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| Passionate Attention to Details... and to Optics |
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My “first love” was a second-hand Rollei SL 35 that I acquired in 1982. A camera that I still remember to this day, partly due to its elegant simplicity and party to its lens: a Carl Zeiss Distagon 2.8/35mm. This was a lens that really got under my skin! I can still feel in my fingertips the precision of the focusing and the way the apertures clicked into place.
So when three more Carl Zeiss lenses fell into my hands last year after numerous different camera systems had come and gone, I was obviously eager to try them out. The three lenses were the Distagon T* 2.8/25mm, the Distagon T* 2/35mm and the Planar T* 1.4/50mm. The right camera for this situation was a Nikon D3. It may not have the elegance of my old Rollei, but it certainly has plenty of its own unique charm. And with the Zeiss lenses it sits in your hand beautifully, significantly better than with other lenses.
Starting with the 35mm lens was the obvious choice. The new f/2.0 aperture was a revelation for me in the truest sense of the word. I love working in existing light, and a great deal of my photo reportage takes place in the evenings and at night. In comparison to my "old" 35mm lens, which unfortunately only exists in my memory, I was immediately struck by the even greater attention to detail. The haptics and precision are truly unique. The ultrasonic motor and plastic housing fade into the background as you realize just how brilliantly this lens does its job.
And the photos it produces are just as good as you would expect. It automatically gives you a firmer footing as a photographer. It is somehow easier to get the right perspective, and subjects seem more alive. It is hard to explain, but you basically feel that you have a better grip on the image. Although there is no autofocus, that does not slow you down. Rather than continuously keeping up, you start to anticipate the subject, shifting the focus exactly where you want it without having to weigh up the results of autofocus first. The result looks good, and, since rediscovering this approach, I find I need far fewer memory cards for a much better selection of images.
Even people who have nothing to do with photography are immediately struck by the results. My first job with the new lenses was to take some private portraits of a Berlin businessman. When his wife saw the photos, she simply said: "What amazing depth and plasticity!" She captured the essence of working with all three of these lenses, the fact that you almost feel you are taking photographs with a different camera. The depth of the images is unique. The transition from in-focus to out-of-focus elements is precise, but not too harsh. The bokeh produces an image that is truly alive, and the elements of blur give the subject a beautifully vital look.
All the lenses provide superb results at maximum aperture. The 25mm lens creates unique compositions in this mode thanks to its very subtle vignetting, which can be compared to a gentle blackberry or barrique note in a top-class red wine. Something would certainly be missing without this vignetting, but anyone who prefers to omit it can simply stop down one f/stop.
Once again, the 35mm has become my lens of choice, though the superb 50mm lens puts up a strong battle for my attentions! I prefer to head out with just one of the lenses on my camera and to work with subjects using the options I have available. This is the best way to create the freshest and most exciting images in life photography. I also like the 50mm lens as a portrait focal length, since it always manages to reveal something of each person's life story. You really get a flavor of the story behind the picture, and the blur characteristics enable me to provide an excellent setting for this story using the aperture.
(The images shown here form part of the series "Scenes of a night" and "Not far away".)
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| | About Max Thinius
Max Thinius lives in Berlin. He learned about photography in 1986 in Duesseldorf, Germany at the Heinrichs/Pflanz Studios. Later on, he deepened his knowledge by working for various London magazines. Today, he concentrates on reportage photography. He also likes to do portraits for private clients. |
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March 2009 |
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