A bit more detail about the baths. Used from about 1912 to 1980, the baths had pools, Turkish baths, and facilities for washing clothes. As time went by, the need diminished and eventually the baths were closed.

Now in the late stages of restoration, the building is magnificent. We were able to explore the Superintendent's flat, the baths, the offices, the outbuildings and even the tunnels beneath the baths. Under there it's like Urban Exploration without the danger!

Add four models and we had a wide choice of photographic subjects. It was a really fantastic evening's photography!

Tonight ADAPS visited Victoria Baths in Manchester, along with four models. This is a shot of Gemma in the ticket hall:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/009-Gemma.jpg[/IMG]
Pentax K20D/SMC Pentax-DA 12-24mm

It seems to have been a natural process driven by the members and the good service given by Chris.

Well done Chris!

Correct, the focal length does not change. But if you put a 300mm lens on an APS-C DSLR and a 450mm lens on a 35mm SLR the field of view will be about the same.

The consequence is that you get an improvement in reach with lenses on a DSLR, but making wide angles becomes more difficult.

The point I was making is that these are long lenses and are difficult to hand hold steadily. A tripod will give superior sharpness.

We're waiting to see spots in the competition, but apparently there are more spots on various sensors around here....I wonder who will be the first to post an entry that's a dust mapping image....

This is really a discussion in itself and I don't want to veer the thread too far off course - here's a good subject for a long chat sometime.

But when the Berlin wall was put up, that was the end of communication between CZ Jena and CZ Obernocken (I may not be close with that spelling without looking it up!) and that some of the finest lenses ever made came out of the West German plant.

Think Contarex with its West German lenses, reputed to still be the best ever made for a 35mm system and think Hasselblad where the lenses are described as being the highest quality of anything, just about ever.

Seriously, the factory that made Praktica cameras and the CZ Jena lenses is not in the same league, although they have made some good lenses.

It's a complex story though, and it can be looked up in lots of books and no doubt on the web as well, although Wikipedia is not always 100% accurate!

By all means disagree, that's freedom!

Not sure that Hasselblad would agree with you, but as you say, each to his own!

No, I think I'll stick to Planars.....

If you are referring to East European 135mm lenses though, I have to confess I wouldn't put them in the same category as Carl Zeiss West Germany.

What era of carl Zeiss Jena lens are you in possession of?

I presume you're talking here about elements/groups, but the Sonnar is a 5 element lens.

The Tessar is a 4 element/3 group design that improves upon the 3 element Triotar.

Good for you, but don't forget that you're not cured and could revert back at any time!