For the younger viewer the headline included a joke. There was nothing electronic in a Hasselblad 500CM. Least of all GPS. Or Exif. Or AF. Or auto-exposure. You actually had to think about stuff...
And stay anonymous. And have fun.
And stay anonymous. And have fun.
Here's the Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronut
Surprised to see that his Cronut was granted a patent!
I've found one or two real, locally grown, well run donut establishments that could go toe-to-toe with shops in Vancouver but the difference between the two cities is that Vancouver delivers a great donut shop, where donuts are the hero and coffee is the side kick, on every other block in the downtown area. Wonderful shops with a seemingly endless selection of clever and traditional donuts, in some cases surrounded by pastries and, as an afterthought, sandwiches. While in Austin if one wants to get outstanding donuts at the two or three establishments across the whole city you'll likely have to get into your car, drive through lots of traffic, find expensive parking, pay dearly for your donut and then eat it in a small, dark room which was clearly an afterthought.
A standout in Austin is Salty Donuts on South Congress Ave. It's a clean and well lit place. The donuts are ample, well portioned, fresh and delicious. The coffee is up to snuff even if you prefer espresso based coffees. The dining room is small-ish but welcoming.
But here's the sad thing. We have maybe one or two donut establishments of this caliber in all of metropolitan Austin while a city like Vancouver is blessed with at least one really good donut place within a short walking distance of anywhere in the downtown area. Ample, professional, delicious locations filled not with just a few "greatest hits" donuts but really sinfully wonderful choices made with top shelf ingredients.
Sadly, I fear that even with all our growth and the construction of enormously tall towers, Austin will never become a first class city with an enviable lifestyle if we cannot or will not address the lack of both incredible donuts and places in which to enjoy them along with proficiently brewed coffee. An oversight which I hope developers and the city council members will move to fix as one of the highest priorities on the agenda. Sad to be considered a "cool" city without the basics of the good life for its inhabitants.
Just an observation that hit me right between the eyes on my last walk through our donut deprived downtown. And, just to be clear, Voodoo Donuts and their over-the-top shocker donuts aren't cutting it. They've gone full Halloween with their offerings. A parity of deluxe donuts with all the sugar and fat but none of the subtle and captivating allure of a really well thought out and well produced donut.
Austin. Too many cars. Too much thought given to making more and more parking spaces. Not enough attention being paid to critical donut theory. Dammit.
Jan. 1, 2023
The neighborhood was quiet this morning. The pre-dawn was a steely gray. I woke up at seven and headed to the kitchen to make myself a large coffee. Organic Columbian, roasted yesterday. Medium roast. I also smeared some peanut butter on two slices of hearty "super" bread for the protein and carbs. Swallowed a .81mg aspirin then grabbed my swim suit and towel from the towel rack in my bathroom and headed out to the car. The sun was rising as I left the driveway. I got to the parking lot at the pool at 7:50 and changed into my swim suit. Blue swim cap. Goggles resting across my forehead.
The crowd around the pool was energized and boisterous. The coach was writing the special, New Years Day workout on the whiteboard with a marker. When he finished he turned to the crowd of swimmers and explained the workout.
We would hit the water at 8 sharp. No warm-up. No screwing around. Our only set was 100 x 100 yards with each 100 yard swim completed and ready to go on the next one in one minute and thirty seconds. Total. 100 x 100s on 1:30. A daunting pace for a lot of us in the pool. Not too dramatic for the former Olympians and All Americans. They swam faster. They got more rest between 100s.
We got moving at 8. We swam without a break, making our intervals, until 10:30. If you needed to get out you got out. The pool was warm. The coach walked up and down the deck passing out bottles of water and encouraging us to stay hydrated. Most of the elite swimmers had their fill by 9 am and started leaving; a few at a time. More people came at 9 am to join those already in progress.
If you completed the whole cycle you got in 10,000 yards. It's not a bad way to start out the new year. I don't recommend this kind of workout for new or first time swimmers. ( wry humor implied ) This kind of event really does require some pre-training in order to sustain and finish a set like this.
Our reward, besides getting in 10,000 fast, hard yards, was breakfast tacos paid for by the club and delivered just in time to coincide with the final few hundreds.
I might need a nap later today...
It's a new year. Let's get moving.
In the days of film cameras the film itself was the "sensor" and the "color science" was separate from the camera itself. You might like the way a film camera worked but you could duplicate the color or look with any similar camera from another brand by choosing to photograph with the same film and by processing the film in the same way.
Leica's marketing in that era was aimed at convincing photographers that Leica lenses were made to much higher standards than lenses from competitors and so the reason to buy Leica cameras was for the ability to use these great lenses. Leica was thought by its adherents and fans to use better and more expensive glass elements and also to have a greater mastery of lens manufacturing and tighter tolerances than the other guys.
