Speaking Frankly

Inside Straight: Optical Miracle

The amazing story of the Biotar

When photojournalists David Douglas Duncan, Jun Miki, and Carl Mydans reported in 1950 on the excellence of Japanese optics, thus starting the Japan photo industry ball rolling, little did anyone imagine that within 10 years these camera types and lenses would be obsolete, fit primarily to be collectors' curios.

What country would be responsible for the next generation of cameras and lenses? Not Japan, but Germany.

OOPS...

Somehow a three line caption which I did not write crept onto page 33 of my Pop Photography May Inside Straight column. However I should have caught this interloper on page proof but failed to notice the intruder. It was my error. The unwanted caption about Biotar lenses reads: "OLDER AND BETTER: Subjective Quality Factor tests show the Biotar of a half century ago beats newer imitators in big enlargements."
    I showed Subjective Quality Factor Test for the Biotar and a 2006 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor. My own conclusion about the merits of such lenses is clearly stated at column end: "If you test one (i.e. Biotar) you may be amazed as I at how very good a 1950 58mm f/2 Biotar is, even against today's best."

Image stabilization here today, gone tomorrow?

Perhaps the  biggest and longest running sore suffered by photography is image blur. Photography began with it. Daguerre's 1838 photo of a Paris street scene shows a static shoeshine boy alone with his client. Where are the possible strollers and moving traffic? If any, they were blurred out of existence during the then necessary 10 minute exposure.

Making Contact

Contact sheet as teacher.

In days of yore (meaning the mid-1950s and '60s), the worth of any photographer could be judged by the black-and-white contact sheets made from his negatives. Armed with the essential weapons -- at first a tinny flashlight/magnifier and later a 4X Schneider loupe -- photographers and picture editors would analyze the contact sheet images, separating the sheep from the goat pictures.

Inside Straight: Picture Progress

Looking back on a lifetime of pictures shows how my photography has -- and hasn't -- changed.

Lacking an updated photo encyclopedia, I have found the next best thing is a library of back issues of photo magazines. I've collected 50 years' worth, all bound and indexed, and I often have my nose stuck within, searching for specific information.

My Favorite Discontinued Film? You'll Be Surprised

When Forum moderator Jack Howard asked Pop’s website forum members to name their favorite “retired” emulsions, I was pleased at not only the number of replies received (20) but also at the diversity.

Many gave reasons: Agfa Ultra 50 (deep rich colors bordering on the fantastic), Kodachrome 25 (30 year old Kodachromes still have good colors), Kodak Supra 800 (it didn’t cost an arm and a leg), Kodak Tech Pan (for those things it did better than anything else), Kodak  Panatomic-X ASA 32 (no grain), Kodak Ektar 25 (it almost made me switch from slides to printfilm), Fuji MS 100/1000 (great grain structure, superb latitude and really, really nice color reproduction), 120 rollfim Kodachrome 25 ( eye-popping chromes).

Behind the Scenes at Photokina

This year's Photokina international photographic show, held every other year in Cologne Germany during the fall, was like no other. Thanks to the internet, information on virtually every important new camera, lens and software had been pre-announced to the media but embargoed until Photokina opening day. Then the floodgates opened on all internet-only sites plus photo magazine internet sites so there was little additionally new for writers and editors attending Photokina to report.

Speaking Frankly: Is it Zeiss's fault that Contax is gone?

"Carl Zeiss wants to protect the investment of its customers," wrote Dr Winfried Scherle, VP of the Camera lens division of Carl Zeiss explaining why Zeiss isn’t selling a DSLR now. Zeiss feels that digital cameras are still immature with continually falling prices.

"He's full of c…" roared back what seemed like an army of  orphaned Contax owners, all of whose cameras have been suddenly discontinued. "Fine protection  Zeiss gave us."