{"id":869,"date":"2007-05-16T01:58:01","date_gmt":"2007-05-16T01:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/?p=869"},"modified":"2014-08-22T08:56:05","modified_gmt":"2014-08-22T08:56:05","slug":"super-massive-geek-yo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/?p=869","title":{"rendered":"Super Massive Geek Yo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alright, it has been a while since the last camera geek out post. Here goes!<\/p>\n


\nBuild your own flash snoot to concentrate your flash light into a tiny spot<\/b>. Bottom-left shows the flash zoomed to 85mm; bottom-right shows the flash with snoot.<\/p>\n

The cardboard was packed too tightly and it was too long. It made too small a flash spot for my liking.<\/p>\n


\nAlbert Cheah<\/b> of Cheah Camera Repair, Mutiara Complex, Jalan Ipoh. Friendly and knowledgeable guy, who does a heck of a great job defungusing lenses. He also has an array of rangefinders for sale in a glass case.<\/p>\n

His workspace is open for all to see, which assures you that he is the expert tinkerer.<\/p>\n

I’ve sent two cameras to Desmond of YL Camera, Pudu Plaza, but they could not completely be fixed and had some residue kinks. (My Olympus OM-2000<\/a> can shoot frames even with the film winder locked, and my Pentax P30t<\/a> often swallows frames… so I have to wind the film again although I have not shot.) To be fair, I don’t know if it’s the cameras that were beyond repair.<\/p>\n


\nClockwise from top-left<\/b>: Tarquin’s Canon EF 100mm F2.8 life-size macro lens next to WKCheang<\/a>‘s Nikkor 105mm F2.8 VR life-size macro lens; Tarquin rolling a 120 black-and-white film; a Canon 7 rangefinder with a 50mm F0.95<\/b> lens; WKCheang’s Nikon D200 with the cute Sigma 30mm F1.4 lens.<\/p>\n


\nJenhan<\/a> models my infrared-modded Fujifilm Digital Q1<\/a> with the Soligor 70-220mm F3.5 OM-mount lens. With the Vivitar 2x teleconverter, it gives an insane 2640mm equivalent focal length<\/b>.<\/p>\n


\nAt YL Camera, I tried the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 lens<\/b> for Minolta\/Sony A-mount. It is easy to see why this sells well; people love bright, reasonably-priced lenses. It wasn’t soft wide-open, and decently sharp (I only shot at F2.8 though.) This was at 50mm.<\/p>\n

Would I buy it for my Sony Alpha 100<\/a> if my Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens got eaten by an Earth Elemental<\/a>? Yep.<\/p>\n

The classic Tamron\/Minolta 28-75mm F2.8 lens<\/b> would be given due consideration, too. I could pop a 0.7x wide-angle converter to get the 18mm feel on digital SLR crop.<\/p>\n

However, the temptation to get wider is strong, and skip the in-between focal lengths<\/b>. The Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 lens, with 1.5x digital crop, would give a 15mm view on my Sony A100. It accepts 77mm filters, which is a bonus for polarizers and infrared filters. However, the Tamron\/Sony 11-18mm F4.5-5.6 is quite viable, having a 77mm filter thread and the ability to be used on a Minolta film SLR or the upcoming Sony full-frame digital SLR with no vignetting at 15mm. The Tokina 12-24mm F4 is lacking in this department; its vignetting is gone only at 16mm, and there is a huge difference between 10, 11 and 12mm.<\/p>\n

For truly wide rectilinear shots, a film SLR with the Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 full-frame lens is superb. However, the lack of a filter thread means I can’t put it on digital and shoot infrared. \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n


\nI got myself a 55-77mm step-up ring for RM25 and a Sakar 77mm circular polarizer for RM55. (Two CPLs side-by-side reflect different colors when rotated.) These things are amazingly cheap at Digicolor, Mutiara Complex! You can see my Canon Powershot A520 with lens adapter, 52-55mm step up ring, 55-77mm step-up ring and 77mm CPL; the other setup has a 55-58mm step-up ring and 58mm Pro Tama 0.7x wide-angle converter<\/a> for 24.5mm feel. There’s also the Sony A100 with Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 lens, 55-77mm step-up ring and 77mm CPL, and a wide variant with 55-58mm step-up ring and 58mm Pro Tama 0.7x wide-angle converter for 18mm feel.<\/p>\n


