Friendly Weather, so Mountain Shooting

2013-11-07 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: Eastern Sierra, Lundy Canyon area, peak bagging

A warm spell provided the incentive to hop in my car and get myself over to the Eastern Sierra for 4 days of shooting, likely the last of 2013 before the passes close from snow.

The weather is friendly, and just about no one is around (I saw 2 people today today in Lundy Canyon, whereas October will have 40-50 usually). Yet aside from no yellow leaves, the slanting sunlight on the mountains this late in the year is gorgeous, as are the bare aspen and new ice that forms each niht.

Various things I’m exploring:

• Leica 18mm f/3.8 Super-Elmar-M ASPH. A superb ultra-wide, but I compared it today to the Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 Distagon using a Nikon to Leica M adapter.
• I thought it would be interesting to compare the Leica 50/0.95 Noctilux-M ASPH to the Nikon 50mm f/1.2 AIS (which Nikon still sells). So I did that too (with adapter).
• I shot some series with the new Nikon 58/1.4G and the same series with the 50/1.4G, 50/1.8G, 50/1.2 AIS. Different magnification (58mm vs 50mm), but maybe some interesting properties will turn up as insights into the relative merit of each, or lack thereof.
• Nikon 85/1.4G vs 85/1.8G: aside from lens speed, does the 85/1.4G have something to offer over its much less expensive sibling?
• Lots of overall shooting with the above, and also the 135mm f/2 APO-Sonnar.
• Not yet, but I’m planning on some Olympus E-M1 stuff. I’m finding it hard to get motivated over a 16MP small sensor camera, but I’ll get to it.

Images below processed at night in the field (car), so color and contrast might not be my usual.

Lundy Canyon, November 7, 2013
Leica M Typ 240 + Leica 18mm f/3.8 Super-Elmar-M ASPH

Lundy Canyon, November 7, 2013
Nikon D800E + Nikon 58mm f/1.4G

Lundy Canyon, November 7, 2013
Nikon D800E + Nikon 58mm f/1.4G