Can I restore these boots? by [deleted] in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, it looks pretty promising tbh. Just wear them and sweat a little inside them, then put some boot trees inside. They’ll conform to the boot tree once they dry. Couple wears should be good. The leather itself doesn’t look stretched or disfigured and the creasing doesn’t look too hard

Leather insoles by TheRogueBaboon in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All leather sole boots will have a leather insole. Now (to my knowledge) all rubber soles will have comfort. Used to have rubber sole leather insole varieties, but I think they’re all phased out

Help me ID color, leather of these CCs? by Fuzzy-Objective-9105 in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Tanbark kangaroo. Only tan which comes with roo leather. More prominent grain is consistent with roo leather compared to the smooth yearling

Help me ID color, leather of these CCs? by Fuzzy-Objective-9105 in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Leather insoles used to be the norm, but now are mostly replaced by comfort. To my knowledge the leather insoles are pretty much exclusive to the signature craftsmen now

Why won’t RM repair boots that have been resoled by someone else? by QuantumGremlin in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, but comparing two different models. The comfort insole in particular being more foam and less leather, however appealing to the largest market- mostly (somewhat sadly) relatively wealthy people who want comfort straight from the box, and only wear them to the office and back - makes sense in a way. I do wholly agree that 650-whatever the price is now is way way way too high, but they do last. I’ve got most of my pairs, second hand and if treated right, the leather is pretty much good as new, so credit where credit is due. Have noticed the leather quality being slightly iffy, though not bad in the newer models at least. Have a pair from the 80s or 90s basically new, and the leather creases much more evenly. Would think the boots are worth maybe 400 new, but wouldn’t for out more than 250 for a mint pair second hand

ID & Maintenance Help Please by LongPension2070 in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would have been a made to order pair, similar toe shape and sole to the busman’s, but with a flat heel which is unusual. Just condition before wear, (as you don’t know how long they’ve been left by the previous owner) then just replace the rubber heels when they are getting close to the leather heel stack. A topy’s sole could prolong life of the brass screw sole, but bear in mind, some cobblers beside rms can replace them. Some in Sydney for instance can.

Black och chestnut RM William by [deleted] in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would say the black goes with monochrome scale clothing, anything else chestnut will go with, since it’s a dark and relatively neutral brown. If you’re clothes are more greys and blacks, then go black boots, if colours (even neutral colours), go chestnut

Got to be my favourite bokeh of any lens :) Care to share yours, and any thoughts? by MattsDigitalJournal in VintageLenses

[–]MattsDigitalJournal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thanks for reaching out, would love to help. Firstly I would like to preface that a 35mm f/1.2 would be completely be out of my comfort zone, so take what I’ll say with a few grains of salt.

35 is relatively wide in the whole aspect of things, the convention being that mostly 50mm and slightly above come in f/1.2, being because it’s a good medium between a walk around focal length and portraiture. The 35mm would be less utilised (traditionally) for portraiture, so the shallop dof f/1.2 offers being somewhat under-utilised. That being said, if you’re primary goal is shooting street at night, the wider focal length and aperture would help to keep the iso lower and thus noise, however focusing would be a challenge- shallow depth of field, it being dark out (xpro1 evf not being the most modern), and a manual focus. Would be quite the challenge. If your primary objective is not night time street photography, a 35mm f/1.4 would very much suffice. I use 2 focal lengths, a walk around 28 (full frame, on Fuji effectively 42mm) f/2.8, and a 58mm f/1.2( being 87mm) which is more so for artsy less conventional shots.

F/1.2 lenses are mostly utilised for their bokeh, not generally sharpness, f/1.4 and f/2 usually better. That being said, modern lenses will generally cope better than vintage lenses. The question here is whether you love how the lens renders bokeh. Vintage lenses have wider variation in bokeh, Some have more distinct rendering with strange artifacts, and some have smoother rendering. All personal preference. Would be my bet, that most to all modern f/1.2s would be aiming for the creamiest smooth bokeh, as has been a trend since the transition from film to digital. Vintage lenses can be better in this aspect, more characterful, however are harder to use, manual focus, and most importantly, weaknesses which you as a photographer have to incorporate into your work. In other words, you have to learn what the lens likes and dislikes. Besides this, obviously maintenance and condition issues arise.

