Wednesday, September 24, 2014

...just another day at the office !

...sort of...the horse flies were thicker than rush hour traffic...I'm amazed we actually got so many shots...so the setup was Holly B the model, the colorado horse park stalls and 6 ga-zillion horse flies...oh, forgot to mention it was the Olympus OMD EM-5 with 45mm f1.8 prime (90mm FOV) coupled by an extension cable to the dedicated TTL FL-50R strobe...the EM-5 was set to iso 400 and f4 at 160th of a second for flash syncro...enjoy !!!

Sunday, September 21, 2014

...the V2 does the full-size Nikkor DX lens WELL !!!

...one of the benefits of the Nikon 1 system is the ability to mount all AFS series Nikkor lens on a V2 and still maintain the blazing auto focus along with TTL functionality...so with the Nikon 1 system you have a full set of CX series lens along with any Nikkor FX or DX size lens, manual or autofocus...sweet ...let me mention that if there is money to be spent, I'll spend it... why not... ...also, these cats were a long way away...this is a refuge, not a ZOO ! to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado for a quick test to the Nikon V2 with the Nikkor 55-200mm ( 150-540mm FOV ) coupled thru the FT-1 adapter...The combo is still quite light, feels more like a smaller dslr, but shoots well ! ...again, as in the test of the GM-1, no award winning pix here but more than adequate for a field test of the V2 with a DX sized Nikkor ...enjoy !!!

...of course you can hand-hold THIS !

...this is the Panasonic GM-1 with the 100~300mm (200~600mm FOV) lens...and, as previously written in other blogs, very clumsy to hand-hold with a large lens...WRONG !!! ...I actually found this combo very easy to hand-hold...just cradle the lens in the left palm and bingo...start shooting... ...the GM-1 has received rave reviews primarily because it uses the same sensor/process engine as the acclaimed GX7...and the body is super TINY...so why not couple the smallest body with a huge lens...makes perfect sense to me ! ...so off I went to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keensburg, Colorado...first the disclaimers...this is not a ZOO, the bright sun is intense with no-shade, and you are walking on a raised walkway approx 25 feet above ground level, wild animals tend to SLEEEEP endlessly... and other than that it was a beautiful day... ...the GM-1 does NOT have a built in EVF, so mix with bright sun and it was workable but not ' a walk in the park ' the GM-1 is being superceded by the GM-5 in November...the GM-5 is to be the successor to the GM-1 and the GX-7...the GM-5 still uses the same sensor/engine as the GX-7 but will pick up a built in EVF and Flash Hot Shoe for external flash/triggers...while maintaining the same style body with only a hair's increase in overall size...hmmmm, I think this may be on my shopping list... ...enjoy the pix...these are not the greatest, but will suffice for a GM-1 test at 600mm !!!

Saturday, September 6, 2014

...a3000 again !

...I again used the sony a3000 for this shoot of a high school acting model...her first shoot and she did great...the a3000 was up to par and the handling (deep hand grip, 1/2 weight of traditional dslr) allowed for effortless shooting of about 300pix...I used the Sigma 60mm f2.8 prime for the first time (90mmFOV)... ...enjoy !

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

...boarders !

...I spotted a boarding park the other day and just happened to have the Nikon V2 sitting in the front seat...so I thought a few pics would be in order... these are nothing special, just a few grabbed snaps... The V2, as with all the V series, is reputed to have the fastest AF in the land, and coupled with 10~60 FPS shutter rate make is sound like a light-duty UZI when you hold down the shutter...these were probably shot at 5 FPS...and 300mm (FOV) handheld ! ...enjoy !

...return of the a3000 !

...my last post was of Holly B ! ...well, I was not as comfortable with the a6000's handling (from the previous post) as I wanted to be...so, I thought let's try the a3000... I had not shot the a3000 in a while...it was time Both the a3000 and a6000 are current Sony production models. The a6000 is very highly praised while the a3000 is mostly maligned. The kicker on the a3000 is that the 20mp Sony sensor produces outstanding pix, virtually indistinguishable from the a6000....hmmm, how could that BE ? ...well, the a3000 has a few characteristics that make it an enjoyable studio shooter...1st off, it has a DSLR shape with a DEEP hand grip, which makes it ideal for large hands, 2nd, it's about half the weight of a typical DSLR...this guy is light...bingo ! there you have it ! ...a more comfortable studio shooter ...and priced at about $300 including the 16-50mm pancake zoom...what a deal !!! ...enjoy the pix !!!