Epson R-D1s

Body pictured with 15mm f4.5 Voigtlander & finder and Jupter 3 (50mm f1.5), Jupiter 11 (135mm f4.0), and Jupiter 12 (35mm f2.8) lenses.
Body pictured with 15mm f4.5 Voigtlander & finder and Jupter 3 (50mm f1.5), Jupiter 11 (135mm f4.0), and Jupiter 12 (35mm f2.8) lenses.

There are many good things to be said about youth (not just that it’s wasted on the young), but there’s also something to be said for growing older. At 40, I’ve become the recipient of a long-awaited, but well-timed gift: an Epson R-D1s. Craig’s list brought me a body and lens that were well used, but well cared for and they will continue to be. I’ve been able pair it with a number of old Russian lenses that I collected during my Peace Corps days and the results are very pleasing.

Downtown 1 approaching 116thI won’t try to review the camera (that’s been done very well here), but I will second one complaint I’ve read about inaccurate framing lines. Other problems I’ve had with the camera are due to “user error” (it’s so hard to remember to focus and set apertures in this world of full-auto digital SLRs and P&S cameras), which I hope will be remedied over time. Regardless, a couple of missed/soft-focused shots are worth it from a camera that’s such a pleasure to use.

Public shots that I’ve taken with the camera will appear here.

New Sigma Lens


I recently got a Sigma 17-70, 2.8-4.0 telephoto to fit my Canon Rebel XTi. The lens blows the socks off the 18-55 stock lens (duh) and has a pretty incredible macro (which allows you to get mere inches away from your subject. I’ve been happy with its brightness and, though it’s a pain to carry around, the heft of the lens is nice when compared to the 50mm 1.8 or other kit lenses I’ve tried on the camera. I put a couple of photos on flickr taken with the sigma lens.

Night Sky Over Bellaire


It’s been a beautiful week in Bellaire. The sun has been out the past couple of days (after a spate of cold and wet weather). The adjacent photo was taken by D and T. It’s a 90-second exposure. You can see the rotation of the earth in the stars if you look at the large photo.