Fancy Belt

Fancy Belt -- NEX-5N & Angenieux 75mm f2.5 Cine Lens.

I was walking around the Queen & Soho area yesterday afternoon and this very bright yellow shirt and the even more eye catching white belt really caught my attention.  Took a couple of shots through the window.  It just amazes me how many variations can be done on anything one thing made for women.  Have you seen the variety of belts for women?  I don't think they are used for the purpose of holding up the pants any more. Rather, they are more of a fashion item.  Just mind boggling.

C-Mount Lenses on the NEX System

$5 Burritos - NEX-5N & Angenieux 75mm f2.5 Cine Lens

In general, c-mount lenses don't work very well on NEX system, as most of them were made either for TV or 16mm movie cameras, with very small percentage for 35mm.  The problem is very vignetting and extremely bad corner performance, because the sensor on NEX system is much larger.  For this reason, Micro 4/3 system is a much better platform for c-mount lenses.  This is not to say that you can't use c-mount lenses on the NEX, it's just worse than M4/3.  In fact, I enjoy some of my c-mount lenses on NEX, mostly longer focal lengths, like the Angeniux 75mm f2.5 or Kern-Paillard 50mm f1.4/75mm f1.9, and some Kodak cine lenses.  They do have kind of a natural vignette on most images, except close ups.  I guess for most people, the lens character is more important than actual optical perfection on these cine lenses.

Time Flies When You Are Getting Old

Unbelievable as it may seem, we are already in April.  I noticed that as I get older, time tends to go by much faster.  A lot of people feel this way too.  This is especially true if you have kids.  It seems like yesterday that the little ones were calling "Mom" or "Dad" for the first time, and boom!  They are now teenagers!  As parents, we are obliged to document their growing up with pictures and video, not just for the kids, but for us parents too.

As a side note, using fast manual focus lenses are much more enjoyable and focuses more accurately with the EVF.  With an EVF, my NEX-5N feels like a brand new camera!  

Dillon -- NEX-5N & JML 50mm f0.95 TV Lens @ f0.95

A Small Rant

Sacrificed for Art: Smashed Papaya - Canon 7D & Tamron Adaptall SP 35-80mm f2.8-3.5

I am slowly adding my pictures to the Lightroom database.  I have hundreds of thousands of pictures and this is a slow and tedious process, because I am also checking/deleting frames I don't want to cut down on the number of frames I have and space usage.  I am getting the hang of Lightroom 3; but just enough to use it.

Looking back at the pictures I took with the 7D, I think that if the sensor is cleaner, even at a lower resolution for say, 12-16 MP, it would have been an even better camera as it is today.  I would have kept it and would have become my main camera.  Compared the image quality to the NEX-5N, the 7D is clearly inferior on almost all ISO settings, but especially at lower ISO.

While I am in the pissy mood, I might as well let out my disappointment with Canon regarding the image quality in their latest offering, the 5D Mark III.  The RAW output, next to the 5D Mark II, is only marginally better, while the 36MP D800's image quality is as good up to ISO 3200.  Perhaps, Canon is resting on its laurels for too long, and getting complacent, their new DSLRs have been underwhelming, perhaps except the 1DX.  Note that I am not saying the image quality is not good with the new cameras.  In fact, it's more than good enough for me, but when you see the competition edging out the once mighty king of clean high ISO, one can't help but see Canon's sensor progress has been at an impasse.  Truthfully, I believe Canon has much better technology than what they currently give to its customers.  They are holding back until they can milk out all they can with the existing technology.

As for me, perhaps my camera upgrades have been to frequent.  I am trying to restrain myself not to buy another camera.  Seriously, between the 1D Mark III and the NEX-5N (with the Panasonic G1 as backup), there is enough camera that is good enough for me for the next two to three years.   

Sony's FDA-EV1S OLED Viewfinder for NEX-5N

Window -- NEX-5N & Leitz Hektor 135mm f4.5

I noticed that when I got the EVF from Adam yesterday, that it would not give me a flat screen in the finder and instead, the picture looks warped.  Only the center looks in focus, the two sides are not.  This can be fixed temporarily by sliding the diopter all the way to the back, and then readjust.  However, after a little while, or you turn it on the next time, it happens again.  At the moment, I am not sure if it's the EVF or my camera.  Hopefully I can test this next week with Adam's NEX-5N.

Other than that, I love this EVF.  It's super high resolution and is quite a bit better than the one in my Panasonic G1.  Focusing with manual lenses are so much easier, and now I can actually SEE what I am shooting in bright day light.  Having the EVF also allows me to shoot at a slower shutter speed and still get sharp pictures.

