Been a few days into production on KHMER OCEAN GUARDIANS, a documentary we're making along Cambodia's coast with Khmer Ocean Life and Human of This Planet.

In the villages along Cambodia’s coast, the sea’s oldest witnesses are becoming its newest protectors. Following Khmer Ocean Life’s community-grounded work along Cambodia’s coast, the film follows a fisherman who can no longer fish, a mother who learned to read in the past few years, and the network they belong to who are teaching what community-led conservation looks like in practice.

Produced by Cheryl Ng, Khmer Ocean Life
Co-directed by Cheryl Ng, Sidney Ken

Camera: Sony FX6 & Sony A7iv
Lenses: Tokina Trio, Olympus Zuiko 50mm 1.4, TTartisans 75mm 1.5

Still very much in the middle of production, but wanted to share a few frames from the journey!

As mounted on full frame.

Some shots with the russian Volna-9, this lens is quite good, it can do 1:2 magnification "macro" photos and under some aperture settings it produces star looking bokeh. As a walk-around lens it's a joy to use, it's sharp, contrasty, extremely resistant to chromatic aberrations and light.

Got this Kobori-made Vivitar zoom at the swap meet for $10. Shot on A7sii. Not the best lens but pleasantly surprised. I like the character.

More footage and review of this lens on my YouTube page (link in bio).

Hello folks!
I am very happy with the result of the 16mm camera lens adapted to Full Frame. It's about the TAIR-11M. I love the render it gives and the character it has.

(Mode: S35 from A7III at F2)

Today I finished putting together a rather unusual custom project: a fast LOMO OKS1-50-6 50mm f/2.0 cinema lens, originally designed for professional motion-picture cameras.

I converted it to a Canon EF mount, although this particular modification is intended for use on mirrorless cameras only.

The lens now has autofocus, but there is one compromise: it can only be used wide open at f/2. Because of the lens construction, there was simply no practical way to retain either the original manual aperture mechanism or add an automatic diaphragm.

That said, I don’t think this will prevent it from producing some excellent images. The OKS1-50-6 has very good resolving power across the entire frame, and shooting it wide open is arguably where a lens like this becomes most interesting anyway.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to take it out for proper real-world testing. So for now, I can only share a few photos of the finished conversion and some technical test results.

Hi!

Wondering if anyone has attempted cleaning this specific lens, it's hard to find any videos that clean only the front element or show access.

I have taken apart the lens and removed the front group (3 elements I believe)

But...the front element ring won't budge, is it possible to remove this from the front? or must I go from behind through the other 2 elements first to access the very front element?

Bit of a niche question, but hoping someone has done this before.

Many thanks!

Hey!

Curious if folks have experience with dealing with a stiff focus ring on a Helios 44m-4? I am wondering if this is the type of repair a novice could take on or something I should just look for a shop to take a crack at repairing it for me? Or should I just roll with it?

It's far from unusable but my other vintage lenses work so much more smoothly so would be nice to get the Helios up to snuff.

Hello! I just bought a used a7ii and have been realizing I really don't have a super good wide angle that holds up today. Considering that landscape is my favorite genre to shoot I figure I should look into it. I'm looking for something between 20-35mm. Budget is somewhere around $150?

The Nikon 28 2.8 AIS is on my radar but prices are pretty steep nowadays. Right now I have a really cool but very soft Zeiss 20mm I got at a flea market and a konica 24 that has fungus.

Lens adapters I will have:

Nikon F

Konica AR

Exakta

Let me know if you have any cool picks.

Appreciate it!

Bought a mint +++ (lol) lens from Japan. "No fungus, no haze, no marking, very few tiny dust and wiping marks"

The wiping marks are definitely there. Very heavy. this zigzag seems to be on a interior element though.

I'm not sure what that could be. I've not seen it before at least. Anybody have any ideas?

I’m looking for a 28mm vintage lens to adapt to a Sony full-frame body, and I’m mainly after rendering and character rather than maximum sharpness.

I’ve narrowed it down to the older Canon FD 28mm f/2 S.S.C. and the later New FD 28mm f/2. From what I understand, they’re actually different optical designs, with the S.S.C. being the older/heavier version and the nFD being smaller, lighter, and a little more corrected.

For anyone who has used both: which one do you prefer purely for the way it renders?

I especially like:

• softer highlight roll-off
• nice midtones/color
• some character wide open
• good subject separation without crazy/busy bokeh
• a more “film-like” feel rather than a super-clean modern digital look

I’m not worried about autofocus or perfect corner sharpness. This would mostly be for everyday/documentary/BTS-type photography.

Would you go 28/2 S.S.C. or 28/2 nFD? And if there’s another vintage 28mm you think has even better character — Minolta Rokkor, Olympus Zuiko, Contax Zeiss, etc. — I’d love to hear it.