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Leica Wetzlar Elmar C 90mm f/4 M-Mount Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 19 June, 2023

Getting into the Leica world, one of my first concerns was the lack of long telephotos or at a minimum how well they would work with the rangefinder or by using live view.

0 replies

Zeiss Planar 50mm f/2 ZM M-Mount Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 12 June, 2023

Truth be told, I was a little confused on the various 50mm lenses for Leica m mount. Not from a perspective of what was good, as there are many good options.

0 replies

Comrades Marathon 2023

Dallas posted a topic in People, 11 June, 2023

The Comrades Marathon is an ultra marathon that is approximately 89km total distance, run from the City of Pietermaritzburg to Durban, or vice versa. Normally the race alternates between the "up run" (ending in PMB) and the "down run" (ending in Durban) but we have had 2 down runs in succession this year.

6 replies

Zeiss C-Biogon 35mm f/2.8 M-Mount Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 5 June, 2023

At the recommendation of a friend, I got a line on this Zeiss 35mm lens. His terminology is that the lens is “small and bitingly sharp”.

1 reply

Leica M Typ 240 Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 22 May, 2023

Never, up until a few weeks ago would I have thought that I would be an inductee into the “Cult of Leica”.

4 replies

Ricoh GW-4 - 21mm Wide Angle Adapter for the GR III

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 22 May, 2023

Everyone should have at least one wide angle option for those times when you are in close or you want to get a massive vista without stitching.

0 replies

Ricoh GR III Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 15 May, 2023

I always want to have a camera with me. I’ve tried several different iterations of compact cameras and interchangeable lens cameras that had smaller lens footprints.

1 reply

Forward to the past: the Olympus Pen-F keeps coming back again!

danielm posted a topic in Micro Four Thirds, 9 May, 2023

It is one of a kind never preceded, never replaced (by Olympus) after all those years of love and discussions about its possible future. But, in one way, the Olympus Pen-F digital camera was already at its evolutive pinnacle right from its introduction.

2 replies

Tamron 200-400mm f/5.6 (A-Mount) Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 8 May, 2023

Digging into the longer telephoto world for Minolta A Mount, we found this $50 lens – yes – you read that right…a 200-400mm f/5.6 telephoto for $50 used.

2 replies

Minolta AF 500mm f/8 Reflex A-mount Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 1 May, 2023

One could think this a bit of a novelty lens. When was the last time you heard that a mirror lens was top quality in image quality? On top of that, if you did want to use one, you were relegated to manual focusing.

2 replies

Birds of prey

Anthony posted a topic in Birds, 29 April, 2023

Last month I went to a Birds of Prey workshop. Here are some of my photos, all with Z7II and 100-400 S.

4 replies

Minolta 135mm f/2.8 AF Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 24 April, 2023

I’ve really been enjoying this Minolta Maxxum 7D camera, especially when using these vintage lenses.Having used the Minolta 20mm, 50mm, 70-210/4, the next lens that I think would be great along with this trio is the 135mm f/2.8.

0 replies

Paint It Black

Dallas posted an entry in AOV General, 25 April, 2023

Last year I decided to try my hand at making some furniture to store my growing studio kit and other gear. The cabinet has been very useful and functional, but ...

0 replies

An African Palace Of Art

Dallas posted an entry in AOV General, 22 April, 2023

"We're going to visit that African Palace place on Monday with Lynn," she tells me, in between bites of dinner.
"Eh?" I muster, after spearing a potato.
"Some place in Kloof that Lynn says is worth a visit on the holiday."
"Never heard of a palace in Kloof. Are you sure she said Kloof?"

6 replies

Minolta AF 28-135mm f/4-4.5 A-mount Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 17 April, 2023

Based off some recommendations from friends on a forum, and research into various a-mount lenses, I found a great deal online for this 28-135mm f/4-4.5 Minolta AF.

3 replies

Minolta 70-210mm f/4 AF Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 10 April, 2023

Also known as “The Beer Can”, the Minolta 70-210mm f/4 zoom lens is a tank like telephoto for Minolta/Sony a-mount. Added to an APS-C camera and this becomes roughly a 105mm to 315mm field of view lens.

1 reply

One Shot Wonder

Dallas posted an entry in My Life In Photography, 6 April, 2023

I have been getting some interesting assignments lately. One of them was from a major manufacturer of appliances here in South Africa.

4 replies

Sony DT 35mm f/1.8 SAM (Minolta a-mount) Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 3 April, 2023

I wanted this so that I had something “normal” in between the 20mm and the 50mm. This will give me a field of view closer to 50, which I really like.

0 replies

Motorbike travel to Carretera Austral in Chile

atpaula posted a topic in Places, 29 March, 2023

On March/9 I left Macaé with 2 friends to Villa O'Higgins, where the end of the Carretera Austral (Ruta 7) is.
Highway made to brave southern Chile, kind of like Transamazon, but this has a reputation for being one of the most beautiful roads in the world. I checked it myself.

5 replies

Minolta 20mm f/2.8 AF Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 27 March, 2023

A 20mm lens is considered a wide angle and this is true for a full frame camera. Added to an APS-C camera and this becomes roughly a 30mm field of view and less wide, but not yet standard. This Minolta 20mm f/2.8 was made for the film era and we will look and see if it can still be a contender in the digital world!

0 replies

A Gwadloup Experiment, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III: compactness at the edge, the street photo sniper.

danielm posted a topic in Micro Four Thirds, 24 March, 2023

An old and very good friend of mine had the generosity (Thanks Claude!) to give me his Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III camera for my birthday.

1 reply

Minolta 50mm f/1.7 AF Lens Review

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 20 March, 2023

A 50mm lens is a pretty standard, yet generally high quality optic for a camera system. This Minolta 50mm f/1.7 was made for the film era and we will look and see if it can still be a contender in the digital world!

0 replies

Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D Review - Retro Fun!

Andrew L (gryphon1911) posted a topic in General Discussions, 10 March, 2023

Going back in time, let’s hear a tale of a fateful potential purchase. It was 2005, I was looking to finally ready to go from shooting film to shooting digital.

3 replies

Breaking Into Shooting Property Video

Dallas posted an entry in My Life In Photography, 5 March, 2023

Recently I have been getting a fair number of requests to not only shoot the stills for a real estate listing, but to also offer video. I have shied away from offering this service because my knowledge of video is minimal.