PAW 2008, Week 19

This year the Independence Day (actually it is 60th birthday of State of Israel) happened to be exactly in the middle of 19th week ;-). Curious holiday, the Independence Day is. This year one of the bigger banks ordered a whole bunch of country flags in China. Unfortunately Chinese sub-contractors rotated the Star of David a little. All these flags came out badly. I think there is a law somewhere that demands that only geometrically correct flags be used. Anyway, we had a trip in the vicinity of Rothschild boulevard in Tel Aviv and I collected quite a few incorrect flags. Here they are.

SMCP A 50/1.2 at f/5.6.

SMCP A 50/1.2 at f/4.5

SMCP A 50/1.2 at f/4.5

PAW 2008, Week 18

And so I was, enjoying the speed and image quality of SMCP A 50/1.2 to the full. But then I realized, I haven't taken even a single shot at infinity range. That asked for a trip to the sea shores of Shfaim Nature Reserve.

Alone.
SMCP A 50/1.2 at f/9.

Just as well, this lens is not showing any color aberrations related to high contrast areas.

PAW 2008, Week 17

One of the peculiar things that is happening to you when you drive, is that you totally forget that there is a public mass transit system. So that when in Haifa we took a drive to the Science Museum only to find that there is no parking slot where our car would fit that would be reasonably close to the museum. Thus we had to return to the hotel, park the car there and ride the subway. Silly, don't you agree?

Yours truly.
SMCP A 50/1.2 at f/1.8.

As it turns out I can never properly level my camera ;-).

PAW 2008, Week 16

As a matter of fact, that day when we went to the car show was a start of a long weekend that we spent in Haifa. As we usually do, we went to the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art. Here is Galia, being very involved with the picture that she's looking at.

Japanese Flute.
SMCP A 50/1.2 at f/1.4.

PAW 2008, Week 15

Although this and the previous one were technically made during the same day and as a matter of fact during the same hour, I think they deserve to be shown apart.

The xDrive boy.
SMCP DA 21/3.2 Limited at f/3.2.

Again I am rather happy about wide open performance of this lens. But no matter, I had a real chuckle reviewing my pictures later.

PAW 2008, Week 14

Every two years there is some kind of a car show/exhibition that takes place in Exhibition Grounds, Tel Aviv. This was the only occasion that I took the quite lovely SMCP A 50/1.2 off my camera and replaced it with another lens.

Jag Power
SMCP DA 21/3.2 Limited at f/3.2.

I should say that I rather like the wide open performance of this lens here.

PAW 2008, Week 13

By sheer coincidence, the same day I got the postal notice of my SMCP K 50/1.2 arrival, I saw on Adorama the SMCP A 50/1.2. And indeed it is really the lens I was after. Eventually I had a very similar postal notice in my mailbox.

Again, being very predictable I've taken my newest aquisition to my office. Here is a portrait of my co-worker shot at blank-point range at f/1.8.

PAW 2008, Week 12

Having gotten a new lens, I couldn't possibly miss an opportunity to take to Hertzlia Marina - one of my favorite spots...



Both shots made with SMCP K 50/1.2, though aperture is unrecorded, because the lens is purely manual.