Large-format film photography and various historical techniques - all on ancient cameras and even more ancient lenses.

Do you want to break out of the clinically precise perfection of present times and go back in time to the character of the image and its addictive unpredictability?

Well, you've come to the right place.

In the previous article, I pondered and mused, among other things, about how only a few of my portrait lenses can currently challenge the Hermagis Portrait and the Fast Worker in the ring without immediately throwing in the towel. On paper, the Dallmeyer 3B seemed like an evenly matched opponent - so how did it turn out? Did...

What makes a portrait lens truly great? What should we highlight, what combination of features should it have? Let's subtly ignore weight and size and cut straight to the essentials - so first and foremost:

It's almost become a mantra how I start my articles with phrases like, "The only lens in the universe," "A ridiculously rare contraption," or "Rarer than hen's teeth." What can I say? I revel in the extraordinary, basking in the illusion of my own uniqueness. Enough self-defense, though - let's dive into today's lens. A piece so outrageously rare,...

Those who remember my previous articles will surely recall my adventures in the land of ping pong shows and papaya salad, where I started with a muttering about dragging medium-format gear to places where I could barely drag myself. Since then, however, my tendency toward self-punishment has progressed considerably, and I've had no qualms about...

We learned what are those pictorialisms in my previous article here. However, among all the confusion about knee menisci, the fact that I like it soft and where one can use vaseline, one would miss the most essential information - what is the initial impulse, who is the cornerstone around which the temple of my photographic ingenuity has been...