Elliot Tucker » Photography

Feed the birds…tuppence a bag

elliot — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:21:38 +0000

Enjoying the ride

elliot — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:28:18 +0000

Blue Wall

elliot — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 06:51:05 +0000

Wild Sea

elliot — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 21:35:42 +0000

What you can get for the $800 it costs tobuy a Pentax Q

elliot — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:12:15 +0000

There was much flurry of excitement in the wee hours as Pentax released the teeny weeny Pentax Q system, a tiny camera with interchangeable lenses and a compact camera-sized sensor. It’s small sensor means it’s going to take pretty sub-average images – especially once you’ve included one of the “toy” lenses that are designed for that hipster-retro-shite-lens-look.

Nevertheless, it’s probably a pretty funky thing to use and does seem to be well put together, but $800! Do you know what you can get for $800! Well why don’t I tell you? Here are some alternatives that you might consider spending your reddies on. To be fair to the Q the minimum requirement to be in the list will be for the camera to include a lens of some sort, as does the Pentax. To be really unfair to the Q, I’m going to include used items. In todays prices, $800 is about €560, so that’s the upper limit.

Panasonic GF2 – €500

With a sensor size 8 times as large as the Pentax Q, the Panasonic GF2 will have closer image quality to a D-SLR than to a compact point and shoot. An interchangeable lens Micro Four Thirds camera with great handling and a solid little body, though not as weeny as the Q.

Leica IIIa plus cheapy Russian M39 lens – Approx €420

Not for the feint hearted, you’ll need a light meter to hand or know your Sunny 16, but it’s a Leica! A 70 year old rangefinder might not be your daily point and shoot, but a very cool thing to own. Russian M39 mount lenses can be bought for next to nowt on eBay and you might catch the bug and hunt for a high quality old Leica lens for your new heirloom.

Leica IIIa on eBay

Used Canon 40D and a “Nifty 50″ – €450

The 40D is a good “proper” camera, with nice handling and reasonably up to date features. Marry that with Canon’s excellent but lightweight 50mm f1.8 lens and you’ve got one fancy shooter for your bucks. Maybe spend a bit over our €560 limit to get the superior 50mm f1.4.

A nice looking 40D on adverts.ie – sold, but there will be others.

Canon G12 – €450

A high end “compact” camera, though they are quite chunky. Good looks, lots of features, good price. A Canon. What more could you ask for? Drawbacks would be the lack of interchangeable lens but improved handling might make up for this.

Used Nikon F5 – €450 plus a Nifty 50

Robert De Niro in Heat using an F5

One of the best 35mm pro cameras ever made. A tank of a machine built for the harshest of environments. One of the last of the pro 35mm cameras, Nikon superceded the F5 with the the F6 but that was for “rich amateurs”, no pro would buy it, and I’d be surprised if they went further with 35mm. But no one wants film cameras any more, and they go for a song. Stick on a used f1.4 50mm on this (about €150) for some big and chunky photography fun.
Used Nikon F5 on Adverts.ie

Nice bokeh from these old lenses

elliot — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:45:57 +0000

I just found this in my scans from the Drogheda Photowalk. I skipped past it the first time as it seemed a bit dull but it’s grabbed me now as I noticed how nicely it shows off the bokeh on the old Olympus 35RC. This camera has the f2.8 lens but I do fancy the f1.7 lens on the Canonet G-III 17. Maybe some sweet person will find a good example of one on eBay for my birthday. Me for instance.

Where’sthe moon?

elliot — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 21:47:19 +0000

On top of the Rock of Dunamase waiting for the cloud to break for a shot of the lunar eclipse.

Lunar Eclipse

elliot — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:31:21 +0000

Rock of Dunamase, Co. Laois

Not the most inspiring of eclipse shots, but it’s all I could get on such a cloudy night. I don’t like my telephoto lens either. Aberration city!

Mini Tog

elliot — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:42:31 +0000

Drogheda. Olympus 35RC, Ilford HP5+

Mounting a fine-art print

elliot — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:18:15 +0000

I just found this comment on the interweb about ways to mount prints for gallery and archiving purposes. It seems sensible so I thought I’d make a note.

If your prints are bound for the fine-art market, there is a “right” way to mount prints for collectors, galleries, etc. generally, the archival requirements for fine-art print display are (1) permanence, and (2) reversability. In other words, you want to use archival mounting supplies that will not damage your print, and you want the end-user to be able to take the print out of its mat and re-mat it in the future (for taste reasons, or if the mat is damaged, or whatever). So, based on those requirements, the first rule is NEVER tape your print to the backing board– that violates both rules. contrary to what the manufacturers say, there is no existing tape or glue that is archival– every one of those substances will eventually seep through the paper and damage the image. the only known archival way to permanently mount a print to a mat is to dry-mount it. dry-mounting color prints is questionable because the heat may take decades off the life of the print. the way most fine-art photographers (who know what they’re doing) mount their prints is to use archival corners (paper or plastic) that are taped to the backing mat using acid-free archival tape. these permit the print to be slipped into the corners and held there without any kind of adhesive. then the window mat is hinged to the backing mat with acid-free linen tape, so that it can be opened easily (DON’T use that double-sided tape that seals the mat closed). this process seals the print in an archival protective environment but permits the print to be freely removed at any time.

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