A 1949 Canon Serenar Lens Photos of the Fine Arts and Heritage of the American West Show At the Prescott, AZ, Town Square (May 27-28, 2023)

Prescott, AZ, has the territorial days’ heritage of cowboy lifestyle, including the arts which are wonderfully represented in a distinctive fine arts museum called the Phippen Museum for Arts & Heritage of the American West. George Phippen, cowboy artist, founded the museum in 1984 where truly fine art painting and sculptures by cowboy artists are displayed, along with educational seminars about the American West.

For the past 7 years, on the weekend before Memorial Day, the Phippen Museum organizes an arts show at the Prescott town center. Artists display their works allowing visitors to purchase unique artworks for their homes.

One of the main attraction of that weekend are live painting sessions by artists who are given one hour to start and complete a new painting.  Thousands of visitors watch the painters up close throughout the process and then the completed artwork are put to auction.

This weekend, I wanted to capture a few moments through a 1949 Canon Serenar 50mm lens mounted on a 1953 Leica rangefinder camera.  The lens was produced from 1949 to 1952, and is based on early 1930s German lenses by Leitz.  For those who want to learn more about the history of 1950s Canon rangefinder cameras and lenses, I will share my experience at the end of this posting.

 

It was a very challenging afternoon for a photographer with the high desert sun filtering through the tall trees of the town square. Everything and everyone was part shade and part sun, making any composition aiming at smooth tonal range transitions practically impossible. Plus, with a 74 year old lens and a 70 year old mechanical camera, the challenge was not only in composing a frame, but knowing that these antique tools would be “overwhelmed” by the kaleidoscope of light and shade.

So, a perfect setting to test the old lens!

 

The photo at the top of the page shows the artists working on their new painting and captures part of the crowd watching the process. Of course a 35mm lens would have been better for a more inclusive view. Photo taken at f11 and 1/100^th second shutter speed.

I used two shutter speeds during that afternoon – 1/75^th for heavily shady frames, and 1/100^th for the rest. I wanted to remain minimalist and use the Leica IIIF for what it was intended – street photography.

I also used a vintage Spiralite coated 40mm filter on the lens hoping that it may increase contrast and minimise flare. If nothing else it protected the front element of the Serenar.

 

I decided to focus on 3 artists for testing the following aspects of the lens:

1.       The sharpness of the lens at f4 aperture since I could not open it more given the maximum speed of 1/1000^th of the Leica

2.       The contrast, and

3.       The shallowness of the depth of field or blurring of the out-of-focus background.

Here are examples:

 

Sharpness. This artist had the most intricate western clothing and the fine detail on her coat would serve for my test of lens definition and sharpness.  Taken at f5.6 and 1/100^th second shutter speed.

 

Contrast. This light and shadow falling upon this painter were like a web and patchwork. And, with the afternoon wind, the tree branches were moving changing the tonal range constantly. Here is the best shot I got after a few tries. Taken at f5.6 and 1/75^th second shutter speed.

 Depth of field’s shallowness. Finally, I was able to sneak into the crowd and see the picture this artist was using to compose his painting. It was a subtle test to see how the focus on the painter’s shirt would affect the sharpness of the picture a few inches away. Taken at f4 and 1/100^th second shutter speed.

 

Thoughts

I had used this lens once, years ago as it came with a 1949 Canon IIB rangefinder camera. I did not like the dim viewfinder of the camera and kept it as a historical artifact (more about it below). But the Serenar lens was beautifully made even if based on a configuration by German camera manufacturer in the 1930s.

But I am glad to have tried the lens again, this time on my 1953 Leica IIIF.

The photos came out better than I expected. Actually, the sharpness and contrast were very similar to a 50mm f2 Summicron I once owned. While the center of the frame is delightfully crisp and sharp, the fallout at the corners is very noticeable. As with all vintage lenses and those who still love to use them, the criteria for goodness cannot be similar to modern lenses. After all would one compare the 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass to an electric car? As with these cars, the driving reason for being behind the wheel of the Cutlass was the character and identity of the ride. It was my first real car (the Peugeot 204 could not compare…) and I still recall the joy of driving it around corniches of the Mediterranean.

Using the Serenar  was a bit like that – a lens that has a lovely background blur (bokeh) even at 5.6 and f4, and a sharpness that can add to the creativity if the photographer composes the scene keeping in mind the character and prowess limits of the lens.

Now a short background about the Canon IIB rangefinder and the 50mm Serenar f1.9 lens that was made for it in 1949.

