The Photobear loves trains. As promised, these are the other pictures at Epcot. They change the trains around periodically, and I like the steam engine. If you notice the big round things on top are pennies. That should give you scale of the engine size. That would be the 'O' scale, which is twice the size of the popular HO.

There is a second train passing the steam engine. Yes its cool.This one is an Amtrak replica, see, its says Amtrak on the front. Good thing the Photobear is so observant.

I made sure to have plenty of depth of field, so the entire train is in focus. This makes the picture appear sharp which it is. Just a little phototip.

The Photobear likes trains. That simple statement can go a very long way to messing up your hobby like photography. So the best thing is to combine the two things. Here is the train at Heritage Park, located in McDonough, Ga. ( I-75 exit 218, go east about 4 or so miles, hwy 81). This train is a type similar to the one that ran over a washed away tressle back in 1903 or was it '06? 36 people died in the wreck, their bodies were laid out at the square, now they say the square is haunted. I don't really understand why a ghost would haunt the wrong place. Maybe they are as smart as we are. This train is a 2-4-0, very similar to the type that opened America when the railroad began crossing our country.

Here are the driving wheels, they're not very large. That limits speed but increases pulling power.

Photonote: the overcast day made the shadows dark so I set the camera to fill flash. The new automatics do this so easily, not like older cameras which required much calculation to fill, or you had to quess.

If you look carefully both driving wheels are linked together by a bar and that arrangement is rotated by the forward steam piston. How simple an idea.

This view is the last thing a cow sees if its on the tracks.

Naturally I have to slip a picture of the model train display at Disneys' Epcot. The red and yellow trolleys are crossing near the tiny village. This is in 'G' scale. Sometimes they put out a steam replica engine, and somewhere I have a picture of it. I promise to put it out later.

The Disney shot was taken with my Nikon D70s 18^70mm, and the others I used my Nikon 4300. One day I'm going to run across a running steam engine. Click Click.

Eeeww!! Giant bug!

I discovered this fellow hanging from my carport wall. At first, I thought what you did, eek! Then, I looked again and realized it was a skin of bug. (Bug: a creepy crawly thing with more legs than a dog.) These guys live underground for years and suddenly they all surface, shed their skins, spread their wings, which are under the skin, fly off, meet girls or a guy, have bug marriage, lay some eggs, and die. What has that to do with photography?
Why? that would be macro-photography. The technique of taking a picture of something small and making it fit the view screen. For this, I have a macro lens. Being the thrifty type, I spotted the lens in a pawnshop attached to a Nikon N2000. I really didn't want the body, but did want the lens. And it wasn't that expensive. I'll sell the body separately on ebay. I still have the body, it's a good unit, oh well.
I set the lens at 1:1.5. umm.....did everybody get that? No?
That is the ratio of image to object. The object (bug) is one and a half times the size as the image. Translation: picture of bug is real big on the film ( or digital medium) which allows us to see details we normally would not see. Look carefully, there are white net like fibers across the face of the bug, those are mold filaments.

Being in photography there is no free lunch, note the items that must be thought about before taking the picture. When shooting really close the depth of field (the area that is in focus) is very narrow. You must take care that the little sharply focused area is on something important, normally the eyes. Flowers don't have eyes, so good luck.
The greater the magnification the greater the camera shake. I found that around 1/4 sec exposure the picture had some blurring. To get sharp pictures at this magification you need longer shutter speeds, at least 1/2 sec, longer is better, which is what I did. 1.3 seconds, this allows the camera to stop vibrating and get a sharp image. Almost all SLRs act this way, with few exceptions, ( I said this to placate those who believe Their Wonder Type will not vibrate this way.) Lastly, you must have a steady tripod. Period. I recommend this as your second piece of equipment to buy. Period. A steady camera will maximize the lens' taking ability, an unsteady mount reduces the worlds sharpest lens to at best, soft.
Hunt for that macro lens, and if the photojourney takes too long, get a set of close-up filters and mount them on your lens. I used a Nikon 135 with a +1 filter as my butterfly outfit for years. And it never let me down. Review the last blog with the cell phone and close-up lens.

Quik photonote: Name brand macro lenses are rather pricey (Nikon calls theirs Micro) and come in different focal lengths which cost more as the lenses get longer. There are some third party brands which are substantially less. Mine is an Elicar, and on the web it has a good reputation. The next route is to buy a zoom lens with a "macro" feature. This is usually 1:4, at best a close-up lens, but it will make a nice picture, my 'macro' zoom lens works fine, it just weighs a metric ton. But that weight steadies the shot. My cake, eat it too.

