The Lens Hunter

"The lens is very important, it is basically the engine of photography.”

—Geoffrey Berliner

Read more at Popphoto.com. (Go full screen to see the video best.)

Mike
(Thanks to Michael J. Perini)

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Photo by Peter

Peter: "Geoffrey is a great guy. I took a wet plate class at Penumbra (then known as the Center for Alternative Photography) and got the bug. I bought a few old lenses and brought them to Geoffrey and he was able to tell me their focal length and aperture and give me an idea of the plate coverage they'd provide. It's taken me a couple years to assemble the 4x5 camera and lenses and get one of the lenses mounted. Just last week I took my first shot (above)—not wet plate but on old expired Polaroid 55 film. Wet plate and New55 (when it's ready) is next. So excited!"

Michael Cytrynowicz: "Wonderful video, thanks Mike! And a learning experience. He talks about his fascination with how the lens were made, but especially, what did the lens makers get wrong—and how this creates opportunities for artists! Paraphrasing him, 'you can't know, you have to shoot with it.' Maybe it is why some cheap lenses I bought off eBay and KEH (bargain-meister), satisfy me more than some more expensive ones I got (and later sold)? And possibly would satisfy me more than a lusted-for Zeiss Touit, Leica Apo Macro or Sigma Art. I feel more comforted now. It is not necessarily all about mortgaging your house to get the finest mechanics and apo-low-dispersion-aspherical optics. It won't necessarily help my photography. But you have been sayin' that, dontcha?"

Mike replies: Yes, and it's true.

Comments

[Calvin Palmer]

Geoffrey Berliner aka Elmer Fudd. :-) Would have loved to have heard him say "Wabbit Season!" My bad, I know -- but I am British.

[Herman]

Are there any pinhole lenses in the collection?

[c.d.embrey]

Cameras are boring. On the other hand I find lenses to be interesting.

Some old lenses have unique formulas. The soft-focus lenses used by the pictorialists in the early 20th century, will never be mistaken for an overly sharp Zeiss Otis. Pre WW2 lenses are not coated (a BIG + for some situations). The really old stuff has Waterhouse Stops (good for creamy bokay).

So I'll keep my 4x5 and my Leica IIIa to use with older lenses. Here's a barrel lens adapter for a Canon EOS http://www.skgrimes.com/whats-new/2011-2/6706-2 Maybe I'll get one for my Canon Elan 7n.

[Dave Kocher]

I'll never, ever, understand why some people store lenses face up.

[Andreas]

His attitude towards lenses is wonderful. Comparing his love for optics with a detectives scrutiny reminds me of Jochen Hörischs approach towards the interpretation of literature. Both fields that are related to me in a sense, anyway.