PESO 2012 #54 - Flow of light

PESO 2012 #53 - Farewell

On the last day of our vacation Galia chose not to take pictures. I've taken one by which I hope to remember the wonderful time we had during these two weeks. It was truly memorable.

PESO 2012 #52 - Local Parks

Nothing compares to a quiet walk around the lake in the forest just before the golden autumn colors the leaves in all these warm colors that make one feel slightly sad...

PESO 2012 #51 - Smithsonian Day 5

The next day of our vacation we've spent again in the National Mall. The Library of Congress is truly remarkable both as an architectural "piece" and as a collection of human knowledge. And of course the quiet alleys of the Mall were as pleasant and relaxing as ever.

Nikonian brothers pay me a visit

Two of my very good friends are Nikonians. They're brothers and their older brother is Pentaxian. So the Nikonian brothers came to see me today. One of them rented D800 and another recently bought D600. Also D700 was brought along as well. So we had great time and these Nikon cameras pack quite a punch.

It turns out that Nikon D800 is more similar to D600 in terms of size/weight/ergonomics than it is to D700. D700 is big and heavy, D800 is not small and not light but its ergonomics are surprisingly good for a person with small hands such as myself.

Interestingly enough, from very brief encounter I should say that Nikkor 24-70/2.8 is better balanced on D700 than on D800. With D800 the combo is ever so slightly nose heavy.

It was dark and raining outside and under the light of a single 60 watt tungsten lamp my Pentax K-5 was no match for Nikon heavy weights... Both Nikons pack some serious pixelage and truly D800 is an amazing camera.

Now I am just as torn as one of the brothers - which one to buy - D600 or D800. Well, not really torn, because presently I am sticking with Pentax, but if I were on lookout for a system to switch to - it would be pretty hard choice.

And here is a quick and dirty grab made by my absolutely tiny Ricoh GXR with A50 macro module focused manually via EVF with the help of focus peaking and 2x magnification...

PESO 2012 #50 - Going back to Washington

The next day of our vacation we've spent mostly in transit from Chicago IL to Washington DC via Memphis TN where we had to wait for two more hours as the flight was delayed.

Beside that practically insignificant setback, all eight times we were airborne during our trip were actually very pleasurable. Memphis is very cool place (not in terms of weather, though) and we should visit it one day to get a taste of the Southern lifestyle...

Gear diary update

The Pentax SMC FA 31/1.8 AL Limited has left the building...

PESO 2012 #49 - Chicago Day 2

Our next day in Chicago was the pinnacle, as we went all the way to the top of the John Hancock Center...

PESO 2012 #48 - Chicago Day 1

Chicago is infinitely fascinating city... We were very lucky to have been accommodated by our wonderful Chicagoan friends from PDML.

On the first day we roamed the city some, had fun in the Millennium Park by The Bean and finished our day in the Shedd Aquarium...