Cell phone camera

I've updated my cell phone and it, of course, comes with many features, games mp3 player, calculator, and alarm clock to name but a few. It also has a 1.3 mg camera. As you know, the photobear has to try out all his cameras. To be specific, my idea of a camera is that, it should operate in as many ways as possible. Being a 'you press, we do the rest' there are no controls on the camera. Dang. It is fully automated. That's not a bad thing, just a limiting thing. To our advantage, the aperture is very tiny. That equals great depth of field. (The distance, that is in focus, is about a foot in front of the camera to infinity. That's a long way.) There is an optical illusion, that if everything is in focus, the picture appears sharp. We can discuss the large aperture later. Using the small aperture, we can get, apparently sharp pictures. Also, the small aperture requires a great deal of light, such as the sun. These were taken in overcast conditions. The little camera phone performs quite well. Above is a pine branch, to experiment with the lens' close up ability. It's pretty good. If you notice the fence in the background, it's sharp for this type of lens. The brown end of the branch is no more than 5" from the camera. That's a down right good close up. There are lots of things in the close up world to take pictures of. Like this light blue flower. I don't know what it is, a 'violet'? Inspect the picture for a moment, is something wrong?

Of course, the flower is out of focus.

Why?

because the massive depth of field starts a little further away from the camera. Hmmm...this would be a nice shot but the flower is not sharp. It's too close to the camera, about 2.5". A part of the photoworld, we can't shoot. But wait, I have accessories, among them is a magnifying lens. I held the magnifier in front of the taking lens and guessed at the distance. It's quite good, don't you think? The color shift is caused by the magnifier being coated sort of a golden hue. I do have a clear one, somewhere.

That is the fun of photography, experimenting. Let me know what you think of this little trick. I've got more things to shoot.

Photonote: The camera has a digital zoom, but when I boosted the resolution to maximum, the zoom function went away. Because there is nothing to crop out when zooming at max. But,... you can crop in the computer, later.

Just up the road from Disney, ( I-4) there is another park complex. Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. This park is smaller than the Big 'D' but they pack a lot of excitement into a small area, (its not that small). These are my pictures of our excursion to the place. The right hand park is the original Universal Studios, based on several hit movies put out by Universal Theaters. The Terminator in 3-D, E.T., and more. Here is one of ours favorite shows, Beetlejuice.

this is as great musical, and we always see it each time we go. Play, Frankie, PLAY.

ah...sorry

Here is the Blues Brothers Review, taken by my son, the photocub. Looks like he's gonna be a chip off the old bear.

The other side, Islands of adventure, has a big lake. See, water. My favorite ride is between Spiderman and the Hulk. You'll just have to hold on and decide which one for you.

http://www.universalorlando.com/tickets.html

There seems to be a ticket war going on and here's the address to find out more, this is a really good deal to maximize your vacation dollar. Among other places.

The Photobear

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Well howdy, we are going to visit the Animal Kingdom at Disney, with a few features and some advice when you get there.

This is some big gazelle or is it antelope? It's big though. The animal safari ride is my favorite and it is worth the effort. Since the Animal Kingdom closes at 6:00 pm (there is no fireworks show, it would totally freak out the animals) the staff has time to care for the beasties and give them a break from a hard days work. The shorter hours also works to our advantage as us older folks won't be walked to death. First, get there when the park opens, and make a bee line to the rear of the park, sort-a to the left when you see the big animal tree. Don't stop to sight see, it will be there when you get back. Get your fast pass at the entrance to the Safari, don't delay. The reason is, the animals are in the cool of the day and as it gets hotter they seek shade and get harder to see. This is the only time you have to hurry all day.

These zebras kept passing in front of each other, and they blended together almost in a confusing manner. Wonder how a lion picks out just one? After the safari, take your time. There are plenty of things and attractions to fill the rest of the day! Make sure to see the Lion King show. Its great.

In the center island, make sure to get plenty of pictures of the tree. It's covered from all sides with animal sculptures, and really makes a great background for group shots. Watch the lighting and use the shade to lessen the harsh noon light. The lady is a standing bush, I almost walked by her till she moved. I used a fill flash to soften her face, the sun had her in shadow and she was dark. The Nikon D70s worked perfectly.

