ultrafast photos on Flickr

Resting the ultrafast wings... by Kostas Kaisidis

267 17

The Red Reel by Steve Taylor

284 34

Ultrafast treelivery by simple.joy

42 4

One of my attempts at the "Macro Mondays" theme "Festive Season".

Shot with a Screen Cezanne Scanner lens on a Canon EOS R5.

A quiet moment to reflect and slow down by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

141 12

I find the end of the year a good opportunity to reflect and to slow down. Reflect on what happened this year, think about what I can be grateful for.

I took this shot with the fastest lens I have in my vintage lens collection, an ultrafast f/0.7 X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used in X-ray machines before the digital area. It is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. The front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which is 18 mm.

I simply used tape to attach the camera to the lens. This temporary solution works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. The depth of field is around 2 mm, which makes it very hard to focus. This lens is so fast, I used ISO 200 and 1/125 sec for this candle shot. The Christmas tree is about 1 m (3 feet) behind the candle. Each light on the tree turns into a big bokeh bubble, bigger than the sensor, which is full frame.

See short video clip that demos the shallow depth of field, and photos of the lens at the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page: bit.ly/3hWedA9

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, which was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a balanced HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC2783_hdr1bal1j.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Rain Drops on Bramble Cane by Theodore Tollefson

47 8

I recently learned that there are kinds of endangered bramble or hawthorn in the area where I made this photograph. Because it is hard even for botanists to identify with certainty, it's unlikely that I will be able to determine that — especially in the winter with no foliage or flowers. But who knows, this could be a variety that until very recently, hadn't been seen in the state for a century.

Would that make it less scratchy and annoying to me under non-rainy conditions? Maybe a little.

Of course the odds are that it's a more common kind, but it's interesting.

Meanwhile, whatever it's specific kind, it sure holds a nice heavy row of little lenses on a warm winter day.

The magic of ultrafast vintage glass by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

154 13

We have roses in our backyard. I took this shot with an ultrafast f/0.85 vintage X-ray lens made by JML Optical. The depth of field is very shallow at about 5 mm. This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging with the very shallow depth of field. The focus peaking feature of the Sony camera helps. The lens is always fully open since it has no diaphragm.

I processed a balanced and a soft HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.85, 64 mm, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100, Sony A7 II, JML 64mm f/0.85, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC2676_hdr1bal1sof1g.jpg

And we have lift-off! by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

119 5

I did some experimentation with fast shutter speed and ultrafast lens. We have a LED light in star format at the top of the Christmas tree. I took this shot with an ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens made by Kowa. This lens was built for X-ray machines, not consumer cameras, and is about three stops below an ƒ/2 lens! This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. you have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging because the very shallow depth of field is only a few millimeters. The focus peaking feature on the Sony camera helps.

I processed a realistic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 65 mm, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400, Sony A7 II, Kowa 65mm f0.75 XRay Lens, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC3359_hdr1sof1g.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Flower buds emerge from a sea of fog by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

138 10

I enjoy visiting the nearby Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese retreat tucked away in Saratoga, at the heart of California's Silicon Valley. This image captures a delicate twig with flower buds, photographed using a rare vintage X-ray lens by JML Optical with an exceptional f/0.85 aperture. The extremely shallow depth of field of a few millimeters brings the flower buds into sharp focus while surrounding them with a dreamy, ethereal sea of fog.

I processed a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.85, 64 mm, 1/1000 sec, ISO 50, Sony A7 II, JML 64mm f/0.85, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC7404_hdr1bal1pho1e.jpg

Fingers crossed by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

157 9

I did some experimentation with an ultrafast lens on my kitchen counter. These are two crossed forks taken with an ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens made by Kowa. This lens was built for X-ray machines, not consumer cameras, and is about three stops below an ƒ/2 lens! Daytime is too bright for this ultrafast lens, which is always fully open since it has no diaphragm.

This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging because the very shallow depth of field is only a few millimeters. The focus peaking feature on the Sony camera helps.

I processed a realistic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 65 mm, 1/60 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Kowa 65mm f0.75 XRay Lens, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC2798_hdr1sof2bal1h.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Japanese maple leaf and a fast f/0.75 vintage lens by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

198 16

I walked around Hakone Gardens, a Japanese garden in Saratoga, California, looking for scenes to test a ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens I acquired. The lens is very soft, as you can see on these leaves. The center is reasonably sharp, the outside is blurry, and has strong vignetting. The depth of field is very shallow at about 8 mm.

