First Impressions of the Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 Art Lens: Chris Pollard

UK-based Fashion Photographer Chris Pollard tested out the the Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 Art Lens and told us about his first impressions of this exciting new lens.

This lens has a fascinating history, let’s play the association game. What came to mind when you first saw the Daguerreotype Art Lens? What is special about its build?

A combination of intrigue and nerves. Shooting on a lens that has the number 00000002 printed on it tends to make me slightly more careful, but at first glance I thought it had a beautiful patina and looked far from factory-built—sturdy and mechanical. I have previously shot using a wet collodion camera, and found both the shape and colour of the DA lens to be similar to the lens mounted on the front of that. Its construction of solid brass made it feel just like its original predecessor.

What did you take pictures of? What camera did you use?

I shot using a Nikon D800E body. I find the larger pixel ratio offered with this model gives more option to crop or re-frame my images. Before I took the camera anywhere that required me to shoot in faster conditions, I gave myself a few practice sessions with friends around London to get used to the lens. Once I felt that I could achieve something I was happy with, I headed to the London Classic Car Show to shoot the cars and characters milling around the Excel Centre and then spent a few hours at London Fashion Week snapping interesting and stylish people.

Did the Daguerreotype Art Lens impart a special look to your photos? Tell us about your first photo session.

My first photo session was with my friend Conor Mitchell. It was a pretty dark evening, my ISO was high, shutter speed low, and at first I found it quite hard to figure out if I was being shaky or if the lens was just extremely soft. It didn’t take long to adjust my settings and I found a happy medium incorporating sharper points, misty, artistic blurred foreground and a textured swirling background. It was during this shoot that I noticed how effective the aperture plates were with shaping lights in the background. It was these pin pricks creating interesting shapes that gave me the idea to shoot at The London Classic Car Show. If I was looking for lens flares and bright lights to experiment with, that was certainly going to be a place that had it.

The lens is a continuation of Lomography’s experimental tradition. What special effects have you done using the lens?

I found this lens to really emphasise any flashes of background light when combined with the Waterhouse aperture plates. This became the element in my photographs that I wanted to experiment with most. My hands are quite shaky at the best of times so having a soft-focus lens made it quite difficult for me to get things as sharp as I would have liked. But adding the Waterhouse plates really gave a new aspect to my photography.

In terms of your own photography needs, what is the best feature of the Daguerreotype Art Lens?

I loved the freedom to experiment with the large array of aperture slide shapes. My style of photography is not to worry too much about the lighting or the end result, but to catch unique moments in time in an interesting way. I found that this lens immediately creates noticeably different results from any other conventional digital lens. It’s perfect if you are looking for an unexpected and unique result.

Why use a special lens at all?

I think that photography is as much about exploring as it is the photos you end up with. If I was given the choice between a digital lens with autofocus or a cardboard tube with a lens in, I know I would still be more drawn towards the unconventional cardboard tube. I think that the same principal applies to the Daguerreotype lens (although in this case the DA is beautiful and brass). It remains that the possibility and scope to be creative and experimental outweighs my need for “conventional.”That is why Lomography’s Art Lenses continue to appeal to my interests.

Let’s get technical. What tip would you give to a first-time user?

Let yourself get used to the depth of field and soft focus before you go out to shoot anything important. It is a great fun lens, but it shoots in a completely different way from any lens that I have tested previously and does take a little getting used to.

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