Is anyone out there?

 I've been away for quite some time!

I have been more into the RC car hobby in recent years, and photography has been neglected. That's the main reason I haven't updated this blog in years. I simply haven't been doing much in terms of photography!

It's not that I lost interest so much. Just that I was so heavily absorbed in the other hobby that it didn't leave much time.

I've been gradually learning to combine the two hobbies, though. Most of the places I go to drive my RC cars are also good places for photography, so it pays to take a camera along. And of course, I can take cool photos of my RC cars, too!

So, anyways! I just wanted to say a thank you to anyone who's still out there.

I won't make any promises, but there is a good chance I will start making the occasional update again as I begin to better integrate the two hobbies.

Still alive

Hi guys, I just wanted to stop by and let you know I'm still breathing. Unfortunately I have neglected this blog terribly for a long time now. It all started when my marriage ended in late 2012, for a long time I just didn't feel like posting at all eventually the dust settled and I've never really managed to kick start things again. It's a shame because there are more followers now than when I stopped updating!

I'm in a better mental place now, I still have periods of feeling down though. I'm at a strange stage in life. Every second I spend with my daughter is fantastic but whenever she isn't there I tend to feel empty and lonely but as a self confessed introvert and someone who tends to suffer from social anxiety I find it difficult to meet people. When I feel down I often suffer from a lack of enthusiasm when it comes to photography.

I'm currently unhappy because my ex is moving to the next city with my daughter and changing her school, I'll still see her as much as possible but this move means I will no longer have her on school nights and no longer be able to take her to school in the morning before work which is one of her favourite things and something I enjoy immensely as a parent, our current routine is going to be changed quite dramatically and it's making me very nervous.

I currently have her 3 nights a week and will now only be able to have her 2 nights. I also tend to see her a lot even when it's not my "turn" to have her because she lives so close, me and her mother would often meet up to do the school run or take the kid to the park etc and this kind of thing will decrease dramatically after the move. I'm trying to stay positive but simply knowing I will never get her ready for school and drop her off and/or collect her from school is heartbreaking, I'm a very sentimental person and this is one of those activities I feel bonds us as parent and child.

I'm very torn by the whole situation because on the one hand me and my ex haven't fallen out, this isn't one of those parents at war things or anything of the sort but that almost makes it more frustrating in a way because I strongly believe the entire move will be in vain, I feel she is allowing her irrational feelings for a bad partner she knows she has no future with to rule her mind. It will inevitably end once a again and it will have all been for nothing. I feel this whole thing is unnecessary and that my continual effort to be a committed and available father is being under-appreciated or at least drowned out by someone's misguided belief that a different postcode will magically solve her life issues. But that's a whole other story in itself!

I just wanted you to all know that I'm still here, I still think about the blog often but I just need to find a way to ignite things again.

A lot has changed since I last updated regularly, since being single things have been tough financially so the only new camera I have bought is a second hand Sony A6000 which I have been enjoying a lot with some reservations.

I still take photos fairly regularly but nowhere near as often as I would like to. It seems to be all to rare that I have free time when the weather is decent and even when that happens I find myself prone to bouts of depression and just an overall lack of enthusiasm.

I still think about things to write all the time and I'm still of the mindset that I will get back into it eventually, for anyone who's still watching this blog I just want to say thanks for your patience. Life is complicated at the moment and I'm a born worrier so while many people might turn to their hobbies as a form of stress relief I tend to find myself too preoccupied to enjoy it!

Sony A7R II: Game changer?

I had to crawl out from under my rock to comment on this! There are reports that the new Sony A7R II will autofocus just as well with Canon EF lenses and a Metabones adapter as it will with native lenses. If this is true it's simply amazing, I know a LOT of people who love Sony bodies but stick with Canon because of the lenses and this could finally change all that. I'm not yet 100% convinced because in the past the Canon lens/Metabones combination hasn't yielded impressive results even with the Sony bodies that have phase detect pixels but there's a lot of talk of thing different this time.

