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Monday, May 1, 2023

M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-200 f3.5-6.3


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If there was ever a travel lens made then this lens could be it. Covering a 35mm equivalent focal range of 24-400mm it is a jack of all trade, a master of none.Having said that I personally am happy with the image quality at all focal lengths although it is not crispy sharp at the long end. But for my purposes tack sharp images from corner to corner at all focal lengths is not a ...


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posted by Dil on 05/01/23 19:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  302


Saturday, April 1, 2023

Olympus E-M5 Series Cameras


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Presently there are 3 iterations of the E-M5 camera; the original E-M5, E-M5 II and the E-M5 III. Olympus kept that nice and simple for us.



E-M5 series cameras

 

 


When I purchased the Olympus E-M1 camera I thought it produced the best looking images I had seen up to that point. Then came the E-M5 and the E-M5 II. I looked at the images again and thought they were much better than the E-M1 in ...


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posted by Dil on 04/01/23 19:00  under Cameras

comments (0)  347


Sunday, December 18, 2022

Small Light Prime Lenses


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This post is actually just to say hello again after a longish break and I plan to start posting againso there will be more to follow. Quite a few of these will be about some new hardware that has been added to my shelves during my 3 year absence. I hope will join me on my journey again.


I lost my way somewhat as well as my mojo but thankfully my interest has been rekindled ...


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posted by Dil on 12/18/22 19:00  under General

comments (0)  413


Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Olympus E-PL1-Olympus 14-150 f4-5.6


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The Olympus E-PL1 was the first interchangeable lens camera that I really enjoyed using. It also impressed me with what was possible in this strange world I had stumbled into. My first "real" digital camera was the Canon 300D but that had some major drawbacks at the time. For me the E-PL1 had it all. I purchased the 14-150 f4-5.6 with the camera and I was thrilled with the performance and image quality. The colour ...


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posted by Dil on 12/07/22 19:00  under Cameras

comments (0)  453


Monday, July 1, 2019

Lens 'GAS'


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I'm sure you've all heard the term GAS before. It's very common in photographers who think that the next piece of new kit is going to improve their photography. Of course it doesn't but there's no point preaching to them, because they just want new toys to play with. I'm not sure if Gear Acquisition Syndrome is only symptomatic to photographers, but I'm assuming it isn't.


I know all photographers go through this at some ...


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posted by Dil on 07/01/19 19:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  2390


Friday, June 22, 2018

Equipment Changes After My Loire Valley Trip


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After going through all of my images from my Loire Valley trip (and deleting some 90% of the images), I have come to the conclusion that a couple of things have to change. I always tend to do this type of thing, it's the only way you're going to find out what works, what doesn't and what you have to change. I normally don't like a post-mortem, but this is exactly what I am doing ...


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posted by Dil on 06/22/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  8318


Friday, June 15, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 14


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The day didn't look too promising and a lot of rain was forecast. We have been very lucky with the weather, not rained once really, only a few showers and we were able to go out each day. So out came my small camera bag holding the E-M5 II with the Panasonic 7-14 f4 mounted. I also threw in the Panasonic TZ101 because it takes up hardly any room. I had a feeling we were ...


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posted by Dil on 06/15/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2799


Friday, June 1, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 13


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Today took us out to two more chateaus, the first being Chateau Langeais. Originally founded in the year 992 today's chateau has no resemblance to the original castle. The old keep itself lies in ruins. It is the second earliest knows chateau and is where the marriage between Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII took place in secrecy (1491), which bonded Brittany to the rest of France. The new chateau, what stands today, was started ...


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posted by Dil on 06/01/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  1534


Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 12


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Chateau Villandry is worth the visit for the gardens alone (as seen in the images below). Most of the Loire Valley chateaus are in quite good condition. Of course some restoration work has had to be done over time, but still, it's easy to see where original stone still exists today. The cost of keeping these buildings in tip-top condition costs a fortune, hence the high entry fee we all have to pay.

 

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posted by Dil on 05/16/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2658


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 11


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Today we moved on from Blois to a little town called Veretz. It's not too far from Chinon (which I always thought was a large town - it isn't) and planned to stay there for the day until our friends turned up later.

 


Chinon

Chinon wasn't exactly on the way to Veretz but we had time to spare until our friends came.


We stopped at Chinon (population 8000) for the day before driving further ...


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posted by Dil on 05/01/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  1375


Sunday, April 15, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 10


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During a trip like this, where you've come to do a certain tour, you need a little break once in awhile. This is exactly what we did today and did something completely different. This is our last day in Blois before moving on.

 

Beauval Zoo

 

Beauval Zoo

From the map above you can see how large the zoo is.

 

 


Not too far away from Blois situated in the middle of nowhere is one ...


