Search found 84 matches

by Steve S
Sun Mar 24, 2024 11:50 am
Forum: General Discussion Forum and Community Announcements
Topic: Loss of Robert OToole
Replies: 28
Views: 792

Re: Loss of Robert OToole

Many of us who did not know him personally benefitted from his great energy, inquiring mind and enthusiasm for sharing his work.

We will miss him.
by Steve S
Thu Mar 14, 2024 8:34 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: EL Nikkor+Fujifilm GFX
Replies: 27
Views: 658

Re: EL Nikkor+Fujifilm GFX

bobfriedman wrote:
Wed Mar 13, 2024 2:05 pm

ohh.. and no wife. ;)
Cuts both ways.
by Steve S
Wed Mar 13, 2024 1:57 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: EL Nikkor+Fujifilm GFX
Replies: 27
Views: 658

Re: EL Nikkor+Fujifilm GFX

Gosh, that's over a dozen lenses in the fl range 80-135mm, you say for mostly <2X. Several mounts. How do you possibly choose which to pick up? My wife has occasionally accused me of buying a lens just to test it, but . . .
by Steve S
Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:46 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Voigtländer 90/3.5 APO-Lanthar SL II (Canon EF Mount)
Replies: 12
Views: 512

Re: Voigtländer 90/3.5 APO-Lanthar SL II (Canon EF Mount)

It was quite an honorable lens for its day, but it's hard to see why one should seek it out today. I've had one for some years but rarely have used it. It's certainly not up to the standards (or optical complexity) of the recent A-L lenses.
by Steve S
Sun Oct 29, 2023 12:19 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Bellows for Fuji GFXs ii
Replies: 71
Views: 10073

Re: Bellows for Fuji GFXs ii

I got a Balpro 1 bellows as part of a package. I have a GFX 100 and GFX 100 II, and a couple of Fujifillm GF extension tubes. On the whole I agree with almost everything FotoChris says about the bellows and the OEM tubes. And among GF lenses, I am not all that enthusiastic about the GF 120mm, period...
by Steve S
Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:53 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Stackshot shutter cable for Sony
Replies: 14
Views: 1665

Re: Stackshot shutter cable for Sony

I do not use Cognisys parts but stuff from MKJZZ. But the problem is the similar. I hacked an IR-remote control and later a blue-tooth control (since my A7rv no longer supports IR remote :( ) in order to trigger my camera wireless while stacking, so no cables hanging around. Yes, I was quite annoye...
by Steve S
Sun Feb 27, 2022 12:29 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Laowa macro probe lens (24mm f/14)
Replies: 6
Views: 1150

Re: Laowa macro probe lens (24mm f/14)

I tried this thing a while back. What I was most put off by was that the working distance at maximum magnification is specified to be ~20mm, but on the lens I tried it was more like 9mm. About resolution, remember that the f/14 is at infinity and the effective aperture at 1:1 or 2:1 is going to be s...
by Steve S
Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:39 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Laowa 24mm f/14 "probe" lens working distance spec
Replies: 3
Views: 661

Laowa 24mm f/14 "probe" lens working distance spec

I know enough about optics to know better, but every time I see this lens on sale curiosity and GAS is aroused, and finally I took a chance on it. Photograph belly flowers without discomfort, that sort of thing. The working distance at maximum magnification, 2:1, is stated on the Venus Laowa web sit...
by Steve S
Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:03 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Cheap New Mitutoyo M Plan 5X
Replies: 7
Views: 1292

Re: Cheap New Mitutoyo M Plan 5X

I bought one of the Lightglass 5X ones. Pristine, seems OK optically.
by Steve S
Sun Aug 08, 2021 3:34 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: The eBay Experience !
Replies: 38
Views: 4015

Re: The eBay Experience !

There is no way to escape the risks of sub-par lenses. On several occasions I've ordered a newly-released lens and found it decentered/tilted, received it so soon after initial release that it is hardly possible it was a return. Lloyd Chambers has said that Leica told him that even at their prices t...
by Steve S
Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:02 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: The eBay Experience !
Replies: 38
Views: 4015

Re: The eBay Experience !

Lou, I agree with you that B&H very likely sells returned merchandise as new, but it has puzzled me for several decades that of the (probably literally) hundreds of items I've bought from them, I've never opened a manufacturer's box send by B&H and found any definite evidence that there had been rep...
by Steve S
Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:20 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Canon 50mm f2.5 Macro - Does it have a hard stop at infinity?
Replies: 5
Views: 1266

Re: Canon 50mm f2.5 Macro - Does it have a hard stop at infinity?

Takes me back to the old days, when Canon lured me from Nikon with the 5D, introduced when Nikon was still stolidly insisting that APS-C was all that would ever be needed. I bought the 50mm f/2.5, and the focusing ring had a hard stop at about 5-10m, IIRC. Objects at infiinty were definitely OOF. I ...
by Steve S
Fri Mar 19, 2021 2:11 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: S21 ultra: 108mp in RAW
Replies: 17
Views: 4737

Re: S21 ultra: 108mp in RAW

In a perhaps lame effort to legitimize this thread in a macro forum, I'd like to say that closeups with the second-longest-lens camera are the first mobile-phone images I've made where DOF was becoming a problem. I'm too ignorant to know applications that will demosaic raw files where the pixel-pitc...
by Steve S
Mon Sep 21, 2020 7:37 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Sony A7Rii USB Tethering
Replies: 11
Views: 4043

Re: Sony A7Rii USB Tethering

When I was setting up an A7RM4 for use with the Stackshot tethered I was concerned about having to get into one of these clever hacks, but I had the universal IR release available with the Stackshot, and it works fine, not the cheapest way but certainly the laziest.