Category: Gear Geek

Photography-related gear reviews and observations.

Gear Geek: O Noes!

It seems a trip to casualty Apollo Camera in Oakland is in order. I pulled my beloved Pentax MX from my camera bag this evening, wanting to get this interesting shot of a seagull at the Ferry Building, only to find that the shutter mechanism felt very loose, like a tooth about to come out. I was able to fire...

Blog Note: My Gear Geek List Updates

I’m trying to be better about remembering to update my Gear Geek list whenever I acquire a new piece of equipment. I’ve updated it recently to add my Sigma 10-20 lens and a few other bits and bobs. I keep a link to it over on the right nav bar, so you can check back periodically, if you’re so inclined.

Gear Geek: Sigma 10-20 Lens

My latest equipment acquisition is the Sigma 10-20 wide angle zoom lens. I got it specifically for scenic, landscape-y photos such as this shot of the Bay Bridge, taken from the ferry on my morning commute. So far I’m really loving this lens. It’s obviously not an all-around lens like a 28-135, but it beautifully handles most of the shots...

The New Kid in Town

In early August I wandered around the Alameda Antiques Fair in search of a new-to-me medium format camera. I like my Holgas just fine but I was ready for an upgrade. Most of what I found at the fair was old Brownies, which I really didn’t want because they either took odd-size film (the Brownie I have takes 620–which is...

Gear Geek: The List

Here’s a list of the gear that is in regular or semi-regular rotation: Canon Digital Rebel XTi    Sigma 10-20 f4.0-5.6 lens    Canon 18-55mm f3.6 EFS kit lens    Canon 50mm f1.8 EF lens (the “nifty fifty”)    Canon 75-300mm f4-5.6 EF lens    Lensbaby 2.0    Canon Wireless Remote Nikon F2 w/50mm f2 lens Yashica Mat-124G Pentax MX (no longer functioning)    Pentax 50mm f1.7...

Gear Geek: First thoughts on the Canon Digital Rebel XTi

Well, a week on and I’m loving my new Digital Rebel XTi. I got it with the 18-55mm kit lens (which is…okay but not great) and I bought a 70-300mm zoom lens, which I’m using almost exclusively. The 70-300, I’m finding, is good for portraits where I don’t want to be right up in someone’s face (say, for example, my...