Camera wars becoming exciting!

Looks like Canon scored a dire miss in the midrange DSLR wars... the noise and image quality of the 40D at ISO 1000 and 1600 just don't seem to cut it, often appearing even worse than the 30D it replaces. There is a striped noise pattern that shows up, which is worse than a random noise pattern, because it makes images look like cheap printouts or point-and-shoot images.

Meanwhile, the D200 seems to be phenomenal at ISO1600.

Nikon 2 (IQ, features), Canon 1 (price)

Sony still has to join the game. I'm praying it's this week.

My favorite vid...

My fave band is Placebo. And sex is a very good thing. Enough said.

Just watch.

Nikon's turn to impress...

As expected, Nikon has released the D300. And what an awesome camera. Overall, it beats the Canon specs, but it also comes at a price about 40% more.

I said this about the Canon 40D:

* 10.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
* 6.5 fps continuous shooting, max. burst 75 JPEGs
* New AF system with 9 cross-type sensors
* 3.0” LCD with Live View mode

Now for the Nikon D300, in comparison:

* 12.3 Megapixel DX CMOS sensor (nearly the same size as APS-C, if not identical)
* 6 fps continuous shooting (8 with battery pack), max. burst 100 JPEGs
* 51 point autofocus with 15 cross type sensors!!!!
* 3.0” Hi-definition LCD with Live View mode
* ISO 3200 (normal) or ISO 6400 (boost)!!!!!!!!

Basically the D300 beats the Canon on all fronts. And the ISO performance is astounding! Nikon have just upped the ante, and made Canon look the fool here. And the Nikon bodies generally handle way better than the Canons. Of course, the Canon 40D will always have a market, after all, it's 40% cheaper than the D300.

Updated prices for comparison (body only):

Canon 30D: ~HK$7500-9000
Canon 40D: ~HK$10000
Nikon D80: ~HK$7000
Nikon D200: ~HK$11000-13000
Nikon D300: ~HK$14000
Pentax K10D: ~HK$6000-7000
Sony Alpha ("Advanced Amateur"): ???

Come on, Sony, let's see what you've got. People are saying "D300 specs at 40D price". That would be nice, indeed.

M42 and the Canon EOS 100/Eos Elan

A few weeks ago I gave my friend a great Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 55/1.8 lens. I've got 2 other similar M42 lenses, the SMC Tak 50/1.4 and the Zeiss Jena 50/1.8, so I figured he'd get more use out of than I would, especially after he mentioned that he intended to get a 50mm lens. He's also into shooting manual, so he would probably enjoy using the old M42 lenses.

So 2 weeks ago, I handed him the lens, and we went to Apliu Street and bought a M42 adapter for his old EOS film camera, and then he had somewhere to head off to. Last weekend he tried the lens and said it didn't work. The camera made a funny noise, locked up (he had to turn it off and on again) and the film wouldn't advance.

So I looked it up on the internet, and didn't see any indication that this setup shouldn't work. I was curious.

After meeting him on Monday night to look at the camera, I figured out exactly what the problem was. He had bought (while I was there, not knowing the difference)an M42-Eos adapter that looked like this:



There is a ring in the middle meant to push down the aperture pin for when lenses that are "auto only", meaning you can't switch them to manual aperture setting.

Unfortunately, it turns out that this ring interferes with the mirror of the film EOS body, which is larger and sticks out more when it flips than the mirrors on the digital bodies. While this adapter has a clear advantage over one without the ring for digital bodies, it is unfortunately incompatible with this model of EOS film camera, the EOS 100 or EOS Elan.

A normal M42 adapter without the stop-down ring should work fine. It would look like this:



I didn't find any other mention of this on the internet, so I thought I might post it here in case anyone is searching for a solution to the same problem.

If I were gay...

...this is the man I would be in love with...



Lovely photography too.

Nice Specs on Canon 40D!

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082010canoneos40d.asp

Readers of my blog may know that for entry level DSLR photography, I like Pentax the best, Sony second, and Canon third (as long as you avoid the Canon kit lens).

I don't think Nikon's entry-level DSLR's (D40 and D40x) are in the same league because of severe limitations/cost-cutting measures, most notably the inability to autofocus with ANY affordable prime lenses.

But now let's look at the mid amateur range...

Pentax has the 10D. Fantastic camera, fantastic lenses and camera features.
Sony - nothing. Something is expected within the next few weeks, however.
Nikon has the D80 and is expected to release the upper mid-range D250 or D300 within a week or so.
Canon has the 30D. Very good camera, but stay away from cheap Canon lenses. Canon's UI also leaves much to be desired when compared to the three other players here.
Olympus - I'll ignore this, since I don't like the 3/4 system (sensor too small).

