GAS GAS: Please Share your Latest Acquisitions Big and Small

Are you still at it with this one?

There is one up in the local classifieds for €90, which I am somewhat oogling.
I've still got it. Haven't shot much with it - the Pentax cameras tend to get a lot of macro use over spring and summer. Not so much use with the other lenses. I'll have to get this out over winter and use it some more.

Digressions - I'd send you some examples but flickrs search is so terrible I can't even find any of mine with that lens. Sigh. Google Photos was terrible for all sorts of reasons but at least it had a kick-ass search function.
 
I also picked up a mr-9 battery adaptor and battery for my Nikkormat FTn.

Put it in and ...
Nothing. :( Looks like the meter circuit is dead on this one. Everything else works well and I own an hand held meter so no big problem. Pity though. Tuck away into the camera gadgets drawer in case I need it for some other camera.

OK, had it in backwards. It reacts but no where near accurately :ROFLMAO: Same thing different way :) So it goes.
 
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I agree on the velcro and after doing some searching, I found this modification. I ordered some Fidlock snaps and they should be here next week. Hopefully I don't screw the bag up too badly! And just for good measure, I ordered some Fidlock V-BUCKLE 25 Split Bar Flap with pull tab. Why you ask? Well I placed a low ball offer on a Domke F-6 "Little bit smaller" bag I saw on Ebay 😃 It is in decent but not great shape but for the price I paid, I'm happy, I hate the clips Domke uses so I figured I would replace those with the fidlocks. So what made me think of Fidlock buckles? Funny you should ask. I had ordered a Wontancraft Pilot 7L a while back and it finally showed up this week and it has a Fidlock buckle that is pretty slick. So yes, 3 new bags but in my defense, I sold 2 bags this week and I have another one listed on FM (an ONA Prince in leather) so my net will be zero once that one is sold.😁
As an update, I completed my modifications with the Fidlock hardware. For the buckles I took the bag to a shop to re-sew the canvas tabs back on. I really like the modifications! No more loud Velcro and those difficult OEM clips are now a pleasure. You just pull down on the tab and the buckle releases. When the 2 parts get anywhere near each other, they connect and close securely. I removed the Domke tag from the F-5X and will probably do the same to the F-6.
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Peak Design Cuff (wrist strap) and the original lens hood for the Fuji X100V. While the JJC lens hood was fully functional, I didn't like its somewhat darker grey, hence I splurged on the Fuji one. An original Fuji battery charger is underway from Italy; man, that thing is even harder to get than the X100V itself!

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And a Peak Design Anchor Mount to enable different carrying configurations for the Sony A7R4. Very slim, but has to be removed when the camera is mounted on a tripod.

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Peak Design Cuff (wrist strap) and the original lens hood for the Fuji X100V. While the JJC lens hood was fully functional, I didn't like its somewhat darker grey, hence I splurged on the Fuji one. An original Fuji battery charger is underway from Italy; man, that thing is even harder to get than the X100V itself!

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And a Peak Design Anchor Mount to enable different carrying configurations for the Sony A7R4. Very slim, but has to be removed when the camera is mounted on a tripod.

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I find these extremely practical. For the last three years I've only used wriststraps with quicklock system on all my cameras. One strap plus a set of quicklocks fixed to each body. The one I use is by Seilstyles. It's softness is extremely comfortable around the wrist and yet absolutely safe.
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Man, entering the Fuji world keeps me spending. After critical testing I decided that the Iridient X-Transformer (IXT) software is really able to wring out the last bit of resolution of a raw file compared to ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). ACR's Enhanced feature also delivers but the file size expands over 4 times compared to the losslessly compressed Fuji raw files; IXT keeps it to a more modest 2x expansion and can be tailored to larger or smaller sizes. I probably will use IXT for selected photos, not by default for all raws.
 
