Not Tonight, Dear

I shot this photo with an old Nicca 3-F rangefinder. It was manufactured in Japan in the mid-1950s, so it’s about as old as I am. The 3-F is a very, very close copy of the Leica IIIf. (I have one of those as well.)

I used a Canon 50mm f/1.8 Leica-thread-mount lens on the Nicca. This lens is an inexpensive way to get into vintage rangefinder lenses. The Canon 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.2 lenses are both much more expensive. Most people consider the f/1.4 the best of the three lenses. I have all three, and they’re all fine lenses.

I took this shot on a cloudy winter day at Bredesen Park in Edina, Minnesota. I can’t remember the f-stop, but it appears pretty open–maybe f/4. I like the way the lens rendered the images. To me, the trees appear very three-dimensional.