[edom31]

S-Type focusing Screen for my K-50... I been meaning to change the focus screen on my K-50 ever since a few years ago I attempted to clean the original with alcohol and did a number on it... Just been using the camera with a very dim focus screen since and now my eyes are getting tired.I honestly do not know how I manage to focus sometimes!


I just hope I have no shimming issues at install!

[stevebrot]

Below is a Vivitar Vari-Power/Slave module compatible with the Vivitar 3500 dedicated flash system that has been on my counter for about a week now.*

From the back attached as the working module on a Vivitar 3500 flash, showing power selection.



From the front showing detector for optical slave triggering.



The Vari-Power/Slave module is primarily known through a terse description in the Vivitar 3500 user guide. Features as listed there are:

1. Optical triggering of any number of slave flash in sync with an on-camera flash.
2. Selection of a 5-step range (full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16) of flash intensity for slave use of a Vivtar 3500 flash.
3. Support of the above 5-step range for on-camera and off-camera use.

My main intent was to take advantage of #3, though #2 was easy enough to set up and test once I had the unit. I have no notion of off-camera, non-slave operation is supposed to work (cabled to hot shoe?). Both were unusual features back in 1981 when the Vivitar 3500 was launched and worthy of note in their own right. #1 is intriguing, though it appears that I am missing a cable that would allow PC sync chaining for shared sync with the module as a standalone unit. I have not been able to find the user guide, so I may never know.


Steve

* The Vivitar 3500 is of interest to Pentax dSLR owners in that it is capable of providing voltage-safe and flexible auto flash in a compact form factor. Also supported is full emulation of Pentax analog dedication for TTL as with a Pentax AF280T or AF200T without the bulk and somewhat higher expense of the Pentax product. Yes, there will be a full review...

[Cerebum]

FA* 600 F/4 arrived today.
Here it is with the 150-450 to show the size difference.

Yikes! I hope you have been working out! Its great to see you getting stuff I won't see in my lifetime! At least I will get to share the experience on your channel happy new year

[Jonathan Mac]

one Fuji XF 35/1.4 lens...

I knew you would fall....

[Digitalis]

My D-FA21mm f/2.4 ED ASPH Limited finally arrived!

[pepperberry farm]

I knew you would fall....

oh yeah...

I low-balled an offer on eBay and the seller took it......

oops...

[jawats]

FA* 600 F/4 arrived today.
Here it is with the 150-450 to show the size difference.

Fantastic! I hope to see reviews on your channel.

[eddie1960]

oh yeah...

I low-balled an offer on eBay and the seller took it......

oops...

it is a great lens, not my favorite focal length but a great all rounder. I love it on the Xpro - I believe that was a package option originally (that or the lower cost XF27 package)

[BigMackCam]

It's rare that I buy new clothes, as I tend to make what I have last... I still wear jeans, jumpers, shirts, tee-shirts and shorts I've owned for 10+ years or more (some of which are far too big since I lost weight, but they're fine around the house )... however, last year - after my weight loss - I bought (because I needed) a nice waxed-cotton jacket... a less-expensive version of the classic Barbour, beloved of farmers and country folk It's a good jacket - warm, comfortable, durable, definitely shower-proof (I haven't tried it in really heavy rain yet), and I'm getting good use from it... but in retrospect, I didn't put nearly enough thought into my choice. The wax treatment transfers onto everything the jacket touches, even from inside the pockets. It's no good for digital photography excursions, as the LCD screen of any camera quickly becomes smeared with wax whenever I have it hanging from my neck or shoulder, and it takes several sheets of kitchen towel and alcohol wipes to remove the smears. I can't even store my smartphone or uncased filters in my pockets, knowing I'll have to thoroughly clean them before use

Anyhooo... After a recent thread from a fellow member, I began looking again for something more suitable, and found what I think will work, so I ordered it today. It's a surplus un-issued Austrian Army M65 Gore-Tex (or Sympatex) fully-lined jacket:



The mil-surplus supplier had some issued / used "Grade 1"-condition and some heavily-used "Distressed" examples at bargain prices, but I decided to pay out for a new / unissued one, as this will be a daily-wearer for me and I don't want it to look too dog-eared (at least, not to begin with ). At GBP £75, it was at least as expensive as any number of similarly-styled civilian jackets, but the Gore-Tex / Sympatex membrane layer makes it much more practical here in the North-East of England, with our variable weather. What I like about it from a photography perspective is that it has several decent-sized pockets, and the zipper / stud-fastening front is covered by a plain storm flap - so there's nothing to scratch or rub against my gear (a pet hate of mine).

