Luke W.

A bit of story for those who want it for some reason:

In the beginning of my short lived carrier of a professional photographer I only used either my trusty and now very old Huawei Ascend G300, or our family compact camera – Canon SX110 IS. I was very much just experimenting and went very heavy on post processing, to make my pictures at least mildly interesting. Later on I also touched analog photography with twin lens medium format Flexaret VI, which I got from my grandfather, and 35 mm Exa, which belonged to my other grandfather and which I found in a wardrobe at home. As the time went on, I slowly gained different interests, which led me away from photography – apart from taking an artistic picture every now and then.

Recently there has been a new spark and I had some cash on hand, so I finally bought what I always dreamed of – a full frame DSLR. Specifically a second-hand Canon EOS 6D Mark II, along with second-hand basic wide zoom lens and 100 mm telephoto macro lens, so I could shoot portraits (and macro, obviously). I was very naive to think that I won’t really need much more than that. Where will this new spark lead me is to be found out.

Gear

All the photo gear I use (or at least plan to use in some cases). Doesn’t include accessories (obviously).

• Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
• Canon EOS 6D Mark II
• Canon EOS 7D Mark II
• Nikon D3300
• Lens
• Canon PowerShot SX110 IS
• Meopta Flexaret VI
• Ihagee Exa
• Large format Compur camera
• Canon Prima Super 105 X

Canon EOS 1D X Mark II

I’d have never thought I’d get a camera like this. But then sports happened.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II

26 Megapixel DSLR with full frame sensor. My first DSLR camera, which I take everywhere I don’t need extra reach or weather sealing. The presence of a flip out screen almost outweights the problems caused by a small autofocus module.

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

20 Megapixel DSLR with APS-C sensor. Decent camera for long range and unfavourable weather. Gets really heavy and doesn’t like high ISO sensitivity.

Nikon D3300

24 megapixel DSLR with APS-C sensor. My first experience of a DSLR camera was with Nikon and I needed an inconspicuous camera which I could take with me anywhere – be it for street or anything else. I searched the internet for so long that I bought it from a friend in the end, basically new.

Lens

Ordered by focal lenght, short to long:

• Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4.0 L USM
• Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 STM
• Nikkor AF-P DX 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
• Canon EF 24-70 mm f/2.8 L II USM
• Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
• Canon EF 24-105 mm f/4 L IS USM
• Nikkor AF-S DX 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED VR
• Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II USM
• Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
• Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM
• Canon Extender EF 1.4x III
• Canon Extender EF 2x III

Wishlist:

• A tilt-shift lens (17, 24, 35 or 50 mm)

Canon PowerShot SX110 IS

9 Megapixel digital compact camera with 6-60 mm f/2.8 – f/4.3 zoom lens, 1/2.3″ CCD sensor and CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit). More info in the Canon Camera Museum. The first ever camera I had the honour to use in a more serious manner. it may be a compact, it may be a little old, it may be noisy as hell on high ISO (1600), but with CHDK it still is a powerful little digital camera. And it even runs on double-A batteries (sold separately)… kind of.

Meopta Flexaret VI

Czechoslovak middle format film twin lens reflex camera, with Meopta Belar 3,5/80 main lens and Meopta Anastigmat 3/80 viewfinder lens, 1962. Got it from my grandfather. It was obviously used a bunch, but it has also been sitting for a few decades. The lens required brute force to be moved to focus, so I figured I could try to clean it. After taking out a huge amount of gunk and taking in a huge amount of trumpet oil, considering that the shutter and aperture mechanisms were not working properly either, I ended up being responsible by not taking the camera apart and instead just taking it to a repairman for a fix up. Packed with the gift came a flash, lens hood, exposimeter and a yellow filter.

Ihagee Exa

“Version 4”, German 35 mm film camera with E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f/2.9 lens, 1956. Apparently the J is an I, go figure. It belonged to my grandfather, I found it in a wardrobe at home in the original box with an exposimeter, exposition table, a damaged remote and old plastic film cartridges. And of course a manual and the original receipt! No film can handle the power of this camera and only the strongest of films escape it’s mighty grasp and don’t tear in half. Seriously, no matter what I do, how gentle I am, this camera manages to rip the films inside it almost every time. But it’s beautiful. I will eventually try to get it fixed as well… Hopefully the receipt is still valid for warranty repairs.

Large format Compur camera (unknown maker)

Camera of unknown origin and maker. Dated to 1924 or early 1925 (according to the list on camera-wiki.org). It has a Compur shutter and should be working just fine. I have not yet taken photos with it, but it’s definitely on my bucket list.

Canon Prima Super 105 X

An honourable mention. 35 mm film consumer camera that captured all of my childhood. You can read about it in the Canon Camera Museum. At the time it was too expensive to get in my hands. But that’s good, since I managed to lose (or get stolen) my basic Panasonic(?) film camera I got from my aunt when I was about 10.

Contact

If you ever need something from me, you can contact me on social media, Telegram, or the good old e-mail.

Licensing information

…the slightly longer version.

I reserve all rights to my work published on this website, except for posts to which a Creative Commons license is applied – then you can refer to it and act accordingly.

What it means is that you should contact me before using my pictures in your works. And if you use my pictures without my explicit consent, I may or may not take legal actions against you. Of course I can’t control what you do and of course I won’t automatically be a dick, but just so you know. Basically I just want to retain the ability to fight against abuse. No abuse = no problem.

If you somehow profit from using my work, a donation is greatly appreciated (see footer).

Other links

I also make music sometimes, you can check it out on the music web.