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12-25-2021, 07:46 AM - 2 Likes   #16
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2021 was a heavy year on the acquisition side - but I'm now fully set for the foreseeable future and no particular desire to buy anything else (perhaps that's my wallet speaking ).

Favourite is a hard call, having got the KP and 150-450 this year - both are substantial jumps from my previous gear and make an impact in my photography, leaving me as the certain limiting factor for the outputs. I think I have to call it a draw between the two

12-25-2021, 09:08 AM - 2 Likes   #17
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K-3 Mk III I think. Was a huge leap from K-50 and I really like this camera.
12-25-2021, 09:30 AM - 2 Likes   #18
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Easy question for me. Even if had bought something else, DFA*85/1.4 would be on top of the list. Amazing lens.
12-25-2021, 09:49 AM - 2 Likes   #19
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I managed to track down a coveted 200f teleconverter through KEH. Just in terms of rarity, I am pleased that I bagged that one.
Still haven't taken the time to properly compare it with the Pentax 2X-L, although I can say it is for sure less convenient to mount, and that neither seems obviously worse or better than the other.
Still, the collector in me is wearing a smile from that one.

12-25-2021, 01:13 PM - 1 Like   #20
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I am very satisfied with my camera, tripod, and collection of lenses. This year I added tripod accessories for landscapes. L-bracket and ball head w/ panning function.
12-25-2021, 02:16 PM - 5 Likes   #21
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You good folks got some great stuff in 2021! Keep it coming

---

To answer my own question, I had to look back at the things I acquired this year. I didn't think it amounted to much - but I actually picked up lot more than I thought

Although not strictly photographic equipment, my biggest purchase of the year was a new laptop - a Lenovo Legion 5i 17 with i7-10750H CPU, NVidia RTX2060, 16GB RAM and dual SSDs for OS and data respectively. It has way more processing power than anything I've previously owned, and it's made a huge performance difference to my raw processing and photo editing - so I'm including it for consideration.

I also acquired up a couple of cheap, new / old stock base-spec Lenono M72e Tiny mini desktop PCs (c. 2013), and upgraded them both to i5-3470T CPU with 8GB RAM and 240GB SSD, with Ubuntu MATE 20.04 LTS replacing the supplied Windows 7. Again, these aren't photographic equipment - but I set up one of them as a desktop PC in my study / home office (replacing the fun-but-limited Raspberry Pi 4 I'd been using) and - after the upgrades - it makes a nice, compact desktop for general computing that's also powerful enough to handle day-to-day raw, TIFF and JPEG processing with RawTherapee, Darktable and GIMP... which means I can do some basic post-processing in my study and leave my Lenovo laptop set up at the breakfast bar downstairs, where I spend most of my time

I didn't buy any digital cameras this year, as I'm more-than-sufficiently equipped for my needs (though I'll admit I drooled over, and enjoyed vicariously, the K-3III some of you folks have bought... an amazing camera, clearly!). I did, however, add a few inexpensive, vintage film cameras to my gear cupboard - a Canon Demi 35mm half-frame, Smena-8 35mm, new / old stock BeLOMO AGAT-18K 35mm half-frame, and a fully-serviced Agfa Isola II 6x6, as well as a super LOMO BLIK shoe-mount rangefinder to use with my various "guess-o-matic" focusing cameras

Lens purchases were very limited (as, again, I'm well-enough equipped)... a humble, cheap Pentax SMC DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR to replace the one I regretted selling years ago; a surprisingly-inexpensive Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro in K-mount; and a Minolta AF 35-70 f/4 - which needed a full service (and cost me nothing as a result) but - after a fair bit of work - is now a nice, fully-operational part of my Sony A-mount kit.

A couple of months back I bought some gear to set up a film-digitising rig, consisting of a CS-720 copy stand, EFH Essential Film Holder and multiple 35mm + 120 masks, Kaiser 2453 Slimlite Plano light panel and - more recently, to use with film that remains curly after drying - a Pixl-latr multi-format film holder. To convert the captured negatives into positive images, I bought a copy of Negative Lab Pro plug-in for Lightroom, a fantastic piece of software that removes all the hassle in getting colours and tone curves right, and results in lab-style output.

I also invested in some basic equipment and supplies to process my own B&W 35mm and 120 film at home

Now, I have to pick a favourite - and it's a tough call...

In terms of utility - i.e. the item I'm getting most use and benefit from - it has to be my Lenovo Legion 5i 17 laptop, as I do 90% of my raw image development and editing on it, and the performance is just amazing. Everything happens almost instantaneously, and I'm enjoying image processing much more as a result.

Then again, I'm a self-confessed lens nut... and I've been thoroughly impressed by the Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG. I bought it as a low-cost alternative to the Pentax SMC D FA50/2.8 Macro, and thought I would use it almost exclusively for my film digitising rig - but the image quality is so good that it's just a great piece of glass all round, and not just for macro work. I'm quite smitten.

But, oh... the old film cameras are things of beauty to me, and after a lull in my photography, I'm finding new enthusiasm since I started shooting a bit of film. The new / old stock BeLOMO AGAT-18K half-frame camera I acquired is just the cutest thing... but I haven't put any film through it yet, and it could turn out to be a turkey (I do hope not ). So... I think my favourite acquisition of the year has to be my Agfa Isola II 6x6 camera. I picked it up for a pittance, it's in beautiful condition and fully serviced, and the desire to try it is what prompted me to start developing and digitising film at home - so it's quite a pivotal piece of gear for me in that sense. Since running a roll of 120 through it, I've come to realise it's a hoot to use... limited, and challenging as a result - but so much fun... and it has a really decent lens.