The toy is a German made Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75 lens that was used for X-ray machines before the digital age. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm. I adapted (aka abused) a Leica L39 to E-mount adapter for this X-ray lens. I gained 5 mm by placing the lens inside the E-mount, resulting in a 13 mm flange focal distance. Close enough, but not to the point where I can focus to infinity. With this setup the focus distance is about 32 cm. This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging with the very shallow depth of field. The lens is always fully open since it has no diaphragm.

See shots of the lens setup, and more test shots on the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page at bit.ly/34XkRf5.

I processed a realistic and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, carefully adjusted the color balance and curves, and desaturated the image. I welcome and appreciate constructive feedback.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 50 mm, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC7702_hdr1rea1pho1h.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Let's talk about parrot's beak and an X-ray lens by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

209 15

We got an interesting flower pot at the farmer's market in Saratoga, California. It looks like the flower pot is on fire with the lotus berthelotii plant, also called parrot's beak, and lotus vine flower.

I took this shot with an ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens, a German made Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75. The center is surprisingly sharp within the narrow DoF band of 3 mm. The outside is blurry, and has strong vignetting, even when mounted on an APS-C camera. I added some vigentting on the left to balanced it out after crop.

This vintage lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital age. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm. I adapted (aka abused) a Leica M39 to E-mount adapter for this X-ray lens. I gained 5 mm by placing the lens inside the E-mount, resulting in a 13 mm flange focal distance. Close enough, but still not to the point where I can focus to infinity. With this setup the focus distance is 36.5 cm as measured from the front of the lens. This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet or tripod, which can be challenging with the very shallow depth of field of 3 mm. The lens is always fully open since it has no diaphragm. See photos of lens on Facebook at bit.ly/2VIsvJe

I processed a balanced and a paintery HDR photo from two RAW exposures, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 50 mm, 1/800, 1/3200 sec, ISO 200, Sony A6000, Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75, HDR, 2 RAW exposures, _DSC5621_2_hdr2bal1pai5f.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Wake up and smell the roses by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

157 4

The hedge in our backyard has nice flowers. Not sure what this is, possibly a ranunculus.

I took this shot with an ultrafast f/0.85 vintage X-ray lens made by JML Optical. The lens is soft, as you can see on the leaves. The depth of field is very shallow at about 5 mm. This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging with the very shallow depth of field. The focus peaking feature of Sony cameras help. The lens is always fully open since it has no diaphragm. There is too much light in daytime for this ultrafast lens. For this shot I maxed out the camera capabilities at 1/8000 sec and ISO 50.

I processed a photographic and a balanced HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.85, 64 mm, 1/8000 sec, ISO 50, Sony A7 II, JML 64mm f/0.85, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC9354_hdr1pho1bal1g.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Night Rain Cosmo II by Theodore Tollefson

37 3

Floating by Theodore Tollefson

31 4

Multiflower buttercup floating in the grass. This image exported without the metadata, but it was taken with the Fujifilm X-T3 and 7Artisans 35mm f/0.95.

Champagne, anyone? by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

88 3

I took this shot with the fastest lens I have in my vintage lens collection, an ultrafast f/0.7 X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used in X-ray machines before the digital area. It is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. The front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which is 18 mm.

I simply used tape to attach the camera to the lens. This temporary solution works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. The depth of field is around 2 mm, which makes it very hard to focus. This lens is so fast, I used ISO 100 and 1/350 sec for this shot.

See short video clip that demos the shallow depth of field, and photos of the lens at the X-Ray Lenses group on Facebook: bit.ly/3IaFZUh

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, which was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/350 sec, ISO 100, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC8198_hdr1bal1pho1b.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Explore where focus goes on spring break by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

130 5

I enjoy visiting the nearby Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese retreat tucked away in Saratoga, at the heart of California's Silicon Valley. The garden was open in the evening for a few weeks in March and April. We went there last week. This image captures delicate cherry blossom flowers, photographed using a rare vintage X-ray lens by JML Optical with an exceptional f/0.85 aperture. The extremely shallow depth of field of a few millimeters brings the flower into sharp focus while surrounding them with a dreamy background.

I processed a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.85, 64 mm, 1/350 sec, ISO 800, Sony A7 II, JML 64mm f/0.85, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC7757_hdr1bal1pho1k.jpg

Bliss by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

138 11

We had a lot of fun at a friend's birthday party in Berkeley, California. I took many shots with the ultrafast vintage Dream Lens, no flash, just dark party lights and a bit higher ISO.

