The tale of the plastic sheet

“Just put it on top of the lens and tore it”.

With tons of suspicion, I did as she said. It`s a really nice contrast. The kind of contrast it`s nice to live so you can go over your ideas all over again. Feels like looking at your own car as if you were buying it, even if you have it for years.

And there goes about TWO HUNDRED years in lens development. As I putted the plastic sheet over the lens and tore a hole in it to take pictures, it felt like profaning on Carl Friedrich Gauss grave.

Most of the 50mm lens used today are developments of the original Gauss objective concept. The Double Gauss Objectives used today (like all the Canons, Nikons and Sigma 50mm, as well as Zeiss 50mm) were made possible by developing the original concept created by Gauss into a new kind of lens. These lenses are, at the same time: great at chromatic aberrations, distortions, vigneting, are provided with a large aperture (does anyone remember the Canon 50mm f/0.95?) and are cheap to build. It`s not a coincidence many photographers call the 50mm lens the “nifty fifty”.

Can we get back to the curled plastic sheet on top of my two hundred years lens?

Sure, the contrast. My cousin Elisa couldn`t care less about my Double Gauss design epic narrative. She cares about the expression of my photography. It`s something like “follow all the rules as long as that doesn`t stop you from getting your pictures”. As I already stated before, she is right. As she was teaching me the creative use of lens flare (yes, yes, I want to learn the dark side of the force) and the creation of soft focus using Vaseline or plastic sheets. She handed me the plastic and said: “Just put it on top of the lens and tore it.”.

As I was doing it, vexed about such a sin to the great masters, I kept complaining as if would make it clear I was doing it against my will.

“It`s such a shame to blow to smithereens so many …click… years of technological …click… development …good god it`s beautiful!”

Yes. Next time I want this kind of dreamy photo effect, the kind of effect that just a lens with fungus can provide (and I happen not to have one available), I won’t even blink before “just putting it on top of the lens”.

Thanks, again, cousin! :o)