Two Catalogs

For those of you who are into film and darkroom, Freestyle's new catalog is out. It's very splashy.

For those of you who are into Micro 4/3, the new Micro Four Thirds Joint Lens Catalog is out. The catalog is limited to products offered by companies that formally participate in the 4/3 consortium. There are other lenses available from companies that don't participate but just copy the mount. Leica has more expensive lenses, Canon and Nikon have useful if somewhat scattershot lines, Sony furiously produces lenses with planning that appears to constantly change, Fuji's lineup is the most sensible and well-considered (and my personal favorite), but for variety and pure photogeek fun I don't think anything out there beats Micro 4/3.

Mike
(Thanks to Oren Grad)

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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[John Krill]

I laugh at the term "analog photography."

It is film photography forever. Period.

Did you know that the camera you call a digital camera has for it's light collecter an Analog sensor. It doesn't become digital data until it reaches the analog to digital logic.

Digital cameras probably should be called electtonic cameras.

I shop at this store and will continue even if they continue to call film photography analog.

[c.d.embrey]

‘Cromes. equal film without darkroom either wet ir dry.. I like that, YMMV.

Max Bereck’s LTM lenses are all I ever need. Plus they work on most cameras with adapters.

[Peter Wright]

I certainly like to see some posts on gear, but not overly so. Roughly 2/3 non-gear to 1/3 gear would be my preference. (Extra points if the gear is not just the latest release in some lens line.)

[Gordon Brown]

Variety is good: Gear, books, pictures, editorial ramblings, red chairs, pool...

If someone doesn't like a particular topic, one may skip to the next post.

[Daniel]

FILM Photography. I have never, ever bought a sheet of 8x10 Analog or a 120 or 35mm roll of Analog.

It is FILM - whether B&W, IR or color of some sort.

Won't even get started on wet or dry plates.

[Moose]

"... but for variety and pure photogeek fun I don't think anything out there beats Micro 4/3."

You'd be talking about me. \;~)>

I Own, or have owned, 28 of these lenses, plus a Laowa and a 25/1.4 CCTV lens that does swirly bokeh wonderfully on µ4/3.

I can attest to how nice it is to have such a variety available.

The one thing I miss is a fast prime ultra wide that provides EXIF info to the cameras. AF would be nice, too. I sold my Laowa 7.5/2 because of my experience with it in Bhutan. Neither time nor inclination to take manual notes in fast moving situations, and (sigh), I too often forgot to focus.

This time I'll use a Panny 7-14/4. It's a testimony to lens variety that I could choose from four UWA zooms.

Then again, I'm just as much a photogeek with old and odd lenses, glassless options and LensBabies for FF Alt photography. The new-to-me Spiratone Portragon 100/4 and my old SIMA Soft Focus 100/2 single element lenses render SO differently @ f4!

BTW typo; pg 22 of the catalog, which is macro and 3D lenses, repeats the title "PRIME LENSES - TELEPHOTO" from the prior page.

[John]

One item that seems to be missing from the market (at least, B&H don't seem to have any) are adapters from Fuji X-mount lenses to Micro 4/3 bodies. Is there a flange-distance issue here? I don't have the specs to hand, but I would doubt it.

[David]

It’s actually because of a catalogue that I ended up in 4/3’s land.
A few years ago, while looking to upgrade from my trusty LX-3, I found an Olympus catalog on the shelf at an electronics retail store. It was more of a book than a catalog, and covered every lens and camera. I spend weeks looking through it... and probably still have it somewhere. Without that introduction to the system, I could have ended up with anything.

[David]

Feel free to choose the appropriate option for catalog/catalogue...

[David Evans]

Both your links go to Freestyle.

[Kodachromeguy]

The new Freestyle Catalog is a lot of fun. Good for them. Back on Dpreview, the "experts" and "photographers" are still chanting "film is dead," but apparently many of them don't get out in the real world very often.

[Bruce]

The link to m 4/3 lenses was very useful, thanks, Mike.. this comment sort of links to your previous post asking about your blog topics..- keep some "geeky gear" posts coming, but your main focus in other areas is why I keep you in no. 1 spot in my morning musings. Actually, the link to the Freestyle catalogue was a fascinating trip down memory lane... it makes me think I don't regret one bit changing over to digital, and moving away from smelly, chemical darkrooms! And now living in the countryside, the associated disposal problems with those liquids. Your final comment about m 4/3 is spot on... especially the wonderful "Live Bulb/Live Time/ Live Composite" feature of Olympus cameras for night photography. No doubt other systems will adopt the same features soon. Perhaps they already have.

[Frank]

On m43, Panasonic Lumix should have their version of the Olympus 75mm f1/8 prime, that lens should work better with the Lumix DFD CAF tech. And that lens should be weather sealed too, and not too costly.

[David Smith]

I used to work on car dealership ads for the back of a local tabloid paper in the 1990s that were as scary bad as the Freestyle catalog.

[Don Spady]

I have not touched photo chemicals since my darkroom died in a flood in 2006 and I switched to digital, but looking at this catalogue led to me smelling fixer and developer in my head, and feeling nostalgic. Uncanny.
No real regrets on the switch, however.

[Maggie Osterberg]

I don't like "analog photography" OR "film photography."

I think "chemical photography" is a better description, because folks use glass plates, paper, tintype, etc...

[Kenneth Tanaka]

You’re right, Maggie. Properly speaking “film” and “analog” photography is, indeed, chemical photography, which is the term I also use. Recording an image is a chemical process and printing that image is also a chemical process of dyes.

This catalog looks like quite a cornucopia for film-lovers. Lots of bathrooms hosting this publication!

[misha]

"Digital cameras probably should be called electtonic cameras."

Digital cameras are a computer with a lens.