TTL said:
Following the example of my idol, Dr. NakaMats, nowadays I do all my camera buying decisions based on the smell of the camera.
“Good smell is good camera. Bad smell or no smell, that is bad camera.” —Dr. Nakamats
Obviously he is roughly three times as great as Thomas Edison, based on his number of inventions.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
New Sigma 85mm 1.4
Enticing the Light, new gear round-up article.
I almost wrote about those very promising new Sigma lenses, including the much-desired portrait (and many other things) configuration, 85mm F:1.4. This will be interesting for many, not the least users of full-frame cameras. Nikon and Canon have their own great lenses here, but this may be cheaper (though not dead-cheap, it's a pro lens), and for Sony full-frame users, I think the only option otherwise has been a Zeiss lens, which is brilliant, but expensive and is not autofocus.
Sigma says they have aimed at making it better than "original" lenses, but I think this, unlike with budget 50mm lenses, will be difficult, since the 85mm lenses out there are traditionally of top-notch quality.
So far as I'm aware, Sigma has made many good lenses, but I have often heard complaints of lax quality-control, and this was confirmed when I bought a 35mm 14 Sigma a couple years ago, it was so unsharp in the middle that I had to return it, something which is rare for me.
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Like many male photographers, I'm enchanted by swinging around big chunks of metal and glass, it feels like you're doing something very Real and Important. :-)
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There is also an upcoming Samsung compact
... Which has a tiltable screen, too rare in compacts. And has a very fast lens, and just looks really good (click for big pic). Promising.
Miserere said:
I think the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 is going to sell very well. I wonder how it will compare to the Canon 85mm f/1.4... Wait, there isn't one! And the f/1.2 is very expensive.
Nikon's 85mm f/1.4 is very long in the tooth by now, and also more expensive than the Sigma.
Sony's 85mm f/1.4 is probably ~50% more expensive than the Sigma will be. On the other hand, it is a Zeiss lens.
Pentax don't have a currently produced 85mm f/1.4.
Neither do Olympus.
In short, this lens can, and will, appeal to shooters from all brands, and when you're designing a lens as a 3rd party lens maker, you want the largest possible pool of buyers possible. (Having said that, Sigma haven't included 4/3 in the list of mounts they're planning to make available.)
I almost wrote about those very promising new Sigma lenses, including the much-desired portrait (and many other things) configuration, 85mm F:1.4. This will be interesting for many, not the least users of full-frame cameras. Nikon and Canon have their own great lenses here, but this may be cheaper (though not dead-cheap, it's a pro lens), and for Sony full-frame users, I think the only option otherwise has been a Zeiss lens, which is brilliant, but expensive and is not autofocus.
Sigma says they have aimed at making it better than "original" lenses, but I think this, unlike with budget 50mm lenses, will be difficult, since the 85mm lenses out there are traditionally of top-notch quality.
So far as I'm aware, Sigma has made many good lenses, but I have often heard complaints of lax quality-control, and this was confirmed when I bought a 35mm 14 Sigma a couple years ago, it was so unsharp in the middle that I had to return it, something which is rare for me.
---
Like many male photographers, I'm enchanted by swinging around big chunks of metal and glass, it feels like you're doing something very Real and Important. :-)
---
There is also an upcoming Samsung compact
... Which has a tiltable screen, too rare in compacts. And has a very fast lens, and just looks really good (click for big pic). Promising.Miserere said:
I think the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 is going to sell very well. I wonder how it will compare to the Canon 85mm f/1.4... Wait, there isn't one! And the f/1.2 is very expensive.
Nikon's 85mm f/1.4 is very long in the tooth by now, and also more expensive than the Sigma.
Sony's 85mm f/1.4 is probably ~50% more expensive than the Sigma will be. On the other hand, it is a Zeiss lens.
Pentax don't have a currently produced 85mm f/1.4.
Neither do Olympus.
In short, this lens can, and will, appeal to shooters from all brands, and when you're designing a lens as a 3rd party lens maker, you want the largest possible pool of buyers possible. (Having said that, Sigma haven't included 4/3 in the list of mounts they're planning to make available.)
Grammar
Devotees of grammatical studies have not been distinguished for any very remarkable felicities of expression.
-- Amos Bronson Alcott
It's true, innit?
I've noticed that when I'm very concerned abut crect grammer and speling, it comes from fear of being criticized, not concern over being understood.
I think that if Shakespeer (noted for spelling his name differently all the time) had been very concerned with Correctness, we would not have had the expressive plays we have. I'm sure, for instance, that his ol' school teacher would have had some harsh words to say about his penchant for making up his own words.
I'm not saying correct grammar and such is not worth learning, so you know what you're doing, but if it doesn't stand in the way of becoming the worlds most popular and respected scribe, then in the end it may not be worthy of losing sleep over.
