Empty Bench

Empty Bench -- 1D IIn & EF 100mm f2.8L Macro

The 100mm f1.28 IS Macro hasn't gotten much use after I acquired it months ago.  But each time I do use it, I am more impressed with it.  There is nothing to fault this lens optically, from wide open on, it's just amazingly sharp.  The hybrid IS works as advertised.  Consequently, I get more keepers from this lens than most others.  I find it very versatile lens, not just for macros but as a general purpose lens.  Still haven't compared this one with the 100mm f2 USM, but I think the 100mm f2 may have to go, despite the many times that I said I would never sell it.  Just finding the time/initiative to do the comparison has been a challenge.

Prelude to Winter

Lone Leaf - 1D IIn & 16-35mm f2.8L II. Click to enlarge.

Autumn has always been my favourite season.  Not too cold, not too hot.  It's Goldie Locks sort of season. Not to mention the beautiful colour that's a yummy feast for the eyes.

This year seems very warn in this time of the season.  We are in mid November but temperature is still in the low teens (Celsius).  Not that I am complaining or anything.  I rather enjoy it until the bone chilling Canadian winter hits, which won't be long.

Busy Elves

Elf -- G1 & Canon nFD 50mm f1.4.

Can't explain it.  This last two weeks has been the laziest two weeks of this year, in terms of photography -- I have taken very few pictures.  For some reason, I have had no drive, desire to take pictures, even though the camera has been with me all the time.  Am I starting to get tire of the hobby? Perhaps I am just feeling burned out.  Hopefully, I will start taking pictures again next week.

When Your f1.2 Lens Is Not an F1.2 Lens

The Luminous-Landscape has an open letter to the camera manufacturers. Interesting and fascinating read.  Basically, depending on the individual camera, you could lose as much as a full stop of light by the time the light hits the sensor, according to the DxO Lab's findings. Most APS-C sized sensors would lose anywhere from 0.75 EV to 1 EV.  So, the actual amount of light from an f1.2 lens on the Canon 450D that the sensor receives is around f1.8.  Of course, you will still get the exposure value of f1.2, because the manufacturer raised the ISO to compensate.  This means when you set the ISO to 100 when at f1.2 on the 450D, it's actually f1.2 at ISO 200.

Should you care?  With today's high performance sensors, most people probably won't notice, or even care even if they know what's going on behind the sensor.  But that's kind of cheating, me thinks.

My take on this is this: Manufacturers should publish the behaviour of the cameras they make.  If the sensor raises ISO to compensate for the loss of light, they should mention that fact.  But, I also don't think it's a big deal, as long as you understand the image characteristics of a particular camera.  After all, the final image is what counts.

Leaf - Panasonic G1 & Minolta MD 50mm f1.2 @ f1.2.

Happy Halloween!

Digimon (William) at Halloween music recital. 1D IIn & 85mm f1.2L @ f1.4

My kids love Halloween.  They have been going trick or treating for years.  Dillon didn't go with the rest of the gang this year; he thinks he's too old for this kiddie stuff :-)  

Big Tree in Moss Park

Big Tree - Panasonic GF1 & Pentax-M 40mm f2.8 Pancake.

The weather has been nice and warm this year and consequently, the trees change colour gradually without turning brown from cold weather.  It's just beautiful everywhere you look, even in the city.  Autumn has always been my favourite season.  Too bad usually by November, snow will come and you can feel winter even before it's officially here.  Winter is too long in Toronto.

Kew Gardens

Kew gardens is a very large recreational park located at the Beaches community.  It stretches from Queen street all the way to the lake.  In the north side, you can browse books in the nearby library, take your kids to the play ground, or take a walk around the park with historic bandstand.  There is also Dr. William Young memorial next to the bandstand.  In the fall, it's a beautiful place to take a stroll and of course, take pictures.

I took the Pentax-M 20mm f4 and the G1 with me yesterday and spent about an hour photographing the north side of the Kew Gardens.  The G1 has been my to-go camera for the last few weeks, as the Canon gear (1D IIn with lenses) is really too big and too heavy for casual shooting.  The tiny Pentax-M 20mm f4 and the G1 is a very good combo.  I wish the 20mm were the f1.7 Panasonic, but I can't bring myself to buying more lenses.  As I wrote before, the Pentax-M 20mm f4 is an excellent performer.  Very sharp, albeit a bit slow with an f4 maximum aperture.  I am quite happy how the pictures turned out.

