M42 Violent Contents Edit

Photographed using a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens fitted via an EOS-M42 adapter to a Canon EOS 30D camera.

The photographer was photographed with a Tomioka-built Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens mounted via an M42 - EOS adapter on a Canon EOS 30D digital SLR camera dating from 2006. The lens is probably from the mid 1970s.

The de Clarke monument in Locksbrook Cemetery, Lower Weston, Bath. It is a bronze sarcophagus with an angel over a base of Pennant stone sculpted by Edward Onslow Ford and completed in 1900. The monument was erected to Mary (d. 1895), wife of Lieut.-Gen The Hon Sir Andrew Clarke. Sir Andrew died in 1902. It is probably the finest tomb in Locksbrook, and is a Grade II listed building. I used a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens for this photograph. Camera: Fujifilm X-E1.

Photographed using a Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 lens in M42 screw mount on a Fujifilm X-E1 camera via an adapter.

Carl Zeiss Tessar 50mm f/2.8. I dare say pretty much any standard 50mm lens could have provided this result, yet I think it is a triumph for an old simple Tessar. Another oddity is that the Tessar - at least this particular version - feels like a perfect marriage with a Canon EOS 30D.

I used a Canon EOS 30D with a Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 lens mounted via an EOS - M42 adapter. The lens came with a Praktica MTL5 camera and the two cost me £12.50. The Pentacon f/1.8 50mm is the last version of the Meyer-Optik "Oreston" f/1.8 50mm. It performs better than I had remembered, notwithstanding that using it on the EOS 30D was hopeless for metering the light and I fell back on the "Sunny 16" rule. I was also glad to have Lightroom in which to edit the original RAW image.

Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 lens on a Canon EOS 30D.

Photographed with a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens mounted on a Canon EOS 30D via an EOS-M42 adapter.

The plastic A/M slider has broken off my venerable Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens dating from circa 1976 (a £10 upgrade when bought with a Chinon CX). To mark this milestone in its decline I have edited an earlier photograph made with this lens presumably wide open. I ought to take contemporaneous notes but it seems a nerdy thing to be doing for a cool guy like me. Non-contemporaneous notes (the cool type of notes); The photograph was taken through a gap in a hedge (green bits). Beyond the hedge was (and still is) a busy four-lane road (blurred bits). Beyond that again is an old wool mill, imposing and built of stone (white bits). There is an inexplicable red bit. My best guess is that it was a red lorry. The leaves in their final days leave me feeling melancholy. If I were not a photographer, I should scarcely have registered their existence.

Photography and graffiti are hobbies with some similarities. I have published an article on ipernity expounding this belief. Graffito has enlivened this photograph. Without the embellishment of the drainpipe, the picture would be mundane. Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 lens on a Canon EOS 30D. An all-manual experience.

A damp Wednesday morning in Trowbridge. An attempt to do it the old way: 50mm prime lens (a Carl Zeiss Jena f/2.8 Tessar); manual focus, of course, and all-manual exposure setting. The camera was a Canon EOS 30D - I am not yet contemplating the final hurdle of film. The field of view with this camera and lens combination is similar to using a lens of 80mm focal length on a 35mm film camera. Only occasionally frustrating for wide shots, it is generally a satisfying general purpose lens. I bought one of Taylor's celebrated Wiltshire lardy cakes and the trader agreed to have his portrait taken. Quid pro quo.

Canon EOS 30D + Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar lens. Cropped square.

Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 lens on a Canon EOS 30D. An all-manual experience.

Photographed using an old Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens in M42 mount. Coupled to a Canon EOS 40D camera via an adapter. Processed in Lightroom to isolate the yellow tops and exclude the green stems.

Cosina Cosinon 135mm f/2.8 lens on a Canon EOS 40D via an M42 - EOS adapter.

A wall at Courtfield House. Probably mid 18th century. Canon EOS 30D and Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens.

Old petrol station at Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire. Canon EOS 30D + Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens.

Canon EOS 30D + Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens + small extension tube.