...thanks for lookin'!

Another one of those shots that got missed! Taken last year in Esher Common, some rough wooden steps leading to the top of the hill.

Troy and Julie.

Front sign of the very first Starbucks.

Inside the very first Starbucks.

Random little dog inside a clothing store.

Pike Place Fish Market.

A couple watching the beautiful sunset at Shilshole Beach.

This is the most mammoth camera lens I’ve ever seen, and has almost unbelievable specifications:

From CanonFD.com:

• Focal Length: 5150mm
• Exposure Control: Light quantity is controlled with the use of built-in ND filters, corresponding to f/14, f/16, f/22, f/32
• Minimum Object Distance: 120 meters (Approx 393 feet!)
• Size: 500mm(wide) x 600mm(high) x 1890mm(deep) [20”x24”x75.6”]
• Weight: 100kg (220 lbs) without stand.

Yes, this behemoth is 220 pounds! That fact alone is impressive enough, then add the fact that it is capable of taking photographs of objects 18 to 32 miles away!

And now, this bad boy is for sale on eBay, for the low, low price of $55,000.00.

I think the best part is the quote from the seller:

This is a very rare Canon 5200mm photographic lens - possibly one of only three ever built. THE largest & most powerful prime lens ever created for dedicated SLR use. Built in Japan it was purchased by a Chinese company & shipped to China where it has since had little use & is now for sale. The optics appear in perfect condition. It is my understanding that a customized SLR/DSLR/EF mount can be created/included by the team of optical engineers who presently look after the lens. Due to its large size, it may be better suited to astronomy applications. It takes two people to lift the lens. It could also be mounted on a customized truck or SUV. A large geared or motorized support head would be needed to get the most out it. The magnification of this lens is truly staggering. If mounted to a Canon XL series video camera for example, a reach of 1000x optical (at least) would be possible (approx 37,500mm). The lens could also be mounted to HD & cine cameras. Tracking the space shuttle would not be a problem. Perhaps it's already been used for that purpose? - (Did I just say that??!) Manual focus of course. Yes rear drop-in filters can be used. With so few ever built Canon spent "squillions" on the R&D, not to mention the manufacturer of this lens. Original cost price?? - don't even ask!! ;) In all seriousness I can't be accurate. The Canon factory picture shows the lens mounted to an SLR camera (circled in red) - this will further give you an idea of it's size.

For a better idea of how powerful this lens is, take a look at the following example:

Thanks to the following sites for information on this magnificent lens!

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180294096815&indexURL=8&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting
• http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/forum/showpost.php?s=e3f2f3f44a98023ca196a72adebda78d&p=38810&postcount=9
• http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/fdlenses/reflex8002000/cat.htm
• http://www.canonfd.com/mirrorlenses/pages/page10.html

Canon 50mm f1.8

N-o fi el za ultimate shit pentru portrete, dar imi fac treaba cu el de minune. M-am jucat si cu un 1.4 si nu pot spune ca gasesc relevanta diferenta de 10 milioane. Poate ca-i mai solid si nu da impresia generala de jucarie de plastic.

[gallery]
Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM - love this lens. It's built like a tank, weighing over a pound (17.8 oz.).

By far, the fastest lens I have ever shot with, it has taken some getting used to. The focus plane at f/1.4 is paper thin and because of that, focusing becomes a bit of an art form. I think I end up deleting 3-5 shots for every one I keep, especially under lower-light conditions.

More time, more practice, more better - grammatically incorrect but another viewfinder lesson.

Canon EOS 5D
Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM

Bilo je zelo, zelo zanimivo in imel sem veliko priložnosti da sem sprobal novi 50mm objektiv.

Lahko bi omenil da imam precejšno zanimanje za detajle,

Tako da si to lahko pogledate v obliki malega filmčka ali pa na moji FlickR strani...

Zelo se zahvaljujem vsem, so mi to dovolili....

Flower/nature shots this time. I find them refreshing.

