1916 DWM

[p35]

This was my very first Luger. It is a 1916 DWM manufacture with WWI military acceptance proofs but no unit marks. I purchased it from a gentlemen that had no idea the origin of it. His father was a WWII vet and he said he didn't even know his father had it until after he passed away and they found it in his things. It is all original with the exception of the magazine which is a late WWII fxo Magazine with the aluminum base and no serial numbers on it meaning probably armor issued. I have one Luger I do shoot and enjoy it very much, this one I have never shot nor do I feel I need to. The Luger is a mechanical marvel that it even works but the tolerances make it a horrible field weapon. If it's clean and oiled they function perfectly, if it's wet, cold or dirty they like to jamb. The blue on this one is probably 90% but the straw parts I would rate at 70%. The straw color on the trigger and other small parts is the color they come out after heat treating.

[ToddSig]

Great images p35, and of course nice DWM Luger.

I am usually disappointed in my photos of pistols, and I have tried various methods, backgrounds, lightboards, photo tents etc. Occasionally I get a good one, but mostly disappointed. Do you mind sharing your technique.

[p35]

Todd, 

    Thank you sir, I'll take that as a complement. I do like photography and have a 5D Mark III Canon Camera Currently and the lens I use for most gun photos is a 100MM L Macro lens. I retired last year and moved, I had a light booth with backdrops built into my office in my old house. Right now the photos you see are taken with a small light box I purchased off Amazon. I'd like to build another light box here but it seems like I always have a project. Here is a photo of my sophisticated light box now. LOL



If you need any camera settings I'm happy to share. I try to use a high F stop, usually in the 17-20 range. That means you need a longer exposure, especially under low light but with a tripod and timer it's not bad. If anyone wants message me and I'll send a link to the light box I purchased but they only have a couple and I believe they are all very similar. 

[ToddSig]

That is a nice setup Max. It seems I dont have the skills nor the patience for taking good photos. I am more of a phone camera photographer. Might try a light box with the build in lights, and play around a little bit with, but I will never hit the skill level or great pistol images such as yours.

[p35]

Todd,

    I have a friend that does a lot of photos with an Iphone 13 Max that takes pretty good photos. He sent me a link one time and I'll see if I can find it, you can actually control quite a bit on some phone cameras to make pretty good pictures. Personally I like gun PORN. I need to get some darker gray backgrounds for my current light booth as the only gray it came with is a little light. Some things like German helmets I still photograph outside as anything that reflects light can be difficult in a light booth. Even those that don't reflect light can give a false color in a light booth. The first photo is unedited except the quality has been reduced to 50% so it can be uploaded here, it loses a great deal of detail but shows that I use a fixture that goes in the barrel to hold the gun. I edit this out normally.



This photo is of a helmet I believe was unissued during the war. It is a mint M42 but by taking the photo outside it shows the true field gray color of the helmet.

[p35]

Todd,

     This may be a better example of when true lighting is important. This is a WWII US netted helmet. The photos in a light booth I didn't even keep, without sunlight it doesn't show the true color of the helmet. Even the Luger that I started this thread with can be difficult. It is a deep plum color, but no matter which lighting source I've tried it looks dark gray or black. It actually has a beautiful finish on it.


Attachment Deleted

[ToddSig]

Thanks Max. Seems like depending on what is being photographed, backgrounds and colorations, all can have different techniques for a quality photo.

[p35]

Todd,

    Today 200 ft of grey photo paper arrived. It's hard to order because it's difficult to tell the true color online. It is a little darker than what I had but I still prefer a little darker for gun photos.

[ToddSig]

Oct 19, 2022 17:54:21 GMT -5 p35 said:

Todd,

    Today 200 ft of grey photo paper arrived. It's hard to order because it's difficult to tell the true color online. It is a little darker than what I had but I still prefer a little darker for gun photos.


View Attachment

Looks great, both coloration and detail.

[p35]

Todd I'm still working on the color and light arrangement with this paper. The other P38 photo makes it look lighter than it is IMHO. While the byf (Mauser) and cyq (Spreewerk) P38s were lighter on average than the ac (Walthers) or at least the ones I have it isn't as light in color as that photo makes it look. Here is a 43 byf that is the same color as the 44byf I posted yesterday. This was changing the light position and turning the light down and increasing shutter exposer.

[CXM]

I have one of those light boxes as well... it works very well, but the lights that came with it are not adequate, at least not mine. I add a couple of goose neck lights and all is well... It came with red, white and blue background cloths and I find the medium blue works best for guns...

FWIW

Chuck

Oct 16, 2022 16:22:50 GMT -5 p35 said:

Todd, 

    Thank you sir, I'll take that as a complement. I do like photography and have a 5D Mark III Canon Camera Currently and the lens I use for most gun photos is a 100MM L Macro lens. I retired last year and moved, I had a light booth with backdrops built into my office in my old house. Right now the photos you see are taken with a small light box I purchased off Amazon. I'd like to build another light box here but it seems like I always have a project. Here is a photo of my sophisticated light box now. LOL

View Attachment

If you need any camera settings I'm happy to share. I try to use a high F stop, usually in the 17-20 range. That means you need a longer exposure, especially under low light but with a tripod and timer it's not bad. If anyone wants message me and I'll send a link to the light box I purchased but they only have a couple and I believe they are all very similar. 

[cmdrcody]

My DWM 1914

[ToddSig]

cmdrcody

Man, you are on a roll. Great pictures and great collection. Wow, the 1914 DMW is nice. Do you shoot it? I also like the CD with serial #1002 and a great condition FEG.

[cmdrcody]

I’ve put a few mags through my P08. I bought a new German range toy yesterday.