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posted by Dil on 04/15/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2376


Sunday, April 1, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 9


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Today was going to be a long drive. Unfortunately it was the only day we could do it on but I wanted to see this location. It was rather cloudy and grey but there wasn't anything we could do about that.

 

Fontevraud Abbey was founded in 1101 by the hermit Roberts d'Arbrissel for both men and women and was the largest of its kind in France. It is quite large but is only ...


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posted by Dil on 04/01/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2519


Thursday, March 15, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 8


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Today, for our first visit, we did a village north of the Loire River. All, or most, of the popular chateaus seem to be on the south side of the Loire. I wonder why? Anyway, the first village we visited was Talcy. Of course it also has a chateau. I think every little village in this part of France has a chateau. We didn't visit these villages for the sole purpose of their chateaus, we ...


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posted by Dil on 03/15/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2500


Thursday, March 1, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 7


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Today, we did Chaumont-sur-Loire. Built between 1466 and 1510. That's nearly 50 years for a project. You have to let that go through your brain a little to realize how long that really is. Wouldn't work today of course but when you think about the tools they had then, I think they did pretty well to finish it in just under 50 years.

 

Chaumont-sur-Loire

In the above map you can see the location ...


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posted by Dil on 03/01/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  24281


Thursday, February 15, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 6


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To make up for the disappointment yesterday we headed for two different locations. My shutter therapy is falling short right now!

 

Our first stop was Cheverny. Built between 1620 and 1634. All the finishing on the towers weren't completed until 1648 however. It's the first chateau to be built as a chateau without any defensive or military purposes in mind. And what a beautiful building it is. I could see me living there too, ...


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posted by Dil on 02/15/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  1865


Friday, February 2, 2018

Battery Usage in Loire Valley, France


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I have now used the Olympus E-M1 and E-M5 II extensively for four solid days. One complaint I have is battery consumption. I don't believe it's down to the cameras but to the third party batteries I've purchased. I haven't bought any Olympus original batteries because I had such good experience with the older type batteries used in their older models. I am now possibly regretting my decision to go the same route with these ...


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posted by Dil on 02/02/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  1218


Thursday, February 1, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 5


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Today we took a break from looking at chateaus, even one chateau per day can be too much at times so we headed out for the town of Orleans. With some 120,000 inhabitants, it's one of the bigger towns in the region and offers some great sights to see. It was the capital of medieaval France until the mid-18th Century. During the French Revolution it bacame stauchly Republican. The cathedral dominates the town (Cathedrale-Ste-Croix) and ...


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posted by Dil on 02/01/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2198


Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 4


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Apart from being in the Loire Valley to see the great chateaus, I am also here to test some lenses which I mentioned in one of my last posts. I find it a good time to do this because I'm pretty relaxed when I'm on holiday. So today I decided to mount the Tamron 14-150 f3.5-5.8 on the E-M1 and see how things turn out. The last test I carried out with the Tamron was ...


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posted by Dil on 01/16/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2666


Monday, January 1, 2018

Loire Valley, France - Day 3


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We headed south west in the direction of Chenonceaux which is the village that gives it’s name to Chateau Chenonceau. Aptly named as  the “Palace of Women” because over the ages only women have owned and lived in the chateau. Originally built in 1512 by Catherine Briconnet it was Diane de Poitiers who would build the bridge that spans the Cher river. Catherine de Medici then added the galleries over the bridge.

 

Chenonceau



Chenonceau ...


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posted by Dil on 01/01/18 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2539


Friday, December 22, 2017

General Notes on Equipment - Micro Four Thirds


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This is just a general note on the m43 equipment I use and a few thoughts on how that could change.

The more I use the Panasonic GX7 the more I like it. I can see why some people would find it too small but it fits my hands perfectly, which tells you something about the size of my hands. The Panasonic 7-14 f4 ( while having some problems with flare) has really surprised me by ...


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posted by Dil on 12/22/17 19:00  under General

comments (0)  3277


Friday, December 15, 2017

Loire Valley, France - Day 2


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The heat is oppressive today. We feel like taking a shower every 15 minutes. Despite this we battled our way to the largest chateau in France, Chambord.

 

Chambord Location

 

As you can see from the map above, Chambord isn't far at all from Blois where we were staying for some 10 days. The map shows where a couple of hundred chateaus are situated in the Loire Valley. That's why we chose Blois as ...


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posted by Dil on 12/15/17 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2317


Friday, December 1, 2017

Loire Valley, France - Day 1


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Ten hours it took to drive from Frankfurt, Germany to Blois, France. Blois is the regional capital with some 50,000 inhabitants. After finding the flat we had rented for the next 10 days, out we went to see what delights the town could offer.


For those who are curious to know where Blois is, it's right in the middle on the Loire Valley where most of the chateaus of this famous valley lie. From Blois, ...


