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Just documenting

14 November 2008 By Leave a Comment

The boys got their report cards yesterday. Dor made honor roll (with a 1/2 average, like a/b) and Mal got a “you try hard” award. His marks were all over the place.

I got a tidy paycheck today, so I bought myself a present. Ritz Camera was having a sale on filters (I know, it’s kind of a waste, since I can do it in PhotoShop, but I wanted to experiment without using PS) so I got

  • QUANTARAY 49MM 6X CROSS SCREEN FILTER
  • QUANTARAY 49MM SPOT FILTER
  • QUANTARAY 49MM CLOSE-UP FILTER SET (I got this for macro photography – super cheap alternative, if it works)
  • and I picked up a Q-RAY 18-50MM F/3.5-5.6 DIG ZOOM F/NIK.

    • Seeing as I had gone to price check a Nikon F/1.2 50mm, I didn’t do so bad. I came away with the less expensive lens (which does the same thing) and three filters for less than the Nikon brand lens. I just wish I wasn’t too cheap to pay for over night shipping lol  Eh, it wouldn’t have been here by tomorrow anyway. I guess I could have seen if the local Ritz had it in stock – I just thought about that. No worry. I’ll have plenty of chance to use it, and the lenses I have are perfect for the trip anyway.

    We picked up a Wii Fit – the kids are loving it and I am hoping it does some good. I’ve done more yoga in the past two days than I’ve done in the past two months (longer even) and I’ve had fun doing it. Yay!

    Filed Under: Education, General, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

    I bought myself a present

    20 September 2008 By 2 Comments

    I shouldn’t have, but I did. It was the right price. I got a Reverse Ring Macro for my camera. I’ve been wanting a macro lens, and fuck if they aren’t expensive enough to keep me from getting on because it’s a hobby, not something I’ll be making money back on. This little gizmo was 23$ after shipping and supposedly does a spiffy job of converting my current lens into a macro lens. Good enough for government work anyway.

    For you nosy types, here’s the description:

    Here is a brand new Nikon 52mm lens reversing ring for extreme Macro close up photographs. Macro-photography is one of my favorite forms of photography. You will be surprised to see what is lurking just out of site. You will have so much fun you will hardly be able to stand it! To give an example of what this will do, I will use this illustration, results may vary depending on your lenses, this is just a ballpark figure from what I have here. If you use a 55mm (focal length) Macro lens that has a 1:1 ratio capability and take a photo of a dime you will get almost a full frame of the dime. With this ring attached to the camera the lens mounted in reverse you will almost get a full frame of the date on the dime. This is for extreme Macro and if you use longer lenses with Macro capability you will get ultra close to the smallest subjects! The threads are 52mm so the front ring of the lens you want to mount in the reverse position needs to have a 52mm front ring. You can also use step up or down rings to make this fit other lenses that are bigger or smaller than 52mm. The ring is brand new in the box made in Japan. This is not a Nikon brand item but it is very high quality. This is for the Nikon manual focus cameras and will also fit the Auto Focus Nikon cameras.

    Fun stuff, I can’t wait for it to get here! I almost got a macro/fish eye instead (also cheap as fuck, so how good could it really be, right?) but I can’t see using a fisheye more than a handful of times for the sake of using it.

    Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Eshiva

    16 September 2008 By 2 Comments

    Been playing around in LightRoom – I shot this the other day.

    Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: , , , , , ,

    DSLR question(s)

    29 May 2008 By Leave a Comment

    I kind of narrowed it down, I am wondering if anyone is familiar with these?

    Nikon D60
    Nikon D200
    Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10K

    I am leaning towards the Panasonic now only because my new cam is a Panasonic and I love it. It takes a great photo and it looks like the above model is similar.

    I was looking at a D40, but everything I read went from saying oh it’s great it’s great it’s great to saying well… it’s not so great, almost in the same paragraph.

