Meet the oranges...

Hanging out with a bunch of people with similar interest is very fun and informative. And if the interest is about photography and its gears, expect a lot of 'poison' that comes in all shapes and sizes(drools...). That happened to me when I met some more fellow Sony alpha users the day after my street photoshoot. I think it's our first unofficial 'teh tarik' (TT) session in KK. It was a cheerful evening and I tried some more nice lenses. There is this Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens, heavy but the bokeh and aperture opening makes it a good low light photo hunter. Cost : around RM3k(sigh...).


Siggy in action. The white balance is out however.


Zooming in. Constant f2.8 along focal range is helpful.

Next is the Sony 11-18mm UWA(ultra wide angle) lens that makes me say UWAAAAA! each time I looked at the photos taken. Having used to my photos from my 18-70mm kitlens, this lens rocks for taking landscape and group shots. Sony price around RM2.3k.


Photos using UWA, although it does not justify the wide angle.

The beercan is there too, and a Zeiss 16-80mm lens which I don't want to try yet. It's even poisonous with it's sharpness and image quality. Too much poison will kill you and burned your pocket, but out of curiousity I tried out one interesting lens, the Vivitar 135mm f2.8 m42. It's a prime lens as the focal length is fixed, m42 means it's a screw in type lens for older film cameras. Using it on newer digital systems is made possible through specific adapters. Everything is manual just like the old days. Photo quality is excellent, as expected from a prime lens, and the bokeh is amazing.


Vivitar 135mm f2.8. Master the manual focussing and this lens will reward you.



What did I get from the TT? New, wonderful friends and a lot of new techniques especially about flash. Poison? A lot, luckilly not that strong enough to make me swipe my card for one of those nice lenses. Thanks to kysham, ryzan, vamsurfer and his girlfriend for a nice evening. Hopefully our next TT will be a blast!


Almost RM22k worth of gear.


Poison to the left, poison to the right. Vivitar 135mm f2.8, Siggy 70-200 f2.8, Zeiss lens, A700 x 2, f58 cobras, f36, giottos tripod...how to save money when surrounded by all of these?