Monday, November 26, 2007

Woody was around...

Spotted this Green Woodpecker flying around Hyde Park. I believe that London is perhaps the only city in Europe with such varied wildlife and where people can experience it so easily up close.

But this fella was difficult to shoot, he liked to keep his distance, as such the pic below is only a resized crop. Taken with my Minolta 7D and Sigma 70-300mm APO DG.


Until next time,


Luis

Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Sony A700: Finally, a real upgrade to the Minolta 7D

I gotta hand it to Sony. As a Konica Minolta 7D owner, the A700 is really good news.
Back is Minolta like design,build and layout, Minolta’s Anti-Shake system reincarnated again as SuperSteadyShot and what seems to be some 12 very clean megapixels (using CMOS rather than CCD as on the 7D). The Sony adds in this package for A-mount users its DRO technology, offering extended dynamic range as in camera option and environmental sealing. Performance has vastly improved, with 5fps in consecutive mode so you don’t miss those crucial moments. In short, the A700 seems like a vastly improved tool over the already excellent Konica Minolta 7D. I had the chance to handle one and see the results and the camera feels quite familiar, apart from the menus, but still no big deal, its something you can get used to very easily.

It finally feels as if Sony can be taken seriously as a camera maker, the A700 means business and it has Minolta DNA all over it.
I think I know where my money is going next.

Random photo from file...





Until next time,


Luis

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Thank you Tetenal!

For an amazing E6 kit! I fsweatted,I stressed, I messed up chemicals, redid them, I messed up temperatures and I changed the times by instinct alone, spilled the final chemistry bit (stabiliser) and yet...I got some awesome results from this kit. Light years ahead of the Jessops muck that ruined so many films (and subsequent hours of work). This chemistry gives some sharp, clean images. A fortune in Tetenal chemistry ensues... :D

Here's one from the aftermath:




Until next time,



Luis