The Hasselblad Story

  
The Hasselblad is always a fascinating camera to use, the square format and the waist level experience is a joy to use. 

But since the digital age, times I shoot the Hasselblad became less… Till now.

The CFV-50c!!! A CMOS digital back that looks like the A12 film back.

  
The CMOS produces pictures with amazing colours and high iso capability.

Let’s look at some photographs shot by the CFV-50c!

   
    
    
   
The image quality is really impressive! And it shares the same sensor with the Phaseone IQ250 and H5D-50c and the 645Z, so there’s a guarantee in image quality.

Lomography Petzval 85mm f2.2

Lomography Petzval 85mm f2.2

A Very Special Portrait Lens Manufactured in Russia by Zenit, the Lomography New Petzval 85 Art Lens is a stunning reinvention of one of the greatest lenses of all time. Each lens is crafted from brass and features high-quality glass optics that produce images with extreme sharpness, strong color saturation, artful vignetting and absolutely beautiful swirly bokeh backgrounds.

Thanks for Lomography HK, I got a chance to play with this lens.

So I think it will be boring if I do those swirly background portrait shots, so I decided to use this lens for a difference genre of photography, a type of photography that this lens is not designed for…

Street Photography.

I chose to shoot in the fruit market at Yaumatei, which is not an unfamiliar location for me to shoot, as i like to document this working class Hong Kong scene. The Petzval is 85mm, so it gives me a little more reach than a standard lens, and due to its unique design, the photographs tend to have a cinematic look.

The Petzval is definitely not an everyday lens, but it’s a special lens when you want the distinct look it provides. Highly recommend to all my photographers out there!

ZEISS Otus 1.4/85 － possibly the best 85mm ever made

Possibly the best 85mm ever made!

This 85mm f1.4 is the pinnacle of lens making. Carl Zeiss has managed to make a “perfect” lens, with no distortion, no chromatic aberration,  and ultimate sharpness wide open.

86mm filter thread…this lens is huge!! and heavy too…weighing at 1200g…

But…there is no point discussing the outlook of the lens, what makes this lens so fascinating is the images that it produces.

the sharpness produced is beyond description, the contrast it retains when shooting directly to the sun is insane, and flare is barely seen even during a backlit situation, but even when seen, it’s very pleasing and not disturbing like the ones you find in conventional lens.

The bokeh produced by the lens is creamy as fxxk! (not even the Canon 85L can compare)

The Otus performs pretty much like other traditional zeiss lens, but better at every single aspect. With all the sharpness, you still get the “Zeiss Pop”, the 3Dness of the lens is just too nice.

On that bombshell, this is a MUST BUY lens for all portrait lovers! It doesn’t really matter if it’s MF or not, as the focusing mechanism is so smooth and easy, the resistance on the focus ring is perfectly damped. It reminds me of focusing with a Zeiss Master Prime Cine lens, which costs a fortune even comparing with the Otus.

Yes…Yes…Yes…the price…It’s expensive…but it definitely worths and deserves the price tag!

Drunk in Osaka

Thanks to Suntory, I got drunk in Osaka.

These are the photographs I made while I was drunk, but still having an photographic aesthetics.

    Time for a selfie!
  
  
 In Eggleston we trust!

 I lost the picture I made inside.

  Alcohol is just around the corner.

  
 He almost fell off his bike when my flash fired.

 Another selfie!!

Sigma DP0 Quattro first thoughts

The DP0 Quattro is the 4th camera in the Quattro line. This time paired with a 14mm f4 lens, which means a 21mm equivalent in 135 standard. The Foveon sensor has always been a great tool in my arsenal, providing me exception image quality with amazing details. I used to have a leaf digital back, but the workflow is slowing my creative process down, so I am always looking for a smaller package that provides me similar IQ.

  

When the DP0 Quattro is shot with good light, the image it produces is CRAZY!! Very close to digital back images.

Black and white from the Foveon sensor is amazingly detailed, the grey tone is very deep and rich, with a very wide dynamic range.
But there are a few drawbacks on this camera…

The camera doesn’t like long exposure…color noise starts to appear after a 5 sec exposure, so it’s not the perfect camera for long exposure shots. But using the Sigma Photo Pro noise reduction, you can always do some adjustments to the files to make the photograph work.

  High ISO performance is also very weak in modern standards. ISO 1600 is my personal max, beyond that the color looks off no matter what you do in post.
So…it’s the camera for me! But it’s definitely not the camera for everyone. The awkward handling and the stupid software is something that you have to live with if you decided to purchase this camera, but the incredible image quality is rewarding.