Even if this isn't true the camera looks amazing, easily the best mirrorless camera yet made, at least on paper! If the autofocus situation turns out to be true this could be the turning point, the beginning of the end for DSLRs!

I certainly won't be able to afford one but maybe if I'm lucky and this turns out to be true then the technology that made it possible will trickle down into the APS-C bodies, if not I guess I'll have to pick an A7R II up in about 5 years when it's finally in my price range!


Update:

As Rishi at dpreview just pointed out to me, the A7R II gives phase detect when using the Sony LA-E3 adapter and A mount DSLR lenses. That's the adapter that DOESN'T have a mirror inside and until not hasn't allowed you to use the on sensor phase detect with Sony lenses. Something has been done differently with this new body to allow the LA-E3 to work with the on sensor phase detect.

Because the Metabones adapter basically mimics the protocol the of the LA-E3 it means that Canon lenses will also be able to use the on sensor phase detect pixels! This is MASSIVE news and is likely to shake things up in a serious way! Canon users will now have access to what is undeniably a superior sensor architecture and without a penalty in focus performance!

Fingers crossed that this is as amazing a development as it appears to be!

I'm still alive! Life has just gotten in the way recently. I hope to restore something resembling normal service soon!

Bristol Balloon Fiesta 2013

I never got round to posting photos I took at this years balloon fiesta so here are a few! The weather wasn't kind to me the first day I went so things were a bit dull and overcast and then the second day while the light was beautiful it was too windy for the balloons to launch! Typical!

I'm going to make a few more posts consisting of mainly just photos and then hopefully some more reviews soon. I'm feeling a lot better recently and finding myself able to concentrate on photography related things without negative thoughts creeping into my head as often as they were so with a bit of luck normal service will be restored eventually!

All the fisheye shots were taken with my trusty NEX-5N and Samyang and the others were taken with my 60D and a combination of the Canon 70-300mm L and Sigma 18-50mm EX (the one that front focuses but at least it isn't soft on one side like the countless Canon 17-55s and 15-85s I've tried plus the Sigma 17-50!! STILL haven't found a decent standard zoom!)

a quickr pickr post

Sony to release an NEX camera that will autofocus with ANY lens!?? This could be a game changer!

I had to make a post about this! Andrea at Sonyalpharumours has hinted that Sony are working on a camera that will enable users to achieve autofocus with Canon and Nikon lenses! This is an amazing revelation, this kind of cross format compatibility from an original manufacturer would be unique, adapters to use the lenses from other brands are usually the work of third party manufacturers and poorly implemented!

But there's more! And this is the really exciting part, Andrea hinted that autofocus may be achieved by SHIFTING THE SENSOR forwards and backwards! If this turns out to be true it will be a complete game changer and revolution for the users of manual focus legacy lenses, you could turn any lens into an autofocus lens! Imagine using old lecia primes with AF! Or M42, Pentax K, Canon FD, Contax/Yashica and even those weird and wonderful C-mount lenses!

It remains unclear if this is actually how the camera is going to work but if it turns out to be true it will be a very exciting piece of technology, even if you have to manually get a lens nearly in focus and then let the camera do the fine tuning by moving the sensor it would still be revolutionary!

I can barely wait to find out more!

My dear friends,

I apologise for the lack of new posts, things have been very difficult the past 6 months. My marriage has ended and after 7 years I suddenly find myself alone. I have a 2 year old girl who was 1 when this all started happening. The crazy thing is I thought my life was going great and I just never saw it coming. It has without doubt been the most difficult time in my life. The sense of loss I have endured over the past months has been hard to bear. I genuinely felt a happiness and love for my family that was at it's most powerful right at the moment this happened, it was like hitting a brick wall at a thousand miles per hour.

I am healing as time passes but I still feel a lot of negativity and a lack of enthusiasm and this has affected my photography greatly. It's almost unbearable being at the beach for example when all I see are young couples and happy families, it's like a punch to the gut every time and takes away the joy of photography. Many times I have ventured out now only to return home with my tail between my legs and no photos, weighed down by a heavy feeling of loss.

