The Landscape Thread

[AdamW]

With a Holga 60mm f/8(?) on the XTi:

Sun breaking through an approaching storm:

[TheWengler]

With a Holga 60mm f/8(?) on the XTi:

Sun breaking through an approaching storm

f/8 is the max aperture?

[AdamW]

The lens comes from a Holga medium format camera. The Holga has a switch to move between f/8 and f/11 ("cloudy" and "sunny"). But unless you mod the original camera, the switch doesn't really do anything. Attached to the XTi, it seems about f/8 to me. The lens is zone focussed (3 feet, 9 feet, 12 feet, infinity---and macro by holding the lens just in front of the mount.)

So, it's a very dark lens and hard to focus. It's also a single plastic element, so it's soft--very soft at the edges, contrasty, and has lots of chromatic aberration and other weirdness.

Using it is a challenge. There's a low keeper rate, obviously, but there's also a wonderful randomness to some of the effects that makes it lots of fun.

I converted the shot above to B&W and added some grain. That's part of the view from the front door of the school where I work.

[TheWengler]

Wow! Sounds frustrating

[AdamW]

Yes and no. Focussing is hit or miss, but there's a lot of leeway 'cause it's never gonna be really sharp. The only other variables to adjust are ISO and shutter speed. If you expect razor sharpness and no distortion, you're looking in the wrong place.

The real Holga gives more--and more random--effects. The camera body is plastic and leaks light like crazy (some people put gaffer's tape on all the seams). The film plate is crap, so sometimes the film isn't exactly parallel with the lens. And the lens itself has lots of vignetting on 120 film. Using the lens on a digital SLR is a compromise. The random effects are lessened, but there's no worrying about the cost of film and processing. Oh, and it was cheap!

[TheWengler]

Garrapata SP

[AdamW]

Nice pastel colors, Lukas. Did you use a GND on that?

[TheWengler]

Nice pastel colors, Lukas. Did you use a GND on that?

Thanks Adam. I'm pretty sure I used a GND filter, but it's from December so I don't remember exactly what.

[rawpaw18]

Lukas, nice tones as usual. I mentioned on flickr about
composition, not like you to go center with horizon. Trying
to get some color of sky and rocks in the shot and horizon
just ended in the middle? You are the master, just wondering.
It works of course, just not your normal MO

[TheWengler]

Lukas, nice tones as usual. I mentioned on flickr about
composition, not like you to go center with horizon. Trying
to get some color of sky and rocks in the shot and horizon
just ended in the middle? You are the master, just wondering.
It works of course, just not your normal MO

Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I ended up going vertical to get everything in the frame. Honestly, I don't think about horizon placement that much while I'm shooting. Most of the time I end up with less sky because I like to compose with strong foregrounds. I'm no master though. Aspiring master maybe.