I was impressed by my rented 21 mm Zeiss lens tonight. Every night after dinner Maria and I retreat to our workplaces to blog a final time. It’s a special time, Maria sits in the dark the only light comes from her laptop.
When we met, she rarely wrote. Now, she writes every day, several times a day. She is a natural and graceful and honest writer. I’ve been wanting to catch the feeling of this time, and the lens allowed me to do it.
Focusing is tricky, as there is no autofocus and my eyes are not quite as good as they were 30 years ago. This shot seemed to work though. It caught the mood of a creative person focused on writing.
Jon…
Your setup’s low light performance appears excellent. Why worry if the lens is used, if it is physically sound?
When I got my first 35 mm SLR (used), 52 mm lens and no automated settings (standalone manual light meter), I quickly found that low-light conditions would be a challenge.
So one question: In your photo, is the physical image really that color? I found that in low-light settings (without a flash), the photo image would be warmer (stronger reds-oranges-yellows). Back then, I believe it was an attribute of the film used. Also, the faster film required for low light produced a grainier image.