-- Amos Bronson Alcott
It's true, innit?
I've noticed that when I'm very concerned abut crect grammer and speling, it comes from fear of being criticized, not concern over being understood.
I think that if Shakespeer (noted for spelling his name differently all the time) had been very concerned with Correctness, we would not have had the expressive plays we have. I'm sure, for instance, that his ol' school teacher would have had some harsh words to say about his penchant for making up his own words.
I'm not saying correct grammar and such is not worth learning, so you know what you're doing, but if it doesn't stand in the way of becoming the worlds most popular and respected scribe, then in the end it may not be worthy of losing sleep over.
Update:
emptyspaces sez:
The funny thing is, I am a professional writer (ok, hack copywriter, but still), and I can assure all of you aspiring writers that conveying a thought clearly is far more important than being an accurate typist or the grammar queen.
Yes, and perhaps harder too. Grammar is just a set of rules, but clear conveyance demands a feel for how millions of people think, and to fit the writing into that effectively.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A virus?
Here's one of the rare spam viruses which actually made it through my various defenses. I buy enough online to forget the occasional item, so I opened the zip file. If I'd been running Windows and been slightly less educated, I might actually have opened the "postal label", which turned out to be a .exe file.
Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com
We have successfully received your payment.
Your order has been shipped to your billing address.
You have ordered " Velocity Micro Edge Gx635 "
You can find your tracking number in attached to the e-mail document.
Print the postal label to get your package.
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Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com
We have successfully received your payment.
Your order has been shipped to your billing address.
You have ordered " Velocity Micro Edge Gx635 "
You can find your tracking number in attached to the e-mail document.
Print the postal label to get your package.
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Banana Protector
The banana protector and other inventions from the sublime to the widicuwous.
Anti-Theft Coffee Cup. Are you tired of others stealing your coffee cup? Well now there's a solution. The Lock - Cup has a hole which prevents most people from using it. Only the owner of the cup can use his/hers shaped key to close the hole.
Anti-Theft Coffee Cup. Are you tired of others stealing your coffee cup? Well now there's a solution. The Lock - Cup has a hole which prevents most people from using it. Only the owner of the cup can use his/hers shaped key to close the hole.
Cable on two TV sets (updated)
After five years without TV (only discs), I'm getting cable again. Maybe it's HD beckoning, but also that the modern boxes will record and let you fast-forward through ads and so on. And I'll probably save lots of money on DVDs. Amazingly, over a hundred channels and HD was only 14 GBP/month ($20) more expensive than zero! (I already was using Virgin's broadband and phone service.)
Now, I also have a TV in the bedroom which I'd like to use sometimes in addition to the one in the living room. I imagine it's not a big deal to hook it up to the cable box (which will be installed this Friday), but how do I make the remote work? It's no further than one strategically placed mirror could do it, but I guess that's hardly practical.
Update:
The installer told me the only way to get it on the second TV is to get a box more. I find the pricing reasonable: £5 more per month, and £35 for installing it. But maybe I just won't bother, and will keep that TV for disc only. One reason is that if I want to record anything (and that's part and parcel of the whole experience these days, I have to keep the device on, it is not loud but you can hear it, and I'm quite sensitive to noise when I wanna sleep.
... Of course I could just use the living room box for recording, but I suspect I'd get tired of zipping out there and navigate to whatever took my flighty fancy.
Now, I also have a TV in the bedroom which I'd like to use sometimes in addition to the one in the living room. I imagine it's not a big deal to hook it up to the cable box (which will be installed this Friday), but how do I make the remote work? It's no further than one strategically placed mirror could do it, but I guess that's hardly practical.
Update:
The installer told me the only way to get it on the second TV is to get a box more. I find the pricing reasonable: £5 more per month, and £35 for installing it. But maybe I just won't bother, and will keep that TV for disc only. One reason is that if I want to record anything (and that's part and parcel of the whole experience these days, I have to keep the device on, it is not loud but you can hear it, and I'm quite sensitive to noise when I wanna sleep.
... Of course I could just use the living room box for recording, but I suspect I'd get tired of zipping out there and navigate to whatever took my flighty fancy.
Terry Fator ventriloquist
Singing, ventriloquism, and impressions, all the same time...
(There's tons of Terry Fator on Ytoob.)
(There's tons of Terry Fator on Ytoob.)
Smoker boobs
Young women seem to smoke a lot. I'll bet the threat of cancer does nothing to help, but I think this may:
(From here.)
(From here.)
Xray iPhone
Xray iPhone. If you buy this, I'll bet you also bought those "xray glasses" when you were young. (Actually I did. Rather disappointing.)
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