[magkelly]

You know Wolfie, after reading your post somehow I just don't feel nearly as guilty as I did earlier about buying me that $5 (damaged box) "Hello Kitty" Summer Fashionista Barbie this evening at the local Mega Walmart. ;P

[wolfiegirl]

You know Wolfie, after reading your post somehow I just don't feel nearly as guilty as I did earlier about buying me that $5 (damaged box) "Hello Kitty" Summer Fashionista Barbie this evening at the local Mega Walmart. ;P

LOL. Did I overpay for the screw bit set? That 44m-4 helios has been sitting there crying out to be used for the last three weeks or more. After my aborted attempt at surgery where my old screwdriver kit BROKE APART I knew I had to get another. I was lucky no one got hurt!!

$5 barbie??? Girl you need to spend more....

Oh, and for the record, What, this old thing? *waves at the 300mm preset* It was bought AGES ago.

[magkelly]

LOL. Did I overpay for the screw bit set? That 44m-4 helios has been sitting there crying out to be used for the last three weeks or more. After my aborted attempt at surgery where my old screwdriver kit BROKE APART I knew I had to get another. I was lucky no one got hurt!!

$5 barbie??? Girl you need to spend more....

Oh, and for the record, What, this old thing? *waves at the 300mm preset* It was bought AGES ago.

Nah, I was teasing you because you've been on a major lens buying spree just like I've been acquiring dolls this month. Not that I bought all mine, but still I'm way, way over my spending limit for new dolls this month. $5 is actually about half of what she normally goes for. Fashionistas got for $10-13 unless they're on sale. I have pretty cheap tastes in Barbies most of the time (Thank heavens!) but right now I'm not even supposed to be spending $1 on any more dolls!

I've totally blown my doll budget for the month. Major sale prices or not I've been so, so bad! This one had a damaged box so it got marked down. It's a new doll. This series just came out a week or so ago so it shouldn't have been $5. Box cutter got it I guess, but that's not an issue for me because I am worse than any kid when it comes to dolls. I don't care what the box looks like. It will only get ripped open before the ink is hardly dry on the receipt anyway. My dolls get to come out and play. Unlike some doll people I don't believe in keeping dolls trapped forever in plastic prisons.

$5 Barbie, but the total personally spent for the month by me is like $100 I think, which is a lot considering I have a $10-20 doll budget most months. That's like 5 months worth of buying dolls! I don't usually splurge quite this much. I usually buy most of my dolls thrift so I can make my $$$ count. Brand new dolls are something I really have to budget for. I'm sort of counting towards my Christmas doll budget which usually is $100. I haven't gone over that yet and I do have a lot to show for it with the 2 big girls I bought. Those dolls were like $150 a pop when they came out so getting them both for $45 and tax was a steal. Those, I have no regrets. I live for doll sales like that! I really have got to stop grabbing random Fashionistas and doll shoe packs though. Just because everything is new and/or discounted doesn't mean I should be buying it. I went to Walmart for freakin cat food and cat litter, not Barbies, lol. Those new Fashionistas they always get me though and I end up buying at least 2 or 3. I particularly like the articulated Ken dolls and when they are really cute I'm usually sunk.

You think you guys with the lenses are bad? You should see my house. I have a whole wall of dolls and more in bins that I don't have room for on the shelves. Bins of clothes, and other related stuff, all properly bagged and tagged. 90% of it was bought thrift or came free, gifts, and I have a BFF who sells used dolls so I get a lot of freebies from her too, but still I have a good little investment going in plastic people. I haven't counted in a while but I know there are close to 400 dolls, mostly Barbies, and not even the particularly valuable ones at that. Unfortunately I really don't collect the stuff you can really flip. I just like the play line and cheaper dolls mostly. There's almost no resale value to the kind of doll collecting I do.

We don't have a "living room" in this house. The living room is my room. (I put up a wall to make it into a 3rd bedroom. I got that from living in big cities. I got to like splitting the rent 3 ways more than I like having a living room.) I don't really have a proper bedroom. I have a doll display room that happens to have a desk, a file cabinet, an office chair and a futon bed in a corner of it all. No couch, no TV. (I don't need them really. I do all that on the computer now anyhow.) My roommates we hang in our rooms or in the kitchen. The outside shed that no one uses? That's my "studio" now. So is the screened porch. I go wherever I can take pics until I can afford a proper studio.

The roommates they kid me all the time that I need more dolls like Sarah Jessica Parker needs more Jimmy Choos, which is to say they're a total indulgence considering I don't have her paychecks, but really the roommates are absurdly supportive of my doll habit. They grab them at Goodwill and at the flea market for me too. They and my BFF are a good part of the reason I have so many. They're always handing me some old Barbie that they got at some garage sale or in the toy bin at the local thrifts. I actually give a lot of the play Barbies away when I'm done cleaning them up. I recycle a lot of them back to kids here. I only keep the more interesting ones. Your typical beach blonds they go back to kids, my nieces, their friends, whoever wants them. But yeah, I have Barbie dolls like some of the worst LBA guys here have lenses. Maybe I'm even a bit worse, grin. It's a good thing I don't collect lenses like I collect Barbie dolls. I'd be in serious trouble.