The only worry I have is that it looks very flimsy.  I normally just toss my camera in my bag and I don't know how much abuse it could take.

In any case, I hope the problem can be fixed, or this will drive me crazy every time I look through the EVF.

Spring Has Sprung

Daffodil - NEX-5N & Rollei Planar 50mm f1.8 HFT

Without fail, every spring, nature surprises me with its sudden display of colours when I least expected.  Flowers, buds, and young leaves all seem to have come out seemingly overnight.  Ah, spring!  It's a love/hate season for me.  On one hand, I love the flowers and greens and other colours that feed our senses, but on the other hand, the seasonal allergy from pollen is making me miserable.  Why can't I have my cake, and eat it too?

On a side note, I bought the Sony EVF for my NEX-5N from Adam.  Tried it briefly and I love it.  So much easier to focus for manual lenses, though the eye piece prevents me from seeing the whole screen, because I wear eye glasses.  I guess I will be keeping the 5N for a little while more.

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8 Sample

Budding -- NEX-5N & Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8 M42 Mount

Another lens that I bought from the camera show.  It came attached to a Praktica FX M42 body that the seller doesn't want back even though I told him he could have it.  This body has a waist level finder and as far as I know, it still works and in good looking shape.  Sadly, this body will most likely end up in the dump.

I have never had a Tessar 50mm f2.8 that has circular aperture, like this Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8.  It has the M42 mount and has the red T coating as well and the flare resistance is quite good for a lens this old.   Unfortunately, the focusing ring is very stiff.  It's manageable, but hardly conductive to the fun of photography.  I quite like the images from the this Tessar though.  As with most lenses with Tessar design, the lens is very sharp even at open aperture.  As you can see, the bokeh is not bad at all.

Perhaps I should have it CLAed.

Kowa Super Prominar 76mm f1.9 Projection Lens

Tokyo Bell - NEX-5N & Kowa Super Prominar 76mm f1.9

Couldn't restraint myself this Sunday and I went to the camera show.  I was kind of disappointed that stuff were getting very expensive.  I picked up some more projection lenses, five to be exact.  This Kowa Super Priminar 76mm f1.9 is one of them.  Another Kowa is a Super Prominar 102mm f1.9.  Both are very well build and have a built-in hood, very unusual for a projection lens, but perfect as a picture taking lens.  Another one of the them is the Zeiss Ikon Ernostar 110mm f1.9, which I am looking forward to trying out, but it has a very short lens register and won't work even with my short focusing helicoid.  This is one monster of a projection lens.  Very heavy.  Need to find a way to get it to focus to infinity, or close to infinity.

Behind Bars -- NEX-5N & Kowa Super Prominar 76mm f1.9

I managed to put the Kowa 76mm f1.9 on the Vivitar focusing helicoid and shot a few frames this afternoon before I surrender to the cold temperature and came back to the office.  So far I really like this lens.  Super sharp and relatively fast.  I was able to make it focus from very close to infinity.  Can't wait to try it out as a portrait lens, as well as some colourful flower shots when it's deeper into the spring.

Shooting Around the Neighbourhood

Self Portrait -- NEX-5N & Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8

I do a fare amount of shooting during my lunch hour.  There are two advantages to his.  One is for the exercise.  A 30 to 45 minute walk after eating lunch is a good form of exercise.  The other advantage is, as Robin Wong puts it, "shutter therapy".  Quite often I don't get one pictures that I like after a 45 minute shoot, but sometimes you could get a few in one shooting. After shooting around the work area for the last ten years, I still find something interesting, sometimes fun to shoot. Even though I ride my bicycle to work everyday, I don't do much hop off and photograph any more, as I used to.  I prefer a leisure walk and shoot.

The One that Got Away

Windows -- NEX-5N & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9

Last time I wrote about my favourite wide angle primes, I didn't list the Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9.  See, this is the problem of having too many lenses.  In fact, The 28mm f1.9 is one of my favourites.  I believe that when this lens was introduced, it was one of the fastest 28mm lenses on the market.  Almost everyone else has the 28mm f2 or f2.8.  Many consider this lens as one of the Vivitar Cult Classics, for a very good reason.

Fire Hydrant -- NEX-5N & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9

Apart from its very fast maximum aperture of f1.9, its optical quality is also excellent.  It's quite sharp in the center at wide open, and it has the strange and unique exploding bokeh, like this, and this.  The build quality is also superb.  Very heavy for a 28mm lens.  A fantastic lens for full frame as a general use fast wide angle lens.
Very enjoyable lens to use, and worthy of a space in your camera bag (or lens shelf).