Shot of the Week 2019/03 – Flamingo Family Amusements at Hastings
It had been a bit of a strange week, mainly as I was unwell and did not take as many photos as I might otherwise have done. Fortunately, I was feeling fit enough for a camera club outing to Hastings at the weekend, where I eventually took my photo of the week. A night time […]
Autumn at Toys Hill
A few days ago, when the sun last shone in this part of the world, I made a trip to Toys Hill. It is a large area of woodland and was one of the first properties which the National Trust acquired. A so called “hurricane”, in reality an exceptionally strong wind, devastated the area in […]
Sigma Resurrection
A New Era With Canon’s and Nikon’s recent announcements of their new full frame mirrorless camera systems, complete with new mounts, adapted lenses are in vogue. It is the only solution which the two companies can offer in an attempt to retain existing DSLR customers as they transition over the next few years. It […]
Is Swirly Bokeh Possible From a £23 Lens?
In my previous article, I looked at the performance of my Russian made Helios 44M lens when used for distant subjects. In this follow-up post, I will look at how well the lens does in rendering out of focus backgrounds. That might not have been a primary consideration for either the designers or the original […]
How Sharp Can a £23 Lens Be?
Is it really possible to get good results from a lens based on a design dating from 1928 and produced by the Russians at the height of the Cold War? There has long been the suggestion that Soviet production standards were not particularly high during that period. Supposedly, there was significant sample variation and defective […]
It Wasn’t The Lens
Let me tell you about the competition judge who came to my camera club recently. The toughest, baddest, meanest judge I have encountered. You might possibly have seen someone harder; this guy was exceptional in my experience. He set the bar high and few of us fallible, flawed mortals managed to reach it. Even the […]
Flower Shot With an Old Pentax Lens
Yes, the blog has been a bit quiet recently. There have been plenty of good intentions to write something. Ideas mulled, even articles started, yet never coming to fruition. Maybe inspiration was not quite there or, as has more often been the case, life intervenes.* Luckily my livelihood does not depend on posting regular updates […]
Photo of the Day – 13 June 2017: Foxgloves
Not so much as Photo of the Day on this occasion, more like Experiment of the Day. Ever since I got my Fuji X-E2, I have developed an interest in using adapted lenses. Mirrorless cameras with features such as focus peaking have made it easier to use lenses from other cameras. All it requires […]