Until 1949, all Barnack cameras, the Leica and various copies of the design by the German inventor Oskar Barnack, had three “eye” to look through – two round ones for the rangefinder assisting the focusing, and a rectangular one for framing the picture. Canon revolutionized the design with the IIB model, where the rangefinder and the framing windows became one. It was now much faster to focus and frame. But, the IIB had another major new feature – the rangefinder/viewfinder had three interchangeable positions, depending on the lens one uses. Indeed the improved finder could be switched for 50mm lens framing, to 100mm and also 135mm lenses. No more auxiliary viewfinders for each lens! This technological step forward gave Canon a new status in the field by now having its own designs and not making copies of Leica. The IIB was discontinued in 1952 but the interchangeable viewfinder technology continued through various models till 1959 when the Canon P rangefinder camera broke yet a new ground in viewfinder technology.

Here is my 1949 Canon IIB (on the right) next to my 1953 Leica IIIF showing the 3 vs. 2 rangefinder/viewfinder “eyes”.

 

Since the Leica has a larger frame than the Canon IIB (although the weights are comparable) I think the Serenar lens looks very proportioned on the Leica.

 

The Canon Serenar collapsible 50mm f1.9 lens was designed as the “normal” (50mm) lens for the IIB camera. When the IIB was discontinued in 1952, so did the collapsible design which was replaced by a rigid 50mm f1.8 lens. I have and continue to us the latter lens with my Canon Model L3, and it is among my favorite rangefinder camera lenses.

But since only 14,500 Canon IIB with the collapsible 50mm Serenar lens were sold between 1949 and 1952, the combination remains a favorite of collectors.

 

 

May 29, 2023

© Vahé A, Kazandjian, 2023

Mothers’ Day 2023 through a 1951 Canon Serenar Lens, Prescott, AZ.

 

 

On Mothers’ Day there was an arts and crafts show on Prescott town square. Appropriate for the day, most kiosks displayed Native American jewelry of silver and turquoise stone. Others had sculpture, photography and paintings.

For a street photographer, such gatherings offer the perfect setting to capture a few moments and also try lenses given the high desert bright sun and shades by trees and structures.

I decided to try a 1949 Canon rangefinder lens that I had added to my collection decades ago but never used. It is a Canon Serenar 35mm f2.8 lens that was produced only for a few years, hence it is highly collectible but did not gain popularity given its reputation for being “soft”. But the main reason I had not used it is that a 50mm lens captures the world more like I see it – whenever I used a 35mm lens I ended up cropping what I projected under my 1950s enlarger.

But, curiosity lead me to mount the 1949 design Serenar on my 1957 Canon L3 rangefinder camera and head to the town square.

Here is the Serenar on the L3

And a shade to minimise the softness of the photos given the desert sun

… I did not have a specific “topic” in mind for this photo session, but after few minutes of walking around I decided to capture the celebration with dogs being a central theme. Indeed, there were as many dogs as people at the town center, given the lovely spring day.

The photo at the top of the page was the first test of the lens. Given the transition of shade grades, I opted for an aperture of 5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/125^th second since I was using ASA 100 ARISTA film. I did have to crop some of the crowd out when printing since I was still “thinking in 50mm” when framing the man with the stroller in front of the statue. I was hoping to get a shallower depth of field with an f5.6 opening but the detail of building is capture with surprising definition.

My following shots were of a dog that advertised hats for dogs in front of a kiosk selling that product. I first used f5.6 with 1/60^th shutter speed, then f4 and 1/125^th speed. The first combination yielded a more contrasty photo although the sharpness and detail seemed unchanged.

After a few shots of experimenting with shutter and aperture combinations, I ended up with my favorite type of street photography – a man and his dog waiting for a portable toilet to become vacant. I like these natural photo frames when light, structures and behavior come together. Plus, my dog theme was perfectly realised!

I had tried most of the shutter and speed combinations (even tried an f2.8 with 1/500^th second just for the fun of it since 500 is the fastest speed on the L3) for shots within 15 meters. I now wanted to see how the lens does with longer distance shots.

I saw a group surrounding a dog that seemed to appreciate all the attention. I was about 30 meters away and did a zone focusing by setting the focus at infinity.

When I printed the photo, I realized that a better on the dog would have yielded a better story. But even with an extreme enlargement, the definition/sharpness of the happy canine is surprisingly good, although his eyes are blurred while his nails do stand out nicely.

Finally, I tried to contextualize the photos by taking a contre jour shot where the banner specified the day of the celebration.

So, how did the 1949 design Canon serener lens, which was only marketed in 1951 (my model) and 1952, do?

Better than I expected given the review it had gotten from users. It is a small, beautifully crafted lens that in my first attempt showed great sharpness and especially character. It does have that vintage lens rendition feel as well, which I like since I do not use digital cameras and modern lenses (a Nikkor lens from 1970 is as “modern” as my lenses go…) I will try it again now that I have a better understanding of its sweet spots regarding aperture/speed combinations.

As for using a 35mm lens for telling a story in street photography, the jury is still out. I think my favorite vintage rangefinder lens remains the Canon 50mm 1.8, which I have used for decades on the L3.