Now, Canon has just jumped way ahead with the announcement of the 40D, the long-awaited successor to the 30D.

Preliminary features:

Key features

* 10.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
* 6.5 fps continuous shooting, max. burst 75 JPEGs
* New AF system with 9 cross-type sensors
* 3.0” LCD with Live View mode

Nice. That CMOS sensor is likely to define a new standard for image quality. It's going to be tough for anyone to match.

6.5 fps is very impressive, and great for sports shooters who can't afford the HK$50,000 1DMkIII.

The MkIII's focusing system was a disaster, so hopefully this will be an improvement.

Live view mode is a huge plus, though hardline SLR geeks will claim it's completely unnecessary. It'll also appeal a lot to amateur photographers who are used to digital point-and-shopot cameras.

I look forward to seeing the first responses to this new camera. And I especially look forward to seeing what Sony and Nikon have to offer to compete.

Prices for comparison (body only):

Canon 30D: ~HK$7500-9000
Canon 40D: ~HK$10000
Nikon D80: ~HK$7000
Nikon D200: ~HK$11000-13000
Nikon D??? (Successor to the D200): ???
Pentax K10D: ~HK$6000-7000
Sony Alpha ("Advanced Amateur"): ???

Good news today...

J and C are smoothing things out, and I'm truly happy about that. It was so sad seeing a friendship wasted. Now there's only one more friendship left to be fixed.

I'm still hoping J could forgive me for what she blames me for, and we can move on. I know she's a good person, and believe it might happen. Maybe after I get married, she'll finally admit that I didn't want anything from her after all. Just the friendship that we had once upon a time.

J the last thing you said to me was a promise that you'd contact me. I'd like to introduce you to Fanny, and share with you the new things in my life that I think you would enjoy as well. We enjoyed some good times together as friends, and there's no reason we couldn't enjoy more.

I hope you're doing well.

Behind the wheel.

One of the things I managed to do before my trip to the States was replace my driver's license, which M had stolen/thrown away/defaced/coveted in order to piss me off, as a typical NPD is wont to do.

My traveler's insurance also covered personal damages and liability in case of an accident, so I was able to convince my ma to lend me the car.

I didn't tell her it had been 5 years since I had last sat behind the wheel.

I've got to be honest here. I miss it. Especially the feel of driving a manual transmission. Happily, I had no problem driving, and never had a moment of insecurity, except perhaps for the first 5 minutes. It's like riding a bicycle or making love... you never forget how. Though for the latter, I should say (or maybe not as the case may be) that I haven't had much chance to get out of practice -- my longest periods of celibacy since I first made love to a woman were probably about a year in 1995 and 3 months in 2001.

But back to the car... oh yeah, I was also reminded recently that I HAVE indeed made love in a moving automobile -- stretch limousine to be precise -- bringing my current tally up to four modes of transport (yes the airplane attempt was a success - read about it in my AFF blog).

But back to the car... It was fun driving again, reliving some of my past glories down Pacific Coast Highway through Laguna, the cool wind in my hair and some tunes on the radio, with the woman I love at my side. There are some things that definitely make life worth living.

Can't wait to make another trip to Vegas. I used to go about every six months or so, and I absolutely LOVE the drive up through the desert. I'm planning on going back to the States for two weeks at the same time next year, and a lost weekend in Vegas is definitely on the itinerary.

Anyway, I'm still missing the States a little. It's really the first time since 1997 that I've missed the States at all. I especially miss it now that I'm with someone I'd love to live there with. It's funny, but I didn't really feel that way about M... and I never really felt like I wanted to marry M, except perhaps in panic when everything went so horribly wrong... and when I was with J I was just a mess, so nothing I might have said at that time and shortly thereafter can really be taken seriously.

Yeah marry. I think I'm going to marry Fanny. And I'm 100% certain that it's going to last. We've actually been talking a lot about it lately.

That's the thing about relationships. It's really not enough just to be happy with someone, in the "here and now". You can never really be happy until you're with someone, and untiil you're totally secure in the feeling that it's going to last. And only when you have that feeling should you even contemplate marriage.

I hope everyone has the chance to feel that way about someone. To be honest, it's the second time for me. At the time, I did think things with Cathine were going to last, which is why, during the time when I was the most balanced in my life, I married her. But in hindsight, which is always 20/20, had I had more experience in love, I might not have made that decision under the same circumstances, as there were signs I should have noticed.

No signs this time. :)

Except this one: