Zany and counter-intuitive gear for making portraits.

Way back in 2012 Sony came out with a very odd and eccentric camera. I bought one. It was at a time just before Sony discovered full on mirrorless tech. The camera had a semi-transparent, non-moving mirror that let light through and bounced some of it up to the viewing pentaprism and the rest directly to the back of the camera; the the 24 megapixel, APS-C imaging sensor. A strange hybrid of mirrorless and DSLR technology. Perhaps copied from a much earlier film Canon SLR that also used a fixed pellicle mirror. 

I used that camera --- a lot. It was also a time in which there was still some inventory overlap with film stuff in my office. Specifically some Hasselblad lenses for the V cameras and at least one old 500 C/M body. On a typical lark I sourced a Hasselblad to Sony SLT camera lens adapter and put one of the medium format 80mm Zeiss Planar lenses on the cropped frame A77 body. My favorite model/all around intellectual powerhouse, Lou dropped by for a visit. She was on a book tour at the time. ("Why Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl. And Why You Should Too.") She dropped by to give young Ben a copy of her book (which he read cover to cover and took to heart!). 

The studio was set up for some other project but I invited Lou in to sit for a portrait. I used the odd couple camera set up described just above. The original raw files were in color but I always thought portraits looked best in black and white and as I have no psychological problems converting to B&W in post that's exactly what I did. 

I shot the images at f5.6 and I can't honestly say that they look much different to me than the same focal length on a more modern Sony lens of the time might have looked. But it was fun to feel the friction of using perilously mis-matched gear to make portraits so I like it better. And, of course, I cropped it square.... (see original frame just below). 

One more day of high heat here. The power grid is holding. The home and office air conditioners seem robust and efficient. Aiming to keep the interior temps around 78° and augment with fans for the perception of more cooling. I've got a few errands to run early in the afternoon but after that the day becomes a waiting game for a camera delivery. I have my fingers crossed that it happens today (as scheduled and confirmed) and that the camera is well packed against the heat of an un-air conditioned delivery truck. 

Miraculously the pool water was 82° today. A testament to the effectiveness of the pool's aerators and the lower humidity last night. 

All good here in paradise.