Lens Reviews Are Weird. Also, Cat Photos!
If you like cats, you'll LOVE this post... If you like lenses, you MIGHT like this post.
I just published a video lens review on the Nikon 40mm f/2 over on the YouTube. You can check it out here:
It’s a good lens. It might even be a great one - it’s small, light, sharp enough, and cheap.
BUT - I find lens reviews super weird.
The way I use my lenses is different, and I don’t know too many other people who think like me. That’s GOOD! Being different is what makes life interesting, right?
For instance, I mostly use the 40mm f/2 on my Nikon Zf. This is my “fun” camera. My “soul” camera. The camera I take out when I’m going on an abandoned adventure, or just a nice photo walk to get out of a depression or something.
For this type of work I don’t really care about sharpness, vignetting, flares, corners, or any of that. I care about how “interesting” a lens is. It’s one of the reasons I’m so enthralled with retro lenses with all kinds of flaws. I think flaws are a positive!
And yet I just published a lens “review” talking about this new-ish lens, and I’m wondering: am I actually bringing value to people when I talk about a lens?
Because I almost always show the edited version of a photo, not the one that came out of the camera.
Let me show you an example.
First, the unedited photo. This was from an old gas-station on the side of I-80 near the Milford exit in Nebraska, USA, taken with the Nikon Zf and 40mm f/2:
This is the photo edited:
Totally different, right? You can see I actually ADDED some darkness in the corners. Just a touch. And of course I brought out the cool morning “blue” light coming out of the western horizon.
The reality is that if I was a good “lens” reviewer, I’d likely show the photos before I edit them.
Before/After
But I’m just not personally interested in that concept. Instead, I want to see how the lens performs for someone who has a specific vision and interest in using the lens in a personal, creative way.
Put another way: I want to see how the lens works in the hands of an artist. I WANT them to do crazy things with it, because that’s what a lens allows us to do: see the world in a certain way.
That’s what makes lens reviews weird for me. People might want to know more critical insight into the lens… But I’m just not interested in that.
I only want to show people what a lens like this can do in my hands - an artist with a certain viewpoint. I want to inspire others to use this lens in a unique and creative way as well!
What do YOU think? Do you like seeing what a lens can do in the hands of someone like me? Or would you rather see a clinical breakdown of what the lens can do in theory?
Let me know!
LIFE UPDATE:
We have a new cat. Meet Oreo:
Oreo was a kitty we saw hanging out in the backyard earlier this year. My wife and I named him “Oreo” almost as an afterthought as a way to identify him. He has a “clipped” ear, which means he has previously been trapped, neutered and re-released into the community.
Over the course of a few months, he started hanging out closer and closer to us, and before you know it, he was “stuck” in a tree. That tree was not very high (I’m just using a cell phone for this shot).
I held out my arms to help him, thinking he wouldn’t accept… and he not only allowed me to grab him, he didn’t seem to want to get out of my arms right away.
So of course it was only a matter of time until he was in my arms quite a bit. Like… for hours and hours:
Then he started hanging out more with my son:
And then my wife:
YES, WE HAVE HIT THE KITTY JACKPOT!
So of course, after making sure he wasn’t a missing kitty, and after a clean bill-of-health from the vet, we’ve taken him inside with our family.
Oreo is seriously an amazing cat. He’s patient, kind, sweet, playful, goofy and gentle… and we are integrating him into our family life right now with the other cats in our home.
If you haven’t seen me on YouTube in a while, I talk about him a bit here and there, so go and check out these videos that include him at the end:
Are you a paid subscriber? Starting soon, paid subscribers will receive some Lightroom presets for every newsletter (and I’m working on more free stuff for paid subs in the future, like courses on editing, photography and more).
This month EVERYONE can get the stuff, and I have some fall-themed presets, bringing out some of the mystery of fall.
First up, we’ve got “Distant Sun.” A preset with some grain, fade, and warmth.
Before:
After:
I’ve also used this one recently, called “Forgotten Wind,” a preset I use in backlit situations like this one with fall leaves.
Before:
After:
The final preset is called “Dark and Gloomy” and it’s a black-and-white preset perfect for gloomy fall skies.
Before:
After:
Download them all here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hFW_XMpAH36Z54jby7ZsC1mLL6IyP9WS?usp=sharing
I’d love comments and suggestions if you have them. If you want to leave a voicemail for a future YouTube video question, you can record one here: https://www.speakpipe.com/jerredz
If you’d like to check out my work, you can find it at www.jerredz.com
Looking for my presets? Get them here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jerredz
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Drop me an email: jerredz@gmail.com
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Donna loves Oreo!