I love my AE-1 Program (or, primes rock)

So I ran a roll of Kodak Ultramax 400 through my AE-1 Program. I wasn't expecting too much from this film - it was really a test roll for my recent FD lens acquisitions. And when I saw the prints today, the first few shots were out of focus or shaken so I was a little sad. Then I had a chance to look through the rest and was pleasantly surprised.

One of the most interesting shots was with the 24mm Sigma. I had managed to get the lens slightly "cross-threaded" on the mount and I couldn't get it to focus - I thought I'd broken it somehow but took the shot anyway, of the grand old Exhibition Building in Melbourne, and it turned out a look like those tilt-shift pictures you see (makes sense, I guess). Then I figured out what I'd done, mounted the lens properly and got a beautiful, focussed shot - amazing blue sky and brushed clouds, almost like an HDR (high dynamic range) digital image. Like so:





Next I tried the Sigma 600mm f/8 mirror lens. I pointed it at the little tower on top of the dome and got a beautifully sharp of something that was only a tiny detail in the frame from the 24mm lens. The background was that bright blue sky, so there were no "donuts" in the background "bokeh" that are a drawback with the mirror lens design. I also shot some long-range "portraits", both against a background of trees (yielding donuts) and a blank wall. So long as I managed to get the subject in focus, they were wonderfully sharp. The donuts are a little trippy but I think are an interesting effect if used tastefully.





Finally I shot some portraits with the 135mm f/3.5 (pretty close equivalent to the 85mm I love using so much on the 350D, focal length-wise, anyway). Again, nice and sharp with beautiful colours.

I'm tempted to say this is the roll of colour film that I've been happiest with, but that wouldn't be quite true, having looked back at some of the Fuji 400H and Velvia 100 I shot at the Melbourne Zoo on the EOS 50. Still, I'm really glad I bought the AE-1 Program and I have new respect for Kodak Ultramax 400.