Of course, once I started browsing the supplier's web-site, I found a couple of other things I liked and ended up ordering those too First, a "Grade 1" issued Austrian Army Rip-Stop heavy shirt / light jacket:



Though they have a pretty young lady modelling it, it's actually a men's garment. Nice sales tactic, though I'll wear it as a light jacket rather than a shirt, and probably not until Spring or on colder Summer days. It has a button-fastening front, but the buttons / button-holes are concealed - so, again, there's nothing below chest level to rub against any gear (there are some breast pockets with zippers, but they're above where my camera would normally hang). It's not so accomodating as the M65 in terms of pockets, but it'll do... and at GBP £12, it'd be churlish to complain

Next, I came across this British Army camo "field kit" shoulder bag that they were promoting as a camera bag... new / unissued surplus, made from cordura, water-resistant and padded:



Having done a bit of research, it turns out the internal dimensions are almost identical to some really nice inserts I've seen on eBay... so with one of those, this could indeed be a great bag for a camera with lens + one larger lens + accessories. I'm thinking it might be perfect for my full-frame Hasselblad HV + 24-70/2.8 + 70-200/2.8 + bits 'n' pieces. I'm not a huge fan of camo, but at GBP £11 I thought it was worth trying one. The insert I have in mind is around the same price, so if it works out, I'll have a really decent and durable weather-resistant camera bag for well under £25. If it doesn't work out... well, it was worth a punt

With the unissued M65 costing £75, the issued light jacket at £12 and the bag at £11, I was up to £98... and shipping was going to cost £6.50. For orders over £100 the shipping is free... so I had to pick one last inexpensive item (which is exactly what they expect you to do, and how they shift more stock ). There was lots of great stuff to choose from, but nothing I really wanted or needed - certainly not at the lower end of the price range (they have some awesome Soviet-era large, wooden ammo boxes with markings that I think would make great props for my Russian camera and lens photos - but at £50, more than I'd want to pay). The cheapest thing I found that I thought I might use was this vintage issued Austrian Army heavyweight shirt, for £9:



It's not the sort of thing I'd wear around town ordinarily, but I kind of like it, so maybe I will. I'll definitely wear it at home, and since the difference in cost (with free shipping upgrade) is only £2.50, that makes it an extremely cheap piece of lounge-wear, if nothing else

Based on previous experience, the sizing on military surplus items is often the "gotcha", so I'll have to wait and see if any of the jackets / shirts fit well enough to keep. I'm really hoping the M65 jacket is a reasonable fit... but we'll see. If none of them is any good, the store has an excellent returns policy, and at least I'll have the "field kit" bag as a little project

If any UK members are interested, the company I bought these from is Forces Uniform & Kit. They have some great items for sale, but not always in the sizes you might want. Still, they're worth a look...

[jawats]

It's rare that I buy new clothes, as I tend to make what I have last... I still wear jeans, jumpers, shirts, tee-shirts and shorts I've owned for 10+ years or more (some of which are far too big since I lost weight, but they're fine around the house )... however, last year - after my weight loss - I bought (because I needed) a nice waxed-cotton jacket... a less-expensive version of the classic Barbour, beloved of farmers and country folk It's a good jacket - warm, comfortable, durable, definitely shower-proof (I haven't tried it in really heavy rain yet), and I'm getting good use from it... but in retrospect, I didn't put nearly enough thought into my choice. The wax treatment transfers onto everything the jacket touches, even from inside the pockets. It's no good for digital photography excursions, as the LCD screen of any camera quickly becomes smeared with wax whenever I have it hanging from my neck or shoulder, and it takes several sheets of kitchen towel and alcohol wipes to remove the smears. I can't even store uncased filters in my pockets, knowing I'll have to thoroughly clean them before use

Anyhooo... After a recent thread from a fellow member, I began looking again for something more suitable, and found what I think will work, so I ordered it today. It's a surplus un-issued Austrian Army M65 Gore-Tex (or Sympatex) fully-lined jacket:



The mil-surplus supplier had some issued / used "Grade 1"-condition and some heavily-used "Distressed" examples at bargain prices, but I decided to pay out for a new / unissued one, as this will be a daily-wearer for me and I don't want it to look too dog-eared (at least, not to begin with ). At GBP £75, it was at least as expensive as any number of similarly-styled civilian jackets, but the Gore-Tex / Sympatex membrane layer makes it much more practical here in the North-East of England, with our variable weather. What I like about it from a photography perspective is that it has several decent-sized pockets, and the zipper / stud-fastening front is covered by a plain storm flap - so there's nothing to scratch or rub against my gear (a pet hate of mine).

