High key gull

Sometimes you screw up and get lucky. (50D, 400/5.6)

I really do prefer manual mode for most of my shooting, but on occasion a combination of light change (e.g. sun coming out from behind a heavy cloud) and changing angles can result in some serious exposure errors if you aren't paying attention. Well, I wasn't, and ended up with this shot. Played with the raw file a bit and I could possibly rescue it in post processing, but decided to leave it as is; a somewhat ethereal bird portrait. (More)

Speculation on the F521 "digital Holga"

Was poking around a bit looking for information on the new Yashica EZ F521 camera. I speculated in the previous post about it being related to the EZ F524 which has similar specifications, but little information could be found on that camera.

But, it turns out there's yet another Yashica branded model that could be sharing components with this guy, and I found some actual images taken with it!

It's the Yashica EZ F924 -- looks like it's the same camera as the F524, except with a 9 megapixel sensor. Same lens (7.1mm f/3.2), same LCD, same looks... considering they are not putting a lot of money or R&D into this range of cameras I think it's a fairly safe bet that these components are the same we'll see used in the EZ F521 when it starts shipping.

And, it turns out somebody actually HAS one, and has posted some pictures from it. This guy's flickr set contains a pile of shots (mostly dark/indoors) from the F924. It looks promising, with some overly bright colors, poor white balance, and noticeable softness. Let's hope the F521 has a similarly "cheap" look to its images.

Hey, if we wanted sharp and pretty shots, we'd be out picking up a last generation Canon point and shoot for the same money, wouldn't we?

Added 10/16: Found another set of shots from the F924 here.
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Yashica's "digital Holga"

Well, I thought the Yashica name had died out long ago (and from what I gather, the name is all that really remains of the classic camera brand), but here they show up out of nowhere, and with a quirky camera to boot. Spotted at The Online Photographer earlier this week, this curious looking device is a rather basic digital camera; a 5MP sensor, optical(!) viewfinder, fixed lens with only two focus settings (macro and hyperfocal). The design, though, is definitely shooting for classic styling. As cheap as they are ($89 in Japan) I pre-ordered one from Japan Exposures, in hopes that it will effectively turn out to be a digital version of my beloved Holga. Time will tell.

Incidentally, Yashica has an "EZ F524" camera model that appears very similar in specifications. I wonder if this new camera is just a more retro looking variation of this guy. (More)

Generic sunset, portrait

50D, 24-105/4


Turns out you can use lenses OTHER than the 400/5.6 on a 50D. Who knew!
Since I'm not really into the "normal" wide angle (24-28mm on full frame) range, the 24-105/4 makes for a good walkaround lens on the 50D. The wicked barrel distortion on the wider end is not quite as big a problem as on a full frame camera, another bonus!

And while it's no 85/1.8 for portrait work, it can certainly get the job done:


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Flying low

50D, 400/5.6

It's always fascinating to watch the pelicans; such skilled flyers. You can sometimes spot them skimming the surface of the ocean, following the waves up and down, never missing a beat.

This particular shot was pure luck. I was shooting some gulls hanging out on the beach, and noticed something going past behind me. Unfortunately I was in manual exposure mode (as almost always) and underexposed the shot but a good stop and a half. Thankfully I was able to bring the exposure back up when processing the raw file without introducing too much noise.

The gulls posed nicely for me, too.

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Cattle Egret

First outing with the new 50D and 400/5.6 -- a delightful combo!
This guy showed up while I was looking for good Ibis shots. I had no idea what it was at first other than that it looked like "some sort of Egret" -- a wildlife photographer helped identify it. Beautiful bird, and I was fortunate enough to have a decent looking sky behind it. (More)

Photo op

Picture of the picture taker.



Found these guys doing a shoot in the Antwerp central train station.
Canon 1Ds II, 24-105. Was at lower ISO than I should, thank heavens for IS lenses. (More)