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posted by Dil on 12/01/17 19:00  under General

comments (0)  10406


Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Exceptional Lenses I Own


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An earlier post I did was about "Lens GAS" and all the excellent lenses I would dearly love to own but can't justify. Well, lets see what excellent lenses I do own and can highly recommend.

Since I own quite a few excellent lenses, I'll mention only those I think are outstanding and can recommend all photographers take a look at them (if you own that system of course). If you don't own the system, maybe ...


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posted by Dil on 11/01/17 19:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  2668


Monday, October 2, 2017

Lens Envy For The Mirrorless Systems


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I'm sure you've all heard the term GAS before. It's very common in photographers who think that the next piece of new kit is going to improve their photography. Of course it doesn't but there's no point preaching to them, because they just want new toys to play with. I'm not sure if Gear Acquisition Syndrome is only symptomatic to photographers, but I'm assuming it isn't.


I know all photographers go through this at some ...


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posted by Dil on 10/02/17 19:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  2862


Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Less is More


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There's a saying "Less is more". And I perceive that as being true in all walks of life but especially where photography is concerned.

One of my problems when going on a trip is deciding which system to take, Fuji, Sony or m43. I'm lucky being able to afford three system simultaneously but on the other hand it does cause some difficulty when going on trips. The question about which system with which lenses to ...


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posted by Dil on 08/23/17 19:00  under General

comments (0)  2621


Monday, August 7, 2017

Quick Settings for Olympus High Definition Image


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1 Go into the Menu and turn on HD image.
2. Select time delay before image is taken.
3. Go to SCP and select HD option.
4. Select sl + raw
5. Limited to ISO 1600. Flash off. Tripod a must.

 

 

If anyone would like to add something to this, please do.


posted by Dil on 08/07/17 20:47  under Cameras

comments (0)  3052


Thursday, May 4, 2017

Olympus 12-100 f4 Pro - Initial Impression


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Not having the willpower to say no to such things, I went ahead and purchased the Olympus 12-100 f4 lens. After looking closely at my use of lenses I came to the conclusion most of my images were taken between 12mm and 200mm and not really being a lover lens changes, the 12-100 f4 would be my ideal “travel” lens.

My last holiday was done with 2 Panasonic GM5 cameras paired with the Panasonic 12-32 ...


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posted by Dil on 05/04/17 12:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  4353


Saturday, January 14, 2017

Panasonic 14-42 f3.5-5.6 PZ Power O.I.S.


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Having just tested the Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ I was expecting the same sort of performance from this lens. Lets just look at these two for a minute; both are 14-42mm, both are f3.5-5.6 and both have a power zoom (or electronic zoom). Lets see the specs for the lens:

Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 f3.5-5.6 PZ Power O.I.S.
Weight: 95g
Size: 27mm x 61mm
Aperture: f3.5 - f22
MFD: 20cm
Filter: 37mm
Price: €330

Olympus E-M10 II - Panasonic 14-42 f3.5-5.6 PZ

 

 

Olympus E-M10 II - Panasonic 14-42 f3.5-5.6 PZ

 

 

...
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posted by Dil on 01/14/17 17:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  3180


Saturday, January 7, 2017

Olympus 14-42 EZ f3.5-5.6


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Nice and compact, very light and allows you to put this, attached to an Olympus E-M10 or E-M10 II, in your jacket pocket. All the lens has on the outside is the zoom ring, and that is it.

 


Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ (28 - 84mm in 35mm terms)
Weight: 91g
Size: 23mm x 61mm
Aperture: f3.5 - f22
MFD: 25cm
Filter: 37mm
Price: €280

 

 Olympus E-M10 II - Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ

 

Olympus E-M10 II - Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ

 

 

Olympus E-M10 II - Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ

 

 

Olympus E-M10 II - Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ

 

 

Olympus E-M10 II - Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ

 

 

...
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posted by Dil on 01/07/17 14:30  under Lenses

comments (0)  3541


Sunday, January 1, 2017

Olympus 12-50 f3.5-6.3 EZ


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This lens (or my copy) can't be described as Olympus' greatest achievement. I think this was the kit lens with one of the earliest EM models. Forgot which but it doesn't really matter.

 

Olympus 12-50 f3.5 - 6.3 EZ (24-100 35mm equivalent)
Weight: 212g
Size: 83mm x 57mm
Aperture: f3.5 - f22
MFD: 20cm
Filter: 52mm
Price: €230

 

Olympus E-M10II - Olympus 12-50 f3.5-6.3EZ

 

 

Olympus E-M10II - Olympus 12-50 f3.5-6.3EZ

 

 

Olympus E-M10II - Olympus 12-50 f3.5-6.3EZ

 

 

Olympus E-M10II - Olympus 12-50 f3.5-6.3EZ

 

 

I like the range 24mm - 100mm in FF ...


