Originally posted by Frank B. Jackson Regarding the 85mm lens that has been mentioned. I don't have one yet, but was considering to buy the M42 Takumar 1.8 with a screw adaptor, if this would be a good choice? I do have some budget for this project so i can afford to spend a bit of money to get the correct set up for this project.
Or maybe the Samyang 85mm f1.4?
Originally posted by Frank B. Jackson This shot shows an issue i was having. With the model moving, i often found it very hard to keep her in focus. I'm interested in walking motion because it can create some interesting shapes with the structure of the feet.
Yes, its best if you can somehow prefocus or use zone focusing/hyperfocal focusing. But there might also be motion blur in that particular photo. We assume people walk smoothly, but on cameras even a slow walk can cause quite a lot of blur if you don't have a fast enough shutter speed (and / or flash). So best is to use tripods, flash/continuous light, prefocus,..
Originally posted by Frank B. Jackson The next shot illustrates the issue i was noticing with noisy/grainy blacks (ceiling).
What film did you use and how did you process the photo? Grain is sometimes added to black or white areas to give them some texture, so they aren't completely just one colour. It also depends on the film and processing
Originally posted by Frank B. Jackson The next shot I believe is with the 28mm lens, is this why the model seems to be somewhat elongated?
Yep. With wide angle lenses you get the benefit that you can come much closer to your subject and you get a wider Depth of Field (which is also why its "easier" to focus - simply because the DoF is so much wider, error is less apparent). The main drawbacks are the distortion (making limbs longer, making faces look rounder), making foreground and background feel much more separate (wide angle exaggerates distances), and also that working close to your model might be a bad thing - it often makes people uncomfortable when the photographer is very close. But if you work with experienced models or people you know well, that might not be a problem
Originally posted by Frank B. Jackson I'm starting to think that my main problem is having the apeture all the way open. The reason for this, is that even in such a bright room, no matter what i do i never seem to have enough light.
Yep, wide apertures mean shallow DoF, which can make it very tricky to focus. Using f5.6 or f8, on film you can even go up to f14 easily. I think most pro photographers that you see in magazines use flashes and f8 or so, to make sure the model is well-lit and sharp. Wide apertures can make a very nice bokeh effect, but are difficult to use. One thing you can do is buy a different focusing screen, to help you determining exact focus, but I don't know much about focus screens for the ME super, don't know if its possible
If you find you are using wide apertures too much, you can also try a film with higher ASA / ISO. But that can bring some other sacrifices.
50mm vs. 28mm - no, they are very different and will give you a different look. 50mm won't have the distortion and can have very wide aperture. 28mm has a slower aperture, but wider angle, more distortion. That is just a difference between wide angle, normal, and tele lenses. If you use a tele lens, the subject and background look much more "compressed".
All that being said, you took some quite nice photos.
The colours are nice, the exposure seems okay, the model is cute.. you just need to work on focusing and planning ahead. And it would be great if you could bring some more lights or flashes so you can use f8 and not worry about DoF and motion blur. Keep in mind that magazine photography is usually not spontaneous, but a product of a lot of planning. One easy thing you could do is add a remote trigger and diffused flash a little to the side and above you, that alone will make the model brighter and sharper. Of course if the flash is too strong, then the background will appear dark, so you need to find a sweet spot for fill flash.