    As far as ability, functions, etc… they are about equal. I’m curious is anyone has used them.

    What DSLR do you use? I know a lot of you have the Rebel, which is not on my list of potentials. Why should it be, or should I leave it off?

    Pretend money is no object (it is, but let’s say it’s not, if I have to save a few more months, so be it) but try not to go over two grand (the cheapest on my current list is 800, the highest is 1300) with suggestions. I don’t care about your 13,000 dollar dream camera – I saw it, it’s gorgeous, but I’d buy a car first ;)

    I am looking for a nice hobby camera. I am not looking for something that needs prints blown up to 2′x2′. I am not looking for something to capture the kids bar & bat mitzvahs (but if it can, that’s a plus!). I am looking for something to tool around with (so I want it portable!) and capture those shots that I might miss by seconds now because my cam is a little slow or take them a little better/sharper because it’s set up a little nicer.

    I do not want something I am going to want to replace in six months because I’ve outgrown it. Think I wont outgrow a D40 (which will save me hundreds)? Tell me why! I don’t have my heart set on anything just yet, I’m still window shopping.

    Why yes, my brain needs about a thousand things filling it up for me not to go crazy, but I get bored quick. The most lasting hobbies in my life have been photography, body modification, oil painting (which I haven’t done in years) and knitting. I have a thousand discarded hobbies in my garage. Anyone wanna buy a kayak? (I kid)

    Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

    new camera

    7 May 2008 By Leave a Comment

    Maybe it means more pictures! I overspent on it, and I feel guilty about it. I really had set a limit for myself, especially because I wasn’t replacing my camera, but getting another one.

    I have a Canon S3. I love it. It’s no Nikon but it’s a fine camera. It’s also large, and not easy to toss in my bag and whip out and not feel like I am shooting something much more important some something that caught my eye. I also like to fiddle with the settings, so it’s not always “point and shoot” ready.

    I did want something small (I generally hate small cameras, I like how my current one feels in my hands and I am always afraid they will break) that wont break, takes a quick but good shot, and *is* a typical point and shoot.

    I knew I did not want a Polaroid brand as they shoot fairly slowly and my kids move fairly quickly. I did not want an Elph (a fine camera, but not what I wanted), and I was mainly looking at Canon and Nikon. I had a … powershot (I think it was) a few cameras ago that I loved – it got stolen, but again, looking for something smallish. – I did see the new model of that, and it felt and looked so fragile and cheapy!

    It did not need to take video or anything – my S3 does that and I barely use it. I just realized I am lacking on pictures because my cam is a pain in the ass to take about. I don’t even like taking it on vacay b/c it’s big and bulky and I hate feeling touristy wearing it around my neck. Maybe if I decked it out with cool new lenses I’d feel less… stupid… but as it’s present it just makes me feel like a picture taking poseur lol It’s more than a basic camera, but not quite a professional (even semi-professional) rig.

    Anyway, to the point, I picked up a Panasonic TZ3. Did anyone else know Panasonic has Leica cameras and re-bands them? Had no clue. Played with it in the store. It’s a nice model – close to my S3 in ability, but smaller so easier to tote around.

    I paid 318$ about 100$ more than I wanted to spend, but Michael made me not feel bad about it (I really had set a limit, and I was looking in my limit, and the sales guy showed me this after I mentioned I had the S3 b/c the features were comparable).

    So I totally let myself get upsold, but the sample pics we took in the store were impressive, it is quick on the draw, and so far it totally rocks as much as I thought it would.

    I will say, it does have settings to fiddle with, but it also seems like it should quickly adjust back to typical P&S settings (which the S3 does, but it sometimes takes a few seconds too long to register).

    I can’t seem to get my blog to switch over the raw mode, so no embedded pics or links :/ Here is the product URL:

    http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Cameras-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Lumix-Digital-Cameras/model.DMC-TZ3S.S_11002_7000000000000005702#tabsection

    Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , ,