There’s a lot of good stuff here: some site called Fact has a list of the top 50 albums in trip-hop. Metafilter has a list with streaming links for your listening pleasure. Naturally, I disagree with some of the choices (UNKLE is way down on the list; Luke Vibert is way too high).
I got my paperwork in the mail from UMBC today, which means I’m officially teaching another class in the fall. I’ve been working on the syllabus for this one for a while, but now that it’s set I’ve got to finish it up and develop about 6 lectures: an overview of concept, a refresher on grid systems (I’ve got some before and after National Park Service brochures for that one), a primer/refresher on paragraph/character styles in InDesign, a primer on typography, maybe some modern typographic history (I’ve got the inaugural issue of Bikini magazine for that one), and whatever else I can cook up. I have no idea how many students I’ll have this semester–last spring I had 18, which was 5 more than I was supposed to–but I’m not afraid of a challenge.
I’ve talked about mirrorless and micro 4/3 cameras here before, and set the idea aside last fall as too expensive to pursue. I do, however, add Craigslist search alerts to things I’m interested in to follow pricing trends over time as new products are released. One of the alerts I set up was for anything Fuji-related, even though their lens system isn’t compatible with M4/3 bodies.
This winter, with all of the extra stuff I was carrying, I left my DSLR home more often than I carried it. Much of that is because I don’t have a lot of opportunity to shoot anything new in my commute, but also because it got to be a hassle to carry. In the meantime, several of my pro photographer friends cycled through various mirrorless camera kits, and recently one upgraded to a Leica (WAY out of my range). He wound up selling his Fuji for way more than I could afford.
This week, a Fuji X-E1 kit showed up in my feed for a very reasonable price, and I dove into researching it. It’s about two steps from the top of their line, but is very well regarded. I decided to give it a try, as I’m pretty sure I can resell it for more than the purchase price. Plus, I’ve been sitting on photo money since I sold my old iPhone, our original Flip, and a pair of unused DX zoom lenses that overlapped with our current lens collection.
It’s a whole different world than a DSLR; the philosophy around the controls is completely different. Where a DSLR is built around getting to the lens and shutter controls with secondary buttons to modify the selection, the Fuji is all about secondary buttons. They did nail the ergonomics of those buttons, though–they are almost perfectly organized and placed on the camera. It doesn’t have an optical viewfinder. There’s a digital screen inside the eyepiece, or you can use the LCD on the back to compose and interact with the camera. It’s tricky getting the unit to autofocus properly, and I’m not used to the slight shutter lag this has.
My unit came with a chunky f/3.5 18-50mm lens, which is too big for my taste; I’d like to swap it for the f/2.8 27mm prime, which is compact and almost in my focal sweet spot. If I suddenly won the jackpot, I’d splurge on the f/1.4 35mm, which is a little bigger but much faster. I’m going to give lensrentals.com a try over our vacation, as they’ve got the 27mm f/2.8 available for a good price.
Having shot a lot with my D7000 and and two 50mm primes–an AF and non-AF, I find it impossible to compose and shoot on the fly at that focal length. I’m always backing up from my subject or running after the kids in order to frame anything worth value; shooting with and adjusting the manual lens is hopeless in all but the most optimal situations. Having an autofocus prime is pretty much key until Finn is in her late teens.
There are a slew of Fuji to Nikon adapters, however, which allow for the use of my Nikon glass on the Fuji body; a manual adapter and several AI adapters. At some point I’ll pick up the cheaper of the two to use my Nikkor f/2 on it. The midrange AI adapter is $100, but I can’t find any reviews on it yet. The more expensive AI adapter is $~500, or equivalent to the f/1.4 Fuji lens, so I’d rather spend that money on new glass.
Overall, I’m impressed; the picture quality is great and the camera is light and easy to use. I’ll be leaving my D7000 at home for the next couple of months and shooting specifically with the Fuji, and we’ll see if the results match a DSLR.
Type Hunting: An on-going archive of typography, found, photographed, and curated by designer Jonathan Lawrence. Hours of good stuff here.
…is following my daughter’s line of questioning about superheroes to policemen carrying guns to a brief description of the Constitutional right to bear arms and bringing it all back to a weekend conversation about which Beatles are dead and which are alive by describing how a very sick man was able to buy a gun and shoot John Lennon.
Who is this child? Where did she come from? When did she suddenly decide that swimming with her head underwater was not only possible, but fun?
Mama was off to the salon to get her hair did, so Finn and I were home this morning getting ready for a birthday party. This involved making a card and then decorating a drum head we found at a yard sale (her friend is the daughter of a drummer and a huge Beatles fan) so I showed her how to practice drawing her design first before she got to work with a black Sharpie. It came out good!
Then I went hunting for wrapping paper. Jen swears we have bags of it but I’ll be damned if I can find it anywhere. Driving to the CVS to restock, Finn and I spotted something on the side of the road. In front of a table piled with housewares, a white women’s hybrid bike stood waiting for some attention. We took care of our shopping (also grabbing two folding beach chairs for $20) and drove back to look it over. When Jen got home from the salon we rushed back to try it out. the tires were flat but we did a brief test run down the sidewalk, and she said it felt good. Sold!
I took some time out this afternoon to wash it, fill the tires, and run through the gears. It checked out well except for the front derailleur, which was disconnected. I put it back in the Scout and dropped it off for a tuneup at the local bike shop, where it should be ready by Tuesday.
Now, a new bike has been on our list of priorities since, oh, 2002, but this Christmas I promised her I’d buy her one. This wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but with professional servicing and a thorough wash, it’s an excellent bike (It’s the same vintage as my second mountain bike, a Trek 820) and it’s right in time for our vacation. Plus: Comfy saddle! rear pannier! And the basket from Uberbike (the tandem) will fit perfectly on the handlebars for trips to the Farmer’s Market.