I had been hoping to take photos constantly as a form of therapy and to take my mind of things but the weather has been terrible in South Wales, snow, rain, wind, cold temperatures, everything except for the sun which is what I really want but even when the weather is nice it can be hard to empty my mind of negative thoughts long enough to actually enjoy shooting.

Hopefully the weather will improve soon.

I have taken photos a few times this year but not as often as I would like.

I fear I may be turning into a train spotter too, albeit an artistic one! :-P

Managed to take my old Tokina SZ-X SD 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 out for a spin on my NEX-5n a while back, a fantastic lens considering it was a budget optic when new, stop it down to F/5.6 and you will enjoy superb sharpness but more striking to me is the enthusiastic colour saturation!

SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 rolling review part 3 the conclusion!

Overall thoughts:

I can find no fault worth mentioning with the build quality and finish of this lens, it's sturdy, reassuringly heavy and well finished with smooth and perfectly damped focus and aperture rings. I suppose if I was being really picky I would say the geared rings were a little hard on the fingers but let's not forget this lens is optimised for video use with a follow focus.

In terms of sharpness the lens delivers a surprisingly good performance wide open for the price with resolution remaining strong towards the edges of the frame. There is some visible purple fringing and contrast can very a lot depending on the lighting conditions but both of these can be countered quite easily with modern software.

The lens delivers smooth bokeh apart from point light sources that can have quite a solid outline, I think this is the best of both worlds and it reminds me a lot of the bokeh I see in movies where out of focus lights are used to stylistic effect whereas everything else is just a smooth blur. Thanks to the hefty aperture blade count out of focus highlights remain circular throughout the aperture range.

The lens can be coaxed into producing some extraordinary flare wide open which also reminds me of watching motion pictures and which will either be drool worthy or an eyesore depending on your tastes but as I said before you can literally turn this flare off by stopping down just a tiny amount. The lens becomes sharper and more contrasty as you stop down and already by T/2.8 the optical performance is very strong with crisp sharpness and a minimum of aberrations.

Overall the lens performs very well wide open considering it's price and fast aperture, there are some weaknesses but they can be countered quite easily with software. Once you stop the lens down to T2.8 and beyond the optical performance is very impressive indeed but be assured that the lens remains very much usable at it's maximum aperture.

The only other issue I noticed was some slight distortion but again it was simple to remedy with software when necessary.

Compared to other options:

Thanks to the generous trade in scheme a lot of people will be upgrading from the SLR magic 35mm f/1.7 lens and will be wondering how much of an improvement this lens really is, I can comfortably say that you will instantly see a huge improvement in all areas, the sharpness wide open is a lot better and on the T1.4 this applies to the entire image and not just a tiny little blob in the centre of the frame as with the f/1.7. The new cine lens has no field curvature in comparison so subjects can be sharp at the centre and the edge of the frame at the same time. You will also find the bokeh to be much smoother and that it will remain circular because the T1.4 has many more aperture blades.

The 35mm F/1.7 remains a great little lens for the money and gives very unique and often pleasing results but as a serious tool for still photography and filming alike it just isn't on the same level as the new T1.4 lens.

The same applies to users of the fujian 35mm f/1.7 CCTV lens with which the SLR Magic F/1.7 shares a common ancestry and is an improved version of, the T1.4 lens is superior in every way and can be considered a "real lens" whereas the CCTV lens while capable of producing great images is very much a toy in comparison.

You may also be considering the Jackar 34mm f/1.8 lens but despite it's elaborate finishing and packaging, this lens also found it's beginning in the Fujian 35mm CCTV lens and simply can't hope to come anywhere near to the SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 for optical performance or build quality, it's just in a different league!

In conclusion I found this lens to be very well made and capable of delivering a high level of performance. The image quality is obviously at it's weakest wide open but is still very good and very usable with decent sharpness and a perfect balance between smoothness and character when it comes to bokeh. The lens just gets better and better as you stop down and from T2.8 onwards it performs on a very high level comparable to lenses costing a lot more.

