Marco Venturini Autieri

C/Y lenses on Canon EOS cameras

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Marco

Although the use of old Contax / Yashica lenses on Canon EOS bodies is relatively common, some exotic combinations of lenses and bodies are little documented. I have now had some experience adapting these lenses and I can report the results, unfortunately not enthusiastically.

Camera	Lens	Result: mirror	Result: meter
EOS 5	Carl Zeiss Tessar 45/2.8	hits the lens	off about 1-1.5 EV
EOS 5	Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8	hits the lens	off about 1-1.5 EV
EOS 1n	Carl Zeiss Tessar 45/2.8	hits the lens	OK
EOS 1n	Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8	clear	OK

By the way, the EOS 5 has the undeniable advantage of a very silent operation over EOS 1n. Besides this, the 1n is clearly a better camera.

Posted in Cameras, Film photography, Photography | Tagged adapter, adapting, C/Y, Canon, Contax, EOS, film camera | Leave a comment

Fuji Pro160C

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Marco

Differently from the Ektar 100, that produces fantastic colours without any intervention with Photoshop, I totally dislike the Fujifilm Pro160C – that I have used for this edited photo of the Fire Brigade station in Darlington. Yet, I have seen around on the internet really nice pictures taken with this film. I suspect that it is perhaps the rendition of the Nikon Coolscan that, somehow, is a perfect match for the Ektar but produces greenish tones for the 160C. Surely the lower saturation is expected, but the hues needed much correction, as usual, to obtain the vivid and warm colours that I expected from this scene.

I got very similar experience, in the past, with the Pro160S, so I cannot really think of an isolated case.

Posted in Film photography | Tagged Darlington, Fuji, Fujifilm | Leave a comment

Road signs – Cartelli stradali

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Marco

A new gallery dedicated to one of my favourite, colourful, urban subjects:

Road signs

shot with a variety of tools, digital and film, prime and zoom lenses.

Posted in England, Italy, Photography | Tagged cartelli stradali, Durham, Pisa, road signs, Southampton | Leave a comment

Ektar colour palette

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Marco

These photos (taken at the last Durham food fair) show, photographically speaking:

that there is no substitute to Ektar for such colours (not touched in Photoshop)
that there is no substitute to the EF 70-200 IS f/4 to shoot indoor

Posted in Film photography | Tagged Canon 70-200 IS f/4, Cucina / Food, Ektar 100 | Leave a comment

Uphill roads: Crossgate

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Marco

Uphill roads are very convenient for photographing architecture because they allow the photographer’s eye to be level with the centre of the buildings’ facades and ensure a correct perspective.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons I really like Crossgate in Durham. Crossgate goes downhill towards the city centre. Only minor perspective correction was applied in photoshop to the following two pictures.

[Show as slideshow]

The two buildings depicted were actually adjacent from the adopted point of view. The photos were taken with a Nikon D40 together with the zoom kit lens 18-55mm.

Posted in Durham, Photography | Tagged architectural photography, Crossgate, Durham, England, Nikon D40 | Leave a comment

Some photos from 2011

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Marco

In the year 2011 I have shot with a few cameras and placed my pictures in several places all over the web (flickr, iStock, my galleries here, etc.). I will try now to pick a few ones and put them in one place – here – trying to call them into categories (photos made with a certain camera, o a certain lens, or for a certain purpose – stock, leisure – or technology – digital, film). No, they are not the best ones , but hopefully they are representative enough of what I liked to shoot. Continue reading →

Posted in Photography | Tagged 2011, best photos, digital photography, film photography, summary | Leave a comment

Troppo semplice per chiamarla ricetta, ma buona: fregola e piselli

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Marco

I cut longitudinal strips of leeks and I made them curly and brown in some oil in my safepan. I replaced the leeks with frozen peas; added some water, waited for them to boil a couple of minutes, added salt, then fregola, that I cooked like a risotto, adding hot water little by little. When ready, I topped it with the leeks that I had stored in a plate.

Pity that fregola is not easily available in England. The one I used came from Little Italy in York, a very nice place where to buy food and eat at the table.

Posted in Cucina / Food, Ricette / Recipes | Tagged fregola, pasta, York | Leave a comment

Short extension tubes

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Marco

The first instinct when buying extension tubes is “the longer, the better” because a longer extensions allows a bigger magnification.

However, not all images require large magnification.

I shot these two photos with two Nikkors, the 20/3.5 UD AI and the 50/1.2 AI-S on a Sony NEX-5.

The theory says that if I extend a 20mm focal-length lens with a 20mm tube, I can obtain a reproduction ratio of 1:1. In order to achieve this, though, a 20mm designed for reflex cameras, that is with a retrofocus optical scheme, would need to have the subject too close: actually, inside the lens itself.

I used a Nikon PK-11A that provides an extension of just 8mm. This allowed a dramatic perspective when mounted on the 20mm, and a moderate close-up (my hand rather than my fingernail!) with the 50mm.

The images are on sale on iStock.

Posted in Photography, stock photography | Tagged close-up, debit card, extension ring, extension tube, HSBC, macro, Nikon, Sony NEX, Sony NEX-5, VISA | Leave a comment

from my flickr

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Marco

When the game gets tough

Shade-of-Light posted a photo:

When the game gets tough, the businessman gets tough!

In a couple of days I must make a small trip…

Sony NEX-5, Nikkor AI-S 50/1.2, tilted

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Posted in Photography | Tagged iStockphoto | Leave a comment