CZ 2/100, Evil, it is Not
This is one damned beautiful piece of glass, I have to tell you. I’ve only been shooting with it for a few days – but it is like a high-school crush. The more I play around with this, the deeper my love grows. I haven’t really done anything macro yet, but plan to this weekend. I’ve done a handful of portrait style shots, and wow, my mouth waters, my hands sweat, I get nervous, excited… I think this is true love!
Arriving Today!!
Thanks to @CarlZeissLenses, this little baby arrives in the next hour or so. Can’t wait to get this in my hands and start firing away!! Will be taking off next week to really play with this lens. Any requests for shots, once again, and I’ll be happy to oblige. Expect a review in the next couple of week. From the Carl Zeiss website:
This extremely fast, short telephoto macro lens can capture the smallest details with maximum precision. The Makro-Planar T* 2/100 features a completely new optical design which incorporates fl oating lens elements to ensure distortionfree, maximum imaging performance throughout the focusing range. As a result, this lens is well-suited for macro photography and is also a superb portrait lens. An extremely wide and smooth focusing rotation provides superior control and the fast f/2.0 aperture allows for a short depth of fi eld to draw attention to the subject. The Makro-Planar T* 2/100 is available with F bayonet (ZF.2) and K bayonet (ZK) lens mounts and is designed for use with full-frame SLR and DSLR cameras. When used with a DSLR with a 1.5 crop factor, the lens has an effective focal length of 150 mm.
Most Interesting Doesn’t Equate to Good
Been debating if it’s worth my energy to rant on about this. Like I have said in other posts, I don’t give the “interestingness” algorithm much credit, but after poking around in it today, it is really disappointing to say the least. And to be up front, I don’t care that they stopped noticing my shots when they changed the algorithm in June to mix things up. What I do have problems with is that there is no human intervention to rip out the crap out there.
I went onto Explore today for some inspiration. I like to go out there once in a while and find the gem in the rough. The digging always does pay off – I found a fantastic street-portrait shooter (Markus Schwarze) today and am thankful to Explore for having one of his shots up there – otherwise I would have never crossed his path. But that one great shot was buried about a dozen reloads of interestingness photos into it.
Some of the images up here really are amazing and deserve all the attention they get. Don’t get me wrong. It is nice to see new photographers being recognized this way. But in the same breath, some have no business being up there. I am not saying the photographer is bad – hell, who am I to judge? But seeing a slightly out-of-focus cell-phone bathroom mirror shot of a Japanese girl (though cute) making the peace sign is by no means an interesting shot.
OK, so I am over-stating things a bit – the majority of the shots out there are interesting in their own right. Even if they are not a style I like, they are still interesting. But there are the ones that slip through the cracks and end up cluttering up these pages. And I honestly like to use those pages to find new contacts that will inspire me – make me a better photographer.
I ask, are they highlighting upcoming photographers, or is it more in line with a high school popularity contest? What are your thoughts?
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