Roger W. Hicks

Show Reports
Shutterbug’s Exclusive photokina Coverage; Accessories: Can’t Live Without ’Em
Roger W. Hicks  |  Jan 01, 2009

One of the great pleasures of photokina is finding really brilliant new accessories. Some are completely unexpected. Others, you’ve wanted for years but have never been able to find—often because until now, the technology needed to build them has not been available.

A shining example (literally) of the latter, and the accessory hit of the show as far as I am concerned...

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Medium Format Camera News
Shutterbug’s Exclusive photokina Coverage; Medium Format: High-Res Backs Raise The Ante
Roger W. Hicks  |  Jan 01, 2009

As ever, medium format—hereafter MF—ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. For sublime, it’s hard to beat the new 50-megapixel Hasselblad or the 37.5-megapixel Leica S2, or possibly the Rollei/Sinar/Leaf Hy6, built by Franke & Heidecke (with their new option of a 6x6cm rollfilm back). As for ridiculous, well, I know I’ll get hate mail from Holga owners, but...

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
The Zeiss Distagon f/2 28mm ZF Lens; A Manual Focus Lens For Film And/Or Digital SLRs
Roger W. Hicks  |  Dec 01, 2008

As soon as I heard about it, I wanted to try the f/2 28mm Zeiss ZF lens; ZF, for those unfamiliar with the current Zeiss line-up, is their superb line of Nikon F compatible manual focus lenses, as distinct from ZM (Leica M compatible) and ZV (classic Hasselblad compatible).

All of the ZF series are also available in ZK (Pentax K bayonet compatible) and a few, though apparently not...

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Lens ReviewsMedium Format Camera NewsMedium Format Camera Reviews
Zeiss ZV Lenses For Hasselblad; Classics In The Modern Age
Roger W. Hicks  |  Apr 01, 2008

What is the appeal of "retro" photography? I mean, surely, hasn't everyone "gone digital" nowadays? And equally surely, wouldn't you admit that the three new ZV Classic lenses from Zeiss, for traditional Hasselblads, are as retro as they come?
The answer is no, on both counts.

 

First, film has no more been killed by digital than...

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Classic Camera Reviews
The Nikon Historical Society Voigtlnder R2S; Collectible & Classic Rangefinder
Roger W. Hicks  |  Mar 01, 2008

This is, by any standards, an unusual camera: a special edition of a special edition. It's the rare (and otherwise discontinued) Nikon S-mount version of the all-mechanical Bessa R2, with minor cosmetic changes to reflect its Nikon Historical Society status, and it comes with the highly desirable and extremely retro-looking 50mm f/3.5 S-Heliar. At $999 it's not cheap...

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A Busman’s Holiday; Thoughts On Quality, Price, And Longevity While On A European Factory Tour
Roger W. Hicks  |  Feb 01, 2008

Photography is a wide-ranging field that engenders passion in its practitioners, and like all great forms of expression creates opinions formed through experience and reflection. In its early days one of the great debates was: Is Photography Art? This was the subject of many essays and heated discussions among players and spectators. Today, issues such as film vs. digital, format...

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Film Photography NewsFilm Photography Reviews
Efke’s IR 820 Infrared Film; A Unique IR Option
Roger W. Hicks  |  Feb 01, 2008

There is a saying: remember, you are unique, just like every other human being. There is also the question of how far we are shaped by our genes, and how far by our upbringing.

 

Similar observations apply to infrared (IR) films. No two emulsions are quite the same (genetic uniqueness), and even with the same emulsion, each photographer has a different regime for...

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Fine Art ...And A Family-Size Pizza
Roger W. Hicks  |  Jan 01, 2008

Photography is a wide-ranging field that engenders passion in its practitioners, and like all great forms of expression creates opinions formed through experience and reflection. In its early days one of the great debates was: Is Photography Art? This was the subject of many essays and heated discussions among players and spectators. Today, issues such as film vs. digital, format...

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
You Can’t Use Old Lenses On Digital Cameras! Or Can You? An Extensive Test With The Leica M8 Just Might Change Your Thinking
Roger W. Hicks  |  Aug 01, 2007

"My" Leica M8--a loaner from Leica for review--came with a 50mm f/2 bar-coded Summicron. The 18x27mm sensor turns this into a 67mm lens in 35mm terms: rather long for someone whose standard lens on 35mm has for decades been a 35mm. So as soon as I got the M8, I started using other, older lenses. There is, after all, an enormous choice, from 12mm (18mm...

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Classic Camera Reviews
Classic Cameras; Leitz ELDIA And NATRA; The Lowest Price Leica Collectibles?
Roger W. Hicks  |  Jun 01, 2007

It's made to use with your classic Leica; it's a long-established accessory, first introduced in 1931; it's in gorgeous black wrinkle paint, exquisitely engraved with the E. LEITZ WETZLAR logo; there's a beautiful red safelight glass built into the back; it's in mint condition; it's boxed, with instructions; when it was new, probably 50 years...

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