M'sama

There are three truths that I have learned as a photographer. If you want to flourish, you cannot work around these three simple lessons. They are very simple things, hence very easy to learn and or implement. Most photographers think that if they buy the latest Canon, Sony, or Nikon camera and or lenses, and lighting gear, and capture the most beautiful images, then they will be…

To hire, or not to hire a photographer, that is the question. We all have cameras in our pockets or handbags these days, and we take a lot more photographs of things that we do, love, and enjoy. The degree and competency we do it is what differs. Some love it. Some hate it. And some would prefer someone else takes on that duty or responsibility, and does it competently, all night so that they can…

Hi, please check out my latest post after a very long time off. I am back! And happy to reconnect with you about where I have been, my growth over the past few years, and the new ideas I intend to tackle.

Are your personal friends on Facebook good followers for your business page?

Your personal friends on facebook are not necessarily good friends for your business page. I am not mincing my words on this.

It is not because your friends are haters. It is not because they are jealous. It is because they do not need your business or services.

It is best to make sure that if you are inviting someone to like your page, you have an idea if they are likely to purchase your…

I was starting out with my first DSLR, the Canon 700D, and I could not afford new lenses, not even the famous nifty fifty.

I was in a tough place at the time. To make up for what I did not have, I had to learn different ways to achieve the results I wanted.

I tried the macro reverse rings, macro filters – magnifying glass, and extension tubes. They worked quite well but required compromises which didn’t always suit me.

I also looked at alternative macro lenses including ones from the film cameras on the FD, PK, M42 mounts and the likes. But they too were also expensive and even harder to find. Vintage glass is still priced competitively. So it was not an option.

During my search, I stumbled on very closely knit Google forums where there were these groups who were into very niche lenses/ cult lenses.

It was where I discovered a little known secret or probably one of the best kept secrets – The Cosina 100mm F3.5 Macro lens. The lens even had dedicated Flickr cult groups.

The Poorman’s Macro Lens – The Cosina 100mm F3.5. This one comes with a Canon EF mount and works on both crop sensors and full frame cameras.

It is known by many different names. Some will know it as Vivitar, Pentax, Promaster, Phoenix, Soligor or Voigtlander. They also come in many different mounts too.

Many of the names above may be unfamiliar to the new school of digital shooters, but most old film shooters will be very familiar with the above. They will have some interesting memories and anecdotes about those times and the gear back then.

The Cosina lens was known as The Poorman’s Macro lens. And that was a moniker that befitted my circumstances at the time.

It seemed like the perfect lens for me. It reminds me of the Canon nifty fifty and the moniker plastic fantastic: it was made up of mainly plastic and glass but with a metal mount. Surpising for a lens as cheap as a packet of chips.

At the time, it was the cheapest long prime lens available. You could not get a 135mm or longer lens with an F3.5 aperture at a price close to the Cosina. There aren’t many around and none I can think of at the top of my head.

The ones I know of are from the film camera days and they are all manual focus and have no autofocus and require adaptors to mount them on modern DLSR cameras.

That alone made the Cosina 100mm F3.5 worthy of my attention. Losing two thirds of a stop on the F2.8 lens was not a big issue for me.

Although it has aautofocus, you wouldn’t like to hear it groaning and moaning as it goes through the gears. I don’t mind it. It is like music to my ears and in most cases when I am shooting, I have my headphones on and I am listening to music.

The downside is that the lens only has a macro ratio of 1:2 which is not a true macro, but the good news is that most come with a matched 1:1 adaptor that allows the lens to focus at 1:1 and deliver a true macro experience.

Hean on image of a Maybug/ Cockchafer shot with a Cosina 100mm Macro Lens with extension tubes which allows the lens to focus a lot closer and magnify the image to 1:1 reproduction or more without the 1:1 matched adaptor.

Mine came without the adaptor. I got my copy of the lens for about £30 and that was very cheap; cheaper than a secondhand nifty fifty.

When I looked for the matched adaptor on eBay, I saw a few but they all cost more than the lens so I never bothered buying it because I knew that I was going to eventually buy a proper macro lens at some point so I saved the money for that purpose.

The lens surprised me: it was pretty sharp wide open at f3.5. And stepped down it was even sharper. The contrast and colour were excellent.

An image of a Maybug/ Cockchafer shot with a Cosina 100mm Macro Lens with extension tubes which allows the lens to focus a lot closer and magnify the image to 1:1 reproduction without the 1:1 matched adaptor.

On top of that, it is a great portrait lens, as most macro lenses or lenses at that focal length. That makes them pretty versatile.

As a compact lens, it serves well as a street photography lens if you want to be invisible and don’t want to be in people’s faces.

The attached images were shot with that lens. The lone below was shot just with the lens alone. The first two above were shot with the lens with extension tubes.

Image of a Maybug/ Cockchafer shot with a Cosina 100mm F3.5 lens without any extension tube or the 1:1 matched adaptor that normally comes with the lens. Without the matched adaptor it obly shoots at a 1:2 reproduction rate or less depending on the dustance from the subject.

I have had many good lenses but this cult lens is one I have not being able to get rid of.

It is hard to find; it is a rare lens and I love it. Despite it’s plastic build, finicky manual focusing ring, the not so silent autofocus, it is one of my favourite lens. It is a beauty to posses and fun to shoot with.

The bokeh is beautiful and there is an aesthetic to it that is hard to describe.

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It is a lens that surprised and taught me not to be a lens snob because it is the tools that the workmen ignore that deliver splendid results.

Don’t get caught up in pursuing the most expensive glass that you think that you can afford because there are tools that don’t cost the earth that get the job done for a packet of chips [in photography terms].

Sometimes, I am grateful I went through that rough phase and had to learn about lenses that were on the market that would deliver results I needed without having to break the bank. I sometimes feel like a resevoir of gear knowledge in my head I can draw from lol.

What are your best kept secrets in lenses that surprised you and delivered more than you expected for the price?