Bill Smith's Photography

 Light Lens Lab is a dangerous web site for me. They specialize in in recreating classic Leica thread mount and M mount lenses, mostly from the Leica back catalogue, but the more unique and earlier lenses from the M mount era like the 9 element 28 F2.8 Elmarit and 8 element 35 F2 Summicron from the early 1960s along with the rare, and I mean rare made in Midland Ontario Elcan 50 F2.  So why by a note for note recreation of a Leica 50 F2 Rigid Summicron from the cusp of the 1960s? There's plenty of used examples out there for, just a bit more than the Light Lab 50 Rigid. In human years, the OG Leica glass will be ready to quality for the Canada Pension Plan/Old Age Security, and sadly the original front elements and lens coatings are about as durable as chalk, and finding a perfect 50 F2 Rigid Summicron from say 1959 is getting harder each year.  Shooting with the 50 F2 Rigid on my Leica M5 seems to be a perfect marriage. Having shot with the Dual Range and Collapsible Sum...

 I picked up a Nikkor AIS 28 F2 lens, to add to my manual focus Nikkor lens fleet. I already own a Nikkor N 28 F2 which is a pre AI F mount. Fast lenses are expensive and you are paying for the wider aperture for low light shooting environments. Usually you get a compromise with speed for sharpness, some cases like the 35 F1.4 you get barrel distortion you have to fix in post processing in Light Room. I don't have that in the 28 F2 series of lenses. Barrel distortion is rather low.  I was waiting for my friend Dana to come into the city for dinner, it gave me an opportunity to wander around the Annex for a bit very late afternoon/early evening. I love this neighbourhood, spent a lot of time around there back in the 1990s. For those not from Toronto, the Annex is just northwest of University of Toronto's downtown campus and the borders sorta starts in Bathurst in the west end to about Avenue Road to the east. with the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Rail corridor to the north and ...