Continental Drift

I got my new lens today, yippee! It's... so bloody cool. :-D

I have no idea really what I'll do with it, but a proper wide-angle lens should open up so many new possibilities... I mean, trying it out (had to do it immediately upon getting home, of course) I could practically stand with the camera pressed against the bookshelf and the picture still managed to have three full shelves on it.

It's certainly heavy though, chunkier and heavier than any other lens I've got - even though I expected that, it still feels all... like a brick. No matter though.

In other important news, I seem to have adorned my desktop with a Harry Potter countdown thingy... spurred on by the release of the Deathly Hallows cover art, no doubt. 112 days, 6 hours and 45 minutes left, apparently.

I'm not sure the fresh air yesterday helped that much... feeling really rather crappy today. Headache, massive sneezing, sore throat again... no fever now at least (but some last night again). Plus my neck, shoulders, upper back and upper arms ache. A lot. Didn't feel it yesterday but I suppose it's a sign of how bloody unfit I've got... wouldn't surprise me if it's because of the camera yesterday. Although it's not really that heavy, so I guess I just need more practice. ;-)

I did feel the strain when taking vertical pictures, felt fairly strong muscle shake in the upper arms then (I think the weather didn't help). Bleh. (And then big idiot men write long posts in photo forums whining about the trend in having a few smaller DSLRs available too and saying all cameras should be huge bricks because they keep hitting the wrong buttons and don't have space for their fingers... just bloody get one of the bigger cameras yourself then!)

And it's raining today. Grrr.

I know I should really go out anyway... I need a new mouse, for example. But I suppose I can still survive without that for a few days. It's just the scroll wheel acting up and mostly not working... just need to remember to use the keyboard scroll wheel more then for now. And arrow keys. Still annoying... the mouse isn't even that old, so it's not an expense I counted on having any time yet. Now for the search for a usable mouse that has a couple of extra buttons without being an over the top l33t gamer mouse costing a fortune... seems this middle range isn't that well catered for these days (i.e. the middle ground between the most basic mice, which I don't want, and the ultra super mega übercool gaming mice, which I certainly don't want).

And I think that's enough whining for now. ;-)

I wonder if it's doing all this work that is making sure I'm not actually getting any better... have had fever again every evening now, and massively sneezy mornings. In any case, the nice people at work are making sure I won't have a chance to go wandering about in the cold moist weather and get worse, what with sending me a bit more work. And then a bit more work. "A bit" meaning a full day's workload again or so.

On the other hand, the work I did in the first three days this week would just rather nicely cover the 70mm f/2.4 prime that Photopoint has just started selling... argh!! I need to remind myself I don't need a full collection of primes at every imaginable focal length. I'm not a photographer! I don't even dare to change the lens anywhere but at home! (At least I've got better at that. Of course, the more often I change it, the more likely I'm going to face the issue of sensor cleaning at some point, which is something I don't yet want to think about. I should get some cleaning kit though, at least an air blower.) I need to remember that there are really only two more lenses I "need"... one normal one with a bit more range than the kit lens... the Sigma 17-70mm should do nicely there, plus it's a macro lens, covering that need too, and then a cheapish telezoom... yet bloody Pentax keeps seducing me with those small flat limited primes which are just so very, very pretty and small...

*weeps*

Pah. I should start working instead of daydreaming about prime lenses. (And who the hell daydreams about prime lenses anyway? It's a bit silly.) And take advantage of the fact that I don't have a kitty climbing around me at the moment.

eBay is dangerous. Very, very dangerous.

But nice. :-)

Received the 50mm f/1.7 lens for my K100D today that I bought a week or two ago... got here all the way from Turkey without any problems, it seems. And it's looking like a very nice lens indeed - will definitely be the one for indoors. Had to try it instantly of course - boy the depth of field with these bigger cameras and wide apertures is something else.


Also received the Target novelisation for The Reign of Terror, and some CD I got for mom.
I like eBay... not sure my bank account agrees, but tough. ;-) With the amount of work I've been doing lately, it shouldn't really complain too much anyway.

Yes, I have the new camera. It is very, very, very pretty. :D

And very, very heavy. And complicated. And scary. And can take nice pictures. :D Just that it will take some more learning to actually start getting really nice pictures. :D

Damn it's heavy though. And my dear little Panasonic looks so tiny next to it. :D

Why did I bother coming to the office this early if there is no work? *mutters to self* I guess I only have myself to blame for doing everything there was yesterday... At least I got (at least I think I got) a few nice snapshots of some fallen leaves on my way to work - beautiful weather, even if a little windy, and I actually remembered to take the W10 with me.

In other news, I gave in last night and put in the order for the K100D kit. Plus the Pentax 50-200mm telephoto zoom lens. Plus the required accessories (AA battery charger + 4 batteries kit and an extra four batteries, and a 1 GB memory card - I'm getting a lot of SD memory cards these days, but each camera needs them... at least the SDs can be used in the FZ5 as well as W10 and the DSLR). I decided I don't actually need to stay over a certain limit on my bank account this month. Of course, the camera is still not in stock, so I have exactly zero idea when I'll actually get it, but at least it's done now, and I suppose that this way I'll at least get it once it's in stock again (well, once they send me an invoice and I've actually paid for it all and stuff). Damn Pentax for making a pretty little DSLR that seems to be so surprisingly popular! ;-)

Damn for the window here being so dirty... there's a terrific crane shadow on the wall of the building that's being constructed right outside here. I could open the window properly I guess, but if I do that and start taking pictures here, it might make people think I'm bored or something. Well, I am a bit, wouldn't mind some work right now, but anyway.

Get Smart is finally on DVD, but only through some specific US store that only likes US customers. Pah! At least it seems the limited availability will only be in force for a year, so in a year this might actually be something to think about more properly. And a year will give me time to put aside some money for it. And to decide if I really wanted it (although I've wanted it since before DVDs existed ;-)), but a lot can change in a year.

Speaking of wants... argh, should I buy a DSLR or not? Okay, so I've been agonising over this issue for a few years now (me, indecisive? never!), but now that there is the Pentax K100D, and now that I've learned a little bit more about photography, and now that the quality of the cameras I already own does not always satisfy me, it might be the right time to take that plunge... it's mostly the thought of the weight, even more than the cost, that is still making me a bit suspicious (as for the cost - I could get the body with kit lens, batteries & a charger, and a few large memory cards for the same amount of money that I paid for my first digital camera, the dear old Pentax Optio 330 - things have changed, yes!).