Micael Widell Newsletter #10
Captain's Log
Hi friends, all 1201 of you! January has been a pretty "meh" month for me in terms of photography. Winters are of course never a highlight for a macro photographer like me, who loves to shoot insects and flowers. But sometimes in the winter, I can find great enjoyment in photographing frost, ice or snow.
This winter however, in Stockholm where I live, has been just dark and snow-free. So it has been hard for me to find nice things to photograph. The photo below of my son (Samyang 35mm f/1.4 + Sony A7III) sums up the weather we've had pretty well. Rain, +3 degrees Celsius, darkness.
Nevertheless, I have soldiered on, doing some photography and YouTube videos – but now I really, really long for my trip to Malaga in a few days, where I will spend some time in a warmer climate.
Malaga trip
In the first half of February, I have a short trip to Malaga, southern Spain, booked. The plan is to go there to shoot as much insects and flowers as possible during 3-4 days, and also to record a YouTube video or two. I chose Malaga because the time I can spend away from my family and other work is usually very limited, and a flight there is very quick, while still providing warm enough weather in February for insects and flowers to be around. If you have tips on great locations for flower and macro photography in or around Malaga, please write me.
My best photo of January
Even in winter weather lacking bugs and flowers, I sometimes enjoy a photo walk when it has just been raining – water droplets photographed with a macro lens can be beautiful. Below is one of my favorite macro shots from January. Laowa 60mm f/2.8 + Sony A7III, no flash.
Pentti Sammallahti
I try to go to our very nice photography museum, Fotografiska, here in Stockholm at least once per quarter. It always has several ongoing high-quality photography exhibitions in a wide range of genres. This time, the exhibition that stood out the most to me, that I found irresistibly beautiful and mesmerizing, was Pentti Sammallahti's black and white wide-angle panoramic photos. Google his name and look for yourself.
I tried to find out what camera he used for this. Of course it takes more than the right camera to create such beautiful photographs, but the camera is still a necessary ingredient. After looking around in forums and doing some guessing, it seems he probably used a Noblex 35mm film camera. It is hard to be completely certain though, as Pentti himself does not want to comment on what gear he uses. They are pretty expensive, but it would be fun to try one out!
Mitakon f/0.95 lenses for MFT and APS-C
What has kept me away from APS-C and MFT cameras is mostly my love of plentiful bokeh and short depth of field. At the same time, I care a lot about the weight and portability of my camera gear. A lightweight camera and lens makes it more effortless to carry around for extended amounts of time, and often makes the actual shooting experience better as well. Recently, I found out about Mitakon's f/0.95 lenses for MFT and APS-C. What is surprising to me with these lenses, is that they are not only compact, lightweight but also have pretty damn good optical characteristics.
The 25mm f/0.95 lens
Photo taken with Mitakon 25mm f/0.95 by Paul Hayday, License: CC BY 2.0
For MFT they have the 25mm f/0.95 Speedmaster lens which corresponds to a 50mm lens on full frame with a DOF comparable to f/1.8. See this video to get a feeling for the image quality. I find the bokeh interesting and with a lot of character, although maybe not perfect. I would love to try this lens. See here for sample photos.
The 35mm f/0.95 lens
For APS-C cameras (Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X) they have the 35mm f/0.95 Speedmaster lens (make sure you get the mark II version as it is more compact and far sharper). The 35mm has a higher quality bokeh than the MFT lens, and it renders a beautiful, short depth of field equivalent to a 50mm f/1.4 lens on full frame. See some example photos here. I ordered this lens and I am eagerly awaiting it to try it out. It feels like it could be a perfect lightweight and compact travel lens when paired with a camera such as the Sony A6000 or the Fujifilm X-E3.
Go to a Museum!
If you feel your inspiration lacking, one of my best tips is to block out a couple of hours and just go by yourself to a photography museum. Walk around in silence, just looking at the photos. Every time I do this, I come home with new ideas and a renewed sense of inspiration and creativity!
LensTalk Podcast
One of the best lens review websites around, especially if you want reviews of old vintage lenses, is phillipreeve.net. I have been reading the articles on there since I first got into photography in 2016. The guys behind the website have now also started a podcast, centered around lenses: LensTalk.
It is wonderfully nerdy – often discussing very detailed aspects of different lenses and comparing their weight and optical properties, but I love it! If you are a true lens nerd, you will too. Go check it out at https://phillipreeve.net/blog/podcast/.
Enable hardware acceleration in Lightroom Classic on Mac!
If you are editing in Lightroom Classic on a Mac, try enabling the option in the screenshot below. It can give you some handsome performance enhancements. You need the latest MacOS and I am not sure if it works on all hardware, but definitely worth trying.
My Published Videos since the last newsletter
- 7 Macro Photography Ideas to try at Home
- Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2x Macro Lens Review + Sample Photos
- Black and White Macro Photography
Goodbye for now
Thank you for reading this far, and see you in a month! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, Instagram and 500px in the meantime. And also feel free to tell your friends about this newsletter, and to reply to it if you have feedback or comments :)
/Micael