Playing around with a new lens

[singingsnapper]

I always keep an eye on the second hand market and many of my lenses are second hand. Some of my best lenses have come from Ffordes in Beauly, Scotland, who tend to be pricey but the condition tends to be superb.

I bought a Mint- Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2 ZE Distagon T* which is a manual focus lens, and still playing with it so these aren't exactly expert shots especially as handheld at relatively slow shutter speeds. The lens is a nice weight and the focussing wheel has great feedback. in short, its a fantastic lens, and manually focussing can only be good for my technique.


new-toy by singingsnapper, on Flickr

This was lunch I made for my wife and I - Chargrilled Salmon with Kingprawns, scallops mussels on a bed of salad leaves with a dill dressing:

Canon 5D mk III Carl Zeiss ZE 35mm f/2 distagon at f/10 and 1/20 ISO 1600


salmon-with-salad by singingsnapper, on Flickr


The rain finally stopped and grabbed this shot of the front of our car:

Canon 5D mk III Carl Zeiss ZE 35mm f/2 Distagon T* at f/16 and 1/25 ISO 250 converted in Silver efex pro 2


wet-car by singingsnapper, on Flickr

[singingsnapper]

The sun is out for a change and so had a play around outside in the back garden while our dog Caesar had a run around (the bonus being that once he'd tired himself a bit I could get him to sit still for a second to use the manual focus on him!

A few daisies still about:

Canon 5D mk III Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2 at f/4 1/640 ISO 100


Daisies-with-Zeiss by singingsnapper, on Flickr

The gale force winds have played havock with our rose bushes here's one of our surviving roses

f/5.6 1/400 ISO 400 (wind still blowing!)


windswept-roses by singingsnapper, on Flickr

Our Palm trees are still standing though:

f/8 1/100 ISO 100


palm-tree-in-wales- by singingsnapper, on Flickr

Caesar taken wide open:

f/2 1/8000 ISO 100


Caesar-at-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr

and again slightly less wide open

f/2.8 1/6000 ISO 100


Caesar-at-2.8 by singingsnapper, on Flickr

[singingsnapper]

Weather turned out much better today so went for a stroll up Mynydd Ddinas, the mountain behind where we live and grabbed a few landscapes with the Zeiss glass:

Looking over the Cwmafan Valley:

canon 5D mk III Carl Zeiss ZE 35mm f/2 at f/8 1/160 ISO 100


The-Cwmafan-Valley by singingsnapper, on Flickr

Looking back towards where I had come from, I liked the line of the path and the two trees:

f/8 1/200 ISO 100


path-above-afan-valley by singingsnapper, on Flickr

[simon3116]

Very nice lens Paul. I've never used Ffordes but have heard good things about them. I personally think it's better to spend a bit more if buying second-hand so at least there is the bonus of a guarantee rather than risk an auction site.

[singingsnapper]

Very nice lens Paul. I've never used Ffordes but have heard good things about them. I personally think it's better to spend a bit more if buying second-hand so at least there is the bonus of a guarantee rather than risk an auction site.

Never had an issues with Ffordes. I bought my Pentax 645N from them which was advertised as showing signs of use, but was completely unmarked. I've bought quite a few lenses from them too. I would prefer to go in and try lenses out personally but Invernessshire is a fair way to go to do that.

[singingsnapper]

Went for another wander with just the Carl Zeiss lens for company this morning, this time in Swansea, close to Swansea City's ground

One of Sustran's Cycle route signs:

Canon 5D mk III Carl Zeiss ZE 35 f/2 at f/8 and 1/250 ISO 100


sustrans-sign by singingsnapper, on Flickr

And a flower by the path:

f/6.3 1/50 ISO 100


flower-by-the-path by singingsnapper, on Flickr

[singingsnapper]

Had a big BBQ last night to welcome a cousin back from his tour of duty in Afghanistan and after everything was tidies up tis morning grabbed this shot of the candles on the table:

Canon 5D mk III Carl Zeiss 35 f/2 at f/5.6 1/160 ISO 100


candles by singingsnapper, on Flickr