Of course, once I started browsing the supplier's web-site, I found a couple of other things I liked and ended up ordering those too First, a "Grade 1" issued Austrian Army Rip-Stop heavy shirt / light jacket:



Though they have a pretty young lady modelling it, it's actually a men's garment. Nice sales tactic, though I'll wear it as a light jacket rather than a shirt, and probably not until Spring or on colder Summer days. It has a button-fastening front, but the buttons / button-holes are concealed - so, again, there's nothing below chest level to rub against any gear (there are some breast pockets with zippers, but they're above where my camera would normally hang). It's not so accomodating as the M65 in terms of pockets, but it'll do... and at GBP £12, it'd be churlish to complain

Next, I came across this British Army camo "field kit" shoulder bag that they were promoting as a camera bag... new / unissued surplus, made from cordura, water-resistant and padded:



Having done a bit of research, it turns out the internal dimensions are almost identical to some really nice inserts I've seen on eBay... so with one of those, this could indeed be a really nice bag for a camera with lens + one larger lens + accessories. I'm thinking it might be perfect for my full-frame Hasselblad HV + 24-70/2.8 + 70-200/2.8 + bits 'n' pieces. I'm not a huge fan of camo, but at GBP £11 I thought it was worth trying one. The insert I have in mind is around the same price, so if it works out, I'll have a really decent and durable weather-resistant camera bag for well under £25. If it doesn't work out... well, it was worth a punt

With the unissued M65 costing £75, the issued light jacket at £12 and the bag at £11, I was up to £98... and shipping was going to cost £6.50. For orders over £100 the shipping is free... so I had to pick one last inexpensive item (which is exactly what they expect you to do, and how they shift more stock ). There was lots of great stuff to choose from, but nothing I really wanted or needed - certainly not at the lower end of the price range (they have some awesome Soviet-era large, wooden ammo boxes with markings that I think would make great props for my Russian camera and lens photos - but at £50, more than I'd want to pay). The cheapest thing I found that I thought I might use was this vintage issued Austrian Army heavyweight shirt, for £9:



It's not the sort of thing I'd wear around town ordinarily, but I kind of like it, so maybe I will. I'll definitely wear it at home, and since the difference in cost (with free shipping upgrade) is only £2.50, that makes it an extremely cheap piece of lounge-wear, if nothing else

The sizing on military surplus items is often the "gotcha", so I'll have to wait and see if any of the jackets and shirts fit well enough to keep. I'm really hoping the M65 jacket fits... but we'll see. If none of them fits, the store has a good returns policy, and at least I'll have the "field kit" bag as a little project

If any UK members are interested, the company I bought these from is Forces Uniform & Kit. They have some great items for sale, but not all in the sizes you might want. Still, they're worth a look...

Fantastic, Mike! Let us know how this works out!

Next project: whatever winter uniform Connery wore in "Hunt for Red October"

[aslyfox]

Heads Up Time

check with your local Girl Scouts if you have any or

How to Buy Cookies | Girl Scouts

Thin Mints make the perfect SMU

Standard Measuring Unit.

Developed by @Pepperberry Farm.

[photoaki]

Picked up this beaut.

[pepperberry farm]

Heads Up Time

check with your local Girl Scouts if you have any or

How to Buy Cookies | Girl Scouts

Thin Mints make the perfect SMU

that's right!!!

[Benz3ne]

Heads Up Time

check with your local Girl Scouts if you have any or

How to Buy Cookies | Girl Scouts

Thin Mints make the perfect SMU

It's a shame we don't have that sort of thing to help fund Scouts here (UK).
In fact, googling 'Girl Scout Cookies' brings up something about a strain of cannabis, which I found surprising.

[Jonathan Mac]

A little regarding the TTartisans shoe-mount light meter I bought very recently. It seems solid enough: the body is machined aluminium, I'm not sure if the dials are too or maybe just plastic. The shutter speed dial clicks lightly into place while the ISO and aperture dials are woefully easy to move - they will need to be checked for every shot, there's no way they can be relied upon to stay put. They really should be clicked too.

Power is from a single lithium CR2032 battery which is inserted by removing a single screw to remove the battery cover. The meter comes with a miniature screwdriver for this purpose - but it's too fat to fit in the screw and so doesn't work!! You will need to provide your own small cross-head screwdriver to change the battery. Beware also that the battery needs to click into place, first under the metal contact and then under the plastic ridge. If you do it in reverse then there's a good chance the plastic ridge will break, so not a great design.

I've still to check it for accuracy and usability but my first thoughts are that it will be a handy little device that falls short of being ideal due to some very poor design decisions.