GAS Dear Giary!

I can sometimes have a difficult time picking up on humor and such without the visual cues.

Auction sites have had too many shenanigans for me, for many years now.

Not sure how the market is going to go for used gear, the prices on some of the X-Pro/ X100/ X-H bodies still seem a bit high to me.
 
I succumbed to a Black Friday deal! But it's not directly gear-related. Only indirectly. I got myself a pair of wireless earbuds. I think my strolls in hometown Hyvinkää could benefit from aural distractions. My old 'phones are always a tangled mess. Not to mention, my new smartphone with its humongous dimensions won't fit in my pocket very well with a headphone plugged in. If this purchase gets me out more often, it's all good for my hobby.


In fact I am now in the process of disposing two lenses from my stable. And I haven't been looking at Kameratori Green week deals at all. What's wrong with me!
 
The next morning impressions while I waited for coffee to brew.

  1. WOW. This thing weighs a ton!

The body design follows from the award-winning concepts of G9 and the like. Great stuff.

Panasonic now has this "Live View Boost" feature in several of their models, which indeed makes all the difference to me. I frankly immediately started to think that the real object of my desires, the Leica SL2S, probably does not have such a helpful thing, and so I have lost my taste for it. By spending 1500 € I saved 4500 €? Great business sense on me!
 
Happy Thanksgiving to you guys over the pond.

I am thankful too, that I finally had the courage to get the things I wanted to get, despite my rational side of brain resisting so much.

It has definitely clarified what are the important things in my life. Not the green notes. Leica is.
 
I braved myself to the Black Friday listings, see if I can spot a dead-ass cheap Fisheye lens to play with.

So far nothing, but what about a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 for Canon EF mount?

I have the great Nikkor 85/1.8 AF-D but its aperture ring is not fluid to operate -- a common theme across the AF lenses. Samyang will have a nicer ring to be sure. Need an EF adapter also, I could make a second helping to the Urth adapters to get a few more at 20% off.

I just don't know. I'm pretty set with the lenses frankly. It's just the fisheye that might be cool to have. Or the Canon FD 200mm f/2.8 SC maybe perhaps.

I spotted one finally, a Sigma 15/2.8 for Pentax K mount. Covers 135 format but is priced pretty steep at 280 €.

Now spotted another Sigma, this time an ultra-ultra wide 8 mm f/4 lens for Canon EF. Priced even steeper.
 
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I braved myself to the Black Friday listings, see if I can spot a dead-ass cheap Fisheye lens to play with.

So far nothing, but what about a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 for Canon EF mount?

I have the great Nikkor 85/1.8 AF-D but its aperture ring is not fluid to operate -- a common theme across the AF lenses. Samyang will have a nicer ring to be sure. Need an EF adapter also, I could make a second helping to the Urth adapters to get a few more at 20% off.

I just don't know. I'm pretty set with the lenses frankly. It's just the fisheye that might be cool to have. Or the Canon FD 200mm f/2.8 SC maybe perhaps.

I spotted one finally, a Sigma 15/2.8 for Pentax K mount. Covers 135 format but is priced pretty steep at 280 €.

Now spotted another Sigma, this time an ultra-ultra wide 8 mm f/4 lens for Canon EF. Priced even steeper.
Black Friday should be black indeed: no internet, no screens, lights out, have a stiff drink and go to bed early :). My mailbox was flooded with screaming deals, all ending up in the trash in no time. Black Friday means a sale of outdated or second-tier products, which are mostly uninteresting IMHO. I'd rather save my money for the stuff I really want to have.
 
I braved myself to the Black Friday listings, see if I can spot a dead-ass cheap Fisheye lens to play with.

So far nothing, but what about a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 for Canon EF mount?

I have the great Nikkor 85/1.8 AF-D but its aperture ring is not fluid to operate -- a common theme across the AF lenses. Samyang will have a nicer ring to be sure. Need an EF adapter also, I could make a second helping to the Urth adapters to get a few more at 20% off.

I just don't know. I'm pretty set with the lenses frankly. It's just the fisheye that might be cool to have. Or the Canon FD 200mm f/2.8 SC maybe perhaps.

I spotted one finally, a Sigma 15/2.8 for Pentax K mount. Covers 135 format but is priced pretty steep at 280 €.

Now spotted another Sigma, this time an ultra-ultra wide 8 mm f/4 lens for Canon EF. Priced even steeper.
Samyang/Rokinon/3.5 is a fun lens, good IQ, and cheap. I had one for a while because everyone raved about them. I used it a few times, realized I hate shooting fisheye (even though I like what others achieve) and sold it.
 
Some youtube personalities who act as credible professional photographers tell that a fisheye is very rarely used but regardless it shouldn't harm to have one in the bag for the once-a-blue-moon shot.

This is valid approach of course. I don't do gigs where I can carry pounds of gear and drop it to a corner, so having a large and heavy fisheye (m4/3 lenses exempted) is probably more of the more misguided momentary desires.
 
Black week is over, Cyber week is here.

I remembered I had an actual item on my Christmas shopping that I should probably get now during the deals.

A black mist filter. Only too bad the stores don't stock 52mm size anymore. Anti-Nikon much? :D
 
Black week is over, Cyber week is here.

I remembered I had an actual item on my Christmas shopping that I should probably get now during the deals.

A black mist filter. Only too bad the stores don't stock 52mm size anymore. Anti-Nikon much? :D
Not only anti-Nikon but anti-Zeiss too then: my Loxia lenses all share a common 52mm filter thread. And indeed, it takes some effort to get somewhat more uncommon filters like an ND64 for instance.
 
Sure enough, a 67mm works wonders with a simple step-up adapter. But it looks a bit silly for simple walkaround purposes. And these things cost money even with the discounts.

I can get the filter sizes I want from eBay or whatever, no Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals required. But this means I can once again postpone this purchase, which I think might be one of those "why didn't I get these years ago?" type of investments. :(
 
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Sure enough, a 67mm works wonders with a simple step-up adapter. But it looks a bit silly for simple walkaround purposes. And these things cost money even with the discounts.
Call me odd, but I hate step-up adapters. With a bit of bad luck they are very hard to remove from the filter or lens; for that reason I prefer B+W filters because they're made from brass.
 
Not odd at all. :)

I can get a Cyber Monday deal (50% off!) Black Mist adapter for 67mm for 59 € (NiSi).
Or I can get an ordinary eBay purchase for 52mm for 62 € (K & F Concept).

K & F reminded me of JoGeier.com, my new favorite European dealer (although I haven't patronized there yet) because of their extensive selection of 7Artisans, TTArtisans, Zeiss, and Voigtländer lenses. Yes, they also stock K & F adapters.

JoGeier doesn't stock black mist filters by K&F or anybody else.

But I am again eyeing how the nice ultrafast TTartisan lenses fit in the shopping cart...

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They happen to be of diameters 67mm and 77mm.


One of these days.



PS. And hey, JoGeier stocks the one affordable Fisheye lens that I think could work for me. It's 220 € yes brand new but at least it'd be FF and probably somewhat lighterweight than some of the SLR designs...
 
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