Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Mannequin
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Adapters and other accessories
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:58 pm    Post subject: Mannequin Reply with quote
I bought a mannequin, because I subscribed to a course in Bologna about using external flashes (it will be held in May),
and I wanted something to practice with. Of course I can not ask a real person to stand there for a whole evening while I experiment with flashes. Rolling Eyes

Today I received it, I set it up in my living room and I decided to take some snaps in order to see how it "feels like".
Well of course it's nowhere like photographing a real model Laughing , but it's a decent substitute which does not want to be paid and does not get tired Wink

Now that I have it, I realized it's not only good for testing lighting schemes, but can also be used for testing lenses at close range.
Well, at least it's real size and always better than the usual fence or trash can Laughing

The following photos are all quick snaps I took after having assembled the thing.
Camera is 60D, lenses are indicated above the pictures. All lenses were used wide open and without lens hood:


#1 - Nikkor-S Auto 1:1.2 f=55mm



#2 - Carl Zeiss Sonnar 2.8/135 T* Contax CY MMJ



#3 - Nikkor-S Auto 1:1.2 f=55mm



#4 - Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 Red T first version (1949-50)



#5 - Nikkor-S Auto 1:1.2 f=55mm



#6 - Carl Zeiss Planar 1.2/85 T* Contax CY AEG 50 Jahre



#7 - Carl Zeiss Planar 1.2/85 T* Contax CY AEG 50 Jahre



#8 - Carl Zeiss Planar 1.2/85 T* Contax CY AEG 50 Jahre



#9 - Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 Red T first version (1949-50)



#10 - Carl Zeiss Planar 1.2/85 T* Contax CY AEG 50 Jahre


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pretty, isn't she? Very Happy
Why haven't you fitted the hood?


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ilguercio wrote:
Pretty, isn't she? Very Happy
Why haven't you fitted the hood?


Because I was too lazy! Laughing


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I don't know if you are practical or creepy? Smile


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Are these samples taken with the flash? Because it doesn't look like and i can't see it in the reflection of the eyes.
Are you using it bare or with modifiers?


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kansalliskala wrote:
I don't know if you are practical or creepy? Smile


Why creepy? Every photography studio that I know of has a mannequin for testing lights.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Who cares about flash - does she make the coffee?


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I've woken up with worse.................. Rolling Eyes

Wink


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I just bought one myself because it is not wise to ask one's wife to sit in for test shots too often.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kansalliskala wrote:
I don't know if you are practical or creepy? Smile


It's only creepy when you give her a name and start talking to her. It becomes weird when you start taking her out for drives in the country. Wink


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
skida wrote:
kansalliskala wrote:
I don't know if you are practical or creepy? Smile


It's only creepy when you give her a name and start talking to her. It becomes weird when you start taking her out for drives in the country. Wink


Very Happy Very Happy

Actually and old man with very wrinkly skin would be better for light testing? You could also scare the kids off your lawn with it.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Mark, in this photo, did you use two rim lights at the sides, or one large light from the rear?
I see no light on the top of the head, so my guess it's for two rim lights, although one large rear light
could have done similar if it was placed low.

Kram wrote:
I just bought one myself because it is not wise to ask one's wife to sit in for test shots too often.


In my case it would be impossible to make her sit at all, Monica hates to be photographed. Rolling Eyes
Yesterday evening I planned to make some flash tests, but I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch
after dinner and woke up that it was almost morning. Rolling Eyes So tests delayed.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wow that's one pretty "doll" for the opening shots, more human looking than those Cindy dolls. Wink


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excalibur wrote:
Wow that's one pretty "doll" for the opening shots, more human looking than those Cindy dolls. Wink


Actually, it's one of the least expensive that I could find.
It's made of plastic, not ceramic like the expensive ones.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
That is something I have been thinking about for quite some time. It is really useful to have!

Two questions, Orio:

1. How much did you pay fo it?
2. What does Monica say? Wink


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Orio wrote:
Excalibur wrote:
Wow that's one pretty "doll" for the opening shots, more human looking than those Cindy dolls. Wink


Actually, it's one of the least expensive that I could find.
It's made of plastic, not ceramic like the expensive ones.


Excellent for arranging the lighting, but for me my blunders in the past were not usually because I got the lighting wrong but because most girls weren't like your model, one I can remember was a head and shoulders of my wife's friend with a larger chin......... and I made it look worse (probably inexperience with wrong lens and angle) Embarassed Rolling Eyes Shocked


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Kram wrote:
I just bought one myself because it is not wise to ask one's wife to sit in for test shots too often.


This one looks as if it has come off a 'Star Trek' set! Smile


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
LucisPictor wrote:

1. How much did you pay fo it?


79 Euros

LucisPictor wrote:
2. What does Monica say? Wink


She does not comment on my purchases anymore Laughing Rolling Eyes


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excalibur wrote:

Excellent for arranging the lighting, but for me my blunders in the past were not usually because I got the lighting wrong but because most girls weren't like your model, one I can remember was a head and shoulders of my wife's friend with a larger chin......... and I made it look worse (probably inexperience with wrong lens and angle) Embarassed Rolling Eyes Shocked


Yes, I mean, it's just a guide... you always have to adjust for the real model. The mannequin allows you to avoid
having the real model wait for half an hour. You prepare the set first, then make only the little necessary adjustments
when the real model is in.
Mostly, when you work with separate flashes, the most time consuming part is how to balance the different flashes.

Or, simply, you use the mannequin like me, just for experimenting with the flashes, the lighting schemes... training use.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Orio wrote:


LucisPictor wrote:
2. What does Monica say? Wink


She does not comment on my purchases anymore Laughing Rolling Eyes


LOL Laughing Laughing


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
No comments on the lenses? I think that, aside from the 1.2/85 Planar (which plays in a different league),
the old 1949 Biotar did offer some beautiful rendering in these tests: dense colours and very pleasant contrast.
The Nikkor is on the other side of the spectrum: low contrast and delicate shadings.
Both have their use I think, depending on what you want to achieve.
The Contax Sonnar 135 is too a strong lens for this type of fake subject, it gives away immediately that it's about plastic Wink


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Next a blow-up doll for practising nude shots eh?


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
trev wrote:
Next a blow-up doll for practising nude shots eh?


When I want to take nude shots, I just call one of the models on my phonebook:

http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20124/big_3_tatianafullnude_1.jpg

Any more childish comments?


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think the situation will improve with the use of the lens hood on each lens since it's quite easy to catch stray light from the flash.
What are you triggering the flash with? What kind of flash is it? Do you use an external light meter or you just go by trial and error?


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Orio, please forgive the childish comments from some of us Brits. The subject of mannequins and blowup dolls always make me snigger since I saw the episode of "Only Fools & Horses" featuring a couple of blowup dolls mistakenly filled with explosive Methane gas. I'm sure this is what was in trev's mind.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4438213584241825734

I've taken the liberty of reducing your nude picture to a URL, as this thread is in the public area. It would be OK in the Dive Bar.
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Adapters and other accessories
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2