Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 for Canon EF-S mount and the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 for Sony A mount. The Tamron for Canon has a positively audible *zzzt* sound when focusing, from the in-lens motor, while the Sony version doesn’t as it is driven by the screw drive on the body. The Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 for Canon didn’t have such a loud in-lens motor, and could focus to 20 cm close, getting 1:3 macro! However, I was pretty sure that the subject was about 3cm close. The Tamron did only 27cm close.
Yeo, who tested both, found the Tamron to be slightly sharper, and he didn’t notice the Tamron sound until I pointed it out.
I found it to be pretty sharp, though not scorching sharp or contrasty like Carl Zeiss lenses are, especially the Sony Carl Zeiss 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 DT which it gets compared to, a lot. Well, the CZ has better range and sharpness, at the expense of a stop or so in shutter speed.
Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 for Contax N mount! Funny, I didn’t know Carl Zeiss made darker standard kit lenses. Well they gotta, for Contax…
2:1 macro with the Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 DT lens and my Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm F2.4 reversed in front of it. Two rings were used – a 55-58mm step up ring and a 58-49mm reverse ring.
1.1:1 macro with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM and Canon 50mm F1.8 MkII reversed in front of it. A 58-52mm reverse ring was used.
Canon 500mm F4.5L, casually slung across his back.
This is how Ein and I found out that the Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 can be used on full-frame from about 13mm onwards. This is the same method I used to mount the Tamron 70-200mm F2.8 for Canon mount on my Sony A700!
Tamron 90mm F2.8 with 2x teleconverter and flash.
Tamron 90mm F2.8 without teleconverter. Uh, obvious blue chromatic aberration on the Canon text!
Holy! The new Sony HVL-F58AM flash has been announced!
It turns sideways for portrait orientation! They call this Quick Shift Bounce. It goes 90 degrees left and right.
It rotates up and back 150 degrees for rear bounce mode (and 10 degrees down for macro). You can combine BOTH sideways and rear bounce for rear portrait ‘foofing’.
This is probably the biggest Sony innovation to the Alpha series just yet – the rest of the things people go OOOH about were actually done by Minolta ages ago.
Guide Number 58 meters at ISO100, 105mm flash zoom, F1.0 lens. Divide the guide number by the aperture to get the actual range.
It also can be used as a wireless controller, so there can be a flash on the body and 3 wireless groups.
Minolta invented wireless TTL flash, but Nikon took lead with their Creative Lighting System. Hopefully, with this, it has caught up!
The PDF file shows something else – an upsized hotshoe foot, looking bigger than the one that comes with the Nikon SB-800. Unfortunately it’s shrunk down so I cannot make out where else the foot connects.
Though, a question – how would the F36, F42 or F56 identify which group it belongs to?
Ah, the video I was looking for! Thanks TDR for geeking out with me and finding this video.
I’ve been invited to a few boycott-petrol-stations and fuel-hike-protest Facebook groups. Honestly, to them, I say, ride with me.
On the bus.
On the LRT.
Cars are a convenience, yes, but they take up so much space. Imagine a packed shopping mall – if everyone drove there in their own car, one shoplot would only fit 2 cars plus the road required to drive into that parking lot.
Now imagine a Vincci. At least 20 ladies and 6 men idling around on the seats (oddly, no metrosexual man would be seen shopping at Vincci.) That would mean that parking lots should be ten times bigger than the shopping complex itself!
Only 20% of Malaysians take public transport – in developed countries, 50% do. Part of this can be blamed on a underdeveloped public transport system… but I also say that Malaysians aren’t supportive. Have you bothered to find out which bus comes to your area?
There is some predictability in the timing of buses. I used to write down the times of the buses that would go to my place, on my phone. Give or take 15 minutes, with a 1 hour space in between buses. After I had understood the system, I could accurately plan my timing; after all, the LRT is very consistent at 2 minutes per stop.
I’m also a heck lot more punctual than my car-dependent friends.
Could I go get a car? Perhaps. But I could retain my position as the “hey how do I get from KLCC to One Utama by public transport?” phone support guy. If it’s not anyone as well-versed, who else would it be?
George started taking the train, and documented some exploits in comics. Hooray!
I Have A Secret
I’m a closet tree-hugger.
I was watching Idiocracy on TV, and after that a scene of a bayou appeared on the screen. I didn’t have any idea what that was about but I was hooked. It was Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. I was sleepy as heck, but for some reason I couldn’t stop watching it. Each time I wanted to retreat and sleep, I thought “I got this far through the show, I’m going to finish watching it.”
Al Gore has an amazing skill – no matter how sleep-inducing he can be, he doesn’t let you sleep.
To make it worse, they showed the add-on documentary after that… but I didn’t last past that.
Two Weapons
I have my monthly RapidKL RM135 all-access bus and LRT pass. It lets me on any RapidKL mode of transport for free and for unlimited rides for an entire month! Knowing that I have this pass encourages me to skimp on taxis unless I am in a rush or am sick.
The other item that lets me travel around is a Touch N Go card. This covers the KL Monorail and KTM Komuter services. I also use it for tolls, if my friends are giving me a lift. After all, they’re paying for a lot more in petrol so I might as well be considerate!
After Midnight
…public transport in Malaysia ceases to operate. But the only reason I’m out after midnight is if I’m clubbing and there’s alcohol involved. So since there are no buses or trains left, I should drive, right?
No, don’t be an idiot, don’t drink and drive.
Have a designated driver who doesn’t drink. The other benefit of this is, you’re carpooling!
Biii-cycle!
Sometimes, I wish I had one of those cool inventions I used to see on Beyond 2000. A bicycle that could fold into a backpack. It’s usually the last mile that isn’t covered so I wish I had a portable bicycle. I could take the bus to 1 Utama, unpack my bicycle and cycle to The Curve in 10 minutes instead of taking a leisurely 20 minute walk.
I seem to take 20 minute walks quite a bit – my walk from the office in Technology Park Malaysia to the Bukit Jalil LRT station is one of them, when I’ve just missed the bus. Or the Segambut KTM station to my house, from say Midvalley – so I can take the KTM instead of taking the LRT to Titiwangsa and then waiting for a bus.
Real walking beats paying for a gym membership and walking on a treadmill. I’m actually heading somewhere, and paying nothing for it!
I Hate Bandar Utama
Yes, I really think that having everything centralized in 2 buildings is dumb. For one, if you have the munchies, you can’t just walk out to grab something from your neighborhood 7-Eleven or mamak. Instead, you have to get into a car and drive and take up a parking lot.
I wonder if the people who drive to 1 Utama from across town curse at the residents of Bandar Utama for taking up a parking space just for a small errand. Or the other way around.
I love how my neighborhood has 7-Elevens, burger stalls, mamaks, restaurants, and grocery stores. If I just want to grab a Coke, I can just walk out of my house. To force people to drive out just for that is ridiculous.
Brian wins the prize! He guessed the trashcan right; Playaz in Desa Sri Hartamas.
I swear I had a picture of him looking funny while squinting through his camera with his right eye, but I think I deleted it.
He is the man. Right after this picture I took of him, where he bought a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 and Tamron 90mm F2.8 Macro and Nikon MB-D80 battery grip, he went out to conquer the photography world! And before that he couldn’t identify that he had a Nikkor 50mm F1.8D and a broken Nikkor 18-135mm F3.5-5.6. He was also the snarkiest Americanized dude over at the Xfresh forums back when it was in English and still existed. Yeah. If anybody knew what a longcat was, it was him, first.
Okaylah consolation prize goes to a longcat who identified that Playaz was above Bestari. Meow!
