Cloud Age Photo
169/365 The Zeiss Ikon
Press L to view larger and on black!
My god, first off I really need to clean my sensor. This is the reason why I rarely shoot wide open, the moment I stop down all that dust thats in there that I don't bother to clean just shows right up. Thankfully dust isn't really an issue when you normally live at the widest apertures, but there are those few times where I want everything sharp and in focus, and those moments are few and far between. Think on average I stop down for a photo less than once a week. Well also got to say to me the Zeiss Ikon is the best rangefinder I've ever used and I've used many. To me a couple of its biggest draws come form the fact that it has the brightest viewfinder on any rangefinder I've ever used. Much brighter than any Leica thats for sure. It also has aperture priority which is a big plus in my books, and a 1/2000 max shutter speed which is also a plus for me since I like to shoot wide open. Plus unlike a Leica it has the hinged back so its easier to load the film and not some convoluted way like the Leica does. It also has that little film window in the back which is useful to me as I will often forget what I'm shooting. Plus a whole bunch of other small things that just make me love this camera. Point is I don't plan on ever getting rid of this but who knows maybe when I'm living on the streets I might have to but for now I rather keep it for as long as possible.
Alright so about the photo, this took quite some time to set up and shoot mainly because I used all 5 of my lights for this photo. Also no matter how much I cleaned the tile the Zeiss was sitting on there was dust not matter what. Dust everything! On the camera, on the tile, in my sensor it was just terrible cleaning this up in post. I didn't even bother getting all of it either I gave up after sitting here and cleaning for 30+ minutes. So I missed quite a bit of spots but whatever. So interesting part about this photo is that its also a composite. I used my DIY ring flash for this photo but I shoot it as close to the Zeiss Ikon as I could in order to get a large catchlight in the lens, which meant it was in the frame. So I combined the photos with the ring flash and without it. I also took another flash exposure where I bounced a flash into a white piece of foam core just above the camera (and my a850) in order to get a glared up viewfinder, frame line illumination window, and rangefinder window. I just composited those elements together and this is what I got. Not bad, could use a little more cleaning up by I think its a pretty cool shot, especially because of the glow I get from chrome finish.
Storbist Info
2x Nikon SB-800 + 2x Nikon SB-28 all bare, at the top, bottom, left and right of the frame on the ground all firing at 1/8th power. Also the tile was about 1-2" off the ground that way these flashes would just light the top half of the camera and not cause any shadows.
Nikon SB-80DX directly above the Zeiss Ikon with a DIY ring flash firing at full power (flash composite as the ring flash was in the frame in order for it to be as close to the subject as possible)
Nikon SB-80DX directly above the frame firing into 2 20x30 sheets of white foam core above the set at full power (another flash composite, used in order to glare up the windows in the rangefinder)
169/365 The Zeiss Ikon
Press L to view larger and on black!
My god, first off I really need to clean my sensor. This is the reason why I rarely shoot wide open, the moment I stop down all that dust thats in there that I don't bother to clean just shows right up. Thankfully dust isn't really an issue when you normally live at the widest apertures, but there are those few times where I want everything sharp and in focus, and those moments are few and far between. Think on average I stop down for a photo less than once a week. Well also got to say to me the Zeiss Ikon is the best rangefinder I've ever used and I've used many. To me a couple of its biggest draws come form the fact that it has the brightest viewfinder on any rangefinder I've ever used. Much brighter than any Leica thats for sure. It also has aperture priority which is a big plus in my books, and a 1/2000 max shutter speed which is also a plus for me since I like to shoot wide open. Plus unlike a Leica it has the hinged back so its easier to load the film and not some convoluted way like the Leica does. It also has that little film window in the back which is useful to me as I will often forget what I'm shooting. Plus a whole bunch of other small things that just make me love this camera. Point is I don't plan on ever getting rid of this but who knows maybe when I'm living on the streets I might have to but for now I rather keep it for as long as possible.
Alright so about the photo, this took quite some time to set up and shoot mainly because I used all 5 of my lights for this photo. Also no matter how much I cleaned the tile the Zeiss was sitting on there was dust not matter what. Dust everything! On the camera, on the tile, in my sensor it was just terrible cleaning this up in post. I didn't even bother getting all of it either I gave up after sitting here and cleaning for 30+ minutes. So I missed quite a bit of spots but whatever. So interesting part about this photo is that its also a composite. I used my DIY ring flash for this photo but I shoot it as close to the Zeiss Ikon as I could in order to get a large catchlight in the lens, which meant it was in the frame. So I combined the photos with the ring flash and without it. I also took another flash exposure where I bounced a flash into a white piece of foam core just above the camera (and my a850) in order to get a glared up viewfinder, frame line illumination window, and rangefinder window. I just composited those elements together and this is what I got. Not bad, could use a little more cleaning up by I think its a pretty cool shot, especially because of the glow I get from chrome finish.
Storbist Info
2x Nikon SB-800 + 2x Nikon SB-28 all bare, at the top, bottom, left and right of the frame on the ground all firing at 1/8th power. Also the tile was about 1-2" off the ground that way these flashes would just light the top half of the camera and not cause any shadows.
Nikon SB-80DX directly above the Zeiss Ikon with a DIY ring flash firing at full power (flash composite as the ring flash was in the frame in order for it to be as close to the subject as possible)
Nikon SB-80DX directly above the frame firing into 2 20x30 sheets of white foam core above the set at full power (another flash composite, used in order to glare up the windows in the rangefinder)