Nick Collingwood Embraces Vintage Aesthetics in the Digital Medium with the Nour Triplet V 2.0/64 Bokeh Control Art Lens

Our LomoAmigo Nick Collingwood is all about embracing the vintage aesthetics of analogue (hence his nickname "Nick Collingwood Vintage"). He also has a love for our historically inspired Art Lenses such as the Petzval, so he was the perfect candidate to challenge with combining modern mirrorless digital photography with the timeless, classic look of our Nour Triplet V 2.0/64 Bokeh Control Art Lens.

Hi Nick, welcome back to Lomography Magazine! Can you share what you've been up to since your last feature in our magazine?

Oh I'm always up to something with film or cameras. Recently I have been shooting some 4x5 and 8x10 portraits and making cyanotypes which has been a lot of fun. And as usual, shooting entirely too many portraits on instant film. But I love it all.

What was your initial impression of shooting with the Nour Triplet Lens?

While it takes some getting used to, the end results are lovely. I shoot a lot with old large format cameras and vintage or non-standard lenses that have very unique bokeh that's not easy to replicate on small formats. But this lens has that large format effect to it. One of my favorite lenses to shoot with on large format is the Aero Ektar which is a huge repurposed military lens from the 40s and has an infamous swirly bokeh aesthetic to it and I felt as though this lens replicated that unique look in many ways.

Can you tell us a bit about what you decided to shoot with the lens?

I am a huge portrait photographer, so naturally I shot some portraits with a few of my fellow film and Lomo friends who I figured would appreciate a new Lomography lens and be patient with me as I tried it out. One of my favorite sets was with my friend Katelyn Sparks who is also an amazing photographer in the Brooklyn area. We kept it simple with her in a menswear look and we went to the park and played with the lens and the light around sunset golden hour.

How did you make use of the soft focus in your work?

The soft focus just sets this lens apart from any modern lens. Although it is obviously a lens for mirrorless cameras, it brings the analogue vibe to your photos that modern lenses just don't really have. They feel overly sharp and lack character and intrigue that older analogue lenses had. And many of those have very boring "clean" bokeh that ends up looking bland to me. Whereas with the soft focus nature of this lens, it serves to accentuate your subject a lot more, especially since some of the bokeh even kind of swirls around your subject.

In which situation would you recommend using this lens?

It's definitely meant for portraits. I guess nothing is stopping you from landscapes but you lose the interesting effects the lens offers. Also in the evening right before sunset is ideal. The lens bokeh is really fun to play with so shooting in nature or a park with trees in the background with light poking through help accentuate those effects. I shot both in the early morning and the later afternoon while trying out the lens and got some great results.

Do you have any tips or tricks for shooting with the lens?

Since it is a lens meant for digital cameras, you might as well utilize the benefits of digital. Many cameras offer focus peaking which shows tiny dots on the in-focus parts of the viewfinder which was extremely helpful. Also finding the magnification setting for the screen and setting it to a button so you can zoom in on the screen while focusing to ensure the eyes or your focal point are definitely in focus, as sometimes it can be quite challenging, especially in low light. Those two tricks helped me really start nailing focus on my shots.

This is not your typical full-frame mirrorless lens. What do you think of the Lomography Art Lens range in general, and the idea of bringing historic references and character to the digital world?

I love it! I'm generally a film shooter but am not blind to the benefits of digital. With that said, digital these days can lack emotion and the little imperfections that soften an image in a pleasing way. So finding these historic process based lenses is amazing. I've loved using the Lomography Petzval lenses on my film cameras.

Do you have a favorite shot that you captured with the Nour Triplet Lens?

I think some of the shots of Katelyn on the bench with the golden hour light pouring over her back are stunning. They give me such cozy, lazy Sunday in the summer kinda vibes where you'd nap in the park and relax.

What is your personality? Soft, classic or bubbly?

I personally love the soft side of things. The way the bokeh swirls and gives the images a very hazy look just gets to me. It's great.

Anything else you'd like to share?

I'm just grateful that Lomography continues to push the analogue aesthetic and film vibes despite the digital world we live in. It keeps things fun and interesting.

If you're interested in keeping up with Nick and his work, make sure to check out his Instagram and website!

Back our Nour Triplet V 2.0/64 Bokeh Control Art Lens on Kickstarter.

written by eloffreno on 2023-10-04 #gear #people #historical #lens #vintage #historic #lens-test #first-impressions