Just testing Wordpress Mobile 1.0 on my Android powered HTC Magic. Nice! Here’s a photo taken with the 3.2mp cam with the FXcamera app.
|
|
||||||||||
|
Here are some new toys that were waiting for me upon my arrival in Australia. Now i just the time to play with them!
Brand new, and boxed with original packaging. I’ve owned a Soligor before and wasn’t too impressed with it’s quality but supposedly their C/D (Computer Designed) lenses were of a much higher production standard. This 135mm lens is of solid, all metal construction and is easy to focus and control. I wasn’t too impressed with some initial tests at f/2.8 as they lacked contrast, saturation and sharpness but I’ll blame the contrast and saturation on my notebook monitor and the sharpness on the photographer because later tests showed some good results. Unfortunately in my kit, it’s competitor is the Pentax DA* 50-135 and the Soligor doesn’t really compare although it will be great for my film cameras. More results and tests with lens soon. Check out the Soligor Manual Focus group at flickr.
I bought the ME Super + the Pentax M 50mm f/2 lens from ebay for a good price (I recently saw it in Melbourne for over $400) and am impressed with the feel of it. It’s built very well, has a hotshoe which works with my wireless flash setup, can use my Pentax M lenses as well as my M42 lenses (with adapter) and is really small. I bought the Winder II from a Pentaxforums.com member and like the feel of the MX Super with or without the winder on. I guess for street shooting = no winder, flash/studio = winder for extra support.
This is my Father’s camera which I left lensless a few years ago when I stole his lenses, tele converter and filters. Now back in Aus, I dug it up to see what it can produce (there’s still film in it). I loaded up some new 2CR5 batteries (which I found new for $3.99) and tried a few different lenses including the Pentax M 50mm f/2, Soligor C/D 135mm f/2.8, the S-M-C Takumar 28mm f/3.5 (via adapter) and I also tested the Pentax DA 18-55 (K10D kit lens) and surprisingly it works fine, although I’m not sure how to change the aperture
This lens came with the Pentax ME Super and is almost exactly the same as my Pentax M 50mm f/1.7. I doubt I’ll use it often but it never hurts to have a few 50’s lying around. Cosmetically it came in great shape although the attached skylight filter was riddled with fungus, let’s hope it didn’t spread to the lens.
Another ebay purchase, this lens was more of a whim buy (aren’t they all) and doesn’t really serve any purpose as I don’t really shoot anything past 135mm but for $20 I just wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, it looks like it was dropped and the barrel near filter is damaged but filters are still able to be attached.
A study in lines, minimalism, negative space and empty thoughts.
One tree + multiple angles + Pentax K10D + S-M-C Takumar 28mm + DA* 50-135. The idea behind this set was to concentrate on composition and make the most of a single object. The end result is a minimalist collection of monochrome images that concentrate on form and object over subject matter. If you’re wanting to get out of a photographic rut, want to practice your composition and how to see differently, I suggest trying something like this. These photos were some leftovers from the family shoot I did back in December ‘09. I must admit I did have an ulterior motive when I asked Naomi to let me test the lighting on her as I’ve wanted to do some natural posed portraits of her since the birth of Elysa, these are the results. All photos were taken with a Pentax K10D + DA* 50-135 lens with a shoot through umbrella and a reflector.
Takashi & Kaori of Best Wishes put up some photos from our last visit there last night. Check out the link here. To everyone who I know and have known in Japan over the past 5 1/2 years, thanks for the great times and I’ll see again. Cheers, it’s been a blast! Sayonara.
Like each year, retrospect is a bitch and it gets us every time (well me at least) . We look back and ponder what we could have done better or differently and then vow to right the wrongs in the new year to only fail again. Lose weight, stop smoking, exercise more, drink more water, drink less beer and wine, spend more time with the family, spend less time at the bar, get off the computer, go outside more, take more photographs, be more creative…blah, blah, blah. That’s me. Things I should do but probably wont but will try so the wife doesn’t get angry. Anyway, here’s my best of 2009. Not that you care but I like making lists. Top Things That Happened To Me The birth of my daughter Elysa Mikaela Diaz
Stopped exercising & gained a few My Top Albums Ahkmed – Distance My Most Listened To Artists & Albums
Inglorious Basterds
The Cleveland Show My Best Windows Apps Windows 7 – Best OS since XP just sexier.
Blabbermouth Pentax K10D + Super Takumar 35mm @ f/8. Somewhere between Okayama and Fukuyama, Japan.
The first time I shot live artists (Naoito) at Best Wishes I was worried abaout sharpness, clarity and getting good exposures in bad lighting and I failed. The second time (Ucoca, Toruman & Kei) I somewhat let the lighting control the style of the photographs to get a warmer more stylized result and I did the same last night with a few different camera tweaks to keep the noise down. I’m not sure if the Best Wishes crew or the artists necessarily like the style but it’s gritty, soft, noisy, monochromatic and has a distinct film like look which I like. I shot the gig with the Pentax K10D + Super Takumar 55mm 1.8 and shot most of the night at f/2~2.8 with an ISO of 1250. Check out singer, songwriter & percussionist Naoito, percussionist Izpon and percussionist Juicy’s (Hifana) myspace pages.
|
||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2010 PhotoShumi - All Rights Reserved |
||||||||||
Scanned photos coming soon.
