Jon L

IMG_1732 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1735 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1736 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1739 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1741 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1743 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1744 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1747 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1749 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1754 by drjlo2, on Flickr

T.H.E. Show Newport Beach. Excellent Show. Photos first and impressions later. IMG_1711 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1710 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1708 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1716 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1717 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1719 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1720 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1723 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1724 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_1728 by drjlo2, on Flickr

A couple of heavily cropped shots today, not macro. IMG_1559 by drjlo1, on Flickr IMG_1526 by drjlo1, on Flickr

Some more extension tube action until I decide on an actual macro lens, hand-held. IMG_0398 by drjlo1, on Flickr IMG_0362 by drjlo1, on Flickr

I wish Sigma would stop this nonsense and start working harder on their Sony NEX aufofocus lenses which they announced in past. At this rate, I expect a next gen NEX camera body before Sigma NEX lenses..

IMG_0400bw by drjlo1, on Flickr

Are you setting the ISO manually at 400? I imagine auto ISO would try to pick 3200 or something, which is what happens with my Canon in dark and I've been too lazy to set ISO manually I admit..

At a local Chinese restaurant last night. IMG_0740 by drjlo1, on Flickr

I certainly hope you're wrong about that!! My understanding was Canon made out OK, damages mostly to some of their lens factories..

IMG_0688 by drjlo1, on Flickr

The abandoned house was just sold to an investor through foreclosure auction. Due to the fact the rains have stopped and summer coming, frogs can no longer habitate this dry hole in the ground. I understate the investor is considering just filling the hole vs. finishing the pool before selling the house.. IMG_0624 by drjlo2, on Flickr

IMG_0432 by drjlo1, on Flickr

I did. After *extensive* research, I bought a Sigma 70mm f2.8 Macro, for exactly those reasons. Unfortunately, I found out that Sigma 70 simply does not autofocus in live view on my 550D body, a not-so-rare occurence with certain Sigma lenses and certain Canon bodies according to Sigma service center and the web, and there is no Sigma firmware update for this particular lens, so I sent it back. So I've been looking at the Canon 100 f2.8 vs. Canon 100 f2.8L IS. I would really like the IS but the ludicrous jump in price over the non-IS version for same optics is holding me back..

That Sigma 85mm offers some serious background blur. I wish some of the top-line 85mm lenses would offer better macro ability, but even with Sigma 85's meager macro numbers (0.12X 0.85m min focus), it's better than even more meager numbers for my Canon 85L (0.11x 0.95m)! I usually have to attach an extesion tube on the 85 for getting close.

Borrowing Canon 16-35mm f2.8L II.. IMG_9899 by drjlo1, on Flickr

IMG_9841A by drjlo1, on Flickr

I really like the Vinturi for what it does to the taste. Truly a ton of air is infused very quickly into the wine for people like me who don't have the patience to wait. Just a caution, though. I've now had Three Vinturi devices, and the first one, the regular one, was fine function-wise. I then got the "Deluxe" version with the stand. The main pour devices actually are a little different, even in size. And the "Deluxe" one developed leaking, through the little side holes that are supposed to suck in air. It's easy to make a mess. So I returned the Deluxe set for another Deluxe set, which leaks also. One *can* pour the wine at a certain constant speed, not too slow or fast, to avoid leaking..maybe.

I have canon 50 f1.4 and had 50 f1.8 mkII, as well as 35 f2. Are you saying 50 f1.8 has "larger depth of field" than 50 f1.4 even if both are set at f1.8? never tried comparing DOF with both at same aperture myself. I do agree about shooting with 50 f1.4 in darkness, an adventure.. I really don't like flashes, but I went to a couple of events over this weekend (wedding, kid's bithday), and I think I need to pick up a good flash, hopefully cheaper than Canon flashes yet won't screw up the whole E-TTL thing. -------------------------------------- By the way, does anyone have any strange problems when using Photoshop with Camera Raw vs. other programs (Canon DPP in my case)? Here's a RAW conversion using Photoshop/Camera Raw 6.3, which looks very yellowish to me. IMG_9913Adobe by drjlo2, on Flickr Same shot Raw conversion with Canon Digital Photo Professional, which looks same as viewing the RAW file with camera's own LCD. IMG_9913 by drjlo2, on Flickr Looks like Camera Raw program defaults "Camera Profile" setting to "Adobe Standard," which gives that yellow hue. I can fix the issue by manually setting this setting in Camera RAW to choices like "Camera Portrait" or "Camera Stadard," but it doesn't have settings for custom settings I have made in my camera, so how do you get Camera Raw program to recognize what the camera was actually set to, automatically?

I just realized it's $5250 Time to just get my O2 amp situation squared away instead of dreaming..

IMG_9641 by drjlo1, on Flickr

When one must take that lone walk in the night.. IMG_9583 by drjlo1, on Flickr

Which brand lens and does it do auto-focus/aperture via the adapter?

I *am* leaning towards NEX and would almost certainly buy it right now if they had a prime lens with longer focal length than 16 mm. I also am a little worried about reviews saying NEX doesn't really have a setting to yield accurate colors out of camera, but I guess I can shoot RAW.. Encouraging is the fact Sigma just announced they would be making lenses of NEX and Micro four thirds, though no mention of when. What are the thoughts on Leica D-Lux or V-Lux line compared to similarly priced competition?

Arrgg. Wife dropped the few-month old Canon S95 and now the lens won't move. I was hoping to stay away from the "portable" camera fray for awhile, but circumstances force my hand. Would prefer at least 1.6x crop sensor, which leaves me with Sony NEX-5 (no lens choice I like yet. NEX-3 seems discontinued), Samsung NX10 (not such good IQ per reviews), Leica (too expensive), and upcoming Fuji X100 (too much $ and not shipping in U.S.). Wish Nikon and Canon would announce some mirrorless systems soon, esp. Canon that would take EOS lenses...

IMG_9873 by drjlo1, on Flickr