it. How long will it be my favorite? Not sure I do have two more lenses coming but for now it is . What is your favorite? Until next week Get out and shoot your favorite lens! 

PS. It's been a while since I've written this blog and my favorite has changed! A couple of times. LOL I'm now in love with a 50mm and a 28mm lens that I shoot on a Sony A7C and my Pentax MX film camera that I have the same set up. It will probably change again. LOL Get shooting!