For you adventurous ones, there is The Everest roller coaster. Great ride! We used the fast pass and had an icecream to cool off, and then rode the mountain. It looks good and by not including scale stuff in the picture the mountain stands out like the real thing.

I like this view, makes one want to climb it.

Then you notice, oh, its a ride. Go get on it!

Roaring Fork, National Park, Gatlinburg, Tenn.

These photographs were taken in Roaring Fork Park in Gatlinburg, Tenn. And you thought I only visited Disney. We discovered the park quite by accident and were really impressed with its beauty.

There are rocks, rocks, and more rocks everywhere. The people who ecked out a living in this incredible place WORKED. Hardship was the byword. You have to see it.


The hardships of living here must have been man killing difficult, tough people.

A photonote: These photographs were taken with my new Nikon D70s, and I was just getting use to it. It is a fabulous tool. I can make 8x12's with it and they are sharp. If you noticed, I love foamy fluffy water. To get it, you must use a slow shutter speed, perferably 1/4 second or slower. The camera records a history with each picture and they say I was at 1/6 of a second. Next time I'll go for 1/2 sec. or slower. Tripod used for the long exposures was 'rock'. They are laying aroud everywhere. The daylight pictures were easy, just f/8 and be there.

Photobear.

New Direction

Greetings fellow journeyers, the time has come to make a direction change. The original idea for the photojourney is going to be moved to a new type of web site called a knol. There we will continue on my way and misdirections as I stumble along my path. THIS one, however will be more to the fun of photography, taking photos.

Like the above, this is at Disney's outside place called 'Downtown Disney', think of it like a park without the rides or the entrance price. Those who know of it, skip ahead, if by chance somebody doesn't, here's a quick review, GO THERE.

It has something for the kids, bigger kids, adult kids, and even mom. Shopping, restaurants, a five story arcade from space, because it wasn't invented here. Movies and a massive Virgin Records store. The gift shops are not the local junk shops, if anything, I haven' found many like them anywhere.

After dark the center section, Pleasure Island, offers music, dancing, food, adult beverages, and a whole lot of fun.

So, when I get this new place figured out, a knol, I'll see you there, too.

The Photobear

No, that's not me, the Lego people have a cool exhibit. Note the McDonald's behind it.


This is Fultons Crab House, looks neat with fine dining.

Canon 4

Man, have we got off course in my photohistory. We know there is a goodly amount of Pentax to go, but I left the Canon saga hanging, let's see... we were in college, lens died, loaner, handsome guy. Now, when I leave this some what interesting time period I'm carrying a few lessons with me. First and importantly, you must have working equipment to do the photothing. It doesn't need to be the most expensive or the finest ever built (which violates the Photobear's thrifty rule) but it should be capable of making the image with the least fiddly amount of input.

Next, spare tires, your car has one, not so you can use it all the time, but so that you won't be stuck out there without a paddle, sorta speak. the good part of this spare situation is you CAN use the spare a bunch, which is part of the fun, making photographs. This lead me to my first thoughtful purchase, a wide-angle lens. Just like the Olympus 28mm, almost like the Olympus 28mm, ok, a 28mm. The thrifty part, do I buy the Canon brand for $130.00 or the small, cute Quantaray for $99.00?

Now, I'm running around with a Quantaray wide-angle, 28mm f/2.8 FD mount. She's a real little gem. I have never regretted getting this lens, and thirty years later, we are still clicking on and on.



"Ah", you say, looking at the picture, "what lovely do we have here?"



That, my photobuddies, is the Canon FTb, in black, my manual everything body, as I was into setting the camera.

This is Canon's scaled down version of their mighty F-1. Not smaller but with fewer features that I found I didn't need. Not that an F-1 wouldn't make a neat toy. This was my first used camera buy after I found out there was such a market. Boy am I slow. The lens is also used, but it is the second of this type, a Canon 50mm f/1.4 S.S.C. FD lens, the first one had the fatal oily aperture blade syndrome. I'll explain, there is a surplus of oil on the aperture mechanism, it leaks out on the blades and makes them close really slow, too much light hits the film, it goes eeeeee! and is over exposed. That is the characteristic of oily blades, an over exposed roll. I got a great deal on the replacement lens.