\nHave you seen one of these pop-up books? Awesome. This one was very educational, with all sorts of gimmicks to teach photography principles.<\/p>\n


\nTarquin’s Yashica-Mat with 80mm F3.5 lens and 80mm F3.2 viewing lens!<\/p>\n


\nThe Yashica MG-1 rangefinder with 45mm F2.8 lens.<\/p>\n


\nMy Pentax P30t with K-mount to M49 adapter, and the Olympus Zuiko 50mm F1.8 OM lens<\/a> reversed on it. This is not my recommended method of shooting life-size macro though. I’d rather you reverse this lens on another lens<\/a> as it is safer and gives you more flexibility.<\/p>\n


\nSimiliar setup, but with my Fujifilm Q1 with homemade Olympus OM adapter stuck to it. Yes, the Q1 can actually see something.<\/p>\n


\nThe great Minolta 7000 wearing my Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan lens<\/a>! It was the first properly-implemented auto-focus SLR<\/b>. For its time, it was the fastest; I still find it pretty alright, though the motor sounds like a Tamiya motor, and when it advances the film it sounds like it’s ripping it apart.<\/p>\n

I could actually walk around with this, since I had with my Sony A100 and Minolta 50mm F1.4 (giving a 75mm equivalent, which isn’t as wide.)<\/p>\n


\nLeft<\/b>: The Minolta 7000 came with a Minolta 28-85mm F3.5-4.5 lens with macro switch<\/b>. Interestingly, the macro switch allows you to zoom out to get macro, instead of zooming in to get macro like every other lens. 1:4 magnification is possible, though working distance is small at 28mm. On the plus side, it’s F3.5 and there will be less shake. I did not buy this; I’m holding back for a less noisy Minolta AF film body. Within minutes I could figure out the 7000’s controls. Very user-friendly!<\/p>\n

Right<\/b>: The famous Pentax SMC-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited pancake lens<\/b>. Tiny, bright, and very desirable. Very very sharp wide-open, with a 3D pop to images. Also has a velvet inlay. Sweet.<\/p>\n

The Minolta 7000 could use my Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 lens at 24mm without vignetting, which was cool.<\/p>\n


\nMan spotted next to Pudu Jail. I have no idea what he was collecting.<\/p>\n


\nI headed to Keat Camera<\/b> to get myself the rare Tamron-F 1.4x Auto-Focus 5-pin teleconverter for Minolta AF mount<\/b>. It would multiply the lens’ focal length by 1.4x and decrease its maximum aperture by 1 stop.<\/p>\n

It is a screw-mount teleconverter, which means it will transfer the focus screw turns to the lens<\/b>. It will not work with Minolta\/Sony G lenses which have focus motors in the lens itself; for that, the Minolta\/Sony teleconverter should be used instead.<\/p>\n

This picture shows my softie<\/i> combo; the Minolta 50mm F1.4 has the teleconverter on its back and a wide-angle converter in front (which cancels each other out but exaggerates spherical aberration.)<\/p>\n

Sadly, AF would only work completely on the Minolta 50mm F1.4 (which now was an effective 75mm F2.0 according to the EXIF data). AF on the Minolta 70-210mm F4 would work at 210mm and infinity, but when I tried to focus and it turned towards close focus, or when I tried to zoom out, it would ‘disconnect<\/i>‘ the lens and be unable to send the aperture to the Sony A100.<\/p>\n

It would read the aperture as “–” and be manual-focus only. I would not recommend stopping down due to exposure errors, and because whatever lens you’re putting on is going to be darker.<\/p>\n

However, the beercan on the teleconverter worked fine with the Minolta 7000, as the teleconverter manual promised.<\/p>\n

Now you may ask, why does the teleconverter report 75mm instead of 50mm x 1.4 = 70mm?<\/p>\n

I tried my Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 and zoomed it to 70mm, focused on infinity (to prevent focus from changing focal length), shot a frame, then popped the 50mm with 1.4x teleconverter, focused on infinity, and found the 50mm combo to be more zoomed in. Thus, the 1.4x teleconverter really had a 1.5x focal length multiplier.<\/b><\/p>\n


