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TSJanik
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Mike:
I'll bet The Weather Channel is a favorite in your house. The big storm was sommething of a non-event in Western New York; nonetheless, we did have some weather, the front of my house:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MuCFC81kV7o/TUoTQhJ_HxI/AAAAAAAAZMU/R5wzrpLt2Ug/s1600/_Ifeb%2B2%2B2011.jpg
We Get Weather
TOP world headquarters about half an hour ago (5:24 local time). Finally, a little weather for us. We've gotten about eight inches of powder today (a very pretty day—as I was shoveling, I kept hearing Gabriel Iglesias—"it's fluffy!"), and the kids arrived home after school today reporting that...
Mike:
I have a used, aluminum 4 series Gitzo (still makes the "pop") and a new, very expensive GT2541 (never did make the "pop"), which is compact and easy to carry but doesn't hold a candle to the old, heavy Gitzo. But it's OK since there is nothing photogenic more than 100 yards from the car.
Tom
Tripod Technology Part III
Carbon fiber Gitzo GT1531 Mountaineer - I've been doing some research on tripod heads recently, which caused me to remember that I never did finish up writing my tripod non-review. (As I explained in Part II, it's a trial, not a test.) You'll recall that the first two parts of this article we...
You said "I think I've formulated a new standard recommendation: own as many lenses as you want at home, but take as few as you can with you for each shoot or trip."
Mike:
I couldn't agree more. I've been able to buy as many MF lenses as I want thanks to the depressed prices as the world converted to digital. I have so much stuff, that loading the car is a major task. Has my photography improved? No. I was better off with an Pentax LX and a 20mm, 50mm macro and an 80-200mm zoom (well, the 300mm was handy too). Still, a very small collection, easy to carry and use. I think I'll sell it all and get a 5D with a 24-105mm along with a 70-200mm. And maybe a 300mm f4 with a 1.4 extender and ...
All Quiet
Things have been a little quiet here lately, but that's because I'm learning stuff. For instance, I think I've formulated a new standard recommendation: own as many lenses as you want at home, but take as few as you can with you for each shoot or trip. I'm really appreciating all the comments a...
Mike:
I second RobG's advice, You might also consider the Subaru Forester turbo, it feels roomer than the Impresza (better for big butts), even though they're the same wheel base. Aditionally: 0-60 in 5.9 sec (vs 6.3 for the Honda), available with a 5-speed and AWD and frankly, given where you live, the all-wheel-drive would be a Godsend.
Tom
Your Camera: To Use It is to Love It
Every now and then I look into new cars. Not that I need or can afford or even want a new car, only that my old one is getting pretty old now (if it were a human, it would be on the verge of puberty—why is that way of putting it vaguely gross?) and although it continues in fine health (knock on ...
Ctein:
If you change your mind about the 67 lenses; I'd be very interested in the 400mm ED.:)
James, Pentax makes a 67 to K adapter (third party adapters exist as well). I have one, but frankly it doesn't make much sense in many cases, the lenses are much larger and heavier. Although the 105mm f2.4 makes a nice portrait lens.
Ctein: 'I Quit'
By Ctein Don't panic (or rejoice, if that's your pleasure). It's not what you think. A little less than a year ago I wrote "Transition State," the last installment in my chronicling of my steady migration from film to digital photography. I noted then that it had been nearly two years since I h...
Geoff said: "...only to lose, heartbreakingly, on a missed last second field goal.
Then they do it again the next year.
And the year after that.
And the year after than. Argh!"
I think I became less emotional about watching football when I realized that as aggravating as that period was, they were in fact the good years of being a Bills fan.
Tom
OT: Live by Favre, Die by Favre
This is really just a private note between neighbors. We like hating each other's football teams, but Minnesota and Wisconsin have a lot more in common than not. We're both fly-over states. We both get a lot of that slow-release rain five months a year. There's that famous "Minnesota Nice," of ...
Maybe it's in response to this rumor:
http://photorumors.com/2010/01/07/pentax-evil-645d-price-rumors/
$6500 for a 645D would certainly get me off the fence
Canon 5D Mark II Price Drop...and Why
The Canon 5D Mark II has just been the beneficiary of a nice price drop, putting its number below $2500 for the first time. (B&H throws in two excellent 4GB CF cards and a shoulder bag to further sweeten the deal.) This is a strategic move on Canon's part, to try to suck a few more fence-sitters...
Just my lab recommendations:
AgX does a great job with processing E6 ($10 for 220) and scans with an X5 ($10).
http://www.agximaging.com/
I can also recommend Van Tuil ($5.99 for E6 220); haven't used their scan service.
http://www.vantuil.com/services.htm#p4
Tom
Fun with Medium Format
A Minolta Autocord currently for sale on Ebay* by seller w911jan Here's my sense of the ten-year trend in medium format: As the world rushed to digital, medium-format camera sales, always extremely modest as a percentage of camera sales in general, diminished a lot further. Several medium-f...
Mike:
The HCB photo is one of my favorites, but it always reminds me of Salvador Dali so it is interesting (to me anyway) that Halsman’s photo is just above.
The Pete Turner shot you posted is also one of my favorites. Interestingly, as many times as I’ve seen this photo, it is the first time I wondered why all of the lights of the stoplight are on. I can only assume a long exposure as the light changed from green through yellow and then red; I suspect that it wasn’t by accident.
Tom
Great Photographers on the Internet, Part II
(Robert Capa) Dear Bob, As I always tell people the single Most Important purchase I ever made for my photographic endeavors was my tripod. You certainly needed one here didn't you? ;-) You might object that you were standing in the surf to take this, but you could have merely stood on the ...
Hi Mike:
I am linking a photo I took in France in 2006. You will have no difficulty locating the photographer in this shot. The woman is my wife (so I’m not a voyeur) asking directions somewhere in France (that’s why we needed help, we only knew we were somewhere). I like this photograph for a few reasons: my wife was not yet accomplished or comfortable speaking French and I can see the mixture of nervousness and the joy of being successfully engaged in a conversation on her face; the man is supplying much more information than was required and doing so with great relish replete with hand gestures (he is French after all); finally the sun is shining.
Tom
http://tsjanik.blogspot.com/2009/11/asking-directions-france-2006.html
Where Was the Photographer Standing?
I had a brief conversation with Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai the other day about how bad many people (even photographers) seem to be at reading facial expressions in pictures. We both agreed it's something a lot of viewers seem remarkably blind to. Another thing people seem especially bad at reading in...
Mike:
I read in the Pentax announcement that when the K7 is used on a tripod with SR off, the sensor can be moved as an aid to compostion; it seems that movement, if large enough, could be used for mutiple exposures in slighly different sensor postions that when stitched would yield a higher resolution image. If so, what a great advantage for landscape/still life shooters.
Tom J
New Pentax Flagship, the K-7
Fast, compact, and quiet—that's the gestalt of the K-7, which is a perfect match to Pentax's beautiful Limited prime lenses. Finally, finally, finally, a Japanese camera manufacturer has broken with the size/quality lockstep that has been like a hard-and-fast, albeit unspoken rule among Japanes...
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