old skool X new skool

old school meets new school….ya know…

BBS RS’s on an E36 M3

Mugen MR-10s on an EK

SSR Meshs on an S14

all the old school jams on the new age Glee

old school beats mixed by todays hip hop artists

it seems to be all about old school style fused into our new school culture

on another note, you all know how i am no longer shooting weddings, since being here in medical school.  due to the rigors of school, i haven’t been utilizing my photography equipment as much as i used to.  a few weeks ago, i decided to sell two of my precious and favorite lenses of all time, the Canon 135mm f/2.0L and 85mm f/1.2L II.  i figured that i should try to save a couple pennies and give up these two to a better home where they’ll receive much more attention.  my shooting style has also changed A LOT!  i no longer need the long focal lengths.  i have been shooting very slow paced and casual lifestyle.  just capturing priceless moments with family and friends.  many of you may know that my Canon 35mm f/1.4L is my workhorse lens.  the focal length is so versatile, but i realized that i still needed something slightly tighter than a 35mm, but wider than a 85mm.  a 50mm prime.  i have been on quite a hunt for the right 50mm lens for me.  in my history of shooting, i’ve gone through one 50mm f/1.8II, one 50mm f/1.4, four 50mm f/1.2L (yes, four), and i even got a chance to shoot with the legendary 50mm f/1.0L.  to much disappoint, i never struck any luck.  the 50 1.8 and 1.4 didn’t produce the colors i liked.  i always had the infamous focus-shift problems or soft focus of the 1.2L.  the 1.0L is WAY too expensive for me to justify ever buying, plus it’s soft from f/1.0-f/2.0.  i thought about trying the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4, but i heard it had focus problems as well.  so clearly…all this new school gadgets just were not cutting it for me.  here i enter the old school realm…

old school lens x new school camera body

Carl Zeiss 50mm f/2.0 Makro Planar *T mated to a Canon 5D Mark II

Zeiss lenses have been known to produce some of the best optics in camera history.  known for their “3D” look.  amazing micro-contrast, colors, sharpness, and build quality.  so the curious guy i was, i really wanted to get a taste of this Zeiss power.  oh and the best part, its cheaper than its Canon equivalent…HOLLA!!!!!!  i posted some really quick and rather not very exciting samples of the lens.  i didn’t really do much editing except color correction, possibly some basic levels/curves, then resized and bordered.

Some quick first impressions of the lens.  AMAZING build quality.  you can just feel the level of investment and engineering into the lens.  everything is pure metal and its nice and heavy.  the focus ring takes getting used to.  it is only manual focus, which pose to be quite the challenge for me.  i like it though, it will hopefully force me to slow down when i take pictures and to really think about what i’m doing.  the focus ring is easy to handle with close up shots, but its ratio of turning radius to focus gets kinda odd when focussing on something far away.  now for the images.  AMAZING COLOR AND CONTRAST!!!!  straight out of camera with good exposure yields amazing photos.  i never got this level of sharpness, detail, and contrast out of any of lenses…including the 85LII and 135L.  when shot wide open, it yields a very nice paint/pastel effect in the bokeh.  you’ll see in some of the flower shots how it renders bokeh.  very different compared to the L glass that i have been using for quite some time.  well, i have SO MUCH to learn with this lens.  that will have to wait after i finish the endless list of academic priorities.  in the mean time, hopefully you enjoy some of these shots.  stay tuned for many more!  i think i made a very good and fun investment.

until next time.  peace out & god bless.

made corned beef with potatoes and onions with rice | classic delicious meal

slight out out of focus, but ridiculous how much detail there is in the hi-res version

can’t see it in this lo-res version, but in the original shot of the image on the left, you can see a spider web through the tope left and right quadrant of the diamond balcony rail.  this was shot wide open at f/2.0! ridiculous how much detail and sharpness there is | the shot on the right shows its weakness with chromatic aberration.  you can see the fringing at the top of the coconut tree.  for those who are wondering, no i have not climbed that tree……yet…haha

shot wide open, focussed on the mango tree.  this kind of depicts the 3D-ness of the lens.  again, its crazy how much detail and color this lens produces.

sola introduced me to these AMAZING chips | close up shot of my bag tag. this is actually also slightly out of focus. im terrible at manual focus, haha

i have no idea what this is, but this pic shows how it renders bokeh slightly different than the Canon 50mm f/1.2L

insanely sharp once again.  im in love with the colors and bokeh of this lens.

i feel like this pic shows some AWESOME bokeh once again.  it seriously looks like the background is painted, so dope.  this was shot wide open at f/2.0. i dig.

once again, shot wide open. awesome bokeh.  but get this…on the flower pedal at roughly “10pm” position, you can actually see a tiny little fly.  when i was pixel peeping, it’s crazy how sharp and detailed that minuscule bug is. DOPE!

ya son! zeiss FTW! shot at 1/25″ with my awesome camera shake skills..still looks kinda sharp, haha.  good glass to cover up my lack of school

again, stay tuned for more thoughts on this lens.  this lens alone might have sold me over to the even DARKER side, Carl Zeiss.  weather has been beautiful here at Saba, so hopefully i can snap some landscape shots to show you where myself and King Kong live.  its a nice place, you all should visit.