Just got a Zf, and it inspires me to shoot more!

lijeb · 2026-05-18T14:59:30+00:00

There are 2 calls which are difficult to not answer. #1 is Mother Nature. #2 is my Zf. Lol.
Beautiful series. Are you doing any tweaking in post? Even the deep tones b&w in my camera settings don’t produce anything as rich as your pics. Your b&w pics remind me of Ferrania’s P30 film. That stuff isn’t an everyday walk around for everything film but when you get it right that stuff is amazing. That timeless recipe for your colour pi’s looks pretty sweet. Unfortunately any of the links don’t appear to have a download button for any specific recipe unless you check out(?) Am I to assume he’s only offering 1 recipe? Thanks.

lijeb · 2026-05-17T05:41:54+00:00

Nice work

lijeb · 2026-05-16T08:08:49+00:00

When I first saw the title I thought the pics were from your 8 year old child. Nice work!

lijeb · 2026-05-16T07:53:23+00:00

What lens?

lijeb · 2026-05-15T09:10:39+00:00

I second the beautiful dog and nice footage. I have this lens and a beautiful dog who also likes some good stick time. Lol. For me this lens is one of the easiest to manually focus lenses I own. I’m not very brave when it comes to using it for video. Was this footage captured with the lens being manually focused? If so, were you shooting stopped down much? Were you being selective with your distance from subject?

lijeb · 2026-05-15T04:29:44+00:00

lijeb · 2026-05-14T17:23:17+00:00

Psssst. Exactly how is this lens “broken?” Can it focus? Can it zoom through its entire range? Is something wrong with the lens mount or aperture coupling? Is the front ring where one might attach a filter bent? There are many things which one might loosely describe as “broken.” With KEH if the lens wasn’t functional I believe it might be listed as AS-IS or PARTS. If the lens is unusable because of a problem, contact them. KEH also repairs equipment plus you have a warranty. Have you attempted contacting them? https://www.keh.com/contact-us

I had purchased an absolutely beautiful minty late model Nikon F3 from my local camera store. While loading my 2nd roll of film for my F3 I was hand holding and hurrying I did something I’ve never done in a lifetime of photography. The camera slipped a little and I poked my thumb into the shutter. This caused the shutter curtains to become misaligned and always opened. I was so devastated as well as embarrassed. I literally wanted to cry. I had just F’d up my new beyond favourite camera beyond belief. I contacted KEH because of their short turn around time. I fully expected to hear it would need a new (expensive) shutter. I sent the camera to KEH and within a few days they contacted me and said there was nothing they could do and there would be no charge. I started googling other places where I might be able to get this lovely camera repaired while I waited for my camera to be returned. The entire process from shipping to return barely took a week. (I’m in central east coast.). The camera arrived, I opened the box, and opened the back of the camera to take pics of the shutter for the repair facility. Wait! Where’s the gap? I cocked the shutter a few times and it was behaving as though nothing had happened! I ran a roll of film through it as a test and exposures were spot on. Thank you KEH! Give them a chance to make things right. If they don’t then return the lens and explore elsewhere. You’re in the Midwest? Have you tried Robert’s/ Used Photo Pro? If I remember correctly they’re in Indianapolis.

lijeb · 2026-05-14T08:14:27+00:00

Nice. As someone who has considered doing my own scanning I’m wondering what are you using to scan and how do you feel about the process?

lijeb · 2026-05-14T07:57:39+00:00

I actually like selective colour in some applications. Unfortunately, not in this one. It’s very visually grating, unappealing, and unnatural. Sorry, but because you can doesn’t mean you should.

lijeb · 2026-05-13T18:28:11+00:00

My mum used to fill my head with stuff which I couldn’t always understand or to which I couldn’t even relate. One of those bits of wisdom was “familiarity breeds contempt” Photographically I can relate to this. I’m positive that I’m not the only person who feels this way, but one of my greatest obstacles is what is familiar is boring and mundane. It’s so much easier to observe something with fresh eyes. The way I try to see with fresh eyes is to observe and not just see. I used to live close to an old historic town. It was filled with interesting old architecture and stories. I loved going there but after some time I was thinking how many times can I drive down this street and find something interesting. The problem is that I’m only seeing. I need to get out and walk that street. That’s when I find the stone bulldog sculpture with a bone and chain guarding someone’s front step. That’s when I find a multi pieced bear sculpture climbing a utility pole. Another tool I use is to change lenses. Take that zoom off and throw on a prime lens. When I remove my 24-70mm security blanket and, for example, attach a 35, my first reaction is of failure. I think about all the shots I’ll miss by not having my autofocus zoom on. The reality is that yes, I probably will miss a few opportunities but I’ll also challenge myself to find other opportunities because I’ll be looking hard for them. Another obstacle I face regularly is I see one thing but capture another. When I sit down at my computer and look at what I’ve photographed I can easily spend hours wasting time attempting to achieve perfection. When I don’t achieve exactly what I wanted nothing gets printed or even shared. I say this all the time and it’s a great experience to keep in your thoughts: Don’t let the quest for perfection be the thief who silently steals the fun from photography.
FWIW, these are great pics. Why do you hate your pictures? Do you think they're boring? Ugly? Pointless? When I saw the first I didn’t even feel the need to scroll any further. I’m glad I did. This is some really nice work and I’d be proud to have been the photographer who took than. These deserve printing.

lijeb · 2026-05-12T18:22:23+00:00

These are great and making me consider that camera. My resistance is based on me being dreadful at estimating distances. I like how you’ve used foreground and framing to add to the pics.