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posted by Dil on 01/01/17 14:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  3735


Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Two Panasonic GM5 Cameras Do London


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This post has taken a really long time appear here; I never seemed to get around to it, or something else took priority. Anyway, better late than never. Before I begin I would just like to mention that throughout 2016 my Panasonic GM5 cameras have seen a tremendous amount of use. I was quite surprised when I realised that all major holidays/breaks/visits this year were done with the Panasonic GM5 cameras. I think this shows ...


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posted by Dil on 12/14/16 22:20  under Cameras

comments (0)  1968


Thursday, November 10, 2016

Olympus Pen-F . An Update


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After my initial setup of the Pen-F I took it out on my normal testing route with the Olympus 14-150 f4.0-5.6 II mounted on it. I also have the original version of this lens and have used it extensively when I've been travelling. I've noticed lately that my original has become de-centered on one side and is quite noticeable when looking closely at the images. The question was, get it repaired or purchase the second ...


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posted by Dil on 11/10/16 10:15  under Cameras

comments (0)  2803


Monday, August 8, 2016

Olympus Pen-F


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I’m sure we all do it from time to time; just browsing the Internet to see what’s new, what’s on offer, and if there’s any acquisitions to made, on the cheap that is. Well, I was guilty of this a few weeks back and I came across something I was hoping I was not going to see. An Olympus Pen-F with the 17 f1.8. And it was at a price I just couldn’t say no ...


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posted by Dil on 08/08/16 11:30  under Cameras

comments (0)  8688


Friday, March 25, 2016

Micro Four-Thirds Musings


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A lot of users swear by full frame cameras reasoning that depth of field can be mastered best with this format. True, DOF can be better achieved with this format but it all depends what you shoot. Landscape photographers try to get MORE DOF rather than less. So that argument doesn't hold up all of the time. It also doesn't mean that it's impossible to achieve a shallow DOF with other formats. I personally use ...


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posted by Dil on 03/25/16 10:30  under General

comments (0)  2267


Sunday, March 20, 2016

Adapters - Follow-up Post


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My last post was regarding adapters for using Canon EF lenses on Sony E-mount and M43 systems. Having tested a few lenses I felt I could post again with some more information with a few images to show the results of using those lenses on the Sony E-mount.

Firstly, the Commlite adapter. I've only tested the Canon 40 f2.8 STM lens on a Sony E-mount camera as of this post so I'll probably test ...


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posted by Dil on 03/20/16 09:20  under General

comments (0)  3370


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Adapters for EF to E and m4/3 Mount Cameras


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Adapters for EF to E and m4/3 Mount Cameras

(Plus some more ramblings)

 

The reason for my purchase of the Sony Alpha Axx cameras when they first came out was to have an FF sensor (a very good sensor) in a small and light package. Since my first purchase I must admit that GAS got the better of me and now I have a few of these little marvels. Each has it's own use ...


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posted by Dil on 03/02/16 19:00  under General

comments (0)  3955


Saturday, February 27, 2016

Zeiss Tessar 85mm f4 ZM


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                                   Zeiss T* 85 F4 Tessar ZM

Sometimes, just sometimes you purchase a new piece of equipment and you just fall in love with it. This is the experience I had after purchasing the Zeiss Tessar 85 f4 lens. It's just a wonderful piece of engineering. It's actually quite compact at 95mm with a diameter of 54mm but I class it as being quite hefty weighing in at 310g. As a matter of fact I wanted ...


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posted by Dil on 02/27/16 15:26  under Lenses

comments (0)  10284


Sunday, December 28, 2014

135mm Lenses on the Sony A7r


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When I was using my Canon 5D (still have it just not using it much) the 135mm f2 L lens was one of my favourites. The focal length just suited my style of photography and, let's face it, the 135mm f2 lens is one of the sharpest lenses ever made. Those who argue with that last statement must have purchased a "Monday morning lens" or just aquired a bad copy. So when I ...


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posted by Dil on 12/28/14 16:00  under Lenses

comments (0)  3173


Thursday, December 4, 2014

Some 50mm, 75mm and 100mm manual focus lenses on the Sony A7r


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Over the years I have accumulated a number of manual focus lenses from Olympus, Nikon, Minolta, Zeiss, Canon among others. All of these lenses have been tested (read used) on APS-C and M4/3 cameras with good results for most of them. Those lenses that didn't pass the test on those cameras have no chance of passing on a full frame camera for the simple reason that the sensor uses the sweet spot of ...


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posted by Dil on 12/04/14 15:30  under Lenses

comments (0)  2543



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I'm an enthusiastic photographer who likes to tinker with manual lenses on most camera formats.

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