I quickly became accustomed to being pleased with what I saw on the computer screen after a shooting session and the lens constantly impressed me with it's performance/price ratio.

For the price there is really no significant weakness, the lens represents amazing value for money and would make a great choice for still photographers or film makers alike!

 


PROS:

Decent sharpness wide open that extends well into the edges of the frame.

Very high overall image quality in all areas when stopped down to T2.8 and smaller.

Bokeh that strikes a perfect balance between smoothness and character.

Highlight bokeh remains circular throughout the aperture range thanks to the hefty aperture blade count.

Very solid all metal build quality damped focus and aperture rings.

Warm and vibrant colours.

Very cool looking lens flare that can be used to great effect and which disappears quickly upon stopping down (Perhaps a con to some but not me!)

CONS:

Purple fringing can be strong in some circumstances but quickly dissipates upon stopping down.

Contrast can be quite weak wide open under certain lighting conditions.

Distortion. 


Bottom line:

To cut a long story short, the lens is excellent value for money and performs very well even wide open, it has character without being a novelty item like CCTV based lenses. You can absolutely use this lens as a serious tool for picture and film making. In this price point the pros outweigh the cons several times over.

I highly recommend this lens for anyone needing the best balance between price and performance!

The SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 is available in Sony E mount, Fuji X mount, Canon EF-M Mount and Micro four thirds mount. The lens is not yet available on the website or their ebay shop but you can get ahead of the queue by ordering direct, just send an email to support@slrmagic.com







You can find my Flickr photo set of sample images HERE

You can find Part one of the review HERE and Part two of the review HERE

SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 rolling review part 2

Time for the next instalment of the SLR Magic 35mm review!

I used this lens quite a lot yesterday and once again I was pleased with the images I got. I have started to realise the lens has two personalities in a way, when the lens is wide open you can coax the type of flare from it that is fitting of a blog entitled lens porn, In my humble opinion it's some of the most awesome looking flare I've ever seen and the really great thing is you can eliminate it quickly by stopping down just a TINY amount, I'm talking before you even get to T2, it's like having a switch for the flare.

Taken at T1.4


There's some aspects of shooting wide open such as the flare and purple fringing that are somewhat "lo fi" but on the other hand I find the lens to be reasonably sharp at this setting and consistent across the frame, I would have expected the resolution at T1.4 to drop off severely towards the edges but it doesn't. The bokeh wide open is very nice too, it's mostly relatively neutral apart from some types of light sources such as xmas decorations where the light discs have an outline effect which I find quite cool but most of the time the bokeh is just nice and smooth.

The following shots are taken at T1.4






The sharpness gradually increases as you stop down and by T2.8 things are already bitingly sharp, certainly enough to provoke some moire here and there with my Sony NEX-5n which is usually a clear sign of high resolution.

Current thoughts:

The more I use this lens the more I like it, when it's wide open you can use the shallow depth of field and crazy flare to get some funky looking effects but that's not to say it can't be used seriously wide open, with some care you can get shots from the lens that belie it's relatively modest price tag. Don't forget this lens with it's T1.4 maximum aperture will be available for around $349 with a $50 rebate and additionally owners of the SLR Magic 35mm F/1.7 will be able to trade there lens in and get an additional $90 discount. Consider that a Zeiss 35mm F/1.4 will set you back $1800 or a Leica Summilux $5000 and you begin to realise how reasonably priced this lens is, obviously the SLR Magic isn't going to be as good optically, to claim that would be foolish but proportionately I would have to say it offers much better value.

First shot taken at T2.8, the rest taken at T1.4








You can now find the final part of this review here

SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 rolling review part 1

Let me start by apologising for the suspense! I have had some serious marriage problems recently and am currently separated so depression has been rearing it's head of late. It also doesn't help that I am currently sick as a dog fighting the terrible illness known as "man flu"! But alas, finally I have gotten my hands on a pre production copy of the SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 and this will be the first part of a rolling review!

