Tag Archives: camera

Vintage Lenses – Auto Takumar 50mm F1.4 (8 Element Version)

Posted on by
1
Auto Takumar 5mm f1.4 – Shot at F5.6 earlier today.

I’ve been shooting on and off with vintage lenses for a couple of years now. I always enjoyed using them but I didn’t really stick with it. I think it’s probably because I was prioritising shooting stock images, which need to be tack sharp. To that end using my modern Fujifilm lenses, with auto focus and coatings that have superb flare and glare control made more sense. There’s more on my drift into using vintage lenses in a previous blog – Vintage lenses and Flickr

So, since finding a new groove with these old lenses I decided to invest in some well regarded classics. I already own a superb an Auto Takumar 35mm f2.3 so I decided to buy another Auto Takumar, the 50mm f1.4. I sought out the early version of this classic which has eight elements and none of the flare control coatings the later lenses came with. I bought the lens on Ebay for £214. Much more expensive than any of my other vintage lenses but it’s been a superb investment.

Swirly bokeh. The lens is really soft below f2.8 but you do get some fantastic bokeh effects
The lens has no flare control whatsoever but I don’t mind that.

I’m still getting to know the new lens. I used it on a recent trip to Marrakesh but, whilst we were there I made use of the photo opportunities to try out my other vintage lenses, so it didn’t get as much use as it should have done. I have a couple of other 50mm vintage lenses but this Takumar is proving to be a favourite amongst those.

The 50mm Auto Takumar is not quite my overall favourite vintage lens because the Takumar 35mm f2.3 is awesome and a more useful focal length on my crop sensor X-T5. Also, after much research, I have just bought a vintage Canon FD 55mm f1.2 which should prove strong competition for the Takumar. They all bring something different though and I’m hoping they’ll compliment each other and add another dimension to my images.

The Takumar starts to get seriously sharp at f2.8 and above but still has that classic vintage colour rendering.
This is another image taken today with the Auto Takumar on my Canon 5D mk2. I never really considered that I would get a little bit more depth of field using a full frame camera. On my X-T5 the front row of pawns were in focus and the back row pieces were going soft.

All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.

Photography – Photoshop Actions

Posted on by
7

Following this weeks Lens-Artist Challenge on WP I was scrolling through some of the challenge posts. One of these was from /ˈsnæp.ʃɒt/. On Keith’s blog (it’s well worth spending some time there) I found a reference to taking pictures with a Game Boy console using a Game Boy Camera.

Continue reading →

Lens Artist Challenge #341 – Personal Favourites

Posted on by
16
Kutubiyya Mosque, Marrakesh. You can’t go in to the mosques in Marrakesh but they didn’t seem to mind you taking pictures from outside. We timed it so we’d be near the mosque at around midday when we knew the doors would be open. This was just a quick grab shot and I had no idea what I had until I processed the image later. I could have easily filled this post with favourite images from Marrakesh.

Tina over at Travels and Trifles has led this week’s Lens-Artist’s challenge. I’ll echo everyone else and say how this was a really tough challenge. It would have been easier to duck out completely but I thought ‘No, I’m going to do it’. I’m posting late because we’ve been away.

Continue reading →

Vintage Lenses – My lenses paired with a Canon 5D MK2

Posted on by
Reply
Canon 5D MK2 paired with my Pentacon 135mm F2.8 – Superb when I nailed the focus, trouble was, I didn’t most of the time.

I’ve enjoyed using my vintage lenses with my Fujifilm X-T cameras over the last few weeks. It’s been really good to slow down, using manual focusing, and I like the colour rendering and sharp images my Auto Takamar 35mm F2.3 lens has produced (it’s a 50mm lens on my crop sensor Fuji cameras). The other vintage lens I’ve been using is my Pentacon 135mm F2.8 – known as the bokeh monster, with good reason.

Continue reading →

Vintage Lenses – Auto Takumar 35mm F2.3

Posted on by
Reply
My Auto Takumar 35mm F2.3 on my Fujifilm X-T2.

I’ve had this Auto Takumar 35mm F2.3 for a couple of years now but I’ve never really used it that much. Having been out and about and used it all day today that will be changing because its a superb lens.

Continue reading →

My Wedding Photography Story – Part 14

Posted on by
Reply
The ring shot. Taken with my superb Canon 100mm L Macro lens. I actually shot this a few days before the wedding. I met Andrew and Jen at the venue for a pre wedding meeting and asked them to bring their rings. It was always nice to be able to take my time with these shots.

On into April 2014 and the wedding of Andrew and Jennifer. They were getting married in their local church, where they were members of the congregation, and then holding a reception at Thornbury Golf Club. Jen’s mum and dad had been married in the same church, on the same date, thirty four years before.

Continue reading →

My Wedding Photography Story – Part 11

Posted on by
Reply
A detail shot. These images used to work well for a book cover. I’d usually shoot one with a bit more copy space to the left.

Into July 2013 and the wedding of Frank and Tina. We were back at Arnos Court Hotel in Bristol. Unfortunately, as far as outside wedding shots were concerned, it rained pretty much all day. Other than the bad weather though, another lovely wedding day, that ran quite smoothly for me.

Continue reading →

My Wedding Photography Story – Part 8

Posted on by
Reply

Reviewing our first wedding photography year

Having shot our last wedding of 2012 it was time to look back and assess how it had gone and where I wanted to go with my wedding photography. We’d gone into the year with about 50% of the weddings we worked on booked, the other 50% were late or short notice bookings. Going into 2013 I hadn’t advertised anywhere other than the work intranet. I was still getting regular enquiries, via word of mouth or being booked on recommendations by my clients from 2012. That was really nice, and encouraging.

Continue reading →

My Wedding Photography Story – Part 1

Posted on by
Reply

I think any keen amateur photographer, would at some time or another, have been asked to photograph a friend or family members wedding. Leading up to when I did actually take the plunge into weddings I know I’d been asked numerous times. I had always avoided it and made my excuses, partly because I didn’t want the responsibility and because I doubted that I would be good enough to photograph a wedding….

Continue reading →