I had to look up my purchase on eBay to remind me, and it seems I paid GBP £10.90 for that Agfa camera, including shipping. As it turns out, my favourite photography gear acquisition of the year was also my cheapest


Last edited by BigMackCam; 12-25-2021 at 03:08 PM.
12-25-2021, 02:31 PM - 2 Likes   #22
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In 2021, I migrated from RawTherapee to DxO Photolab for developing RAW files. Not that RT is a bad app or gets a bad rap, but I was attracted to the camera+lens modules in Photolab, as well as some of its other features. I find the user interface a bit more streamlined, so my workflow is tighter now.


- Craig


Last edited by c.a.m; 12-25-2021 at 02:38 PM.
12-25-2021, 03:14 PM - 3 Likes   #23
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Told myself at every turn I did not need anymore equipment. Since getting the K1MII the K5, K3 and K20 are dust collectors. Lenses had more than enough to cover all my shooting ranges. it was a great exercise to try and convince myself I had more than enough and did not use all of it enough.

Then it struck, the shaking, the night sweats. LBA was back.

First purchase to try and cure the shaking was the Samyang 35mm F1.4 AS UMC . Even though it is a manual focus it would fit my inside church shots living in Rome I still have hundreds of churches to visit and shoot. Once familiar with the lens it does a really nice job.

Then I just had to cure the night sweats and there was a cure. The Pentax D FA* 50mm F1.4 SDM AW Silver Limited Edition. One click produced the cure and it arrived over night.

Now it is heavy, it is big, it is an great piece of glass. Inside shooting of some of the darker churches it is a wonder to use.

So for not planning on making any purchases I think I did OK. Now with 2022 just around the corner I once again will say no new equipment is needed.
12-25-2021, 03:43 PM - 2 Likes   #24
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This year I was gifted a mint Nikon D300 but with no lenses. Because of the Z series DX lens prices have fallen of a cliff. I bought the highly regarded 35mm 1.8 basically being given away second hand on eBay. I was the only bidder. And a DX 16-85 brand new for less than half the street price and probably a third of the recommended retail. It's still a fine camera and it's been fun learning the way Nikon approaches photography. The lesson is Pentax protects the safety of our investment by maintaining the K-mount and pursuing DSLR development. How would pre-Z Nikon owners feel about the rapidly waning value of their collections?
12-25-2021, 04:59 PM - 4 Likes   #25
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Nope,nothing,nada,forced to work with what I already owned!
12-25-2021, 05:04 PM - 3 Likes   #26
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I've spent most of 2021 explicitly trying to thin my herd of gear and moving on those things that I didn't realistically need any more.

But.....I did buy two lenses. One was a bit of a vanity project - a DA 70 Limited in silver to complement my silver KP. And the other was an urgent holiday replacement for the DA 20 -40 zoom that I dropped and broke. I managed to get my hands on a 16 - 85 zoom that was shipped overnight and that would be my favourite purchase out of the two because I think it's just about the ideal holiday lens. If I was going somewhere and I could only take ones lens then the 16 - 85 would be it. Put it together with the 55 - 300 and I reckon it's just about the perfect travelling combination.

On the other hand I've spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I don't need a K3iii. I've succeeded so far, but it's not easy.

Over the course of the year I sold or moved on more gear than I bought so, on balance, my decluttering side is happy!
12-25-2021, 05:09 PM - 2 Likes   #27
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I picked up a K3III in the spring, still feeling my way around it, it's a big step up from the K3 I have been toting around. Some quirks with it that I have not warmed up to yet, but like the results I get when it and I see eye-to-eye

Finally scratched another itch I've had for a while. I've wanted an in-camera, single-shot panorama capability for a long time, going back to film days.
Had a nice year-end bonus, I've alway stuck those in the bank and they get lost, This year I decided to make it a real bonus and get something with it.
I've been itching for something larger format, and working with film is just not something I can do easily in my area, would be a lot of mailing back and forth of raw film, processing and scanning. I've gotten spoiled with the instant gratification of digital.
So I jumped ship a bit, and bought a Fuji GFX 50R, the close out deals were pretty good. I bought one Fuji lens for it, a 50mm/3.5, and an adapter that allows me to use the four Mamiya 645 lenses (35, 80, 150 & 300) I had sitting in a closet on it. The adaptor even has some shift and tilt ability. Just had it a week now, and hope to get some time over my year-end break to figure this thing out. There is also an adaptor some where in Amazon's stream that will allow me to put my old K&M Pentaxes on it.
This camera has a built-in 65:24 cropping mask, which gets a nearly 3:1 format, that, coupled with the 645 lenses (especially the 35) should scratch my Pano itch for a bit.
Happy Holidays to all, and a better 2022,
12-25-2021, 05:51 PM - 2 Likes   #28
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The DFA 21 completes the (current) Limited series I have for use with my K-1ii. I'm sure it will prove a worthwhile purchase.
12-25-2021, 07:40 PM - 3 Likes   #29
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An open box KP at the beginning of the year. The iso performance for an Aps-C Camera along with the tilt screen makes it my favorite Pentax digital camera.
12-25-2021, 08:12 PM - 4 Likes   #30
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This is a good topic idea. My favorite piece has been the Ricoh GR IIIx, I'm quite addicted to the GR cameras and 40mm is my favorite focal length. Mostly I haven't missed the 28mm version, which I sold to fund the new one, but my muscle memory definitely had to adjust to the narrower view. IQ is fantastic though, and the magic of having a normal, 40mm field of view in a tiny pocket camera is definitely worth it.
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