Tag Archives: Pentax Spotmatic

#Pentax SP – #Takumar 1:2/55mm lens ideal for #DSLR cameras

Takumar 1:2/55mm lenses are the perfect manual lens for DSLR cameras

Takumar 1:2/55mm lens

Pentax cameras of this era came with fantastic standard lenses. The one I purchased off ebay came with an original Takumar 1:2/55mm lens, a great lens that is flexible and precise. Takumar is the name that Asahi Optical gave to its lenses, which they used on Asahi Pentax cameras. These lenses were named after the Japanese-American portrait painter, Takuma Kajiwara.

Pentax SP 500 -Takumar 1:2/55mm lens

When the first Pentax Spotmatic was introduced to the public at the 1960 PHOTOKINA, photographic fair, in Cologne, Germany, it attracted the instant and close attention of photographers and photographic engineers alike.

The model range included the original Spotmatic, Spotmatic II and IIa, Spotmatic F, plus the SP500 and SP1000. There was also the Pentax SL, which was identical to the Spotmatic except that it did not have the built-in light meter.

To buy a Takumar 1:2/55mm lens click on the images above or here

Sketch in oil paint 2012

Oil sketch on board 2012 (smaller than A4)

I’m not sure why I have painted this image but…

We were given a potted pepper plant and I have loved watching the peppers grow, changing colour from green to red. I took loads of photos of it but decided to see if I could paint it in oils. I have done three versions of the same plant, two on board and one on canvas – the image above is the first sketch.

An oil sketch or oil study is an artwork made using oil paints, abbreviated in handling and looser than a ‘finished painting’. Originally these were created as preparatory studies or modelli, to gain approval for the design of a larger commissioned painting. They were also used as designs (working drawings) for specialists in other media, such as printmaking or textiles. The concept of a free-flowing painting became acceptable as an independent (finished) work, with no thought of it needing to be ‘finished’.

Sometimes you just have to get back to basics and do a simple still life – returning back to the basic skills of painting a real subject is an interesting exercise – even if not very rewarding.

Sketching: Other common tools for making marks include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses…

It could be argued that photocopying machines and printers can create sketches.

PeppersThe photograph above was taken with my Pentax K1000 35mm camera.

Pentax Spotmatic

My blog has reach number 1 in the top printing blog charts today. Image taken with a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm Camera - August 2012. Here is another photograph taken with vintage Pentax camera I purchased of ebay on the 15th July 2012. The Pentax Spotmatic takes M42 screw-thread lenses and was introduced by Asahi in 1964, it was the first SLR … Continue reading ?The image above: After Lunch by 35mm_photographs on Flickr
Image above taken with a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm Camera – August 2012.

Here is another photograph taken with vintage Pentax camera I purchased of ebay on the 15th July 2012. The Pentax Spotmatic takes M42 screw-thread lenses and was introduced by Asahi in 1964, it was the first SLR … Continue reading ?

The photograph: After Lunch by 35mm_photographs on Flickr

Painting out is painting in. #printmaking

I have begun to work over a screen printed canvas (the painting below is the one I have reworked) in the studios of West Buckland School, to illustrate/show a student how to edit a painting. It is important to remove all the noise from a image to get to a meaningful statement – too much clutter, to much overkill detracts the eye from the real deal.

The image above is a photograph I took with a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm camera using ‘old stock’ (March 2000) Agfacolor HDC 200 film. My current preoccupation with 35mm film photography as taught me to look at things again – capturing the odd moment or peculiar juxtaposition. The colours and layout are similar to the painting I have created from the screen printed painting below (I will post the finished painting image soon).

“Reflections Ilfracombe Harbour Jubilee Day 2012?

The composition of this painting is based on a Union Jack and is a combination of screen printing and painting.

The reflections in the harbour in Ilfracombe always amaze me – the dirty sea water mixed with the vivid colours of the reflected boats, the bobbing flotsam and jetsam, the sunlight and oil spills.