I processed a realistic, a balanced, and a photographic HDR photo from a JPG exposure, blended them selectively, carefully adjusted the color balance and curves, and desaturated the image. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.95, 50 mm, 1/30 sec, ISO 1600, Sony A7 II, Canon 50mm f0.95, HDR, 1 JPG exposure, _DSC4784_hdrj1rea1bal1pho1h.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

B202109061353 (Explore) by Birna Rørslett

257 19

A winding country road in a rural autumn landscape.

Primaluce-modified Nikon Z5, Nikkor-N 5cm f/1.1 rangefinder lens, Hoya R72 infrared filter. Shot at f/1.1 if anyone should wonder about settings..

2021.09.06 Landevei slynger seg mellom treklynger mot gård i bakgrunnen. Opptak i infrarødt (IR) svart-hvitt. Hellesjø, Sørum kommune, Akershus. © Birna Rørslett-NN/Nærfoto < B202109061353 B202109 B2021 202109061353 202109 DIGITALBILDE, NATUR/NORGE/NORDEN> 1.6 MB IMAGE 07.09.2021 11:35:47 GPS UTM:PM,PM25,PM2858,PM281585 [NIKON Z 5, Nikkor-N 5 cm f/1.1 RF, R72]

For your dreams to return by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

146 10

Today I went to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, California. The cherry trees are currently in full bloom in this Japanese garden. I took this shot with an ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens made by Kowa. This lens is built for X-ray machines, not consumer cameras, and is about three stops below an ƒ/2 lens! Daytime is too bright for this ultrafast lens, which is always fully open since it has no diaphragm. For this shot I maxed out the camera capabilities at 1/8000 sec and ISO 50.

This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging because of the very shallow depth of field of only a few millimeters. The focus peaking feature of Sony cameras helps.

I processed a photographic and a balanced HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 65 mm, 1/8000 sec, ISO 50, Sony A7 II, Kowa 65mm f0.75 XRay Lens, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC9462_hdr1pho1bal1e.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

And that's it for 2022 by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

93 11

The year is coming to an end, time to chill the Champagne!

I took this shot with the fastest lens I have in my vintage lens collection, an ultrafast f/0.7 X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used in X-ray machines before the digital area. It is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. The front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which is 18 mm.

I simply used tape to attach the camera to the lens. This temporary solution works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. The depth of field is around 2 mm, which makes it very hard to focus. This lens is so fast, I used ISO 200 and 1/125 sec for this candle shot. The Christmas tree is about 1 m (3 feet) behind the candle. Each light on the tree turns into a big bokeh bubble, bigger than the sensor, which is full frame.

See short video clip that demos the shallow depth of field, and photos of the lens at the X-Ray Lenses group on Facebook: bit.ly/3IaFZUh

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, which was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a balanced and a soft HDR photo from two RAW exposures, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 2 RAW exposures, _DSC2851_2_hdr1bal1sof2h.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

A candle and bubbles at f/0.7 by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

109 6

The fastest lens I have in my vintage lens collection is an ultrafast f/0.7 X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital area. This lens is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. Front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which is 18 mm.

I simply used duct tape to attach the camera to the lens, works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. The depth of field is maybe 2 mm, so it is very difficult to focus. This lens is so fast, I used ISO 200 and 1/200 sec for this candlelight shot. The Christmas tree is about 1 m (3 feet) behind the candle. Each light on the tree turns into a big bokeh bubble, bigger than the sensor, which is full frame.

See short video clip that demos the shallow depth of field, and photos of the lens at the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page: bit.ly/3hWedA9

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, that was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a balanced HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended it with the JPG exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC2670_hdr1bal1jpg1i.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

This is not a pencil drawing by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

202 12

A new toy arrived from Russia: An ultrafast f/0.7 vintage X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital area. This lens is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. Front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm.

Duct tape to the rescue to test the lens! I simply used duct tape to attach the camera to the lens, works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. Ready for some test shots!

I walked around the home hunting for scenes to capture. I took this shot in the barely lit living room without flash.

See shots of the lens, and more test shots on the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page: bit.ly/2LqC5Lq

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, that was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a paintery, a soft, and a photographic HDR photo from two RAW exposures, blended them selectively, carefully adjusted the color balance and curves, and desaturated the page. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/8, 1/30 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 2 RAW exposures, _DSC8327_9_hdr2pai5sof1pho1f.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

I smell the scent of roses by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

214 11

A new toy arrived from Russia: An ultrafast f/0.7 vintage X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital area. This lens is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. Front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm.