The FTb has an almost unique metering system. On the right of the display there is a ring that moves up and down depending on the aperture setting, and there is a floating needle that responds to the shutter speed and how much light there is coming in the lens. You turn the controls till the needle lines up with the circle and matches it. That is correct exposure, it is called match needle. On the FTb the width of the circle is one f/stop, putting the needle in the center of the circle is correct exposure, the top is 1/2 under exposed and the bottom is 1/2 over exposed. Simple.

The FTb also meters stopped down, you push the lever to the right of the QL label toward the lens and the lens stops down to shooting aperture AND the body converts to stopped down metering. This is with the modern FD lens mount and the older FL which requires it.
The stopped down metering doesn't require any computing power to determine correct exposure, less to go wrong. My older Canon TL needs stopped down metering to correctly expose film and it is accurate. There are those who felt that closed aperture metering was more accurate but they are wrong, don't limit your journey with blocks, challenge the older ways with newer technologies, make photos faster.
Some of you might be a little bored with the stopped down metering, but it allows new paths especially those of us who like older equipment and there is a lot of inexpensive stuff floating around out there.

A quick note: the oily 50mm found a home on the TL as it requires stopped down metering and the lens is already stopped down when shooting.
The biggest advantage to stopping down: it forces you to look at the depth-of-field before you shoot.

Next: Depth-of-field

Pentax 4

Here are three of my Pentax's. Two 50's and a 28mm, these are the main stay of my shooting with Pentax. "Ah," you say, those who have been paying attention, "Don't you have other lenses that fit the 'K' mount?" Yes is the right answer. The 28mm does the bulk of the work. See the 50mm f/1.4 on the right? It went to Puerto Rico, and took a grand total of one picture, because I remembered I had it. The 28 got the rest, I'm a wide see-er, and 24 to 35 does me just fine. Does somebody make that in a zoom?

Here is the front view of these lenses, from this angle it is apparent that the holes in the middle are different. This is called the aperture, in this case, the maximum aperture. The apertures let in light, if the aperture is smaller less light goes in, if larger; more. That seems simple and it is but here comes the catch, (there is always a catch). It is easier to make a sharp small aperture lens than a sharp large aperture lens. That is why, the super fast lenses are more expensive than the slower. The other social thing, "Look, he has a bunch of super fast (expensive, professional) lenses and that guy has slower (cheaper, amateur) therefore he is a better photographer" Which couldn't be further from the truth.

This is my Pentax ME Super SE. I believe that stands for Special Edition. I'm not sure what makes it special other than I love to make photographs with it. This would be the upgraded version of my old ME that I foolishly ignored in its abilities.

I have a wrist strap for it and I like it better than the standard shoulder strap. The one advantage, the longer strap will hang on everything you walk by and snatch the camera out of your hand and crash it to the ground where you will score a direct hit on the largest pointed rock in the area.

In case you wanted to know, I climbed EL Yunque with the camera held like this and didn't have a bit of trouble. If you are into small 35mm bodies these are just the ticket. (Olympus users will have to wait for another chapter).

FUN

My journey will resume shortly, let's discuss a huge jump in the path. There were several steps photography took in its on history, the largest was digital. For a time, I resisted going down this way, being totally happy with film. My first digital camera was a Kodak 3200, a fair 1mg toy. The first one was $180.00 and I broke the LCD and replaced it for $130.00. Hard headed me didn't upgrade, no that would make sence. It was my wife who finally broke the stubborn streak, she announced, which camera did you want while I'm on the web. I looked and she was on ebay, finger poised over a Nikon 4300.

Then, I was the sudden owner of a powerful little point shoot. Note the picture of the very large snail. that was taken with the 4300 in Puerto Rico's rain forest 'El Yunca'. Nikon's little point shoots, known hereafter as 'Coolpics' are known for their fine close-up abilities. (Not that the others can't.)

Suddenly, there was a new element in my photojourney, one that had been missing for a while, IT WAS FUN AGAIN. So there, fun.

Just as a side note, the reflective water shot is, why not, Epcot. Love the place.

FUN.

Still at Epcot

We're still at Disney Epcot, one of my favorite spots, and we went into the China exhibition and discovered this fascinating display. The new Mummy movie of course, was a reason to go back over some files. No, we don't want these little guys out running around.

The photonote: inside it was quite dark and the flash pictures I took were icky. (That's phototalk for flat and uninteresting.) So, without a tripod I was forced to look for an alternate support. How about the post that holds the 'keep out of here' tape? That worked well, and the wall also worked quite well. I normally don't carry a tripod with me because there are lots of things to brace my camera on. At the bottom of my blog the Disney hat photo was braced on the ubiquitous trash can. There seem to be a bunch of them growing around Disney, make sure to feed them your trash and keep them happy.
Speaking of tripods, I do have this really neat tabletop type that I carry in the woods a lot and brace it on tables found everywhere out there. As an alternative, there are trees that work very well, and big rocks, and the ground, too. Your photojourney will include strange, squattie, odd and sometimes painful poses. You will really come to love the correct height trash can.

Next: back to the journey. We did get a little off course.

A Little Lesson

I've been looking at some other wonderful scenic blogs lately, and there are some beautiful places on this earth. I'm just not there. However, I do go to Disney World more than most. So I'm going to toss a little envy out there with a few of my shots I've made over the years.
This is at Epcot's World fireworks display this summer, and it is always a great show.
Some photonotes on fireworks:
Brace the camera. I've turned some nice shots into squiggly line stuff because the human body just won't stay still.
Set the exposure for 'BULB' that is the B on the shutter speed. Or set the scenic switch to fireworks (my digital point shoot has one and usually the others do, too.)
If you are shooting film, asa 400=f/8, asa 100=f/4, as a guide. Then expose using bulb, this allows you to choose how long to leave the shutter open when fireworks are popping, select a few good boomers per shot, or leave it open a little longer to really fill in the blasts.
At Epcot, the area runs in a circle around the lake where the fireworks are going off. Do not stand downwind of the lake, you will be in a smoke cloud real quick. cough cough
Special note: New Years Eve, they had two fireworks, one at 9:00pm and at midnight. Every body and his cousin and their cousins were there. Send me a donation (several bucks, or a camera or two) and I'll tell you where the hidden bathroom is, the short line one. :-)
My your photojourney be filled with light.

Slight change of pace.

Hey! I got a picture in here. My wife showed me how. However, this takes us off course from the regular history, so let's really jump time to now. This was made at if, you haven't already guessed at Disney Hollywood Studios, (The old MGM Disney, bet that cost a few dollars to change over. The Photobear is always thrifty.) This is the end of day "Fantasmic!" show. My current camera is Nikon's D70s, with the 18^70mm zoom. This is a fabulous DSLR and I really like it. It is rated at 2700 pictures per battery charge and I don't think I'll ever get that many between chargings. Although this is 'only' a 6.1 mg, I have no problem making 8x12s, the above pix was cropped about 60% so whats left is a smaller count. I liked it. A note I picked up in my photojourney, always maximize your resolution. The old saying if it isn't on the negative its not in the picture works here, too. Unless, you're enhancing the pixel count with special programs, these sharpen low resolution pictures very nicely.

Back to the pictures, Hooray! I can put pictures on the site. That means I can shoot pictures of my stuff I've been writing about. Shooting is the reason we do photography. And play with the equipment.

Groovy.

A New Trick

I discovered this little technique quite by accident. You would think somebody would have made it more widely known. But that's neither here nor there, let's journey.

There is an adapter for the Pentax K mount, to mount the older screw mount lenses (m42). For a long while I didn't use it because I was under the impression that such an arrangement wouldn't focus to infinity. I was wrong, and recently found that it was absolutely fine. (Dang all that lost time.) When I remember all the nice screw mount lenses I passed over...grrrr. So my optical battery is rather slender in this mount but there are some nice Takumar's, that's Pentax brand lenses before they switched to Pentax Lenses. Like Nikon went from Nikkor to Nikon. And Canon went to Canon. OK, that didn't make sense.

I have two lenses, one uses the standard screw mount with activator pin, that stops the lens down to shooting aperture. It also has the little slide A-M on the side.

Review the first Pentax chapter for that.

The other lens is the older pre-set style. While it works fine, it is fiddly. now we mount the lens on the adapter and hmmmm... the shutter speed seems to work on its on. Open the lens up to let in more light, shutter speeds up, close aperture down and speeds slow to let in more light. That is how aperture priority works. And you get to check depth-of-field (that magic area that is in focus).

Lets try the other lens with the slide on the side. Moving the slide to M, the aperture closes down to the selected number on the aperture ring. And, I'm watching the shutter speed move up and down. This was on my super cheap KS Super II, Sears (Ricoh), let's try it on the Pentax ME Super.

It works there, too! Man, I really like aperture priority, and here it is on two of my bodies using older lenses!