Dr. William Young Memorial - G1 & Pentax-M 20mm f4. Click to enlarge.

The Bandstand, built in the 1850s - G1 & Pentax-M 20mm f4. Click to enlarge.

The Fence - G1 & Pentax-M 20mm f4. Click to enlarge.

New Love for Canon FD lenses

Blue - G1 & Canon nFD 28mm f2.8

For the last couple of weeks, I have been cycling through my Canon FL/FD lenses and trying them out.  They are discounted by most people as useless lenses, except on film and Micro 4/3 or NEX.  I used to have a  larger collection, but couldn't use them on my Canon digital bodies so I got rid of most of them, except a few fast ones.  They are actually very excellent lenses, and some of them are as good, if not better than the AF equuivalent.  My favourites are the 55mm/50mm f1.2s, but I also like the 100mm f4 macro and even the cheap 28mm f2.8 is very respectable, not to mention the much better built quality than the mostly plastic AF versions of today. 

The FD and the MD lenses have made me a bit crazy lately, because I really want to use them on a digital body that can provide a wider view than the m4/3.  The only choice is the Sony NEX, and they are on sale right now which makes it even harder for me to control the urge to buy one.  But I must resist.  The full frame NEX can't be far away now, can it?

Streetcar Under the Bridge

Streetcar - G1 & Canon new FD 50mm f1.4. click to enlarge.

After dropping the kids off at the recreation centre for swimming, I saw this beautiful golden light flooding everything behind this bridge.  Naturally I took out the camera and made a few pictures :-)  The black & white version also looks pretty good, but of course won't show you the colour of the setting sun.

I now have three versions of the Canon 50mm f1.4: FL 50mm f1.4, FD 50mm f1.4 (Breech Lock) and the New FD bayonet mount 50mm f1.4, and I like the new version best, so far.

Syd's Awesomely Sick Game Collection

Sorry about the title.  I am borrowing a phrase from my kids.

On Saturday we went to Brantford to redeem the gift certificate that William won from the Guitar Hero Competition in September.  We picked this day because the PC Museum was open to the public, and Dillon and Megan hadn't seen it yet and wanted to visit it.  We arrived a bit late, and finding the store to redeem the gift card was an adventure in itself, as the GPS couldn't find the street number.  In any case, we finally found it and bought a used PS3 for slightly more than the gift certificate value, as they didn't have any new ones.  All I can say is that gaming stuff is expensive there, especially used hardware.

By the time we were done with the gift card, and arrived at the PC Museum, it was half an hour before closing.  The kids were intrigued by all the old computers that they never even realized existed.  The best part, of course, a tour to Syd Bolton's private game collection in his basement.

Syd is the #1 games collector in Canada with most games of all kinds.  It's hard to imagine anyone else having so many games, as a private collector.  I am not kidding you, the basement is full of games, and I don't mean a tiny basement either.

The experience is, well, jaw dropping.  If you think you are a hard core gamer, and have most of the games for your console, visiting Syd's collection would definitely make your own collection look insignificant.  Complete collection of Sega Dreamcast games, more than five hundred PS2 games, plus some Famicom games are just small part of the collection.  One thing I didn't see, was the 3DO, but I probably just missed it, because Syd has about every game console ever existed.  Let's not forget the two rooms full of Star Wars figures and artifacts.

[Update: Syd sent me an e-mail to clarify some facts, below:]
"My PS2 collection is currently 1388 – and I suspect (although it’s not confirmed) that there are around 1700 PS2 games in North America…so I still have a ways to go but I’m getting there!

And yes, I do have 3DO games…they were above the Dragon’s Lair II marquee (near the pinball machine) but I only have something like 30 games for that system."
[End Update]

If you have been around the arcade game scene a few times, you will no doubt know about Dragon's Lair, the first laser disc based interactive adventure game.  According the Syd, he's one huge fan of Dragon's Lair.  He has a little "shrine" dedicated to it, as seen bellow:

Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair collection. Click to see larger.

But, let's take a look at some of other more substantial collections.

The Arcade collection. Click to see larger.

The main room. click to see larger.

The PS2 games. Probably a complete collection. Click to see larger.

Xbox and original N64 games. Click to enlarge.

Game Cube games. click to enlarge.

There are just so many more, but I think you've got the idea.


Special Thanks to Syd Bolton for this amazing tour.