Duct tape to the rescue to test the lens! I simply used duct tape to attach the camera to the lens, works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. Ready for some test shots!

I walked around the home hunting for scenes to capture. I took this shot in the barely lit living room without flash.

See shots of the lens, and more test shots on the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page: bit.ly/2LqC5Lq

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, that was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a paintery, a soft, and a photographic HDR photo from two RAW exposures, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/8, 1/30 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 2 RAW exposures, _DSC8327_9_hdr2pai5sof1pho1e.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Ultra-fast Broadband by Steve Taylor

290 70

www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/68649531/Broadband-p...

Skyline by Benjamin Gerzen

52 4

32/365

Yesterday I missed posting some ICM pictures, but you can view them in my blog

ICM, stays for Intentional Camera Movement, and you can make various artistic pictures with this technic. I especially like that from one point come totally different pictures: The a view of a futuristic city skyline, an ultrafast tram, or the destination of the ghost tram, you can also view those picture in today's blog Post.

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Gestern habe ich mit bei Marias Looking Close... on Friday! teilgenommen, und die andere neue Bilder sind nur in meinem Blog veröffentlicht.

Das Beste aus der Vortsetzung der ICM-Serie hat es auf heute auch auf Flickr geschafft.

ICM ist Intentional Camera Movement, mit dieser Technik macht man verschiedene künstlerische Bilder durch Kamerabewegung während der Aufnahme. Diese Technik, gefällt mir besonders, durch die Möglichkeit von einem Punkt aus vollkommen unterschiedliche Bilder zu erschaffen: die Ansicht einer futuristischen Stadt aus Blade Runner, eine ultraschnelle Straßenbahn, die mit Lichtgeschwindigkeit vorbeifliegt, oder in einem abstrakten Lichtspurenspiel das Ziel der dieser Geisterstrassenbahn ablesen zu können, alle diese Bilder findet ihr hier Blog.

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My images in high-resolution for sale on:

Adobe Stock

Shutterstock

Dreamstime

Autumn has arrived by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

165 6

Today I walked around Hakone Gardens, a Japanese garden in Saratoga, California, looking for scenes to test my new ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens. The lens is very soft, as you can see on these leaves. The center is reasonably sharp, the outside is blurry, and has strong vignetting. The depth of field is very shallow at about 8 mm.

The new toy is a German made Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75. This lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital age. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm. I adapted (aka abused) a Leica L39 to E-mount adapter for this X-ray lens. I gained 5 mm by placing the lens inside the E-mount, resulting in a 13 mm flange focal distance. Close enough, but not to the point where I can focus to infinity. With this setup the focus distance is about 32 cm. This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging with the very shallow depth of field. The lens is always fully open since it has no diaphragm.

See shots of the lens setup, and more test shots on the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page at bit.ly/34XkRf5.

I processed a realistic and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive feedback.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 50 mm, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC7702_hdr1rea1pho1f.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

From 0 to 50 in 0.75 by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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I got a new toy: An ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens, the Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75. This lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital area. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm. I adapted (aka abused) a Leica L39 to E-mount adapter for this X-ray lens. I gained 5 mm by placing the lens inside the E-mount, resulting in a 13 mm flange focal distance. Close enough, but not to the point where I can focus to infinity. With this setup the focus distance is about 32 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, and is always fully open. Ready for some test shots!

I walked around the home for scenes to capture. This one is a coil of the cooktop. As you can see, the center is reasonably sharp, and the outside is blurry and has some interesting lens flairs. The depth of field is very shallow at about 8 mm.

See shots of the setup, and more test shots on the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page at bit.ly/34XkRf5.

I processed a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 50 mm, 1/20 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC7672_hdr1bal1pho1b.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

Curls by Theodore Tollefson

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An X-ray lens and a chain reaction by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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I did some experimentation with fast shutter speed and ultrafast lens on my kitchen counter. I lit up one end of a row of matches, and took this shot with an ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens made by Kowa. This lens was built for X-ray machines, not consumer cameras, and is about three stops below an ƒ/2 lens! Daytime is too bright for this ultrafast lens, which is always fully open since it has no diaphragm.

This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging because the very shallow depth of field is only a few millimeters. The focus peaking feature on the Sony camera helps.

