Operation successful, patient mangled

Recently, I came into possession of a camera (and a lens) I borrowed almost fifteen years ago, used for a while, and returned to the owner – my cousin. The last time I used it, apparently, I screwed a 55-62mm step-up adapter into the lens front. What I missed was the fact that the filter thread was slightly bent and damaged, and screwing the adapter made it skip a thread and get stuck firmly. It looks awkward, now I have more filters in 55mm size, and I want it off.

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Comparing inexpensive Pentax zoom lenses, part I – telephoto lenses

My journey with digital photography, as a hobby, started with Pentax K100D Super, and an 18-55mm kit lens. In those early days, I really wanted a telephoto lens.

Specifically, I wanted the other, telephoto kit lens – smc Pentax-DA 50–‍200mm  F4–‍5.6. Here, it will be compared to a similar, film-era lens – smc Pentax-FA 70–200mm F4–5.6.

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YongNuo 12–‍35mm microFourThirds lens finally gets released

After a few months of rumours and guesswork, the first alternative microFourThirds fast zoom lens has finally arrived –‍ YN12–‍35mm F2.8–‍4M, as it is called by the manufacturer.

Is it any good, it remains to be seen, but judging by the size and weight, the lens is surprisingly chunky for the focal length range it is covering. Price also is on the high side –‍ according to the official webshop, it is priced slightly below 400€.

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How long can you use a stop-bath?

A few years ago I’ve started using a stop-bath in my black-and-white film development process, to speed up the process, and reduce wasting a lot of water.
I bought a bottle of Fomacitro stop-bath, that says it has an indicator component, it will change its colour once it gets exhausted, from orange-yellow to blue-green. But, I’ve never used a stop-bath before, I’ve never seen that colour shift, how would I know it is getting exhausted?

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Is alternative fast zoom coming to microFourThirds?

In a slowed-down economy, with slowed-down lens releases, any new lens is good news. If it’s a cheap lens, it’s even better, and with an ƒ/2.8 aperture, it’s excellent news. This time, although still just a rumour, it’s all three –‍ expected new lens release, with an ƒ/2.8 aperture, and shouldn’t be expensive. Enter YongNuo 12‍–‍35mm F2.8‍–‍4 STM Asph.

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