How? By checking how the mount goes on the body, I see that it pushes a body lever all the way over. This is the minimum aperture position and the camera is fooled into thinking that the light has to be adjusted to meet the amount. Really cool!

Now, I have to go on a screw mount hunt, if my wife will let me. "Hon, I really NEED this Wobble snot 150, its a deal! Please?"

OK, now I have given away my secret (for free-eeek :-0 ) there will suddenly be a shortage of 'K' mount bodies with aperture priority. And, there goes the over stock of screw mount lenses.

Dang.

Canon 3... Put up or Shut up.

So we step back a little to my Canon chapter. If this confuses, don't feel like the Lone Photographer, (Hiyo, Silver hialides, away!)
I'm carrying my little system into college and suddenly there is a need for a yearbook photographer. This is a small college, so my odds of competing with a decent photog is lessened. OK, let's do this, "Me, me I can do it." I squeak.

The first lesson you learn is there is ALWAYS somebody there to tell you what, how, when, and etc, forever. So you have to learn to be a team player, not that I'm not, just a little, sort of, ...headstrong. The next thing that happens is an editor starts critiqueing your work. This can be good or bad depending on how knowledgeable the person is and if you are willing to listen for once in your life. OK, I listened, and finally learned something.
Listen up. Your pictures represent a 3 dimensional object being reproduced in 2 D. There has to be something to give the viewer a clue that there is depth in the picture, an optical illusion for example. I just hung a tree branch down in front of the lens to give the feeling of depth. And I did it a lot. Just check the yearbook, ignore that there seems to be a lot of trees inside all the buildings. I got up high and shot down, I liked that especially for groups and learned to limit getting low and shooting up, especially if a person was a little overweight, or a lot overweight. To be honest is sometimes less important that to be kind.
Now, I'm happily running along and smack headlong into a lesson.
My 50mm breaks down. Inside the lens are a set of blades that limit the amount of light that enters the camera, these blades open and close smoothly. This set, however, jammed in an impossible to use position with one blade twisted and the others closed to some odd shape.
I'm left with just an 100mm to finish the year. At this point I'm in a serious conference with the yearbook faculty member looking for options. Halfsies on a new lens? Next lesson: organizations are incredibly cheap,... no.
At this time in my journey Ididn't know about the used camera market. That would come with a stunning pow! So, the cheap organization came up with a cheap solution to my problem: they got another photographer to LOAN me a camera.
Stop laughing.
I hear you, "Loan?"
Stop giggling, too.
On the appointed day, he arrived with a nice case and handed me an Olympus OM-1 with a 28mm f/3.5.
What a jewel! I held the little SLR in my hands and looked it over whike he explained the operation of the camera. I don't remember one word. What a jewel.
Olympus was known for small bodies and this one really was, and it was manual, and I was into manual. Happy, happy me.
There is a picture in the yearbook of me taking a picture. Over my shoulder hangs the Canon AE-1 with Winder and 100mm lens. Jammed into my face is the Olympus OM-1 with its little wide angle lens. Of note is I'm holding the camera wrong. But I corrected that when I saw the picture. Also with the camera jammed in my face, I really am a handsome guy. You should be so lucky.
One day I'm going to figure out how to put pictures with my notes.

Next chapter, some more lessons

Pentax 3

It has been quite a while since I've owned such a small body, and used this one only a little. Hardly enough to justify buying it, like the original two, the ME and MX. I even barely used the Tamron 38^100, which out weighs the body. But it is sharp.
I have this weird need to systemize any body I have and picked up a cheap but compact 80^200 zoom to go with it. If I recall I have taken one (1) picture with this lens. It's around somewhere but I don't miss it.
NOTE to self: do not buy any more 80^200 zooms or 135's, You don't use them, stop buying them. (As if I listen to anybody, including myself)
In another pawn shop, I found a nice Pentax ME Super. This is the next Pentax that followed the ME, and she's a beaut. It has shutter selection ability, which, of course I rarely use now, amd it gets used far more than the manual MX. Same as before. I have re-discovered aperture priority, and the ME Super does that well, just like the Nikon FE.
Now I have a nice Pentax system. Two bodies; the MX and ME Super, two SMC 50mm's a 1.4 and the inexpensive f/2.0 (which is very sharp, also) a 38^100 semi-wide to semi-tele, and the unfound 80^200. Not too bad an outfit.
I found a camera on ebay and what the hey, put the minimum bid down and surprised myself with a win. I got a Sears KS Super II with (guess carefully) a 135mm strange name. Ricoh is an excellent source of inexpensive camera bodies and Sears put their name on several of them. Mine is the Ricoh XR 6 equivalent. It has the Pentax K mount and can take my Pentax lenses, too. Nice little find.