I processed a realistic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 65 mm, 1/6000 sec, ISO 400, Sony A7 II, Kowa 65mm f0.75 XRay Lens, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC3378_hdr1rea1sof1d.jpg

Bubbles, just bokeh bubbles by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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This abstract is composed of bokeh bubbles of Christmas tree lights, taken with a fully open f/0.7 aperture lens.

The fastest lens I have in my vintage lens collection is an ultrafast f/0.7 X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used in X-ray machines before the digital area. This lens is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. Front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which is 18 mm.

I simply used duct tape to attach the camera to the lens, works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. The depth of field is around 2 mm, so it is very difficult to focus. This lens is so fast, I used ISO 200 and 1/90 sec for this bokeh shot. The Christmas tree is about 1 m (3 feet) from the camera. Each light on the tree turns into a big bokeh bubble, bigger than the sensor, which is full frame.

See short video clip that demos the shallow depth of field, and photos of the lens at the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page: bit.ly/3hWedA9

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, that was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a soft HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/90 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC2801_hdr1sof2c.jpg

Shanghai,China by #My Way#

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I used DF + Nikkor 20F1.8@F7.1 for taking this photo after rain stop in the afternoon of April 2017. This lens is ultrasharp, ultrafast, and small and light weight.I think it is a great landscape lens and good value.

Hornbeam Panes by Theodore Tollefson

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Hornbeam foliage forms a veil of green leaded like stained glass with black branches. For how many millennia has the sun illuminated spring leaves for eyes comprehending or otherwise? Just doing the math very roughly, it has been millions of mornings like this, and many thousands in recorded history. But how many of them do you want to see in your life? At this time of year, at similar latitudes, there is one continuous, glorious morning gliding around the planet as it revolves.

And who knows what beauties coalesce silently near where you live every week — enough that the message is the same: go outside! Quick!

There's time to fav this photo when you come back. 😁

— Theodore Tollefson

Daisy by Theodore Tollefson

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May the Force be with us by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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We spent the last weekend at Balls 29, a big experimental rocket launch event in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada - the same place where Burning Man takes place. About 300 rocketeers gathered to launch high power rockets. At night it's time to relax and socialize. My son and two participants brought along 10,000+ lumens high power flashlights. The boys had fun at night, while I captured the scene with the ultrafast f/0.95 Dream Lens.

I processed a balanced and a realistic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.95, 50 mm, 0.6 sec, ISO 800, Sony A7 II, Canon 50mm f0.95, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC2590_hdr1bal1rea1k.jpg

Caring moment among two strangers by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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We had a lot of fun at a friend's birthday party in Berkeley, California. A neighbor lady was sitting most of the time, and enjoyed talking to friends of the birthday kid. I took many shots with the ultrafast vintage Dream Lens, no flash, just dark party lights, and a bit higher ISO setting on my camera than usual.

I processed a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, carefully adjusted the color balance and curves, and desaturated the image. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.95, 50 mm, 1/30 sec, ISO 1600, Sony A7 II, Canon 50mm f0.95, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC4824_hdr1bal1pho1l.jpg

Ultrafast X-ray lens: Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7 by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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A new toy arrived today from Russia: An ultrafast f/0.7 vintage X-ray lens, the Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7. This lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital area. This lens is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. Front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm.

Duct tape to the rescue to test the lens! I simply used duct tape to attach the camera to the lens, works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. Ready for some test shots!

I walked around the home hunting for scenes to capture. I put two candles on a coffee table, about a foot away from the Christmas tree. It's a bit a challenge to focus, the depth of field is very shallow at about 5 mm. You focus by moving the camera back and forth. This lens is so fast, I used ISO 100 and 1/250 sec for this candlelight shot.

See shots of the lens, and more test shots on the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page: bit.ly/2LqC5Lq

This lens is as fast as the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, that was made for NASA, and was used by Stanley Kubrick to shoot his film Barry Lyndon: bit.ly/2LpV0WY

I processed a balanced, a photographic, and a paintery HDR photo from three RAW exposures, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/60, 1/250, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 3 RAW exposures, _DSC8225_6_7_hdr3bal1pho1pai5d.jpg

Soft look at f/0.75 by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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I walked around home for scenes to capture with my new ultrafast f/0.75 vintage X-ray lens. This is a flower on our kitchen table. As you can see, the lens is very soft. The center is reasonably sharp, the outside is blurry, and has strong vignetting. The depth of field is very shallow at about 8 mm.

