Year end musings 2020 edition

A whole year without a post. Life remains a time suck, and working remotely hasn't helped. I've regained two hours a day by not having to commute, but I'm spending more time working, and spending more time being active outdoors. The latter is great, the former not so. 

On to photography. I added just one lens this year, the Tamron 35mm f/1.4. I haven't managed to get the hang of the lens yet as my shooting opportunities have been very limited since I got the lens. So far the IQ has been very good: sharp wide open, with good contrast and smooth bokeh. Vignetting is more than I'm used to though, even with the ACR profile applied. Don't think about using this lens for astrophotography because of that. It's a solidly built lens, and is probably too big and heavy for the Z7. I'm unsure that it's going to be a walkabout lens that I thought it would be. 

I sold the Sigma 12-24 f/4.5~5.6 HSM, for a net of zero lenses. This is a lens that didn't get that much use. It definitely suffered from messy corners, surprisingly even on the D5200. The Nikon 14-30mm is light years ahead of it, even if it doesn't go as wide. One lens that won't bring back fond memories. 

I managed to get Gallery 3 Revival working, but unfortunately I haven't figured out how to import my old galleries. I don't think I want to re-create them from scratch as that is a tedious process. Plus since Gallery 2 won't run under PHP 7, I'm not even sure what photos I had posted.

What's in store for 2021? I'm not sure at this stage. There is a Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 that's caught my eye, but I really, really don't need yet another normal lens. The Z7 should still be good for another two years or so, which means no Z7 II for me. Maybe a Z9, if the AF is as good as a D6 out of the box. Price will most likely put a stop to that upgrade though. And some of the lenses I purchased last year didn't get much use this year, so 2021 will be busy with getting to know them.

 Here's to a quick end to 2020, and the desperate wish that 2021 won't be worse.

Updates:

1. Thanks to the very helpful gurus of the Gallery 3 group, looks like I have to get my host service to downgrade my PHP in order to run the older gallery version and then upgrade. Something to try next year.

2. I've put four lenses on Craigslist, and so far I've only sold one.

3. I bought a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 S. Quite a hefty lens, and given that I had a hard time finding sample images from my 50mm f/1.8G, I doubt it'll get much use. But I just had to see what all the fuss is about hehe.

4. I also picked up a Lenovo P32-u10 monitor. Having a 32" and a 24" is getting to be a bit of a pain when I move windows around. I'll need more desk space though.

Saying goodbye to a beloved lens

I've owned my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR since 2003. It was my first modern (AF-S, VR) pro lens that I bought brand new, at the exhorbitant cost (to me) of $1750. I have had zero regrets on spending all that money, as it has been my go-to lens for events and sports. The lens did have to go in for repair (intermittent AF issue, a "feature" of this generation of the 70-200mm), thankfully under warranty.

The 70-200VR replaced a Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-D one touch lens that was a good intro to the world of fast, pro lenses. No comparison between the two as the newer lens has better IQ, faster AF (even on a D2H with the stronger AF motor), and VR. Coupled with the TC-14EII, I used this lens for parades, street fairs, performances, surfing, and drifting. This lens has taken the majority of the thousands of photos that I've taken. I don't think I can think of any other lens that would come close in terms of usage.

So goodbye, old favorite. You have a lot of life in you yet, and I hope your new owner enjoys you as much as I did.

A faster Contax 50mm

It's usually not a good idea to pair two new items at the same time, but I was itching to try the 2.0 firmware on the Z7 and the Contax 50mm f/1.4 AEG that I picked up a week ago. Off to Carnaval SF to see how it all plays together.

First the firmware: I can't say that I noticed if AF was faster or more accurate, but the Eye AF feature didn't work too well for me. It's not that useful on the 24-70mm and shooting events as there are too many faces for it to lock on. I'd like it more if the AF area could be limited to a box instead of the entire frame. I'm curious to see how it performs with surfing shots, and hopefully there will be some waves next month.

Carnaval was wet at the start (first time in over 15 years of shooting at the event), but it eventually stopped raining, and the sun came out every so often. Otherwise it was pretty grey; great for portraits, not so great for making the vibrant colors of the event pop. 

The Contax 50mm f/1.4 AEG has too much veiling flare wide open. By f/2 the contrast is back to normal though, so I mostly shot at that aperture or smaller. No surprises on the IQ, it looks just like the other Contax lenses. I did notice the ninja star bokeh in some shots, but only when viewed at 100%.

Overall, it's not a bad lens, but it's not a great lens either. The quest for an f/1.4 lens continues.

And now for some sample photos.

More photos can be found here.

Life can be a time suck

Excuses, excuses, excuses. Almost six months have gone by since my year end summary. So what's been going on? Quite a bit, although none of it would be considered earth shattering.

Learning the Z7 has been slow. I have yet to get my standard noise reduction profiles created (I probably should just get a new NR plugin). I swapped my HDD for an SSD, and accidentally wiped out a lot of my NR profiles and PS actions. Backup, backup, backup. And don't erase anything until several months after you're satisfied everything is back to normal.

Lens count has grown just a little. I caved and got a Nikon 24-70mm f/4 S to satisfy the native lens craving. It does live up to its reputation for being sharp and contrasty across the frame, although without the isolation I'm used to with an f/2.8 lens. I also found a Contax 50mm f/1.4 AEJ (ninja stars!) that is sadly too dreamy wide open. I'm not sure that it's any better than the f/1.7 (more ninja stars!), and I'm too lazy to do a comparison test.

So that's it for now. My Blogger template (or plugin) is now broken as the slideshow on the right side is gone. Time to hunt for a new template and plugin (suggestions/recommendations are highly appreciated).

Oh, and I've become more active on Instagram; drop by and say hi.

Year end musings 2018 edition

Looks like my last post was almost a year ago 💀 This has been a very busy year, and this blog is one of the many things that have been neglected.

My kit is undergoing a major upheaval. The Nikon Z7 has joined the kit, along with the FTZ adapter. No native S mount lenses yet as I didn't want to spend too much; the new camera required new batteries and memory (yeesh, XQD is expensive!). And sadly the Sigma 500mm isn't compatible with the FTZ; it focuses occasionally. So the Nikon 200-500mm f5.6E VR has also joined the kit (courtesy of a $200 discount from the normal price). 

The Z7 is a nice camera. AF may not be at the level of the D3, but it's much better than the Fuji X-T1. The EVF is also superior to that of the Fuji. The Contax 100mm f2 that I've had so much trouble nailing focus on the Fuji is a joy to use on the Nikon.

So what's in my kit at the moment? For bodies, I have the Z7, the D3, D5200, V2, X-T1, and X-E2. That means I'm supporting four lens mounts. Current lens count is 27 F mount, three CX, five Contax/Yashica, six Fuji X-mount, and a handful of M42 and FD mounts. Quite the alphabet soup.

How did I end up in this situation 😓? Next year's goal is to determine which lenses and bodies need to go.

Merry Christmas to all. I'll be doing my usual surfing photos in a few weeks, testing out the Z7 and the 200-500mm.