Next: a free lens.

Pentax 2

Twenty years ago, I owned a Pentax MX and ME, and that ended that journey when I sold the last of the Pentax system. In that time, I have come across Nikons, Minoltas, Olympus, Praktica, and others. It was time to stumble back across the Pentax way. On the shelf of a local pawn shop, I spotted a Pentax 50mm f/1.4 SMC M lens looking at me. I've owned several 50mm f/1.4's but this is the first Pentax that I've come across. And it's neat.

A quick discussion: Pentax had a normal body and lens system, you know large, heavy reliable, and of course it had the 42mm screw lens mount. This was called the universal mount and a lot of lenses were made with that mount. A lot of individual manufactures switched to their own mount. this allowed them to make their own systems. Pentax held on to this mount a lot longer that they should have and almost went bankrupt. But they finally developed the 'K' mount and did something different, they allowed others to use the mount for little or no royalties. Then the engineering came up with miniature ME and MX and a set of lenses to go with them. These lenses were labeled SMC; Spectra Multi-Coating. The letter M or A refers to the mount, the M was the first type and can be used in manual or aperture priority. The A refers to an additional ability of Priority or shutter priority. Both use the same lens formula and are very good.

In the pawn shop, the lens had a very nice MX attached to it.

So I bought it. Layaway. OK?

Pentax

While exploring a photostore, I ran across a zoom lens that caught my eye. It was a Tamron 38^100mm f/3.5 with interchangeable Pentax 'K' mount. It was metal and heavy.


Quik Photonote: This Tamron was a constant aperture type and has a "macro" ring which gives 1:4 ratio at all focal lengths, not just one end of the zoom. These two features increase lens size and weight. Many perfectly good lens have variable apertures and close focusing only at one end of the lens, usually the long end. There's nothing wrong with this way of doing things, except if you are using manual control it makes accurate metering fiddly, and I was into doing things manually.


This lens had my attention, as I know the Tamron could be changed to the Canon FD mount and the lens used on my Canon AE-1 and FTb. The 38mm end could give me a semi-wide angle. On the side of the lens was a slide that looks like this A--M.


'A' allows the lens to operate normally with the camera body. 'M' stops down the aperture to the selected stop and leaves it there, and allows stop down metering. A great feature for the bodies that lack a stop down lever.


Did I say the lens was heavy?


All this just to start a Pentax journey.


Attached to the lens was the tiny Pentax ME. This was one of the smallest SLRs made by any body. Only Olympus rivals such a thing with their OM series.


I see another chapter, and there really is one.


The ME was an Aperture Priority only camera. You choose the aperture, the camera chooses the correct shutter speed, but that's it, you have no other choice. But that's not a bad thing. There is a manual setting of 1/60 of a sec for flash but that's it. I was into setting my camera manually, the body was not what I wanted. For some reason, I ignored all the good features of the body, and looking back, and can only think of one, the complete lack of control. Not very wise of me, you can quess what I picked later in the future.


While browsing in the same camera store later, I ran across another photojourneyer who was carrying a Pentax MX. Same size as the ME, but totally manual. He was getting tired of setting manually (as I would) and he liked my ME.


We traded. Unbeknowst to me, I received the better end of that deal. The MX was worth more.


Strange, I shot more pictures with the ME than the MX.


The MX was Pentax's try at a professional camera. It had an impressive system backing it up, the problem was that Canon and Nikon had also impressive systems and they had introduced automation to their current bodies.


I purchased a Tokina 80^200mm f/4 for this body and did this ever not turn me on. I traded this lens to my friend for his Sears 50 and 135 (another unloved 135) for my Tokina.

Canon 2

During my early adventures with my new camera, the AE-1, I discovered something odd, I wasn't a very good photographer. In fact, I just stunk. Or was that stinked. Whatever, I was bad. Maybe I needed another lens to help me along my photojourney, Of course, it must be the lack of equipment. So off to the photostore and get another lens. A quick run down of a journey which explains, when you lose your way, you must redouble your speed to make up for it.