Initial impressions:

I have to say I was immediately impressed as soon as I handled the lens, it's reassuringly heavy and solid, it's made of metal and it feels substantial and well made. The (stepless) aperture and focus rings are both smooth and well damped contributing to the impression of quality. Both the focus and aperture rings are geared for easy use with a follow focus, this is a nice touch for movie makers! One major bonus for those familiar with using old preset legacy lenses will be the fact that the number of aperture blades reaches into two figure territory, that means smooth circular highlight bokeh even when the lens is stopped down, that's a very unusual feature on new lenses nowadays but one that can be very useful creatively. Overall the construction and appearance of this lens are very much old school and that can only be a good thing because we all know they used to build lenses better back in the day!

In terms of image quality what I have seen so far impresses me, even wide open sharpness appears to be more than usable and that goes right to the edges of the frame, there seems to be a little less contrast at maximum aperture but this can very easily be restored in software and it can be beneficial when making video on lower end cameras as it can help to improve gradients when you're battling with a limited codec.

This lens is very much usable wide open and that's important because people tend to buy a fast aperture lens with the intention of using them wide open and so far the lens really does not disappoint in this department.

The bokeh I have seen so far appears to be very smooth for the most part with highlights being a bit more distinctive but not in a bad way, taste in bokeh is a subjective matter but for me this lens really delivers and gives a very cinematic look. I am looking forward to experimenting more.

Here are some shots I took today whilst I was familiarising myself with the lens, they are all taken with the lens wide open and I used the black and white mode built in to the Sony NEX-5n:








Click here for part two of the review!

Click here for part three of the review!

Voigtlander APO-Lanthar 90mm f/3.5

I will turn this into a review asap but it's been so long since there has been anything new I just thought I would get some content up.

This lens is the first of the Cosina manufactured versions, a fact that attracted scorn at the time but of course once the truly astonishing APO-Lanthar 125mm f/2.5 SL came along, possibly one of the greatest lenses ever made, nobody questioned Cosina again.

I love this lens, it's not the fastest but not too slow either, it performs beautifully from wide open and has fantastically smooth bokeh. There's just something about the way it renders that I love, it certainly seems to produce a subtle 3d effect a lot of the time.

The build quality is also excellent and the focus ring has just the right amount of damping. This lens can be had for relatively little money so I think it represents something of a bargain.

Bristol Balloon Fiesta 2012

So did I mention I tried two copies of the canon 15-85mm in my seemingly never ending quest for a standard zoom lens that doesn't suck? Well I did and they both sucked, they were both decentered and on different edges of the picture too, maybe I should have tried a third?

I then tried a Sigma 17-50mm OS and guess what? The left side of the image is soft! I GIVE UP!!!!!! it was too short notice to send it back so I had to take it to this years Bristol Balloon fiesta and make do, SOME of the shots were relatively sharp across the frame at f/7.1 but even then it was hit and miss, I really wanted to stick to F/5.6 or ideally F/4 so I could use a CPL and stay to ISO 100 and still get decent shutter speeds because of my ridiculously shaky hands!

What a shame, the lens was good otherwise, it's very similar to my Sigma 18-50mm (which ISN'T decentered but DOES front focus by a huge margin) The build is great, the OS appears to work well, the usual warm Sigma colours are there and the bokeh is great for a zoom lens. Some reviews claim the lens has poor edge sharpness but on the side my lens was working properly I found the edge was very sharp by f/5.6 at the wide end and was pretty sharp wide open at the long end, if only the story was the same at the other side of the picture!

I will have to try getting a replacement or a warranty repair at least once so I will report back with my findings, I'm not holding my breath!

Anyway, here are some photos from the balloon fiesta, taken with a combination of Canon 60D and aforementioned Sigma lens as well as they Sony nex-5n and the Samyang 8mm and Fujian 35mm lenses:

a quickr pickr post