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Leica Noctilux 35mm f/1.2 ASPH Review: Chasing That Familiar Magic Lens Review Kodak Portra 800, Leica Noctilux 35mm f/1.2 ASPH, Hong Kong My love for the Noctilux started with the 50mm f/1. It wasn’t about having the sharpest lens or the fastest aperture on paper. It was that three-dimensional pop, the dramatic bokeh, and the way a subject could stand apart from the background. Once I experienced that look, it became difficult not to be curious about another Noctilux. So […]
Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4 Review — A Fast, Affordable 21mm for Environmental Portraits and Street Lens Review Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4 Leica M11 Black Paint, Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4, Hong Kong This is a hands-on review of the Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4, a fast ultra-wide M-mount lens, shot around Hong Kong on the Leica M11 Black Paint with Visoflex 2 and the Leica SL2-S. I’m not assessing it as a landscape or architecture lens, which is where most 21mm reviews […]
Thypoch Simera 75mm f/1.4 Lens Review – A Great Entry Point Into 75mm Lens Review Thypoch Simera 75mm f/1.4 Leica SL3-P Thypoch Simera 75mm f/1.4, Shanghai There are some focal lengths that never feel completely natural to me, and 75mm has always been one of them. It sits in that slightly awkward space between 50mm and 90mm. It is not as instinctive as 35mm, not as familiar as 50mm, and not quite as specialised as 90mm. Still, every time I […]
Best Places for Street Photography in Hong Kong: Mong Kok Guides and Tips Mong Kok If it is your first time in Hong Kong and you have a camera with you, Mong Kok is probably one of the places you should start with. It is one of those neighbourhoods that feels familiar even before you arrive. Maybe that comes from old Hong Kong police movies, where the streets always seemed packed with tension, fluorescent light, and movement. Or maybe it […]
Contax G Hologon 16mm f/8 Review – Learning to See in Ultra Wide Lens Review Hologon G 16mm f/8, Leica M2 Hologon G 16mm f/8, Kodak Ektar 100 I have never thought of keeping this Hologon 16mm lens until I took this as my own photography challenge. I tried the Light Lens Lab Hologon 15mm f/8 prototype some time ago and I’m still waiting for them to remake one. But as time goes by, I learned that the middle peanut‑shaped […]
Best Places for Street Photography in Hong Kong: Sham Shui Po Guides and Tips Sham Shui Po If someone asks me where to begin with street photography in Hong Kong, Sham Shui Po is almost always one of the first places I mention. There are many districts in the city that are visually interesting, but Sham Shui Po has a particular kind of energy that feels especially rewarding if you enjoy photographing everyday life. It is not a place that […]
Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4 ASPH Pre-FLE (11874) – Is it still worth buying? The Focus Shift Wasn’t My Biggest Problem Lens Review Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4 Pre-FLE (11874), Kodak Vision 3 250D, Tokyo Yes, Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4 ASPH Pre-FLE is still a good choice especially if you value rendering and atmosphere over technical perfection. The focus shift is real, but in my experience, it was not the biggest issue. What mattered more was handling, hood design, copy variation, and […]
On #MonochromeMarch by Ian J. Battaglia Diary I’m happy to share this guest post written by a good friend, whose thoughtful way of seeing and photographing the world I’ve always appreciated. Since moving to Tokyo in the Spring of last year, my photography has been at something of a crossroads. Despite making street photography for over a decade, and having worked full-time as a photographer, I’ve had this lingering feeling that there’s something missing in my work—a small but noticeable […]
Leica Q3 43 Review: Stunning Image Quality, But Is It the Right Leica For You? Camera Review Jimbocho Tokyo Spoiler alert: not one I kept and I’ll explain. A friend ordered the Q3 43 and when I first held it, my first thought was: this is actually quite light. A few months later I bought one to try, mainly because I’ve always been drawn to normal focal lengths. I use 50mm a lot, and on paper 43mm sounded like a […]
Harman Phoenix 200 II Color Film Review Analog Film Review Leica Summilux 21mm f/1.4 ASPH, Phoenix 200 II, Hong Kong Shooting Phoenix 200 II at ISO 100 feels like giving the film a bit of breathing room. The boss at HKcamera was right – the latitude is still pretty tight, just like the first Phoenix, and it punishes lazy metering. But when you nail exposure, it rewards you with this strange, dream‑like palette. The halation is still there, still blooming […]