Focal (K Mart) 80-200mm f3.5 zoom lens: This was a monsterous beast that wasn't very sharp or easy to use. An early zoom which jaded me against them for years. Traded it for a Focal 200 f3.5 tele: another bad choice. then I tried a series of 135mm's. I discovered that the focal length does not float my photoboat. Of course, over the years I've owned several of them to no avail. I've only taken one (1) picture I've liked with this photo length. So remind self do not get any more 135's. I wonder how many more that means I'll own?


So, now I'm back at the local camera, returning a Canon 135mm f3.5 FD and I spot another lens in the case, it is the Canon 100mm f2.8 SSC FD.


"Let's see that one." I say, and the clerk sighs.


Canon literature states the 100mm is one of their sharpest semi-telephotos. Yes, that is very true. While it may not seem a very big difference between the two focal lengths, it is to me, and
can I ever tell the difference! This lens helped my way of seeing, you know the emotional and feelings that we aren't suppose to be talking about.


Now we have a happy little photobear, running around with his camera outfit, merrily taking pictures (still a goodly number of bad shots), and having a wonderful time.


As you may surmise, practice is beginning to take its toll and the number of better shots is increasing. That is the advice I give new photocubs starting their adventure, "Shoot lots of pictures." I still don't why they are better, that they just are. That is one of the steps on the journey.





I have also picked up the Winder A for the AE-1, (looking back on it, economically it wasn't a good idea) it added weight to the camera, and I can only think of once, where it was necessary for the shot. Including two Vivitar 283 flashes and a set of accessories for them, almost completes my outfit. K mart supplied me with two (finally) pieces of equipment that I still own and use, a medium tripod and a smaller tabletop tripod which folds up into a tube. This little tripod goes almost everywhere I go, and has probably mounted every camera body I've owned.



Next: put up or shut up.

Canon

My first "good" camera was a Canon AE-1, at this time when a person asked about a 'good' camera they meant an SLR. I remember my first camera, I received it for Christmas in '68. That was the Kodak 126, the drop-in load 126 film canister thing. I don't still have it, as you know me, tools plus inoperative camera equals parts pile.

However I still have the AE-1 and it still works fine thank you. I also have the box it came in, price sticker still there, instructions, and all the included accessories. Also, not for sale. I have the original lens box the 50mm f/1.8 FD lens came in with the camera, alas it suffer a fatal lens aperture malfunction, ( review: tools plus inoperative).

Canon, at this time, was using the very strong FD mount, which was the updated version of the FL mount. It used a separate ring to tighten the lens to the body, the lens body didn't rotate and there was almost no wear to the mount, keeping the critical film to flange distance constant. To be honest the other mounts that do rotate don't appreciably wear that much. Some of the complaints against the rotating ring were that is was fiddily to use, and not as convenient as the standard mounts the others were using, ie poke the mount in and twist. I don't recall the mount being particularly bothersome.

The AE-1 was Canon's newest production for us new to photography, my experience was very limited and I not knowing any better was just as happy as I could be. There were two ways of using new automation to measure the light and correctly expose the film, one was aperture priority; you set the aperture and the camera would measure the light, compare it to settings of film speed and set the shutter speed to correctly expose the film. The other was you set the shutter speed and voila like above the camera set the aperture. Soon the cameras were setting both, but that will be in the future.

It Begins

The Photojourney Begins





The summer of '76, I wondered into a local department store and asked the clerk to show me his best camera. The conversation went something like this, "Show me your best camera." I have since learned that the question is inbred in us. What's the best camera? What's the best lens? What's the best film, body, manufacturer, and car?

I just added the car.

Instead of laughing me to scorn and driving me into some other hobby, like heavy drinking, he cursed me to photo-damnation.

"Here." he said.

Then I was presented with Canon's AE-1.



A quick review: At this time photography was under going one of its many advancements. Most bodies were heavy metal, large, strongly built structures that manufactures thought us photogs wanted. Strong, reliable, and dependable these bodies are in 2000+, still going and going. However, the camera handed to me wasn't one of these, it was the new idea that smaller was better. Maybe new isn't the word. Canon wasn't the first to make a lighter and smaller body but they did have a superb marketing division and a really nice camera body to boot. The AE-1 marks one of those milestones that define the path of the photojourney of many people. It had several cutting edge features and blended them well. Right size, feel, reliabilty, etc.



No, I didn't buy it right then. It was $288 and of course I had scrape up that amount. Today I'd just put it on a card (a nearly maxed out one) but then, I was young and single and used that foreign stuff called cash.