\nStill, it does not rob from the beercan’s sharpness; it becomes a usable 300mm F5.6 lens (as reported by camera EXIF). I was pleasantly surprised to see how sharp it was. The teleconverter had 4 elements, and did not add<\/b> to the reputedly bad chromatic aberration of the beercan. It also did not add spherical aberration, unlike what it did to the Minolta 50mm F1.4!<\/p>\n


\nAnother 300mm F5.6 shot.<\/p>\n


\nA crop.<\/p>\n


\nExcited, I headed over to Sony, KLCC to try my teleconverter. I tried the Sony 500mm F8 Auto-focus Reflex lens, which became a 750mm F11 (sadly, no aperture reading, so it was manual-focus only).<\/p>\n

The shot in the bottom-right corner, however, was with the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA lens. (Also no aperture reading, due to old teleconverter being mostly incompatible with digital bodies.)<\/p>\n


\nCZ 135mm F1.8 with teleconverter. The Carl Zeiss is so sharp, the teleconverter’s effect is minimal. It is still razor-shave sharp (or rather, it makes it obvious you haven’t shaved.)<\/p>\n

The math says it becomes a 200mm F2.5. Yes, 200mm F2.5<\/b>! Not just some 200mm F2.8.<\/p>\n


\nWithout the teleconverter. Pardon the focusing point difference.<\/p>\n

If I could get a newer teleconverter that was guaranteed to work on the screw-mount lenses on a Sony A100, this would be a very practical option.<\/p>\n

Would I get a 70-200mm F2.8? Not likely. The 70-210mm F4 beercan, 1.4x teleconverter and CZ 135mm F1.8 make the best, light tag team. Any 70-200mm F2.8 will weigh at least 1.3kg and cause photographers to whine of sprained arms. The 135mm F1.8 however, is the brightest and longest prime (by dividing 135\/1.8 = 75mm). It is beaten only by the 300mm F2.8.<\/p>\n

It also looks stumpy and short without the lens hood, and a lot less suspicious than the 70-200mm F2.8.<\/p>\n

Why not a more practical 85mm F1.4 then?<\/p>\n

I already have a 50mm F1.4, with 1.4x teleconverter to make a 75mm F2.0. It would be a bit redundant, plus I find myself zooming in, using the end nearer to 210mm on my beercan.<\/p>\n


\nJenhan is surprised to see how crispy the Carl Zeiss 135mm F1.8 lens is.<\/p>\n

I am practically sold on this chunk of solid metal. It feels like a sawed-off shotgun. A black cannon.<\/p>\n

The 135mm F1.8 also renders near-focus areas differently; it is sharper and makes the depth-of-field seem deeper than my 50mm F1.4. The Sony 70-200mm F2.8 is no doubt creamy, with good subject isolation, but I already have the lightweight beercan for that.<\/p>\n

I don’t tire of holding the beercan; it weighs under 700 grams, and I can switch to portrait orientation without feeling the strain.<\/p>\n

If you had a Canon SLR, I would whole-heartedly recommend the Canon 70-200mm F4L IS USM with Canon 135mm F2L USM combo. (You could whine about not having F2.8 but you guys got clean CMOS sensors so pump up your ISO!)<\/p>\n


\nFinally, Tan Yee Hou<\/a>, Tan Yee Wei<\/a> and I could drive to a market and open shop.<\/p>\n

I don’t even know where to start labelling; there’s a Pentax P30t SLR, Olympus IS-1000 zoom lens reflex, Ricoh 500G rangefinder, Olympus OM-2000 SLR, Canon EOS 650 SLR, Seagull SA84 twin lens reflex, Canon Powershot A520 digital camera, Ricoh XR-10 SLR and a Fujifilm Digital Q1 amongst various lenses. Missing is an Olympus mju, a Panasonic FZ-30, and my Sony Alpha 100 used to shoot this.<\/p>\n

With my collection of cameras of different mounts and brands, a worrying thought came:<\/p>\n

If I ever get stinking rich, I might possibly practice polygamy. Legally, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alright, it has been a while since the last camera geek out post. Here goes! Build your own flash snoot to concentrate your flash light into a tiny spot. Bottom-left shows the flash zoomed to 85mm; bottom-right shows the flash with snoot. The cardboard was packed too tightly and it was too long. It made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geek","category-pictures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7312,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869\/revisions\/7312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}