Over the last couple of years, I've been storing my photos online @ Flickr. But I fear that time has come to move forward. Forward to another service for the next couple of years. The main reason for moving is that Flickr doesn't seem to innovate. No innovation basically means going backwards, in these days.
Flickr is a WYSIWYG environment. What you see is what you get, and not in the way this term is usually used on the Interwebs. There's no way of changing the coloring or appearance (white only). No way of integrating into another website (e.g. changing the URL).
Focussing manually has it's advantages. First, the number of potential lenses for your body sky-rockets. There are numerous old and new extraordinary good MANUAL FOCUS lenses available for the modern DSLR. Examples are lenses by Voigtlander, Carl Zeiss, and the old Nikon (Ai-S) lenses. The problem is that most of the modern cameras lack a decent (visual) indicator for when your object is in focus. My Nikon D300 has a small indicator (a dot) in the viewfinder which notifies you when you've got focus. But when you shoot with large apertures (e.g. f/2, f/1.8, f/1.4 or f/1.2) on MF lenses you have to keep track of your composition (through the viewfinder), and watch the 'in-focus' indicator. Something I find very hard to do. I allways seem to miss at least one of them. Missing composition is easy to fix in post-processing, but fixing focus can't be done.
Thankfully, there's a solution to this problem; Katz Eye Optics. These guys offer old-skool focusing screens for the modern digital SLR's. All you have to do is replace the focusing screen with theirs. You can do this yourself, or your camera brand service-center should be able to do it for you (at additional cost). I did it myself though, and ran into a problem (of course). But more on that later...
This Wednesday, Jamiroquai played @ the sold out Ahoy in Rotterdam (Netherlands). At first it was uncertain if he could perform, since they had to cancel their german performance due to Jay Kay's flu the evening before.
After being gone for at least a decade, Skunk Anansie is back with a new album. Last week thay gave a concert in the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam (NL), and it felt like old times.
It wasn't a concert where they played mainly new songs from their new album Wonderlustre. They mainly played those great old songs like Hedonisme, Brazen, Every Day Hurts (Twisted), and many many more.
Skunk Anansie @ HMHThis was also the first time I could use my new Nikon P7000 at a concert. Photo's were pretty much out of the question, since we were sitting all the way at the back. That's to far. Even for the 200mm at the long end on the Nikon. So I shot several videos.
Nikon Coolpix P7000Some of the readers may know that I used the Panasonic Lumix LX3 as a backup/compact camera for the times a dSLR isn't welcome (or practical). One of the places where a dSLR isn't welcome is your average (pop)concert. The Lumix LX3 was (and still is) an excellent compact camera with astonishing low-light capabilities. The only problem I had with the camera was that the zoom function only went to 60mm (35mm equivalent), and 60mm is a bit short when you're not standing directly in front of the podium....
Dell U2711 MonitorThanks to some fortunate circumstances I've been able to get a new 27 inch monitor; The Dell U2711 Ultrasharp PremiumColor.
I was in need of a new monitor, since my old 24" Dell 2407WFP has some problems generating proper colors. Something which is quite important when fooling around with photographs on a computer. Another reason is that my the screen wouldn't work 'properly' with my new 27" iMac.
The 27"-er has a whopping resolution of 2560 x 1440 (WQHD), which is 'slightly more' than your average monitor. This monitor has an IPS panel, which is much better in rendering true colors than the old TN display.
The desktop real-estate is enormous (the same as the 27" iMac). Only problem so far is that my mobile devices aren't capable of using the full capacity of this display. Both my MacBook and Windows 7 Dell E6500 (work laptop) only go as high as 1920 x 1200. So I either have have some black borders, or I have to settle for a stretched screen. In both cases; the image is still extremely good. The display will be used as a second display on my 27" iMac.
Soligor Extension TubesSince I have no real specialty (yet) in the field of photography I do own a macro lens (a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG). Playing around in the macro field I find that the 1:1 representation of the subject isn't always what you want. Sometimes you need, or want more magnification. There are several ways of achieving a higher magnification ratio. One of them is using so-called extension tubes.
Taken with a Lensbaby Composer and a 36mm Extension Tube
ThinkTank Photo Retrospective 30 - BlackThe ThinkTank Retrospective camera bag series is different from the other regular ThinkTank (shoulder) bags. The normal ThinkTank bags are mainly professional looking. The Retrospective line is much more casual (not as casual as the Domke bags), and it doesn't yell 'THINKTANK'.
I was in the market for a hand-strap. Nikon offers a AH-4 hand-strap for their cameras, but that accessory is over $70 USD. Not something you buy without knowing if it 'suits' you. Sure, I could get the official AH-4, and find out after a couple of days that it's not my cup of tea. Chances are slim that the store will get it back with a full refund, since it's used.
So I started to look around for a cheaper option, and I found one (well, several) on eBay. This Nikon Hand-Strap II is supposed to be official in/from Korea, but even the Korean Nikon website only shows the original AH-4. So it's a (cheap) knock-off, but that didn't keep me from getting one.
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