johnnyoptic's photostream  

I've become a compulsive experimenter: Homemade (DIY) lenses in particular, but also infrared photography, astrophotography, very long exposure, tilt-shift, pinhole, in-camera textures, light painting, camera movement, physiograms, Photoshop effects, and even some lensless photography. There's just not enough time.

Your feedback on my images is very important to me. Please tell me what you think works, and just as importantly, please tell me what you think does not work. Please tell me if you think I'm doing something interesting. Or don't be afraid to say, "This is the same old thing. It's time to move on, John."

But it's not all about my work. If you're doing something out of the ordinary, lead me to it.


Although it's definitely not about the gear, I suppose this is the place to list the inventory:

Bodies (film)
Pentacon six
Nikon F3
Nikon F
Nikon FE2

Bodies (digital)
Nikon D80 (got it off Craiglist from an ad for a broken camera. Fixed it.)
Nikon D90 (now my primary camera until I can afford a full-frame DSLR)
Nikon D100 (purchased for infrared photography)
Canon EOS digital rebel XT (used for testing my Canon-mount tilt lenses)

Lenses
Nikkor 18-55 mm f/ 3.5-5.6G VR (very rarely used.)
Nikkor 18-105 mm f/ 3.5-5.6G ED (got it broken. Fixed it.)
Vivitar 17-28 mm f/ 4.0-4.5 (wide, full-frame, manual focus zoom.)
Vivitar 19 mm f/ 3.8 (not super sharp, but decent. Also, it will focus to about 6 inches.)
Nikkor 24 mm f/ 2.8 AI (if I was allowed to have only one of my lenses, this would be it.)
Nikkor 28 mm f/ 3.5 (H) (recent acquisition. Hack-job AI conversion)
Nikkor 35 mm f/ 2.5 Series E
Nikkor 50 mm f/ 1.4 AI'd (not as sharp as I would like, but when I need f/ 1.4, this is it.)
Nikkor 50 mm f/ 1.8 AIS (small, light, convenient)
Nikkor 50 mm f/ 2 AI (great lens)
Nikkor 55 mm f/ 2.8 micro (the macro lens)
Nikkor 85 mm f/ 2 AIS (soft wide open, sharp at f/ 4)
Nikkor 105 mm f/ 2.5 AIS (just got it. Looks very promising.)
Nikkor 135 mm f/ 2.8 (2nd favorite right behind the 24)
Quantaray 300 mm f/ 5.6 mirror lens (convenient for taking bird photos while hiking.)
Spiratone 500 mm f/ 8 mirror lens (We miss you Spiratone.)
Sigma 600 mm f/ 8 mirror lens (when I need 600 mm which isn't that often.)
Celestron C5 1250 mm f/ 10 mirror lens (technically a telescope.)
Celestron C6 1500 mm f/ 10 mirror lens (also a telescope.)

Optical accessories
Nikkor Tc-200 2x converter
JC Penny 2x converter (yup, that's right, JC Penny!)
Sears 2x converter (I'm not kidding!)
Digital Visions .5x (very poor optics, but occasionally it has its uses)

Tilt lenses (LET ME KNOW IF YOU'D LIKE ME TO BUILD ONE FOR YOU)

178 mm f/ 2.5 Aero Ektar (Makes a monster of a tilt lens on a DSLR)

65 mm f/ 2.8 hacked from a Sigma 28-70 (The Rocker) sold to dhowsley
I've completed a replacement, made from an identical Vivitar lens


42 mm f/ 4 hacked from a Tokina 28-70 (The Odd Duck)


33 mm f/ 4 hacked from a 28-50 (The Batlens)


28 mm f/ 2.8 hacked from a Tokina 28 (The Li'l Rubber Ducky)
sold it -- see replacement below


55 mm f/ 1.8 made from a Fujinon m42 mount lens (Gonzales, as in Speedy)
24 mm f/ 4 made from a Vivitar 17 - 28 (the Magic Eye)


2x 28/2.8 (pure joy, times two)


Homemade lenses
Far too many to list. Here are a few...







I generally piece together my lenses from elements mounted in filter rings. This gives me the ability to quickly put together a combination, use it for a while, and then recycle the parts for another project. See my DIY camera lens tutorial for more details.

Strobes
Nikon SB-10
Vivitar 285
Vivitar 285HV
Sunpack auto30DX
Sunpack auto422D
Chinon S-250

Misc
3 sets of bellows
2 sets of extension rings
ML-L3 remote
MC-DC1 remote
2 tripods, a monopod, and a mini tripod

one very understanding wife.