Man, entering the Fuji world keeps me spending. After critical testing I decided that the Iridient X-Transformer (IXT) software is really able to wring out the last bit of resolution of a raw file compared to ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). ACR's Enhanced feature also delivers but the file size expands over 4 times compared to the losslessly compressed Fuji raw files; IXT keeps it to a more modest 2x expansion and can be tailored to larger or smaller sizes. I probably will use IXT for selected photos, not by default for all raws.
Iridient is worth every penny, I was so pleased with the way my Fuji files were looking after conversion.
 
Sometimes, especially when I'm feeling cash-strapped, buying a photography book seems like a luxury I can't really either justify or afford. But then, again, the handful of photography books I've bought over the last few years have almost all proved to be (and this is obviously just my subjective opinion) among the best purchases I've ever made. This newest one I just bought ranks up among the best photo books I've ever acquired. It's called "Lee Friedlander: Framed" - and it's a collection of Mr. Friedlander's iconic photos curated and selected by the filmmaker Joel Coen. The book grew out of a friendship between the two men which apparently developed over the last few years; it seems that they spent so much time talking, and enjoying one another's company, and mutually appreciating each other's ways of seeing - and, literally, 'framing' the worlds around them (which, of course, are also their own interior worlds) - that somehow the notion of Joel Coen creating a collection of his favorite Lee Friedlander photographs just sort of evolved naturally.

It's a solid, large, handsome looking book --

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And it's filled with a number of, well, remarkable (that's the first adjective that springs to mind) photographs--

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It also features a very cool (and relatively short) personal essay, at the end of the book, by Joel Coen's wife, the remarkable actor and producer, Frances McDormand.

The book was published by the Fraenkel Gallery, the long-term photographic representatives of Mr. Friedlander. Apparently the initial publishing run has now sold out (I was among the lucky early purchasers and received my copy about a week ago) and now is backordered, pending a 2nd printing. The list price is $65 USD (plus shipping costs, which bumps the total up a bit) - but I have to say, for those who appreciate wonderful photography books, it almost seems a bargain at that price. If you're a fan of Friedlander's work, or of the Coen brothers' unique vibe, I can't recommend it highly enough.
 
So, no dice on the direct approach on off-loading the GX9, but the photos where the same as I would put up in an add, so it is now up in the classifieds. Other than that, I think I made a record buy today, a fellow posted up a Pentax 18-135 for €90ish, looking mint but sans sun shade and with non-OEM front and end caps, four minutes later I stumbled over it and just bought it outright, having had an eye towards a few of them over the last months but going back and forth over it loosing out on all of them. No more!

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So now I just need someone to post up a reasonably priced K3/K3II and I will be more or less all set on the Pentax front. May go for a UW, come to think of it. And a 35, possibly the ltd 70, or some Manual focused Ks...

Or something of this and that... :drinks:

And there a pick-up deal was struck on the GX9...
Must admit to being somewhat ambivalent to that sale.:hmmm:
 
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This newest one I just bought ranks up among the best photo books I've ever acquired. It's called "Lee Friedlander: Framed" - and it's a collection of Mr. Friedlander's iconic photos curated and selected by the filmmaker Joel Coen.


As a fan of Friedlander, the Coen brothers and McDermand (I’m not sure I’m what other my fanhood should be ranked), and to be honest often impressed by your well thought opinions I’ve put in an order. Thanks for your recommendation!
 
My other acquisition: a Canon G5x Mark II. I will go on a cycling holiday this summer. Last time I did that I carried a Lumix GX9, 14-140 and 20 next to the Ricoh GRIIIx. I will still use the GRIIIx as my main camera, but will replace the Lumix gear with the Canon for zoom options (wide angle and short tele). The Ricoh showed me that I really prefer small cameras over larger ones for daily use. Even the Pen-F with small premium primes feels large nowadays, let alone the E-M1 mark III with pro zooms. Those are more and more becoming my specialty cameras (Pen-F for specific photo outings, E-M1 for zoom and bad weather).
 
As a fan of Friedlander, the Coen brothers and McDermand (I’m not sure I’m what other my fanhood should be ranked), and to be honest often impressed by your well thought opinions I’ve put in an order. Thanks for your recommendation!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been. (It's a book I find myself coming back to, again and again, lately.)
 
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