ByWard Market at Night

In the early evening, most of the eating places are very busy. Bars are by far more popular. Although the Market Square sign says that it closes at 8pm, but by around 6pm, most shops are already closed.

Below are some of the pictures I took of the ByWard Market in the evening. All pictures were taken with 5D & EF 35mm f1.4L hand held. Click on the picture to see larger version.

ByWard Market in Ottawa

In a way, the ByWard Market is similar to the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, except that ByWard Market is much larger.  Whereas the St. Lawrence market is mostly indoors, the ByWard Market has expanded to include many streets from its originally much smaller scale.  This is one of the oldest market in Ottawa, established in 1826 by Colonel By, the legendary builder of Rideau Canal.

The ByWard Market was originally conceived as a market to supply foodstuffs from the country for the city folks, and today, eating continues to be the major part of the market. You will find lots of lots of bars, restaurants, cafes, food stores of all kinds within the Market.  You will never have to worry about eating around here.  You would have more trouble deciding what to eat.

Because the ByWard Market is so close to the Parliament Buildings, it's a busy tourist destination.  As such, things are much more expensive in this area, especially when it comes to eating.

If you come to Ottawa, be sure to drop by the ByWard Market.  Lots to explore.

Sugar Mountain -- Paradise for William & Megan -- 5D & Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5.

Pictures of Ottawa

I am on training in Ottawa for a week. Trying to seize this opportunity to take pictures, I lagged a full bag of lenses and my 5D, plus the tripod. Mr. Murphy is a genius. Anything that could go wrong, will go wrong. That's what happened to my 5D on the first day -- the auto focus system failed to work, after about 10 pictures. For the rest of yesterday, I shot with my auto focus lenses, and focused them manually. Ironic, no? I have used manual focus lenses most of the time, and when I want to auto focus, it doesn't work.

It turns out, I think, that this was due to the mirror of the 5D. The 5D has a infamous flaw in that the mirror may fall off, all by itself. Mine hasn't done that yet, but I suspect that it will soon. In any case, I pushed the mirror in, and the auto focus has been working all day today. My fingers are crossed for the rest of the week that it will continue to work.

Went to photograph the Parliament buildings with my friend Cliff. Light snow was falling, making it difficult to photograph distance scenes. Everything looked foggy.

Below are few of the pictures taken today.


Indian Chief -- 5D & EF 50mm f1.2L. Larger Picture.


The Parliament Buildings -- 5D & Sigma EX 15-30mm f3.5-4.5. Larger Picture.


Sculptures -- 5D & Sigma EX 15-30mm f3.5-4.5. Larger Picture.

The $3.2 Million Spider

The $3.2 million spider outside of National Gallery of Canada -- Canon 5D & Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5. Larger Picture.

I don't know anything about art, but a $3.2 million spider sculpture? From my point of view, this is just as bad as the $1.8 million Voices of Fire (three stripes on a canvas).

More Pictures from the DIY Soft Focus Lens

Took the lens out today and shot around the Bathurst and Dundas area while the kids are swimming at the community centre. Overall, I am happy with the lens. It does produce some unique pictures and is kind of fun that it's different from a normal lens.

f0.95 -- Faster than the human eye!

An apple a day... -- Panasonic G1 & JML 50mm f0.95 @ f0.95. Larger Picture.

An f0.95 lens is faster (brighter) than the human eye). I have successfully make this JML 50mm f0.95 TV lens focus to infinity. Had to sacrifice one C-mount to M43 adapter, but I hope it's worth it.

DIY Lens -- Leitz Hektor 120mm f2.5 Projection Lens Part 1

Got a Leitz Hektor 120mm f2.5 Projection lens a couple weeks ago, and I have thinking of making a lens out of it. By itself, a project lens has no aperture, no focusing mechanism, and therefore not very useful except on a projector. Since I don't know how to make lens parts, the only way I can make a lens is to use a barrel from an existing lens, and plant the projector lens in. This is easier to do than you think, and it's a lot of fun to do.

Tools: You don't even need a lot of tools. A Dramel with cutter attachment to cut the projection lens to to shorten its length. A file to smooth the cut. Small screw drivers to remove the mount of the lens to take out the lens elements inside, and glue. I used Gorilla Glue, but it has one nasty side effect -- it expands.


The projector lens -- Larger Picture.

The Lens Barrel -- This will be the hardest part. You need to find a lens with a 135mm focal length, and an front opening large enough to accommodate the projection lens. The one I found that fits, is the Enna Munchen 135mm f2.8. Unbelievably, this is one of the worse lenses I have seen, and the only one from West Germany. The outer shell is made of plastic, the front element assembly that holds the glass is made of plastic. Because of this, the thread quickly wore out and the front element assembly could no longer be screwed in tightly. One reason to scrap it. Optically, it's also a dog. In a word, a worthless lens. Anyway, it fits the Hektor 120mm f2.5 lens.


Donor body -- Enna Munchen 135mm f2.8 M42 Mount. Larger Picture.


Happy together before operation -- Larger Picture.

Wait & Go

Corner of Yonge & Queen at rush hour -- Canon 5D & Leica Elmarit-R 28mm f2.8.

Spadina

Spadina -- Canon 5D & Leica Elmarit 28mm f2.8. Larger Picture.

I work in this area and it's so familiar and never thought of take a picture. Found this angle to be pretty nice with a 28mm viewing angle. By the way, the Leica R Elmarit 28mm f2.8 (3-CAM) is a wonderful lens, despite vignetting, even at f8.

Mona Lisa Smiles

Mona Lisa Smiles at Kensington Market -- 5D & Modified Leitz Hektor 120mm f2.5 Projector Lens. Fickr Stream.