My 24-90 zoom kit arrived, via Hong Kong (thanks, Fotopia), three days ago. With the exception a laggy auto-gained EVF, it is brilliant. As it will replace my Leica M240 set for events, I will be writing a lot more about it in the coming weeks.
Read moreSinaron Digital Macro 120mm F/5,6 and extreme movements
Nailing focus and lighting for every page of a hundred-image magazine. Doing it all in a day or two is sweaty work. Precision medium format technical cameras such as the Rollei X-ACT 2, Novoflex BALPRO T/S, and Linhof M679cs, speed up the process by eliminating converging lines, allowing for incredible levels of enlargement, and independently adjusting focal and image planes.
Read moreDouglas Herr: wildlife shooting with the Leica SL
Douglas Herr really enjoyed the Leica. His review is a good read with great photos. And it's one that makes it much harder for me to wait for mine to arrive.
Read moreThe Hasselblad CFV-50c's good looks
Subject: Hasselblad CFV-50c
I’ll admit it: the biggest impetus behind the purchase of a 13.000$ USD Hasselblad 500cx/CFV-50c bundle was looks. Gosh they really look good together. The previous CCD-based CFV-50, which I also own, does not. Neither its curves nor its ports fit the 500-series aesthetic. Its compact flash door was transplanted from the H-series.
Read moreIrakly Shanidze to Leica users: you're a liar
A person’s fascination with or enjoyment of a product is unique. Their opinion of or about something may not jive with yours. It may even be irrational. Anyone is free to hold an opinion; conversely, anyone is free to disagree with another’s opinion.
Read moreLeica Q - the best travel camera Craig Mod’s ever used
Four years ago, Craig Mod asked artists at a Tokyo A Book Apart promotion to raise their hands. I had just re-opened my commercial jewellery studio. I hesitated. Today I wouldn’t. I’d shrug and flippantly manspread all over over my knuckles. I’m a calculating strobist. I measure, weigh, design sets, and plan.
Read moreFujifilm Australia: Are You Carrying Excess Camera Baggage?
I've a few things to say about the latest article by Leigh Diprose for Fujfilm Australia. The first is: bullocks. (All stresses mine.)
Read moreA Pen F for your thoughXTs?
Speaking of rectangular, flat, retro SLRs with off-centre viewfinders, this is what the original Pen F looks like next to a Fujifilm X-T1. While it’s not Rollei 35 tiny, it is nearly as pocketable. Half frame 35mm film is 15% larger than an APS-C sensor, mathing its standard 38mm lens to the APS-C equivalent of ~33mm (virtually the same FOV as 50mm on FF).
Read moreEverything is rangefinder
The PEN-F's retro-inspired lines drew the Rangefinder card from DPReview in today's headline: Olympus PEN-F revives 1960s rangefinder-style design with 20MP sensor, built-in EVF. In their accompanying first impressions article, they describe the Pen-F as having ‘rangefinder-like controls’, and later, ‘sleek rangefinder-style looks’.
Read moredSLR to mirrorless to SLR - one Man's Fujifilm conversion
It’s a ridiculously familiar story: man starts with whisky, man hits up geek: gets lost; man loiters, cultivating his craft, garnering accolades and geek street cred. Man’s business expands. Man begins to hate his clunky A7r. And, many whiskies later, he wonders why the hell he’s wasting dosh renting Phase One backs. He saves. He saves. He saves. It’s a story you’ve heard a million times.
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