While their lenses are still considered by many to be class leading the real reason for me to photograph with Leica cameras now hinges on the opposite marketing proposal. One that says Leica's color science is the most desirable. These observations are related to which family of Leica cameras one uses. I'm partial to the whole L mount concept, even working comfortably with different bodies from each of the three signatories of the L mount alliance. I have used an M8, an M9 and an M10R Leica rangefinder bodies and I found them an odd mix-and-match solution for the digital age but I have had much deeper and more satisfying day-to-day experiences with the Leica SL, SL2, CL, TL2, Sigma fp and various Panasonic S system cameras. My observations about color science are mostly about what Leica's L mount cameras bring to the table. Specifically the CL.
The CL is a modern, digital Leica which shares its file looks, Jpeg output and raw file potentials, in part, with the SL and the SL2 cameras. In the standard setting profiles the cameras all deliver skin tones that are not oversaturated and have have a neutral color balance when the WB is set correctly. They create images with a perceptual sharpness that's different than other makers' cameras. There is what seems to be a higher level of acuity and, at the same time, greater very fine detail and texture. At the neutral settings this does not give the appearance of files that have been over-sharpened but instead the look is of something that's sharp the way we see things in the "real world." At the same time the noise from these Leicas, when used at higher ISOs, is more monotone and plagued by fewer chromatic aberrations and color noise.
I find the raw files from the SL2 and the CL easier to correct and bring to a neutral look than I have found in the past with my Sony and Nikon cameras. Canon cameras seem to be the easiest to use if getting "pleasing" color is the top priority. But with Leica's raw files, across those two cameras, the process of getting pleasant color from each is fairly straightforward. And the image structure is more compelling to me than that delivered by Canons I have used.
Getting the color and contrast of a file right is important. But so it usability of the product across the range of bodies and lenses.
This is a big plus for the L mounts. I like the fact that purchased lenses can be used across a wide range of L mount cameras. I can use, for example, the 24mm f3.5 Sigma i-Series lens as a 35mm AOV equivalent on the CL or use its full frame coverage with a full frame camera and get really good results in each scenario. Likewise I can put a 16mm APS-C lens on an SL2, use the crop mode in the camera and get a nice, perfectly usable 22 megapixel file from that camera. My brilliant 65mm Sigma lens turns into a super-sharp and compelling 90mm equivalent portrait lens on a CL. Switching zooms between the two formats offers the same changes in angle of view.
One might question the use of APS-C lenses on a full frame camera like the SL2 but they can be great tools for videographers who want to get absolutely the best video performance by using the cropped frame for faster focusing and more depth of field. Or higher frame rates. They also provide more depth of field for the same angle of view. And a longer reach with longer lenses. I think of the switch to APS-C sometimes as having a built in tele converter.
The CL really comes into its own as a high quality, high portability system. Coupling the camera with a small selection of prime lenses, or with the Leica 18-55 zoom or the Sigma 18-50mm zoom lens give you a very compact but still powerful imaging system. I sometimes use the system when out hiking in the wilderness or exploring new urban environments during long walks. The system can handle almost anything but the highest resolution (SL2) or the lowest light levels (get a Lumix S5 or SL2-S). When I go out to shoot with intention and have opted to make one of the zooms my choice for the day I also bring along a second CL body and several really fast 3rd party prime lenses. Something like the TTArtisans 23mm f1.4. It's very small and performs well, even at wider apertures. Nice for people who like 35mm on FF. Another favorite is the Sigma 56mm f1.4. That gives me the equivalent of a fast 85mm with none of the bulk or weight.
What most appeals to me is the feel of the camera while I'm using it. It seems to fit my medium sized hands pretty well. That being said it turns into a even better handling camera when I add an accessory grip and an accessory thumb rest. Then the camera is almost an extension of my hand.
I understand that the big money in cameras has moved on from APS-C format. Even Fuji is hedging their bets by bringing out an ever growing mini-medium format system of cameras and lenses to appeal to people who really have fallen head over heels for the 35mm and larger formats. I get that Leica is a relatively small company and needs to concentrate on the areas in which it can show off its greatest strengths. The areas of expensive, very well designed lenses, and premium full frame cameras. The CL never achieved the glow of desirability that Leica seemingly bestows on its bigger cameras.
I'm disappointed to see Leica exit the smaller format (APS-C) market altogether. I like having the choices and since I work with cameras almost every day it's nice to have choices. It's nice to match as close as possible the camera to the intended usage.
Some people who bought into the CL system feel abandoned by Leica and resent that their lenses seem to be orphaned. It's hardly true. Right now a TL mount user (lenses that cover only APS-C but share the L mount) can put any of those lenses on a Leica SL2 or a Sigma fpL, switch the camera to APS-C mode and get nice 22 megapixel and 26 megapixel files that will squeeze every bit of quality from those lenses. Using the same lenses on lower res cameras like the S5 or the Sigma (original) fp camera gets you better low light performance than you'll get with the smaller format cameras. You give up resolution but you gain bigger pixels which give you less noise.
