The Road

Watched The Road last night, it's from 2009 but somehow I manged to miss it when it was on the cinema.

Was surprised how it lacked the typical over the top post apocalyptic elements that's usually associated with this genre and stayed more true to actual reality. Even though one some times wonder over some of the decisions made by the characters.

I think I will try to read Cormac McCarthy's book that the movie is based on and see if that clears some of the questions...

One of the best dystropian movies I have seen lately, it's very dark and not very hopeful but I still strongly recommend seeing it!

Wide open...

Cyberfoto had a limited offer on the Samyang MF 85mm f1.4 I could not let it pass by, first time I bought a brand new fully manual lens! Did a research on the lens and both reviewers and users seemed very impressed with the lens.

Apparently it was supposed to be sharp wide open at f1.4, the depth of field is however razor thin so a good focus skill is required! I plan to use it mostly for landscape and portraits so super fast focus is not critical.

Made a super exciting unboxing video, mostly for Tobbe who seems to enjoy those. ;)

Forgot to set the camera on AE-lock so it flickers a bit:


Only had time to take a few test shots with the lens and my Nikon D90, all shots taken with wide open aperture:
Very pleased so far, the shots has a LOT of contrast and the colors look great, not to forget the bokeh, that is simply fantastic! The lens feels very well built and is quite heavy, the focus ring is wide and easy to use even with gloves on and have a nice feel to it. Some report problems with the aperture blades that get stuck, I hope I have warranty left if that happens.

Light heded...

Finally my head lamp from Deal Extreme dropped down in my mailbox! 555:- SEK and approx. 2 weeks delivery time directly from Hong Kong!

Quite small package, wasn't sure it was the headlight until I opened the packet.
Pretty much all you need, battery, charger, head band+lamp holder, rubber bands for mounting and the actual lamp.
There was enough power in the batteries to do try the lamp, it's bright!
Can't wait to get better so I can go out at try this little gem! =)

Rf 8 vs. Rf 10

Bought a Rochefort 8 when I was i Falun, took the opportunity to visit systembolaget there since they got a much wider selection than in Ludvika. I already have a private stash with Rochefort 10:s so I decided to try both at the same time to see which one i prefer.

Rochefort 8 vs. Rochefort 10

After intensive research I can conclude that I still prefer the RF10, but when I first tried them I actually liked the RF8, but that was when the beer still was (too) cold. After a while the beverage got less chilled and all the fantastic flavors in the RF10 started to emerge!

The aftertaste of the RF8 fades away fast while the RF10 lingers in the mouth and keep delivering some nice aromas. =)

Spring cleaning in one sweep!

A few days ago I decided to clean my camera sensor, I have a Nikon D90 and it has a automatic cleaning system. But as usual I'm skeptical about automagic functions and as I suspected there is a dust build up on the sensor anyway. Sure it's better than nothing but by using a fairly cheap air blower it's possible to remove almost any dust specs or hairs, and it only takes seconds.

A few month after I bought the D90 I got a stubborn speck on the sensor, it's not really visible using normal f-numbers but when using f-numbers above 16 it starts to show. Read somewhere that pollen is among the worst things you can get inside the camera and it can really stick to the low-pass filter that covers the sensor. I suppose that was what I managed to get.

Well, back to the cleaning, while using the blower I tried to get some extra oomph out of it and in the process I managed to strike the tip of the plastic pipe against the filter and thus making a clearly visible, fat smear on it!!! This was way worse than a small speck of dust or pollen. :(

Took a few shots but could really not see any effects on the photos but just knowing that there was a smudge on the low pass filter made me restless and being neurotic about my camera gear I could not let it be.

Started to look for info about how to clean it and it ended up with me ordering Visible dust Vswab Ultra MXD-100 (Fabric) Sensor Cleaning Swab from Scandinavian photo including Visible Dust Sensor Clean. The swabs costed a whopping 316:- Sek for twelve swabs but the 8ml bottle of sensor clean liquid took the grand price with 180:- Sek! If I calculated correctly it ended up with a litre price of 22500:- Sek! Must be up and in pair with the price for ink, for ink jet printers.
Got the stuff in the mail today and this evening I decided I'd give it a try, first I watched the instuction video on youtube from http://www.visibledust.com:


Wish I had a Nikon D3 but I had to settle to clean the sensor on my D90. Slightly nervous I opened the wrapping of one swab, dropped three (perhaps four) precious drops of sensor cleaning liquid on it, closed the bottle and went to business. Did as on the instruction video and it was done!

