Category Archives: Gear Tests

Sigma 10-20 f 4-5.6

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I don’t shoot a lot of wide angle myself but since I talked about the Nikon 10-24 I thought it only fair for me to try out the competition.

Sigma’s 10-20 f 4-5.6 has been around for quite a while, in fact they’ve introduced a new version of this lens with a fixed f 3.5. The newer version hasn’t come into the store yet so I had to settle for the variable aperture.

Sigma 10-20 f 4-5.6

Sigma 10-20 f 4-5.6

I have to admit that there is something about the wider perspective that is appealing.

Sigma 10-20 f 4-5.6 @10

Sigma 10-20 f 4-5.6 @10

Sigma 10-20 f 4-5.6 @11

Sigma 10-20 f 4-5.6 @11

Although to be honest I found myself shooting at 20mm more often than not.

Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6

Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6

The results from this lens are pretty impressive as you can see. Although the finish on the lens may not be like the  ’name’ brand versions the price is certainly attractive.

Miranda Auto Sensorex EE

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Made from 1971 to 1977 the Auto Sensorex EE was a solidly built camera which was aimed at the advanced amateur and semi – pro market.

Miranda Auto Sensorex EE

Miranda Auto Sensorex EE

The ‘EE’ stands for ‘electric-eye’, a new concept which allowed for through the lens metering. This allowed for both spot and average metering.

A unique feature of this camera was the removable prism which allowed for waist level shooting.

Miranda Auto Sensorex EE

Miranda Auto Sensorex EE

Because of the design of the TTL system, metering was available even when the prism was removed.

Miranda Auto Sensorex EE

Miranda Auto Sensorex EE

Olympus EP1

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I don’t know what you think but this is the neatest looking camera I’ve seen in a while…

Kinda makes me pine for my dad’s old Agfamatic…..

 

Olympus EP1

Olympus EP1

 

 

With the EP1 Olympus has gone back to the design of one of their most popular models, 1959′s half frame Pen F.

The EP1 has the interchangeable lenses of an SLR but no prism and no viewfinder. The 3″ LCD is, as expected, pretty much unusable in bright sunlight but there is an optical viewfinder available for use with the 17mm lens.

The camera is available as a kit with the 14 – 42 lens or a kit with the 17mm pancake lens and the optical viewfinder. The recently announced EP2 will offer an EVF with the 17mm lens.

Without a built in flash you can guess how the camera does inside…not a good choice for action shots for sure but the high ISO performance is pretty good…

 

ISO 6400 f5.2 @30

ISO 6400 f5.2 @30

Over all I liked the camera, it’s small, easy to work with and you know I like old cameras soooo…how could I not like it?

 

Olympus EP1

Olympus EP1

 

 

 

 

Nikon 10-24 f3.5-4.5

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This is a fun lens to shoot…all of the 10s are. Is it better than Nikon’s 12-24? No, the build on the 12-24 is better as is the constant f4, but the two lenses can not be compared fairly…..those extra 2mm do make a difference. Try it yourself, the change in perspective from 12 to 10 makes a huge difference in your photos.

There are other super wides on the market for Nikon but if you have a D40, D40x, D60, D3000 or D5000, then the Nikon is your only choice if you want autofocus.

Is there distortion? Yes, but you have to work hard to make it obvious. The same goes for flare and ghosting, it’ll happen but you have to really push the limits to make it happen.

Nikon 10-24

Nikon 10-24

Nikon 10-24

Nikon 10-24

Nikon 10-24

Nikon D90 w/Nikon 10-24

Nikon D90 w/10-24

Nikon D90 w/Nikon 10-24

Day 119

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Two-piece'r

Two-piece'r

 

After my moon shot earlier this week I got a lot of questions about the lens that I used. I tried to explain about the lens but you know what they say..a picture is worth a thousand words..

 

My Weapon of Choice

My Weapon of Choice

 

This is the Vivitar 600mm f8 from around the mid 80′s. It came out before Vivitar’s much better known (and better quality) 600mm catadioptic lens. It has a standard T-mount which screws on so it can be used on any camera providing you have the  correct T-mount and yes, there is some assembly required…

 

Some Assembly Required

Some Assembly Required

 

Day 44

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Look what I found…

 

Old School

Old School

 

This is the Zeiss-Ikon Icarette model 500/12. Zeiss made the Icarette from 1927 till 1936. The body models were: 509, 500, 512 and 551 and they were made in 5 styles: 6×9, 6.5×11, 4.5×6, 6×6 and 8×10.5.

An unscientific guess based on the model number dates this beauty to 1930. Better still the shutter still appears to function and the bellows seem to be in good shape. As to whether the case is still light tight…there’s only one way to find that out:)

You got it! I got me a roll of film and weather permitting tomorrow this old fella is going out shooting. If anything actually turns out I’ll post it to my flickr and link back here ….and knowing me I’ll shout it from the roof tops on Twitter as well. Fingers crossed…

July 5 update…

This old fella still has game! I had a little problem with the advance slipping a bit so there was some double exposure and I can’t believe how difficult it was to remember something as simple as focus. I’ve been a little spoiled by AF I think, but I did get some shots….hope I work as well when I’m 80ish.

icarette 2

icarette