Carpe Lux Seize the Light

An orange moon sets behind cold blue mountains

The rays of the morning sun shines through the mist, silhouetting a church against the sky

A hanging chain touches the water surface, creating ring-shaped waves while it reflects in the water

The hunter, waiting for his prey.

If the bokeh were any creamier, I'd need a triple-bypass, stat!

Last week, I finally took delivery of a slightly used SMC Pentax DA* 50-135mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM lens. I got it from an eBayer who was switching brands. As I had the 1.20 firmware in my K10D, a video camera and a tripod, I figured I'd tape the lens while focusing back and forth and then measure the focus speed from the video clip.

"And I want you all to know that I am the politician best-equipped to deal with this impending crisis!"

Pentax seems hell-bent on milking the K10D for every last drop. Here's a limited golden edition to commemorate the Camera Grand Prix it recently won: http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/news/2007/200748.html

It'll go nicely with the DA* lenses (also with golden trim) but it positively screams "steal me now!".

Today, I was going to try combining a 2x teleconverter, an extension ring and a prime lens to make a 100mm 2.8 macro lens.

First, I put the TC closest to the camera, then the extension ring (20 mm Kenko) and on top the FA 50 1.4. Worked fine, but I didn't get close enough so I figured I'd swap the TC and the ring, so I did. Except when doing so, I managed to dislodge the little spring that actuates the aperture lever on my $1000 K10D camera.

Oops.