I also learned more about proper digital exposure. It's a bit trickier than it is for film.

Yellow sunshine - Pentax K100D, Sigma 18-50, ISO 800

Orange hues in the Blue Lagoon - Pentax K100D, smc Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7

The lovely German lady - Pentax K100D, smc Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7 (we call this flower the German lady in Romanian local jargon. Don't know why; don't really care.)

The Caretaker - Pentax K100D, smc Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7 (our lovely garden gnome)

Hopefully more shooting tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will improve!

Steady as she goes.

Dan

I just found this old Fujica STX-1 model 2 months ago after my mom cleaned up the store. It was my late father's camera. I've been trying looking for it but no success at all. Lucky my mom did. The camera was under production somewhere around late 70's and early 80's. I knew that my father likes photography but he hasn't talk about it seriously. Maybe he could not see any of his kids getting into photography as a hobby or a career may be.

Somehow, when I bought first digital compact camera Canon A400, he seems very happy about it. He couldn't resist looking and playing with it. He also bought our first good color printer, Canon IP2000 that costs around RM400.

There's something about my father that I realised after he passed away two years ago. He seldom talks about his hobby...wait...no..he hasn't mentioned any of it. Me and my brother always talk about cars. I still can remember that every evening, when both of us had a knowledge sharing and talked about cars, he will be there and quietly listened to our talks. Sometimes, he gave his ideas but it was only in small portion.

My sister told me that father loves photography very much. He will not leave home without his camera, place it under the car seat and shoot whenever there's a good  subject. Before I bought my first DSLR (nikon D70s), I had mentioned to him that I want to buy a dslr. He agreed with a bunch of  moral support all the way. But it was somewhere around 2-3 months before he passed away. I was sad and dissapointed that I couldn't share with him my new camera. If he's still alive, we both might be sharing our photography knowledge, going for outdoor shooting, print the photo, frame and be proud of it. And we might have our photo together holding slr too.

Now, father has gone. The only thing that I still regret until now is that we talk less. Not like other father and son discussions (you know what I mean). But I know that father will be happy and proud. I will keep his SLR as one of his greatest support and precious treasure for me...thank you Baba.

Love,

Wan Zulhamli Bin Wan Abdul Rahman

Her boyfriend was the hand model.

Also on another note I have a photo shoot this Saturday (September 27th) for funeral services of my Uncle.
Be prepared for some emotional images to be posted sometime around then.
Have a good day.

One of the things that stuck out in my mind about this shoot is that as soon as it was possible to mention it, they wanted to include their dog, GG, in their shoot.

Having never photographed a couple with their pet before, I immediately jumped at the idea.

I had no idea though that GG would be such a pretty dog.  I spent half of the shoot distracted because I kept wanting to pet her! =D

Here's some images from the shoot:

And now the Star of the shoot:

I love this shot =P

And this last shot is one of my favorites =)

I did consider buying the f/1.4 at the time but the photos it took looked really soft and not as sharp as I liked it. At the time, I had a friend who had a Canon and I had tried their 50mm f/1.4 and it was much sharper and then later this year I had tried a Canon f/1.2 and it was amazing.

Now Nikon has announced their new and updated 50mm f/1.4 and it has promised to be sharper with it's 8-element design rather than the 7-element design. The only issue is that it is currently priced at around $440 in the US and it's a little out of my price range...

But I guess it's just another one of those things that I want but might not necessary get just like the D90.

Nikon has just announced a new low-light prime lens, the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G.

This latest addition to the NIKKOR lineup features a large maximum aperture of f/1.4, enabling it to be used for easy handheld shooting in dark settings, such as a dimly lit room. It also allows photographers to easily create beautiful large blur effects. The lens’ Silent Wave Motor (SWM) ensures quick, quiet autofocus. Autofocus shooting is made possible with SLR models that do not have a built-in motor, such as the D40 series and D60.

The AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G is a high-performance large-aperture, single-focal-length lens especially suitable for professional and advanced amateurs who use Nikon FX-format cameras such as the D3 and D700, and frequently shoot human subjects as well as night landscapes and astronomy. What’s more, when attached to a DX-format SLR, this f/1.4 lens with 75mm equivalent picture angle is capable of shooting portraits with beautiful blur effects.

read more...

(bronica SQA, 50/3,5 on PAN F (sunny 16))

'the minute crocs became fashion items'

the next ones are from a location I did a lot of shooting at, seems it was some kind of unofficial land-fill site on the border of the modern side of Pêra.

next up - same location, same day.

(rollei retro 100, Nikon FM + 50/1,4 (sunny 16))

^ a huge cricket or grasshopper that refused to move out of the way ^

back to Pêra, that must have been within the region of Silves.

and a chat with a rather cool dog.

'dogshit'

on the road very near our campsite.

the desert we slept on with the thinnest ground mats I've ever seen.

now I need a good ole' caramel coffee.

mmm.

Pre-Photokina 2008:

AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G lens specifications

Äntligen har Nikon lanserat en 50mm glugg med inbyggd autofokusmotor. Vilket har varit något många Nikon fotografer längtat efter under en lång tid. Och speciellt de som använder D40/60 som inte kan autofokusera med de äldre versionerna av denna glugg som inte har inbyggd autofokusmotor. Men nu hör ju denna 50mm allra bäst hemma på en D30 eller D700 om jag får säga mitt. Grunddesignen är ju trotts allt menad för en FF-kamera. Nikon borde egentligen också lanserat en 35mm glugg med inbyggd autofokusmotor så att de med en D40/D60 också skulle kunna få njuta av autofokus på sina kameror med en "normal" optik så att så säga. Rent affärsmässigt skulle det nog kunna gå vägen. Kanske tom. ännu mer så än en 50mm kommer att göra om man hade ansträngt sig med att informera kunderna om att 35mm motsvarar en "normal" optik på Nikons alla digitala systemkameror förutom D3 och D700.

En annan sjukt intressnat nyhet är att Canon förra vecka släppte presenterade sin 5D Mark II. En Canon kamera som tom. jag skulle kunna tänka mig att äga.

Men jag undrar lite om inte Canon borde sattsat ännu mer på att förbättra brusegenskaper och dynamiskt omfång, och inte fousera på att klämma in mer megapixlar på censorn...bara en tanke. Den kameratillverkare som blir först med att få kunderna att förstå att många megapixlar inte är lika med en bästa bildkvalitet (i alla fall i dagsläget, men vem vet, i framtiden kommer säkert 21 megapixlar ha lika bra låg ljus egenskaper som dagens 12 megapixlar) kommer att äga marknaden ett tag. Iof vore det kanske klokt att se till så att alla andra kameratilverkare först maxar antalet megapixlar innan man som rebellföretag genomför sin konsumentkunskaps-revolution. På så vis kommer de andra kameratillverkarna sitta med näsan i råttfällan alla reda med sina stora investeringar i gigantiskt antal megapixlar när marknaden börjar förstå att ett mindre antal megapixlar faktiskt främjar bildkvalitén. Så att vänta kanske kan vara klokt, men å andra sidan vill man som företag behålla någon form av värdighet och förtroende så borde man nog sattsa på den konsumentutbildningen redan nu.

Dock ska sägas att jag säger allt detta nu utan att ens ha provat på att fotografera med en 5D mark II. Så jag kan ha fel. I så fall kommer jag att ångra mig och revidera mitt inlägg i debatten om megapixlar. Så Canon snälla, låna mig en 5D Mark II. Please. Jag vill testa den exakt lika mycket som jag vill testa D700 i verkliga förhållanden, så Nikon Ni får gärna låna mig en sådan också. :-)

Läs mer här

Objektivet är naturligtvis användbart på alla Nikons moderna systemkameror, men ägare av D40/D40x/D60 har tidigare inte haft tillgång till autofokus på en fast 50mm