The new toy is a German made Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75. This lens was used for X-ray machines before the digital age. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which has 18 mm. I adapted (aka abused) a Leica L39 to E-mount adapter for this X-ray lens. I gained 5 mm by placing the lens inside the E-mount, resulting in a 13 mm flange focal distance. Close enough, but not to the point where I can focus to infinity. With this setup the focus distance is about 32 cm. This lens has a fixed focus distance, e.g. I have to focus with my feet, which can be challenging with the very shallow depth of field. The lens is always fully open since it has no diaphragm.

See shots of the setup, and more test shots on the Quality HDR Photography Facebook page at bit.ly/34XkRf5.

I processed a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.75, 50 mm, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm f/0.75, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC7673_hdr1bal1pho1c.jpg

Vintage X-ray lens: Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7 by Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography

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The Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7 is the fastest lens I have in my vintage lens collection, an ultrafast f/0.7 X-ray lens. I took this shot of the lens with itself on a mirror, and mirrored the image in post. As you can see, the lens produces a very soft image and has a halo. I managed to improve the image a bit with careful HDR and other post-processing.

This lens was used in X-ray machines before the digital area. It is a tank, weighting 2.7 kg. The front diameter is 101 mm, back 55 mm. The flange focal distance is less than 10 mm, e.g. too short for Sony E-mount, which is 18 mm. I simply used tape to attach the camera to the lens. This temporary solution works great, and is surprisingly sturdy. With this setup the focus distance is about 19.5 cm. So this lens has a fixed focus distance, can't focus to infinity, and is always fully open. The depth of field is around 2 mm, which makes it very hard to focus.

I processed a balanced and a soft HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/0.7, 60 mm, 1/15 sec, ISO 200, Sony A7 II, Canon Lens X 60mm f/0.7, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC8198_hdr1bal1pho1b.jpg

a Golden Plover basking in Iceland's sunshine by lunaryuna

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here's another shot of that wonderful and ultrafast Golden Plover we managed to watch during a walk in Iceland. Again we can appreciate the perfect camouflage offered by his spotted plumage.

Nightshade with Nearly Noct Nikkor by Theodore Tollefson

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The pale purple datura unfurls for the evening. Not being that knowledgable about flower identification, my choice of an f/1.2 aperture on a vintage lens with dream-like rendering was not based on the characteristics of the flower.

The ultrafast and radioactive Nippon Kogaku Auto Nikkor-S 55mm f/1.2 seems appropriate for a beautifully dangerous nightshade flower that can cause delirium and hallucinations. Its shallow depth of field renders it dream-like and blurring out background and foreground.

So might one affected by datura remember it.

Speaking of effects, the plant is much more dangerous than the lens that saw it — though I wouldn't recommend eating any parts of this predecessor of Noct Nikkors either.

Datura plants, I think specifically Datura stramonium here, has been called by many names deemed less scientific: including devil's trumpet, mad apple, devil's weed, and hell's bells because of its effects.

The datura itself of course does not care. It goes about its floral (florid?) business just trying, like so many with deleterious side effects, just trying to survive and not be eaten.

Cows avoid eating it. And one has to assume horse sense keeps horses to less hellish fruits. Those of us with reason, memory, or even perhaps mere instinct see that it is a vine that is generally best enjoyed only visually.

However, humans being what we are, other uses have been found for them: ritualistic, hallucinogenic, and medicinal.

Datura is just trying to survive and not be eaten in the ways that have gotten it here. It is people who have interpreted the plant. What it means in nature is nothing, an assemblage of compounds that has managed to continue assembling compounds similarly. Though is that sufficient evidence of intent? Surely something is beyond the scope of a Flickr description for a photograph of a flower.

Even taking into consideration some of the uncannier aspects of plant consciousness and response to a surprising range of environmental factors, it has not set out to poison people or to send them on hallucinatory trips. It takes a rational mind to find its meaning. How odd that rational minds in seeking out thorn apple are doing so out of desire for irrationality in some form.

The Nearly Noct Nikkor 55mm f/1.2 is also a means of vision. And so in a sense here one amplification of the human sight regards another. This assemblage of compounds has also been used for sight and insight. Though both the ways that it limits and augments human vision, it too seems to offer something in a way transcendent.

And while the debate about radioactive lenses will probably never end on the internet, I would submit that its real danger is that of any means of higher vision: what does it cause you to see?

Ultrashort Periods Of Time by Chic Bee

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October 3, 2023: Hi all. I’m covering for Andrea Gawrylewski today. Read on for the latest on the roll-out of the Nobel Prizes and the potential impact of satellites on astronomical observations.

—Robin Lloyd, Interim Newsletter Editor

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