Travel, photography, gear, and more

[bakubo]

A few years ago I wrote a short essay on travel, photography, gear, and other things. Maybe some here might like to read it:

http://www.bakubo.com/ramblings.html

[Dr. Harout]

Very nice reading Henry "Globetrotter" Richardson.
I really hope seeing you here in Armenia someday.

[bakubo]

Doc, I truly hope to visit Armenia someday!

[bakubo]

Today I bought the new Olympus 9mm f8 fisheye body cap lens here in Tokyo to use on my E-M5. Got it for 9590 yen ($92) at the first place I went in. I bought it just to play a bit and don't expect greatness. It is so small/light that I will take it on my trip to Turkey this week. For the rare times I would use a fisheye I knew I didn't want the size/weight of the Panasonic or Samyang. I would never take those on a trip. Here is a pretty good review with photos:

http://robinwong.blogspot.jp/2014/02/ol ... eview.html

[Greg Beetham]

I have had a read about your new lens Henry, I didn’t at first think it was all that wide (thinking fisheye that is) at 18mm equivalent but I suppose it is in reality after all, in any case the author has taken some pretty good shots with it. It looks plenty sharp enough to make a decent fun lens for lots of occasions…nice and small too.
When I was reading through the ramblings (I thought that one was going to be the New Guinea one I read before but it was a different one after all) I saw a reference to National Geographic, I get messages in my email quite often from them, mostly about the plight of this or that animal that’s in danger of extinction, but anyway I thought you might like this quite amazing story. http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com ... oic-twist/
Greg

[bakubo]

Greg, that is a wonderful story about the baboons and lions.

The lens sure is tiny so not a problem to carry on a trip. I might use it for a few shots in Turkey. Took a few late yesterday afternoon to try it out. I can only look at them on the camera's rear screen though since I don't have my computer here with me in Tokyo.

[Birma]

Amazing story Greg - good find.

[bakubo]

I spent 10 hours wandering around Sultanahmet yesterday and did use the 9mm fisheye several times. A bit of a novelty, but very small, very light, and cheap. When I get the photos on my computer next month I will see how they look. There are 3 focus positions: 0.2 meters, a middle setting that is supposed to put everything from pretty close to infinity in the dof, and infinity. For things more than, say, 30 meters away I used the infinity setting since it may be slightly sharper than the middle setting for far away stuff.

[bakubo]

This afternoon I put the tiny fisheye on my E-M5 for a single shot and then decided to leave it on for awhile. I used it for about an hour taking people shots on the street. Usually getting a meter or less from people.