Toronto Jazz Festival

Drummer of the Margaret Stowe Trio at the Distillery District -- NEX-5 & Leica-R Summicron 90mm f2  

Every year, the Toronto Jazz Festival attracts a lot of people from all over the place.  It's a big music event that starts in June and lasts through July.  Many of the events are free but some are paid.  The TD Bank has been a big sponsor of the Jazz Festival for many years.  du Maurier used to sponsor it until it became law that Cigarette manufacturers cannot sponsor any public events.  For events, check out http://torontojazz.com/.

NEX Firmware Version 4 - Peaking Level

Took some pictures today using the new feature in version 4 of the NEX firmware -- Peaking Level.  Overall, I am very happy with it.  It works well for the most part, but there are couple of limitations.  Peaking Level does not work for flat surfaces, or objects that do not have much contrast.  Also, for very thin depth of field, peaking level is not precise enough.  I found that it works about 50% of the time.  Perhaps with practice, the keeper rate will be higher.  For pictures taken with smaller aperture, this peaking level feature is near perfect.

Thanks Sony.  This is a really nice thing to do.  Few camera makers would add major features to older camera models.  They rather you buy a new camera.  Appreciated.

NEX-5 & Leica-R 90mm f2 Summicron @ f2. 

The Fantastic Four

Downloaded and installed version 4 of the NEX firmware this evening, and couldn't wait to try out the Peaking Level feature.  This was the only feature I really wanted and don't care about others.  I was not disappointed.  It would have helped me tremendously if this was available with the original firmware, but it's better late than never.  Basically the peaking level colours the spot(s) where they fall into focus. I set mine to high with red colour and is very visible.  Can't wait for some real world testing!

Checking Messages -- NEX-5 & Minolta MC Tele Rokkor-QF 200mm f3.5.  Click for larger.

2011 - Six Month Review

So far, in terms of new photographic equipment announcements, 2011 has been pretty boring.  Innovation seems stalled.  All camera makers seems to be content in milking the consumers with old technology.  Sure, we have the Fuji X-100 and the Sigma SD1 which seem to stand out from the crowd, but they price themselves out of most people's reach, especially the almost $7000 SD1 body from Sigma.  I have seen samples from the SD1, which show amazing clarity and detail, where the Bayer sensor can't match. Sorry Sigma, as good as the SD1 is, your price is out to lunch.

Perhaps, the second half of 2011 will be more interesting, with new models coming out from Canon, specifically the 5D III and 1Ds IV.  Not that I can afford either of them, but I am hoping there will be some innovative technologies that go into these bodies, instead of just more megapixels.  Possibly more interesting products will come from Sony and Pentax.  I am praying the NEX-7 will come with a viewfinder, or least an option to have one.  Don't need more megapixels, but lower noise and more dynamic range will be very welcomed.  Pentax, who doesn't usually play by the rules, produces such gems with odd focal lengths as 77mm, 43mm, 31mm limited lenses, will likely announce an equally odd-ball EVIL camera with a point & shoot tiny sensor.  I really wish they will do better and succesd as I love their lenses, especially the old manual focus lenses.  Meanwhile, Panasonic and Olympus seem to be very happy churning out the me-too models that hardly has any significant changes from previous models.

Personally, I have been good.  No new camera bodies, no new auto focus lenses, just picked up some old lenses from the camera shows, and made some myself.  In terms of making my lenses, I have accomplished almost everything I set out to do the beginning of the year  - to make some of the non-focusable projection and TV lenses usable.  In fact, I went further than I expected.  Now I have a "system" of projection lenses.  I had so much fun and learned a lot from making these lenses.  Even some decent pictures were produced in the process.  More than what I asked for.  Really.

My heart is still longing for a full frame camera.  Because of the lenses I have already invested, there isn't many choices for me.  It will have to be a Canon full frame body.  My goal is to get either a 5D II or 1Ds II this year, hopefully the beginning of autumn, or least before winter.

Unknown flower -- NEX-5 & Minolta MC Rokkor-PF 85mm f1.7 @ f1.7. Click for larger.

 Today concludes a week of pictures taken with Minolta manual focus lenses.  Missing are MD 135mm f2.8 and 200mm f4.  I am not really comfortable using long lenses on the NEX, so I skipped them.

