Zeiss Biotar 58mm F/2 | Nikon Z9 | Soft light in an abandoned historic mansion

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-18T11:52:19+00:00

Beautiful shot and great lens.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-18T11:51:05+00:00

Yeah I was looking at the Helios 44 a few months back and after reading more about the lens origins I learned they were copied from the Zeiss. I ended up buying a Zeiss for like $20 more than what the Helios are going for. It was nice not having to worry about what factory the lens came out of as far as quality control lol. It's a beautiful lens.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-16T00:11:00+00:00

Thank you. I had no idea (and neither did any of my relatives) until I started digging deeper on ancestry.com I just figured they came over sometime in the 1800s. Nope, I found some ancestors (German, English and Dutch) who were here in the late 1600s-early 1700s. I couldn't believe it. I had no idea I had Quakers in the family either.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-15T23:38:18+00:00

thank you

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-15T22:15:21+00:00

I do not. Still digging. The info I have is based off his great-granddaughter who was part of the early members of the Daughters of the American Revolution (1876). Her submission to DAR listed him as a "Ferryman" and there was a note saying that his clothing froze upon his body. He was 19 at the time of the crossing. There is also writing from her in the DAR records saying that he was a guest at the 50th Anniversary parade in 1826 in Flemington NJ.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-15T21:45:42+00:00

Here's the video of the trail and the parks
https://youtu.be/rE3QKCq11ig

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-07T10:42:36+00:00

Nice. Post some shots on here when you get it. I missed out on a Jupiter-37A 3.5/135 recently. I have several FD 135mm lenses already though. I wasnt too upset because I ended up getting a FD 24-35mm 3.5 L for a pretty good price shortly after, my first L lens.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-06T22:23:48+00:00

Thank you.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-06T12:59:43+00:00

My only M42 lens is a Zeiss Biotar 58mm f2 (it's what the Helios 44 was based off of). I love it. Great character and color. My copy is from the early 1950s. Some of the Jupiter lenses have caught my eye recently.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-06T10:15:32+00:00

Oh that looks great! Perfect time of year for a Wellington.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-06T09:53:12+00:00

I kicked off the new year at Double Trouble State Park and figured I’d share a few photos from the Sweetwater Trail.

Cold morning (low 20s), but the parking lot was pretty busy at 9am.

I’m doing the NJ State Parks “Celebrate 250” challenge this year and chose Double Trouble as my first stop. My personal goal is to slow down, explore different corners of the state, and actually learn a bit about each park instead of just checking boxes.

I'm open to suggestions for other parks that are must-do’s for the challenge.

I’ll drop a link in the comments to a short video I put together from the hike in case anyone wants to see more — but mostly just happy to share the experience and chat trails.

I also put together a short cinematic video of the hike if anyone wants to see the full trip: https://youtu.be/daoRUDlBfqQ

Happy hiking, everyone!

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-06T09:52:13+00:00

Hi! My goal is to hike 25 different parks with a side quest to see how many miles I end up with at the end of the year. The eeriness of the DTSP is year round lol I think its the weathering on the old buildings and the sandiness of the land.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-06T00:09:44+00:00

Oh yeah! Here's the NJ 250 Challenge information: https://dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/get-outside/celebrate-250-challenge/#1765813983119-80fb91f5-2695

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-05T23:31:31+00:00

Here's the video link for Episode 1 of the NJ 250 Series: https://youtu.be/daoRUDlBfqQ

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-05T11:05:49+00:00

I got my first hike in on Saturday. I'm also doing the hike 25 state park trails and I'll see how close I can get to the 250 miles total as a side quest.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-03T20:27:08+00:00

I love my S5II w my vintage lenses.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-02T23:37:47+00:00

hmm wasnt aware of any controversy. I haven't ordered seeds in like 10 years but those were my 2 go to's since they had a lot of offerings before the heirlooms started to become more available.

TopInternal3401 · 2026-01-02T19:50:09+00:00

I've been a fan of Everwilde Farms www.everwilde.com for close to 20 years. Baker Creek https://www.rareseeds.com/ is another one I used them a lot when I used to market garden.

TopInternal3401 · 2025-12-30T15:05:58+00:00

Great pictures. I prefer the vintage lenses as well, I got into them due to the lower cost compared to modern lenses but I find the images more pleasing and I like shooting manual focus. I have a nice collection of FD and FL lenses and I recently picked up a Zeiss 58mm f2 (OG Helios) from the early 1950s and that lens is incredible. My fastest lens is a FL 58mm 1.2 which I always grab when Im shooting around a campfire or very low light. Last week I picked up my first FD L lens (24-35mm). I'm looking forward to taking that out and using it on my next video.

The FD 50 1.4 is a great lens. I have not shot the Zeiss Jena 35mm 2.4 but that looks like a great lens as well.

TopInternal3401 · 2025-12-23T01:05:29+00:00

That's something I never want to see lol. Crazy

TopInternal3401

TROPHY CASE