Author: Mark E. Johnson

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-03-06

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  • @georgiawebgurl It was delicious … best Brunswick stew I've ever had. #
  • Have a very bad feeling about today. Email server down, web sites won't load and now MarsEdit keeps crashing. Definitely a Monday. #
  • @redsweater MarsEdit crashes seem to have been a network issue here, but nice customer support – thanks. Happily blogging again. #
  • @JM_Sullivan I am not right about everything, but do know a few things. Step ladders and changes of clothes are good to have in your car. #
  • Well, this is a first: spiders force an auto recall. http://t.co/CoNw5Yo #
  • I'm getting the sense that I need to attend #SXSWi this year so I know what to do next year … #toomanychoices #
  • Also: Concerned I'll be the kid with the "old" iPad @SXSW … but I bet the lines will be short at registration on Friday morning. #

Texture

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So, a while ago I showed you a photo of the second lens I bought for my little E-P2. I was all excited … between the “standard” 17 mm and that 50 mm, I had a nice combo for general shooting and quick portraits. The maximum aperture of f/1.4 on the old 50 also gave me two stops more reach into the shadows. (I am really hoping Olympus creates a 17 mm f/2.0 or f/1.4 soon … then I’d be in pixel heaven, I think.)

Problem was … it just wasn’t that sharp. And tended to flare out quite a bit. And not just because of light sources within its field of view, almost anything bright would cause it to wash.

So I did some more research and found that there were three different iterations of that lens, the first (which I got) had a single lens coating on it. Great for black and white, terrible for shooting in color. And my world, well … it’s in color.

After a few weeks, I sent it back. Found another one elsewhere and ordered that up. Except … it was a first generation one, too. In much better shape, with no flaring problems, but still not what I wanted. (The danger of buying used stuff online – sometimes, the descriptions are vague.)

I found one on eBay, so I bid … and the price went insane, so I lost that. Knowing my big trip was coming up, I took another look at my old friends, KEH.com. They had a couple. I now knew the serial number range I wanted and asked if they could check.

Unfortunately, their warehouse and sales offices aren’t in the same place, so I took a chance … maybe, just maybe, the one at the high end of the scale would be a third generation. If not, I could live with a second generation … but, please God, not another single coated first generation.

It showed up today. I sliced open the box and started unwrapping … no silver outer ring, that meant it wasn’t a first generation … the serial had seven digits, I wanted one above 1.1 million … DAMN.

So close. I missed by 22,000 units … but it was pristine, and it is sharp. This one feels like a solid piece, no play in the aperture ring, focus is like pushing through warm butter.

Maybe I found the right one … a few shots around the house seem good, but all in low light and higher ISOs. Will test more this weekend.

Analog Issues

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A few years ago, as I was heading into the office for the first day of class, I decided I needed a nice pen. Not sure why, but on that morning I decided it was time to have a writing instrument in my pocket.

Of course, I didn’t really know what made a pen an instrument – I’d always had cheap pens, sometimes ones that looked good but didn’t write particularly well.

Stopping in an office supply shop, I looked around and just about died … who the heck would pay $200 for a pen? That seemed insane. So, I went a little above my normal range and picked up a Pilot Dr. Grip. It looked fancy but was reasonably priced.

I used it for several semesters, enough to wear the plastic down around the clip pretty well. Late last year, the ink cartridge ran dry, so I bought another.

Except, I bought the wrong ones. Being annoyed, I went to the office supply place again and grabbed the other cartridge set and also looked – longingly, I admit – at the fancier pens. There was one that stood out, that seemed to have a nice heft to it but was still sort of expensive. I mean, really, I do 98 percent of my writing with a keyboard. Even I can’t read my writing sometimes – what the heck do I need a nice pen for?

Well, you know what happens next … I walked out of the store with just my $3 refills to find I’d bought the wrong refills again.

It was a sign, right? Two trips, two wrong refills – time to buy a real pen. So, I did – I spent about $16 on a nice Parker IM roller ball. (I spent way too much time on this decision, so you know – ask me about roller ball and ball point pens as there is a difference.)

The pen has graced my pocket since the beginning of the spring semester. I love the feel of it, love the way it lays down ink. Writing is special with this pen.

Of course, I still had that trusty, ink-less Pilot in my desk drawer. On a whim, I searched Amazon.com and found the right refills (easier to do when you can spin open the pen and check). With Amazon Prime’s free shipping, it cost me $1.49.

I put in the new cartridge and wrote a few lines … then put it back in my desk and took the Parker out of my pocket. My writing is better in neither content nor clarity, but I sure like writing a lot more now.

Does make me wonder what those $200 pens are like …