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Editing a photo taken with a Carl Zeiss Jena 135/4 Sonnar and a Fuji X-T3
A vintage Carl Zeiss Jena 135/4 Sonnar whose RF mount has been replaced with a Fuji X mount by Adriano Lolli (https://www.adrianololli.com).Coupled with a Fuji X-T3, it delivers pleasant results. Post production is highly subjective, so the final outcome might no be ‘acceptable’ to some taste. Still, the lens is very good.
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A sample of the Carl Zeiss Jena 135/F4 Sonnar and a Fuji X-T3
This photo was taken with an old Carl Zeiss Jena 135/4 Sonnar whose Contax RF mount was replaced by a Fuji X mount by Master Adriano Lolli.
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Floating
This image was born out of a fascination with stillness in the midst of implied movement. The mannequin — suspended, curled, caught in an almost foetal position — seems to drift within a capsule that looks as though it could be orbiting somewhere far beyond Earth. The large, circular light behind it could be a porthole, a hatch, or simply a stage light; its blinding white obscures what might be beyond, giving the scene a surreal, detached quality. Technically, the biggest challenge was exposure. The extreme contrast between the brilliant backlight and the darker figure risked losing detail on both ends. I chose to protect the highlights, letting the shadows…
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Unattainable 1:1 magnification with the JJC FDA S-1 and Micro Nikkor 60 2,8
The JJC FDA S-1 does not allow a 1:1 magnification with the Micro Nikkor 60 2,8. It only reaches a smaller factor (about 80%.The probable reason is the excessive lenght of the original step-down ring.Using a thinner step-down ring, as it has been done in this video, does not improve the outcome.
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Processing a DSLR Digitised Black and White Film with Affinity Photo
This videos shows how to process a Black and White film digitised with a DSLR camera.The process starts from opening the RAW file in Affinity Photo’s Develop Persona. In short and in order, the steps are:
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Pixelmator Pro Debanding and Electronic Shutter
Pixelmator Pro Deband feature does not work on banding caused by the well known electronic shutter lag. The Deband feature has not been advertised as working also with ES-induced banding, so the fact that it can not handle it is not a bug. However, this limit seriously reduces the appeal of the new feature. I have flagged the issue to Pixelmator Pro Support: currently, they are out of work, but eventually, they should get back to me with some news. Good news, hopefully.
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Ten Years Ago
Exactly ten years ago I started my career as a photograper.
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Fisherman’s Fatigues
I shot this one late in the day, when the light had softened just enough to graze the worn textures without flattening them. The fatigue in the title isn’t poetic—these clothes, half-limp, half-hardened with salt and use, are the remnants of someone’s labour, someone likely still out at sea. I didn’t stage anything. These were just there, draped across makeshift wooden trestles, drying under the weight of their own exhaustion. What makes this image work technically, for me, is the tension between stillness and implication. Nothing moves in the frame, yet everything speaks of motion just ceased—pulling ropes, lifting crates, hours on a rolling deck. The shallow depth of field,…
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Daniele Silvestri – Teatri 2022 – Live@Teatro Massimo, Pescara
This is the Daniele Silvestri’s Teatri 2022 coverage I did on behalf of Rockol.it using good old Nikons (a D610 with the Sigma 150-600 contemporary and a D750 with a Nikkor 24-120). As a matter of personal taste, I still like a reflex more than a mirrorless camera. The possibility offered by the latter to shoot in total silence with the Electronic Shutter is invaluable in specific contexts such as classical concerts or theatrical plays, nowthistanding the downfalls (banding and distorted images). However (and, once again, this is a matter of personal opinion), a reflex still allow a better connection with the environment at least thanks to the optical viewfinder.…
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Norina shouts at Don Pasquale
This picture is part of the reportage I did for Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, featured on December 11, 2022, at Teatro Marrucino. It has been the chance to experiment a few tricks to avoid the banding effect caused by the LED pulse frequency and the sensor’s delay in EFC is used. I chose to go for time rather than aperture priority mode. I also set the shutter speed at 1/50, as suggested in many forums, and the trick worked. In some cases, banding was still present, but it was insignificant. I also tried to shoot in full manual (leaving only the focus in auto.) Some pictures ended up overexposed, and…
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Cleaning the Tabernacle
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Turiddu repeals Santuzza
This is a photo taken from the reportage I made for the Teatro Marrucino during the première of Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni. It captures the moment Turiddu (Piero Giuliacci) abandons Santuzza (Alessandra Di Giorgio), who —in turns— begs him in vain to change his mind. Image quality isn’t exceptional: unlike other cases, where the Fuji X-T3/Fujinon XF 16-80 pairing provided excellent results, this time it didn’t perform at its best, probably due to the choices on the scene lights.On the contrary, the composition is particularly successful.Turiddu is in the centre of the upper part of the picture. The railings of the staircase lead the eye towards him. Stantuzza’s dynamic…
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Technogym Milan@Night
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Leo Gullotta – Bartleby lo scrivano@Teatro Marrucino
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Late Night@Piazza San Babila
Working with a compact camera like the Panasonic TZ-100 at night is a reminder that you don’t always need a full-frame monster to tell a story — but you do need to understand and embrace the camera’s limitations. The TZ-100’s one-inch sensor is not built for clean, clinical low-light work. Push the ISO and it will show noise quickly; underexpose, and shadow recovery will fall apart. But here, those very traits help carry the mood. The composition rests on a central axis — the illuminated corridor pulling the viewer inward, flanked by the Binova and Ivano Redaelli showrooms. Their glowing interiors act like bookends, framing the pathway and setting a…
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Giorgio Pasotti – Racconti disumani@Teatro Marrucino
The stage is almost bare, yet dense with implication. A man in a deep red suit leans forward over a small stepped platform, his body angled as if straining toward something invisible. The light catches the side of his face, leaving the rest of the space in heavy shadow. To his right, suspended in the darkness, an image of a bottle looms, projected larger than life—its glass skin ghostly, its presence more oppressive than inanimate. This is Kafka territory. The stripped set, the exaggerated scale, the isolation of the figure—they all speak the language of unease. The microphone at centre stage stands unused, a silent witness, or perhaps a channel…
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Kristina Miller live@Teatro Marrucino
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Sergey Krylov live@Teatro Marrucino
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She Died Alone
She was a drug addict —a “junk” some righteous zealot would have called her— and died in the indifference of everybody but one. A flower and a rainbow unicorn are what keep her memory alive. The memory of a human being left alone also in her final moment.
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Still Ruling
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Get Ready, Set, Go
I’ve always enjoyed the way a single moment in the street can hold multiple narratives at once. In this frame, taken in Piazza Venezia with the Vittoriano looming behind, the cyclist seems caught between pause and motion — a split-second where the decision to push forward hasn’t yet been made. The backlighting was a gamble. Shooting into the sun with the Fuji X-T3 and the XF 16-80 meant dealing with inevitable flare, lowered contrast, and the risk of losing detail in the shadows. But I wanted that shaft of light breaking through, almost theatrical in how it picks out the rider against the cobblestones. Exposure was a compromise: holding the…
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So Long, and Thank You for the Fish
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Beach Party
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Stairway to Hell