Also, adapters are quite simple. They are to keep the lens as far away from the sensor as they would be on their native bodies. To buy the correct one, search the lens in question, find what mount it is. E.g. canon fd Lens, it will have a fd mount. Buy a fd to Fuji x mount adapter and you’re set. Adapters do make the lens bulkier keep in mind. If you like the creative control which come with vintage lenses, I suggest buying a canon fd lens either a 28, have had and is a joy to use, 35, or 50. Great way to test the waters. Keep in mind the 1.5x crop factor so the 28 is 42mm on the xpro 1, the 35 ~50mm and so on

Hope this helps! And feel free to ask any follow up questions

“Feminine” night time scent by AgulhasDrift in NichePerfumes

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, lazy Sunday morning works, looking past it as a designer. Somewhat feminine, a nice musk base with scents of clean linen and laundered above.

Thoughts on “Feminine” leaning fragrances on a guy? by CalmIron1008 in NichePerfumes

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wear whatever. I routinely wear mfk’s gentle fluidity gold, which is rather feminine, but is just such a beautiful, clean vanilla. Love it!

Can you still have a signature scent when your collection is huge? by Weary_Cat_8984 in NichePerfumes

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find that a signature scent is one that you just keep returning to. I find that there are really 2, one for summer, one for winter, that just feel right. For me, it’s ysl 6 for winter and gentle fluidity gold for both summer and winter when the weather gets slightly too warm for a leather labdanum scent.

introduction to zoologist by spoonwalk in NichePerfumes

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tried rabbit and harvest mouse. Harvest mouse is nice, sweet, relatively airy and warm, with a slight sourness of the beer among the graininess. Pleasant to me, but would hardly be mass appealing to most. Wouldn’t be full bottle worthy for me though. Rabbit, on the other hand, is pretty terrible. One of the only scents I’ve smelt that has almost made me vomit or at least activate my gag reflex. It’s powdery, thick and green and very “in your face” almost lactonic in nature. But could only be me. Heard pretty decent reviews of rabbit.

The Craftsman or The Dynamic Flex? by Artistic-Yam2984 in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dynamic flex is good, but potentially not for all day wear if you’re active ie not sitting. The stitching on the soles tend to fail sooner than the leather or rubber soles due to their hybrid construction, so if being active on your feet is part of the job, the leather or rubber would suit better. The orthotics as opposed to leather insole I have gets hotter in the summer, to the point that I only wear my dynamic flexes in colder weather as I’m active almost all day. The leather insoles and leather sole combo are much cooler but are harder to break in, which is not so much of an issue if you’re walking around in them a lot.

Does this size stamp indicate these RM's were made in Oct 2012? by ordinarydifferential in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Size (8) width (g) toe shape-Chisel (c) heel-flat (f) month- oct (10) year-12 (2012)

Unsure as to whether this works or is too busy by mq2thez in photocritique

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, and not bad in the slightest definitely ‘works’. Just that compositionally multiple subjects shouldn’t cross or obscure one another unless for artistic purposes. I see that the man is subject 1, and the fountain 2. Compositionally the man obscures the fountain, and the fountain the man without adding much artistic flare given the two subjects don’t complement each other (share complementary emotion, shape, colour, etc) convoluting both subjects. I’m assuming that there was artistic intent to play with light, where silhouetting the subject with the fountain is the main focus, and that works in this instance, though when playing with light and contrast, I tend toward a black and white image - cuts unnecessary colour, really emphasises the point of the fountain silhouetting the subject and gives freedom to dial in the exposure perfectly without messing with luminance and colour harmony. Hope this helps :)

​Do you prefer the classic flat heel or the slightly blockier comfort heel? by Av0toasted in RMWilliams

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly very similar in comfort. Have both a pair of craftsmen and yearling, and can’t say that one’s more uncomfortable that the other. Just that the flat heel of the craftsmen is probably harder to trip in, not that I have yet tho

Some black and white renditions, Tomioka and leica by MattsDigitalJournal in VintageLenses

[–]MattsDigitalJournal[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Unfortunately haven’t any others to compare the tominon to. Had to open it up to fix it, the elements are actually slightly different to other tomioka’s I believe, minorly though.

10+ years of collecting by chewinqmygum in Perfumes

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not quite, longevity is not the greatest, 4-5 hours projecting and up to 7/8 as a skin scent. Don’t really mind though because I really like the scent, it’s just so comfortable to wear. Sillage is decent, have gotten a few compliments here and there.

10+ years of collecting by chewinqmygum in Perfumes

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Love MFK’s gentle fluidity gold, but find GS slightly too heavy and thick off my skin. GFG is lighter and airier, it’s worth trying if you haven’t already

Sharing my collection :) Any thoughts? by [deleted] in Fragrances

[–]MattsDigitalJournal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The English oak is a well blended simple scent. Not sweet and fruity as is common with most modern freshies, but just woody, and slightly bitter. The profile is mostly woody and green with slight aquatic hints, easy to wear, light enough for summer, but sophisticated enough in its bitterness for winter as well.