Mirvish Village

Mirvish Village -- NEX-5 & Minolta MC Rokkor 58mm f1.2 @ f2

Incidentally, the MC Rokkor 58mm f1.2 is my third f1.2 Minolta lens.  My first one, which was the MC Rokkor-PF 58mm f1.2, same built and series as the Rokkor-PF 85mm f1.7; the second one was the MD 50mm f1.2, my least favourite of the 50/58mm f1.2s.  The MD version had only 6 blades, whereas the MC Rokkor has 8-blade; the latest one is the last version of the MC 58mm f1.2. It's simply called MC Rokkor 58mm f1.2.  This  is the second favourite behind the Rokkor-PF version.  All three lenses exhibit similar optical characteristics wide open where the MD version is slightly better at flare suppression and purple fringing.  I like the overall image quality of the Rokkor-PF (first version) the best.

Bicycle Bell #3

Bike Bell -- NEX-5 & Minolta MD Rokkor-x 45mm f2. Click for larger.

This MD Rokkor-x 45mm f2 is visibly smaller than the MC 55mm f1.7 and the MD 50mm f1.7.  It has a 49mm filter size, instead of the 55mm of the MC versions.  Quite a bit lighter too.  The MD lenses were a start of cost reduction in terms of built quality and materials used.  They are generally smaller and lighter than the MC version.  For this reason, I like the MC version of the lenses much better.

The Bargain that Rewards You -- Minolta MC Macro Rokkor-QF 50mm f3.5

Last time we looked at the bargain priced MC Rokkor-PF 55mm f1.7, which was one of the best deals in manual focus lens universe.  Today, we are going to take a look at the sister lens -- MC Macro Rokkor-QF 50mm f3.5.  As the name suggests, it's a macro lens capable of 1:2 ratio.  This lens normally comes with an extension tube that makes the magnification ratio 1:1, or a true macro lens, but you will also sacrifice quite a bit of light -- more than a stop I think.

Chain -- NEX-5 & Minolta MC Macro Rokkor-QF 50mm f3.5. Click for larger.

At infinity, this lens is not as sharp as the Rokkor-PF 55mm f1.7.  This is a compromise as most macro lenses are usually optimized for closeup performance rather than at infinity.  There are exceptions, of course.  The Carl Zeiss Makro S-Planar 60mm f2.8 is one of them.  It's sharp at all distance.  But, let's not compare a lens that costs about $40 to one that costs many times its price.  As a macro lens, it's very good indeed.  As a macro lens at such a cheap price, it's fantastic!

Bokeh -- NEX-5 & Minolta MC Macro Rokkor-QF 50mm f3.5. Click for larger.

I know some will turn their nose at this lens, as it has a rather small maximum aperture of f3.5.  Really, macro lenses serve a different purpose than your fast f1.4 lens, although it can double as a normal 50mm lens.  It's designed to perform best stopped down, and for macro, most of the time you want as much depth of field as you can get.

Compared to the 55mm f1.7 Rokkor, this lens is quite a bit larger and heavier, but still very compact without the 1:1 adapter.  As with most MD/MC lenses (with some exceptions of course), this is one bargain of a lens, possibly the cheapest macro lens you can get from a well known manufacturer.

Lunch Time - NEX-5 & Minolta MC Macro Rokkor-QF 50mm f3.5. 

On Guard

On Guard -- NEX-5 & Minolta MC Rokkor-pf 55mm f1.7

Around the financial district in New York City, there are police everywhere, and sniffing dogs and security personnels checking every vehicle going through some of the streets.  Security is very tight, especially near the 10th anniversary of 911.

The (Taxi) Rides of My Life

 

Long Island -- NEX-5 & Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SI 28mm f2.5. Click for larger picture.

I have heard, and read that New York City taxi drivers are crazy, and I had the fortune to experience it today, twice.  Ian and I took a taxi to Time Square.  On the way there, the taxi driver zipped through traffic, like the Auto Car drawn by Cursor (if you are old enough to remember the show "Automan", you will know what Cursor is).  It was scary, but I managed to snap some pictures along the way.

On our way back, it was only worse.  This driver was even more crazy the previous one.  I swear he was driving at 70 or 80 miles per hour on city streets.  The funny thing is, he had the radio set to play nice, soft, classical music, which totally clashed with his driving.  New York City, is a city of extremes.

New York, New York

 

Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SI 28mm f2.5 & NEX-5

My colleague Ian and I are in New York City for a three-day training.  I took this as a photographic opportunity.  Walked around the financial district this afternoon, and found that New York City is similar to Toronto.  Lots of constructions going on, especially around Ground Zero area.  In some ways, New York City is like Montreal, where lots of old buildings are surrounded by modern, new buildings.  Lots to see, but unfortunately, not much time.