[wolfiegirl]

Just because everything is new and/or discounted doesn't mean I should be buying it.

that sounds a lot like blasphemy to me... *checks the bargain shopper's bible* tsk tsk tsk. you're on your first warning, lady!

I wish it was sunnier. It's November and it's supposed to be the last month of Spring. But it's sitting at 10 degrees celcius out there with overcast conditions and spits of rain. Grrrr... makes it difficult for me to play with my new 300mm toy. Got a few shots, but I had to up the ISO to get some good light. Not really a good test of whether or not the results are accurate or not. *sigh*

[aurele]

Damn it ! my LBA stroke again ! a Color reflex MC 55/1.2 for 90€ (all fees included)

last two month i was on a good way : i sold 2 lenses i didn't like/use ... and now that i have 100€ on my bank account for the next 30 days, i spend 90 of them the first day !

now the real challenge starts : 10€ for 30 days ! woot woot !

[wolfiegirl]

now the real challenge starts : 10€ for 30 days ! woot woot !

I'm on the verge of a pending sale. very excited. *fingers crossed*

Hey, does going cold turkey count, if I'm only spending cash, and not bank money?

[fccwpe]

Pulled the trigger on Sigma 50mm EX DG HSM f1.4, Rokinon 85mm f1.4, Metz Mecablitz 58 AF-2, Zeiss UV and CPL for the Sigma (77mm OUCH!!!) and B+W 72mm UV for the Rok. I am in low light and Boheh HEAVEN!!!

[aurele]

Pulled the trigger on Sigma 50mm EX DG HSM f1.4, Rokinon 85mm f1.4, Metz Mecablitz 58 AF-2, Zeiss UV and CPL for the Sigma (77mm OUCH!!!) and B+W 72mm UV for the Rok

Your credit card melt a bit, right ?

[fccwpe]

Your credit card melt a bit, right ?

Actually, a small part of my Holiday bonus from my very generous employer. With the remainder I will purchase Ricoh.

[creampuff]

Something non-photographic... a Fondreist R10 Superlight full carbon road bike. Only 7.2kg with my uber cheap Shimano Ultegra training wheels and pedals.

[reeftool]

On the photo side, a Katz Eye focusing screen. The Jinfinance cheapie didn't work so well for me. Also Lumiquest softbox attachment for my flash.

[top-quark]

Just got me the "Strobist Ultimate Flash Kit" from cameratools.nl, the only European stockist of Lumopro products.

€350 inc. postage got me a Lumopro LP160, two Cactus 5 transceivers, lightstand, umbrella adapter, shoot-through brolly, twenty-or-so sheets of gels, gaffer tape and a bag of ball ties. Not too bad.

Manual flash is taking some getting used to. The LP160 is seriously BRIGHT. The transceivers seem to be pretty good and certainly a massive saving on Pocket Wizards.

[top-quark]

Oh yes, and a new lens, a Pentax F 35-70mm. Fifty quid off eBay. Possibly a little more than the going rate but the condition was immaculate and it came with a filter.

Hmm, don't know whether I like it. Styling doesn't match the K-r at all, and the build quality feels pretty poor. That rotating front element is seriously irritating too. It zooms in to 35mm rather than out to 70mm which is a bit odd. To its credit, autofocus is stupid fast.

I tried the >70mm macro mode. Second attached picture is the closest focus I could manage. I'd read that it did 1:2 (which would make it a pretty good macro lens) but I don't reckon it does. The DAL 18-55 achieves much higher magnification than this.

[wolfiegirl]

Oh yes, and a new lens, a Pentax F 35-70mm. Fifty quid off eBay. Possibly a little more than the going rate but the condition was immaculate and it came with a filter.

Hmm, don't know whether I like it. Styling doesn't match the K-r at all, and the build quality feels pretty poor. That rotating front element is seriously irritating too. It zooms in to 35mm rather than out to 70mm which is a bit odd. To its credit, autofocus is stupid fast.

I tried the >70mm macro mode. Second attached picture is the closest focus I could manage. I'd read that it did 1:2 (which would make it a pretty good macro lens) but I don't reckon it does. The DAL 18-55 achieves much higher magnification than this.

$50 on ebay! That's a good price - top of my budget. I've been straddling the fence on this one. Not sure if I want it or not. I have so many manuals..... in fact I'm pretty sure I have at least 3 35-70s. I don't need another.. But none of them are autos.... it would be good to have one auto in that range.

Good to know they are still going for around that price.

[RioRico]

The F35-70 (a little bag of primes) goes to about 1:3.5 magnification, not really macro. I measure its CFD as about 30cm from the film plane, 18cm from the lens front. Yes, the kit 18-55 focuses closer. Where the F35-70 excels is in size (smallest Pentax zoom EVAR!) and agility (fast AF) and crispness|rendering.

Being what it is, it demands a relative premium price. Tsk tsk. Don't look for the lens. Look for an old SF-1 or other AF film body from the 1980s-90s, when it was a standard kit lens. Mine came on a SF-1 for US$21 total, and I sold the body for six bucks. Then I splurged on avocados, but that's another story.