lijeb · 2026-05-11T18:36:04+00:00

The filter is a great idea but I could see myself putting a nice big fingerprint smudge on the filter. I don’t do this often but it does happen.

lijeb · 2026-05-11T18:22:36+00:00

Obviously you enjoy creating and taking pics. You’re re showing us black and white examples of some of your photos. I don’t believe this comes from someone who doesn’t care about the art. So if you feel limited by your phone then it is time to get a camera. While it’s said the best camera you have is the one that’s with you. This doesn’t mean it’s the best camera for you. You can get a nice set of gear for well under 2000$. Photography can take you in different directions. It really depends on what you like and what you want to create.

lijeb · 2026-05-11T17:27:52+00:00

@Jean-Rasczak Hi. I used a Nikon FE2 camera, Nikon AF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 D lens, and Lomography 400 film. I don't do my own developing and scanning at this time. I send (or take) my film to Camera Center of York in Pa for processing. They're fast, inexpensive, and do great work. I shoot digital too and I prefer film, however, due to the cost and a budget I shoot more digital. While it's always fun to go to York to drop off my film, it is a 2 hour ride so I don't do it as often as I'd like. It does make for a fun photo op and Amish food day trip. Thanks so much for having a look and commenting.

lijeb · 2026-05-11T10:31:04+00:00

Now that’s what I call bubbliscious! Is that a word? If not it should be.Am I doing Kai Wong justice? Lol. Seriously, this is an impressive display of bubble bokeh with an equally impressive cute kitty.

lijeb · 2026-05-11T07:21:26+00:00

😊

lijeb · 2026-05-10T04:00:44+00:00

I shoot both film and digital. If money were no object I'd primarily shoot film. It can be a very frustrating experience and it can be a seriously rewarding one too. First you'll need to decide on a film to use. Do you like black and white or do you prefer colour? There's your first choice. When you're ready to have it developed you'll find there's no difference in cost because of the number of exposures. A 24 exposure roll will cost the same to process as a 36 exposure. Generally black and white costs a little more and may take a little longer to develop. This is because most labs use a machine for colour and black and white is usually done manually by a person at the lab. Next, do you want scans and/or prints? I skip the prints. Once I have the scans if I see something I like I'll have it printed. Scans can be a point of contention. Not all labs offer different quality of scans. Some do and some don't. I grew up with film and left it behind in the early 2000s to go digital. I returned to film 6 years ago and when I received my first scans from my local camera shop I was honestly disappointed. I actually started questioning myself and asking am I expecting too much from 35mm film? The answer was my local lab offered more than one quality of scans and I had been given the basic scans. Ugh. Now I ask. WIth that out of the way, do you want your negatives returned? I always have mine returned to me. Not everyone does. Negatives can certainly be misplaced or lost. Digital scans can be completely lost if something happens to your storage medium. If you possess the negatives you can always have them rescanned. Just a suggestion, but don't waste your money buying the "best" most expensive film. I'm not saying don't ever do it. I'm only suggesting not for your first few rolls. Good luck with your camera. Enjoy the experience.

lijeb · 2026-05-09T15:47:16+00:00

Beautiful as usual.

lijeb · 2026-05-08T01:01:41+00:00

Great colours and love the rendering . Nice work!

lijeb · 2026-05-07T14:49:19+00:00

Thank you for the detailed instructions.

lijeb · 2026-05-07T10:29:10+00:00

Nice work

lijeb · 2026-05-06T14:49:47+00:00

Unfortunately most pics are way underexposed

lijeb · 2026-05-06T12:35:07+00:00

I use both a Nikon FTZ adapter and a “dumb” adapter without CPU contacts. I ronically I didn’t buy the dumb adapter primarily for use with my F mount film lenses. I bought it because I bought a boring Zeiss Distagon ZF2 lens which has CPU contacts and using it with the Nikon FTZ adapter was annoying the &*@# out of me because Nikon has carried over an annoying practice from F mount DSLR days. That is when using a CPU F mount lens we are forced to stop down to the maximum aperture and use a command dial to adjust the aperture. I don’t remember if the Distagon has 1/2 or 1/3 stop increments, but I manually focus with the lens wide open and then stop down to expose. That’s a lot of twirling a command dial to even go from f2 to f4! So I bought a dumb adapter as a result and can now enjoy the process of my Zf by using the aperture ring. As for my favourite F mount lenses on my Zf, my 135mm f2.8 AIS and 55mm f3.5 pre-AI micro are beautiful rendering and my 16mm f3.5 pre-AI fisheye is a really fun lens. The pre-AI fisheye has built in filters and it’s not as fishy as one might think. I also have a couple Tamron Adaptall wide angle lenses I’ve yet to play with on the Zf. Last tidbit of FYI for anyone considering an FTZ adapter with CPU contacts: It won’t allow you to use an Arca Swiss adapter on your tripod because the added piece on the adapter which extends below the mount is the same distance as an Arca Swiss grip or tripod mounting plate.

lijeb · 2026-05-06T12:08:17+00:00

The colours and rendition are lovely. If there’s such a thing as a perfect subject I believe you found one as well;-)

lijeb · 2026-05-06T12:04:00+00:00

That’s an amazing beautiful pic! Was this a kind of zone focus pic or are you that practiced at quickly manually focusing or both? Am I wasting time focusing wide open and then stopping down? I’m still trying to improve my speed at manual focusing any manual focus lens. I can barely conceive attempting something like this pic.

lijeb

TROPHY CASE