GAS GAS: Please Share your Latest Acquisitions Big and Small

Wanted a "superwide" angle :mu43: lens for landscapes/interior images and decided to try the tiny Venus Laowa 9mm f2.8.
I must say that it more than meets my expectations for image quality. It mates perfectly with my small Olympus E-PL7 and when set at f8/Infinity it's simply compose and shoot. The DOF is staggering!
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Yosemite "No Falls" SOOC
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I thought you had one Bobby?
I sold it and the other Fujicrons in January to get a 16-55 when I had started to do in home headshots. Which was taking off well. Then all of the COVID lockdowns happened and killed that business dead in its tracks. So I sold the 16-55 and went back to primes. This completes getting back all of the fujicrons.
 
I sold it and the other Fujicrons in January to get a 16-55 when I had started to do in home headshots. Which was taking off well. Then all of the COVID lockdowns happened and killed that business dead in its tracks. So I sold the 16-55 and went back to primes. This completes getting back all of the fujicrons.
I’ve lost track of you and your gear before, but it looks like you only keep what you have use for in that moment. And I have to say: no matter what gear you have, you put them to great use with a very distinctive own style. Well done, sir!
 
I’ve lost track of you and your gear before, but it looks like you only keep what you have use for in that moment. And I have to say: no matter what gear you have, you put them to great use with a very distinctive own style. Well done, sir!
Thank you, sir! I appreciate that.

Yeah, it can get confusing keeping track of which gear I have. My dad just told me the same thing. But you are spot on that I just get the gear I need for what I am working for on at any given time. With the primary reason being that I don’t want a bunch of gear laying around. Preferring to be as minimalist as possible.
 
I recently purchased the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 FE lens for my Sony kit! That means something is going to be sold soon to finance it! :D

Sony A9 + Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 and Sony A7III + Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6:
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201001_TAMRON_70_180_COMPARE_002 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

Sony A9 + Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 and Nikon D750 + Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II:
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201001_TAMRON_70_180_COMPARE_001 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flick
Just curious. Do you "debrand" your bodies to make them less obvious? Also, what do those lens tubes do?
 
Just curious. Do you "debrand" your bodies to make them less obvious? Also, what do those lens tubes do?

Partially that, and I also like to gaffer up my cameras to protect them. It's a habit I picked up when I used to shoot news. I also don't like my dial randomly turning. I use the neoprene sleeves to protect my AF lenses. Also those colored rings are focus rubber grips I just place over the neoprene to make it easier to handle. If not it's harder to physically zoom on the neoprene surface. Basically if I buy a lens, it'll remain untouched for the duration of ownership until I sell them! :D
 
Saw this demo sample and snatched it up. I hope to use it for street photography, Sony lenses don't come much smaller than this. The 20mm field of view on APS-C format may be just right for busier streets (hope that's going to happen anytime soon :(). My first casual testing shows that I was right to not expect too much from it :).

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Nice lens hood, maintaining a small size overall.
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I've been pondering getting an X-T2 or -3. The 3 has about a $300 premium over the 2 on the used market. I'm not really a video guy, and I don't shoot sports or wildlife. Is there anything else about the 3 I'm missing?
XT3 benefits:
  • More AF points and more PDAF points. (XT3 has about 100 more AF points)
  • Continuous shooting of 11fps in mechanical shutter mode with ability to shoot 20fps or 30fps (crop mode E Shutter). XT2 does 8fps mechanical (11 with a grip) and 14fps e-shutter.
  • Blackout free viewfinder mode on XT3
  • XT3 has a pre-capture mode like what the Olympus EM1.2/1.3 and 1X do, allowing for auto capturing frames before the shutter is fully depressed (e-shutter only).
  • sport finder mode
  • slightly better battery life
  • XT3 has wifi and bluetooth connectivity (XT2 only has wifi)
  • XT3 has the newer 26mp sensor (XT2 has the 24mp sensor, which I love in my XPRO2 - so might not be a big deal for some)
  • XT3 has enhanced face and eye AF
So from that, you can surmise that the upgrades are largely video (which I didn't include) and faster burst modes, new sensor and processing engine. Bottom line, you'd probably be very happy with the XT2.

So far, I did a little shooting with the XT3 today and I really like the feel of the camera grip, weight and size.
Unless the edge of the frame CDAF only is going to be an issue, then you might be just as happy with the XT2. I only got the XT3 because I had that trade value and the camera store only had new XT30 (which I was really looking at). The XT3 (used) with EF-X8 flash, battery and charger was $800 - $300 = $500, so I could not see me passing that up.

Will probably spend the rest of the night playing with my dogs and programming film simulations into the XT3 - most likely the same ones that I have in the X100V.
 
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