This is how it looked before the swabbing, 15sec exposure, f/32, ISO 100.
After (same camera settings):
This is a shot before the swab but with f10, as one can see the massive amount of dust and specs is barely visible.
First (not test) shot with clean sensor. =)
The dust is on the bike not the sensor. ;)

The result speaks for it self, all the specs and smears I could see with my bare eyes is gone and so is the weight on my mind! Despite the price it was well worth it, now I still got 11 swabs I can use the next time the blower is inadequate to get rid of the dirt.

Winter flavour...

As as stupid consumer I fell for the oldes trick in the Book, a new flavour!

Winter Chocolate with caramelised cocoa nibs, clove and spice flavours (cardamon, pepper, ginger, cinnamon and vanilla)


Tastes like gingerbread cookies!

My next phone?

The Nokia E52 Seems impossible to get hold of currently but that doesn't matter to me since I can't afford a new phone right now... :)



Still a bit frustrated that the Nokia E55 isn't coming to Sweden... :(

Going backwards!

Ordered a third party 52mm reverse ring to my Nikon camera this Friday from Fotofyndet for 149:- sek, got it in the mail today! =)

The original Nikon BR-2A reverse ring cost more than twice the price (350:- sek) and it's just a metal piece with threads and has been on back order a long time!

Close-up on the side that fits in the camera, in this case Nikon F-mount.
The threaded side where you screw on the lens reversed.
Here mounted on the 35mm/f1.8 lens.
The other way around, mounted on the camera.
How it looks like correctly mounted.
Cap off.
Noticed the close up range is much greater with the Nikkor 35mm than with the Nikkor 50mm. What you miss on the 35mm since it's a G-lens is that it lacks a aperture ring but it's possible to manipulate the aperture with the aperture "arm" that pokes out of the lens with your finger.

Sorry that I don't have any example shots but I don't have any SDHC card reader right now but I'll post shots as soon as possible!

Next step is to get my hands on a double threaded adapter to piggy back a lens on another lens...

Sauna

Just finished watching Sauna, strange movie, as usual when Finns are involved, but strange in good way, I think... Had no previous info of the movie so I didn't know what to expect, perhaps for the best.

Think this one should have been seen on the big screen for best experience.

The trailer is a bit of a spoiler, so don't blame me if you watch it! ;)

Wired action!

Bought a while ago an inexpensive YongNuo RS-N2 (corresponding to Nikon's MC-DC1) wired remote switch to my Nikon D80 from Fotofyndet.se and I was very pleased with the function.

But when I sold the D80 to be able to afford a Nikon D90, Nikon had changed the socket to a different one that also works with the new Nikon GP-1 GPS unit! Luckily I could use the infrared remote but a cord remote is sometimes more convenient.

I have been waiting for a third party wired remote for the D90 a while now and last week I took a look on Fotofyndets home page and noticed they had a remote to the D90 in stock, and for only SEK 180:-! The Original MC-DC2 costs SEK 530:-! Almost three times the price of the RS-N3!

Ordered the D90 remote YongNuo RS-N3 at once and today I got it in the mail. The cord is a bit shorter and not as flexible as the one to the D80 but for the price it was ok!

Unpacking:

First test run:

Good thing the cord is a bit shorter the cord on the remote to the D80 had a tendency to get snared with the tripod. The remote will come handy when shooting bracketed shots for HDR images. =)

Prime review!

Photozone.de seems to be the first to do a proper review of the new Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8 G prime lens.
The verdict is on the positive side, they do however complain about rather much chromatic aberration and a bit slow focusing despite the built-in Silent Wave Motor. (Good thing the D90 and a few more Nikons removes CA automatically!)

On the plus side they like the pleasing bokeh and the sharpness even in full open aperture, performance that you otherwise only get from lenses several times more expensive than the new 35mm lens!

This lens will definitely end up in my camera bag! Can't find any internet shops in Sweden that got it in stock yet but both UK and US shops seems to have got some deliveries already, well I'm in no hurry and the lens appears to be produced in enough quantities to be widely available.

Specifications
Optical construction	8 elements in 6 groups (with one aspherical lens)
Number of aperture blades	7 (rounded)
min. focus distance	0.3m
Dimensions	70mm x 52.5mm
Weight	200g
Filter size	52mm (non-rotating)
Hood	Nikon HB-46, barrel shaped, bayonet mount (supplied)
Other features	Silent-wave AF motor.

Lens Construction

: Aspherical lens elements	: Super ED glass elements
: ED glass elements