Day Five: Reid State Park, Georgetown

Today we’re heading out to the beach at Reid State, but beforehead we’re going to stop off at the Montsweag Flea Market. And before breakfast, I head into town for a little fisheye fun.

Samyang 8mm Fisheye, Gossen DigiSix Meter It’s likely that anyone who has ever taken a high school photography course has been exposed to the fisheye lens. And I’m sure many feel the urge to go right out and buy one. And shortly thereafter, the fascination wears off, and it never again sees the light of day.

Truth be told, the fisheye look is not everyone’s cup of tea. But the fisheye lens can be an amazing tool when used in a way that takes advantage of its unique qualities.

Ultra Wide Angle You can think of a fisheye lens as a non-rectilinear ultra wide-angle lens. And you can use it that way by simply making sure that the horizon line coincides with the vertical dead-center of the frame. If there are any converging lines in the field of view, put them dead center in the frame, to tame the fisheye effect and minimize distortion. If you can, alter your position to avoid horizontal lines in the foreground by foot zooming.

Global View When used from a high angle pointed downwards, the scene takes on a globe-like quality as if everything existed in an enormous scale on a tiny planet.

Hemispherical Panorama When pointed upwards, the effect is that of a 360° panorama, where the horizon runs around the periphery of the image and all comes together at the center, creating a hemispherical view. This is especially true of circular fisheye lenses with a 180° or greater field of view. However, woodlands and cityscapes also lend themselves well to full-frame fisheyes such as the Samyang 8mm.

Bender of Lines Fisheyes are wonderful for bending straight lines, such as those of bridges, transmission towers and other overhead superstructures.

All told, the Samyang is a wonderful addition to your kit, as it represents a modest investment which yields much in terms of quality and versatility. First off, it’s manual focus, which is perfectly fine for a lens with nearly infinite deep depth of field. Secondly, it’s quite sharp and has excellent saturation and contrast. But, last but not least, this fisheye has what is known as a stereoscopic projection. Simply speaking, it has a much more pleasing interpretation of the fisheye aesthetic.

Being a non-chipped, manual focus lens, I get to work the aperture ring, which is smooth and offers atypical half-stop increments. Like the Voigtländer external finder, the Gossen DigiSix slides into the flash shoe to become part of the camera. It assists me in setting exposure, which is tricky with a lens that can pull together so much information a single frame.

Tip: The DigiSix has no power switch, so be sure to remove the battery if you’re planning on storing it for an extended period of time. It will give out in you when you least expect it. Also, a tiny drop of locktight on the threads of the hot shoe adapter will prevent it from loosening and falling off your camera.

I head out along East Boothbay where the Samyang 8mm can capture the vast scope of the Harbor. The footbridge adjoining east and west sides offers an ideal collection of converging lines to work with.

Part of the fun of working with fisheye lenses is hunting for subjects that lend themselves well to the aesthetic, and learning more about your visible world in the process. The Harbor has much to offer in this respect.

Montsweag Camera Find
Every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday there’s an outdoor flea market in the town of Montsweag, a short distance down Route 1 from Boothbay Harbor. And this week’s browse netted a unique camera find; a Mamiya-Sekor 1000DTL.

The 1000DTL was a very popular camera in the ’70s, and a ground-breaking one at that. It’a a great addition to my SLR collection, as it’s an M42 screw-mount, popularized by Pentax. In the world of Mamiya, leading manufacturer of medium format SLRs, this is also known as the “Praktica-Mamiya/Sekor 42mm universal threaded mount.”

This was the first 135 SLR with a dual-pattern TTL meter, switchable between a 6% spot and an averaging meter. It employs stop-down metering, which is more cumbersome, but also more accurate than full-aperture metering. Its user interface is elegant and simple; pull out the rewind lever to its first stop to turn the meter on, and push it back in to stop the lens down for metering and depth of field preview. When you’re finished shooting, press the center hub of the rewind lever to turn off the meter and fully retract the lever. The meter runs on a single, easy to find S76 battery.

Part of the fun of collecting these old cameras is cleaning them up. An old toothbrush, a few Q-tips, some multipurpose cleaner, and they look practically new. For stubborn stains, a dab of Soft Scrub goes a long way, and some mineral spirits removes sticky, greasy residue. A drop of bleach helps to whiten engraved and painted markings.

So, I drop in a silver oxide 357/303 battery (equivalent to the S76) flip the rewind lever, and sure enough, the meter works just fine. I just might have to pick up some 135 film to shoot before I return home.

At Last, Griffith’s Head Beach, Reid State Park Here I turn to the Nikkor AF-S 16-85mm G with the Cokin P173 Varicolor Polarizer.

Cokin P173 Varicolor Polarizer This wonderful filter uses two colored polarizers mounted at a 90°angle to one another. When light reflects from an object, it’s polarized into many individual planes. A standard polarizing filter allows you to screen out one of these planes of reflection. But the Cokin Varicolor filters allows you to color them, and the P173’s blue/yellow color scheme is particularly pleasing and useful.

The surf and sand at Reid State Park are perfect for showcasing the P173’s unique effect. You simply rotate the filter to find the right degree of separation between the two “channels” of polarized light. You can make the sky or water a deep blue, while retaining warmer tones in the landscape or foreground. Or, you can literally change the entire mood of a scene from icy cool to warm and inviting. It’s your choice.