First Impressions: Diana F+ Premium Glass Lens

With the success of the Holga HGL-N Project, I could’t help but wonder about the Diana+ Premium Glass Lens. And so, this great little three-element coated glass lens found its way into my stocking this year, along with a Diana-Nikon lens adapter.

On a full-frame DSLR, this 75mm lens makes a great portrait lens, and compared to the standard plastic Diana lens, is super sharp and focuses to within 1 meter. But even better is how it breathes new life into the Diana F+ 120 film camera. Unlike the Holga HL-N, this lens is made primarily for the Diana F+ film camera, with the added plus that it can be used with an SLR with a simple adapter.

However, on a full-frame DSLR the adapter/lens combination makes for a compact setup, with the f/11 aperture being part of the adapter itself. But I can’t help but think how cool it would be if the adapter had the aperture “turret” that the Diana camera does. Looks like mod potential to me!

Compared to the single-element Holga lens, the Diana is brighter and much sharper, though a little more difficult to focus.

What prevents this from being the ideal walk-around lens is its long length. But the thing about shooting at 75mm on a full-frame DSLR is that you quickly get used to its clean, undistorted perspective. You can be a comfortable distance from your subject; the scale of nearby objects doesn’t fall grossly out of proportion; the angle of view is most flattering for portraits and figurature. It grows on you. As long as you’ve got room to foot-zoom, you’re good to go. 

Because this lens is capable of such sharp focus, you’ll find yourself wanting to focus it like any other lens. And with a DSLR, you can certainly do that. But, the Diana lens beckons to be used as a zone focus lens, and its front focus encourages that. No worries, it works equally well either way. I see a Holga/Diana glass lens shootout in the future.

Here are some samples:

Love of Lensbaby

I love Lensbaby; I really do. I bought the Composer, four optics and some accessories when I had my Nikon D90, but didn’t use it very much. When I purchased my Nikon D610, I began to use it more and more, but the aperture disks do slow things down a bit. I like the simplicity of them, and the fact that I can use swap them for the soft focus or special effects apertures. But when Lensbaby came out with the metal-bodied Composer Pro bundled with the Sweet 35 optic, I became immediately enamored with it. But, just now that I’m just getting around to ordering it, the Composer Pro II comes out, and throws a monkey wrench into my plans.

This is where my relationship with Lensbaby gets a little rocky. If the Composer Pro came bundled with the Sweet 35, I might have bought it on the spot. But, instead it comes bundled with the Edge 50. A nice optic, especially since its flat field optic more accurately simulates the “tilt-shift” effect. And, I was looking for something a little wider. Lensbaby can’t tell me if or when the Composer Pro II will be bundled with the Sweet 35, and I’m not prepared to pay $424.95 for it when it has less tilt range than the standard Composer Pro (or my original Composer for that matter.)

Now, I’m also thinkin’ about two other Lensbaby products. Liking the Velvet 56 for sure. But $499.95? (And then there’s the special edition in silver with copper accents for $100.00 more.) For $469.95 I could get the venerable NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4. But instead, I get a lens with one of the worst wide-open performances ever made. Not that I’m opposed to the aesthetic. But more on that later.

The other is the Circular Fisheye, and at $299.00 (right now available for $249.95) it’s both accessible and fun. So, no complaints here.

So while these two hold appeal for me, the Velvet 56 just doesn’t resonate, even though its aesthetic does. And this gets me thinking. When was the last time I encountered such significant coma that it created an ethereal, soft-focus effect? The last time I shot with a Minolta MD lens wide open…on my Nikon that is!

Yep, you read right; below f/4, those inexpensive optical lens adapters turn a normal lens into a soft-focus portrait lens.

The extra length increases the effective focal length, and the optics create coma that imparts a soft glow while letting sharp detail show through. 

So, if you love Lensbaby like I do, but you’re on a budget, choose wisely, and remember there are other options.

New Life for my Canon SD780 IS

The 8MP iPhone 4S bested my 12MP Canon SD780IS in low light. The iPhone’s physically smaller sensor had just the right number of pixels for its size to yield a photographically superior image. 

However, the Canon is now back in the game since Apple crammed one third more pixels, (12.2 MP to be exact), into three quarters of the space. The iPhone 6S images may look good to the casual observer, but zoom in and you can see the over-sharpened, heavily processed results of an overcrowded sensor. 

The iPhone is also just a tad too wide, unless you’re a dedicated 28mm shooter (it’s actually the equivalent of 29mm). So, objects are 18% smaller. This means that cropping to zoom in is even more troublesome. The SD780IS’s 33-100mm zoom lens gives it a significant advantage here too. 

So, the verdict is, while the iPhone’s camera is quite competent, it’s not so much a photographer’s camera any more; it’s a camera for the masses. There are better options out there for aspiring lensmen. 

First Impressions: Holga HGL-N

The Holga HGL-N is a 60mm glass lens for the Nikon F-Mount. Only, you can’t buy one, because it technically doesn’t exist. But, you can make one, if you have a mind to. It’s simply the Holga HL-N with the plastic lens replaced by the glass lens of the 120GFN. And the good news is, you don’t have to actually remove the lens from the barrel; you can simply loosen the stop screw and unscrew the whole barrel assembly. And if you want your 120GFN back, you can just swap ’em back; without the stop screw, they’ll both focus a little bit closer.

Wow! What a difference! I drilled out the “vignetting” mask long ago for use with my full-frame DSLR, and the “real” Holga lens has a much larger aperture on the barrel assembly than the HL-N! That means faster, and sharper due to the glass lens. It solves many problems associated with the original HL-N.

One thing; I think infinity focus might be a little off, just as it is with the plastic lens. But that should be easily corrected with another minor mod.

Here are a few samples. Some are taken with the Holga close-up lenses (also glass) which fit perfectly on the “HGL-N”.

Heading to Holgaville; Next Stop, Dianaland

Taking a break from digital. With the diminishing Holga offerings from B&H, I thought It might be a good time to order a Holga 120GFN. It arrived, along with the 120 Pan from HolgaCamera.com yesterday.

I'm so glad I waited. This new Holga works correctly right out of the box, no mods necessary. I never did get around to modifying my 120FN. The 120 Pan as well. There are slight changes in the tooling of the GFN, but the most noticeable difference is the lens barrel. They got rid of the focus scale insert, and now tampo the scale right on the barrel itself. The tooling of the barrel is also better in general. The 120 Pan is even flocked inside.

As these came directly from Hong Kong, it’s likely closer to the source and thus newer stock. I can’t wait to shoot with these and to spend some quality time with Diana as well.