 

May 16, 2023

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Bicycle Race in Prescott, AZ, Through the Eye of a 65 Year Old Soviet Jupiter-3 Lens

 

When the digital world expanded to cameras, film manufacturers announced their decision to stop producing film. It was the 1990s and for people like me, it became the golden decade for acquiring everything film photography very affordably.

Among dozens of professional 35mm and medium format cameras, I got interested in 1950s Soviet rangefinders. Since film was announced to disappear, sellers were enticing “anachronists” like me with package deals, including multiple lenses, darkroom tools, and tripods. So, a 1955 Zorki camera I got came with three lenses – an Industar-10 and two Jupiter-3. One of the Jupiter (made in 1983) was missing the focus ring, while the other (made in 1956) had very stiff focusing. I tried all three lenses but only the Industar was focusing correctly.

So, I use the Jupiter with no focusing ring as a loupe to inspect negatives, and stored the other one with other lenses I ended up collecting more than using.

.. A few weeks ago I was looking for a lens when I noticed the 1956 Jupiter-3 at the back of the shelf. Curiosity led me to try mounting it on my 1954 Leica IIIF. To my surprise the infinity mark stopped right at the center of the Leica’s infinity scale (all other Soviet lenses screw in further on German and Japanese cameras.)

So, I focused on infinity and it was spot on. Then I focused on an object at 1 meter, and it was spot on again! Could this lens actually calibrate well on my Leica?

Needless to say, I decided to try the lens during an upcoming bicycle race event and see what may come out on the negative.

But first, I needed to disassemble the lens and hope that a cleaning and lubrication may allow me to rotate the focusing ring.

As I have seen inside many Soviet vintage lenses, there was engraving inside the aluminum barrel. Usually these are lines indicating that someone had tried to adjust the focus of the lens by trying various shims and when successful, has made a scratch in the aluminum to indicate where to realign the parts if the lens was taken apart again. But this time there were engravings by someone very talented in engraving.

 

For example inside the aluminum barrel (housing) the handsome engraving showed

 

And on the lens/glass housing, it read

I have no idea what these mean.  Clearly the shim had worked in adjusting the focus, as I often see 2 or more thinner shims indicating trial and error during the reassembly of a vintage lens.

No matter, I spent time cleaning the 65 years of residue and solidified lubricant. To my delight, now the focus was very smooth and with no hesitation.

I was ready to load a 100 ASA film and get ready for street photography on the weekend.

But first a few lines about the Jupiter-3 lens and how it fits in the WWII events.

 In the late 1940s the Soviets moved the content of the German Zeiss factories in Jena to Krasnogorskij, near Moscow. And that gave a boost to the Soviet industry of photographic instruments and lenses. Among the lens components were blueprints and Shott glass of the venerable Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5, the fastest lens for 35mm cameras. Using these materials, the first Soviet copy of the Sonnar was launched in the USSR in 1948, named Jupiter-3 and known as Zeiss Sonnar Krasnogorskij. When the Zeiss components were depleted in 1954, Jupiter-3 was manufactured in various Soviet factories with Russian lens and aluminum bodies. So all Jupiter-3 lenses produced before 1955 (approximatively) were in fact Sonnars assembled in Russian factories and are highly regarded.

My lens is from 1956, made at the ZOMZ factory, and has that lovely purple single coating.

Ok, now about the results, keeping in mind that this was the first roll I shot.

I was not interested in taking photos of the bicycle race – those with modern digital wonder cameras are the ones who can take hundreds of shots in a few seconds and then keep one or two good ones. I had rolled about 20 frame worth of film in my plastic canister and wanted to test the lens in as many light situations as possible. And I was especially looking to capture moments that would make this bicycle race one in a cowboy city’s identity.

The photo at the outset shows the start of the 30 km race. The signal was given by a man, in Western attire, shooting a shotgun with a blank load. Perfect for placing the race in the cowboy town context.

 

Of course I had one clicking opportunity to capture the shot and that would be by capturing the smoke out of the barrel. If not, it would look like a man holding up a shotgun. I used an aperture of f8 and a shutter speed of 1/200^th second. Although the focus is slightly off, I am pleased with the contrast by this 65 year old lens.  And it seems that my 65 year old Leica’s speeds are ballpark given that I have never had the camera serviced…

 

Before the race started, there was a lovely “local” moment when the cowboy placed his shotgun in front of the start line signaling that the start time was approaching

The contrast with the high tech gear of the cyclist and an old double barrel shotgun is pleasant. I took both of these photos with an aperture of f16 and shutter speed of 1/100^th second.

 

Finally, I wanted to see how the depth of field was rendered. Focusing on spectators 10 feet away from me, the peloton as the foreground is still quite in focus. I did wait a few seconds to let the front runners run, and capture that one cyclist who maybe started a bit slow.

 

So, I am pleased with the first results – the Jupiter-3 has that vintage Sonnar character, and at the apertures I used, sharp enough to tell a story.

Next I will test the full aperture of f1.5 with portraiture shots.

 

May 4, 2023

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023