My hope, at this point, is that Panasonic will embrace the retreat of Leica from the APS-C market and see an opportunity to fill that vacuum for an APS-C system of their own built around the L mount. I'd love to see Panasonic come out with a rangefinder style camera, sporting a 24 megapixel sensor; or, even better, a 32 megapixel sensor that takes all of the lenses and let's users have a less expensive entry point into the system. By the same token, but even less likely, I'd love to see an APS-C version of the Sigma fp with an APS-C sensor and the addition of state-of-the-art IBIS.
I'm never 100% correct with my predictions but I think we're going to see a new camera or two from Panasonic, in the Lumix S line, and also a new camera or two from Leica. Sadly, I don't think either of them will be APS-C centric cameras.
I think we'll see a more advanced version of the S5 (probably calle an S6...) with a 40+ megapixel sensor and a vastly improved EVF. We'll probably see the newest Q camera from Leica with a bump up to a 60+ megapixel sensor, and an improved Lumix S1 with the same resolution as the previous model but with a stacked sensor and much more enhanced processing. It seems to be the one Panasonic camera that's pretty much perfectly sorted but just needs the final fine tuning of a second edition. I've so rarely seen that particular model (S1) on sale anywhere. Even now at what I'm guessing is near the end of its run.
I'd love to see a Leica Q camera with a 40 or 45 or 50mm lens on the front instead of the less useful 28mm. But it just doesn't feel like the moment for that one. We'll see how much luck Ricoh has with the GRIIIx and its 40mm equivalent lens. They may be the trendsetter when lens rationality is concerned.
It's time to see some fun variants in the L mount system. The L mount alliance.
Me? I'll mourn the loss of new CLs for a while but I'm always scouting for one more used body. Unless Panasonic comes out with an APS-C dedicated product for the system. A boy can always dream...
The "Prince Rainier Memorial Pool" in Monte Carlo.
Bad luck here in Austin. The pool staff did a half-assed job of getting ready for our three nights of hard freezes and now we have some broken pipes that need to be repaired at the club. The water has been turned off. The repairs are supposed to start today. With divine intervention and fervent prayers (and payment of a large invoice) we hope the pool is swimmable for our masters practice tomorrow morning. I am an eternal pessimist when depending on others to get stuff done so I'm assuming the whole process will take the better part of the work week. The sad thing is that a bit more up front effort could have prevented this from happening in the first place...
But all this got me thinking about swimming, of course. And since I was already going through a folder of images from scanned slides coincidence conspired to toss in the image above just to rub my nose in my "no swim practice" dilemma.
I worked on a week long corporate project back in the late 1990's for a prosperous software company. They had high hopes that if they did a five star show in a cool place like Monaco their EU clients would be so impressed. Even with "A" list speakers and great planned dinners, etc. attendance was a fraction of what the client expected. They shortened their program from full days to half days, supplemented by lots of golf, sightseeing, etc. But for "below the line" people like me it meant, mostly, mid-afternoon to early evenings with lots of free time. I immediately researched swimming pools within walking distance....
The Prince Rainier Pool is a 50 meter pool situated right in the midst of the harbor area. It's maybe 50 feet from the dockside. Gorgeous yachts everywhere. The water was perfectly clear and kept safe via salt treatment instead of chlorine. The only downside was no lap lanes and no lane lines so dodging kids and slow moving swimmers became part of the entertainment. I can't remember exactly but I seem to recall that admission was $2. A bargain for one of the nicest pools I've been in.
It was late Spring. The weather was perfect. The pool was maybe a twenty minute, brisk walk from the Loews Beachfront Hotel, which was adjacent to the Grand Casino. The better bet was always the swim.
Did I have a swim suit and goggles? You might as well ask if I breath oxygen.
I have fond memories of five really nice, laid back swims in the Monte Carlo pool. And also nice memories of nice cappuccinos on the balcony of my room afterwards. Traveling with corporate officers is always a nice way to see the world. A bit skewed, but nice nonetheless.
But now here we are in 2022 and my local pool is on the fritz. This afternoon I'm going to brave the cold water and swim a couple miles at Deep Eddy Pool. It's a public pool. 33.3 yards long. Water supplied by deep underground wells. Chilly in the best of times. Chillier after rain and freezing temperatures. I'll really need to make it a double cappuccino when I finish with today's swim...
...just came back from our walk. It's 48° and sunny at about noon. Should hit the high 50s this afternoon. We had three nights with hard freezes but as a weather optimist I'm thinking that's just enough to kill off a lot of the bugs here in CenTex. But sadly, it will trigger more cedar pollen. Zyrtec and Kleenex at the ready.
I've been shooting a lot with the Leica Q2. It's a really nice camera but sadly it's no "magic bullet." Using it has not made my selections of images any smarter, better or more creative. The 28mm is nice enough but I find myself almost always switching to the 35mm frame lines. And often to the 50mm lines.
Just as I feared. A really, really nice camera that really should have been made with a 50mm focal length lens as a standard. But that's just me. I'll get used to the wider frame. I'm just a slow learner...
Off to find out if I can still stand ice cold water. Hope I haven't aged out.
No coached swim workout today with my crew. Sad. But currently my biggest problem in life. Maybe I should stop complaining.