http://www.prime-junta.net/ What's New From The Prime Junta Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, 2005-2007 by Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi en-us 2008-05-03T13:00:00+03:00 http://unlovedwatches.blogspot.com/ I'm exploring a new hobby -- tinkering with wristwatches. Since it's probably pretty boring to anyone not interested in watches, I put the stuff related to that in a new blog. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2011-11-15T21:22:00+03:00 http://primejunta.blogspot.com/ I haven't been writing here lately. The reason is that I've run out of things to say about photography, although I do still continue to take pictures. In case you're wondering what I'm up to nowadays, you can track my doings on my blog at http://primejunta.blogspot.com/ or (a little) on Twitter, http://twitter.com/primejunta -- I'll see you there, perhaps. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2010-09-01T21:48:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/040_Sigma_DP1/_Sigma_DP1.html Been a while since I last pontificated on photography, over here anyway. Still, here are my field notes on a pretty interesting camera -- the Sigma DP1. In case you've been living under a rock lately, it's a compact camera with an APS-C sized Foveon X3F sensor and a fixed-focal-length 28/4.0 equivalent lens. I also did a few comparison shots against my EOS-5D. Check out the article to see how the DP1 fared! Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2008-05-03T13:00:00+03:00 http://prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/057_Canon_24F2.8/_The_Canon_EF_24_F2.8.html Well, I finally got around to writing up another instalment in the Ugly Duckling series. This one is about the 24/2.8. I really like this lens, although I don't shoot this wide very often. Read the article for a more detailed write-up with examples galore. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2007-04-14T21:15:00+03:00 http://prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/057_Canon_24F2.8/_The_Canon_EF_24_F2.8.html Well, I finally got around to writing up another instalment in the Ugly Duckling series. This one is about the 24/2.8. I really like this lens, although I don't shoot this wide very often. Read the article for a more detailed write-up with examples galore. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2007-04-14T21:15:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/045_Leica_CL/_Leica_CL-The_Volkskamera.html I recently bought something I've always sort of wanted but never could bring myself to do: a Leica rangefinder camera. This one is the Volksleica -- the Japanese-built CL from between 1973 and 1976. If you're interested in my experiences in going back to an all-manual film camera, after several years of all-automatic digital cameras, read on... Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2007-03-17T12:45:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/How_to/100_Curves_and_Films/_Curves_and_films.html I've been messing around with trying to simulate the look of various types of films using Photoshop curves. Re-inventing the wheel, in other words. If you're interested in my wheel, read on... Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2007-02-04T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/055_Ugly_Ducklings/_First-Generation_EF_Primes.html Canon introduced a unique line of prime lenses between 1987 and 1989 when it marketed the EOS system. It has fallen between the cracks a bit since then, with the introduction of newer, fancier lenses. However, I have developed a real liking for the series and have collected most of it. This is a part of a series of articles on the series, which reviews each lens individually and compares it against its siblings. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2007-01-23T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/065_Canon_135_F2.8_Soft_Focus/_Canon_135_2.8_Soft_Focus.html My usual type of rambling, semi-systematic review of an old and slightly unusual lens: Canon's 135/2.8 Soft Focus. I dubbed it Crystal Vodka because it's clear and smooth but can make the world go all swimmy if you're not careful. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2007-01-07T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Whats_new/jekkumissy/jekkumissy.html Life goes on, and Ira has successors: Missy the cat and Jekku the border terrier just joined our pack. We're only just getting to know each other, but things are looking up. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-12-21T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Whats_new/ira/ira.html Our friend of (almost) 13 years, Ira the soft-coated wheaten terrier, left for greener pastures today. We miss her. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-10-03T00:00:00+03:00 http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/2006/08/lebanon-so-what-hell-happened.html So, now that it's over (for now), what the hell was it anyway? I reactivated my political blog for some rambling about the topic. To find out all about how (not) to fight wars against countries whose capitals start with a B, read on... Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-08-14T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Whats_new/lebanon/StopTheMadness.html#update Well, it's over, for now. If only they won't fuck it up. If you want to know what I think should be done next, it's on this page... Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-08-14T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Whats_new/lebanon/StopTheMadness.html As some of you may know, I have a connection to Lebanon. When the current crisis blew up, I resolved to keep my photography-related writing separate from my politics. I can't do that any more. Please take a moment to read the short message I felt I had to write about it before continuing to whatever it is you came here for. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-07-27T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/How_to/a_Brush_Your_Sensor/a_Brush_Your_Sensor.html I rewrote my March, 2005 article about the Pixel Sweeper -- that is, how to select and prepare a brush for cleaning your digital SLR, and how to go about the actual cleaning. I've learned a quite a lot since writing the original article, including stuff about how dust behaves and what's actually going on in the cleaning process. The new article reflects this. It also presents a cleaning technique that's both simpler, less risky, and (in my experience) more effective than the one originally described. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-07-27T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/070_Fujifilm_F30/_Fujifilm_F30.html Field notes about the Fujifilm Finepix F30 -- a few niggles aside, an amazing amount of camera in a very small package. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-07-17T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Pontification/b_Cycling_for_Fun_and_Profit/_Cycling_for_Fun_and_Profit.html Since I don't have anything in particular to say about photography at the moment, I figured that another pursuit of mine, cycling, could make a nice change of pace. This is a photoessay, and does contain a few observations about combining cycling and photography. Enjoy! Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-06-08T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/How_to/aa_Information_Security_for_the_Digital_Photographer/_Information_Security_for_the_Digital_Photographer.html A second essay about computers and digital photography: what information security means for the digital photographer, and in particular how to set up a backup regimen that's as simple as possible yet provides pretty good protection against losing your photos.. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-03-18T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/How_to/a0_Build_Your_Photo_Workstation/_Build_Your_Photo_Workstation.html Been a while since the last update to the site: thanks to everyone who asked what had happened; it's nice to be missed. ;-) This article is only tangentially about photography, but it does concern something quite important to any digital photographer: the computer to edit the stuff on. I'm not an expert system-builder by any means, but I have been messing with computers for a quite a while, and have put together a few boxes. I also just upgraded mine. This inspired me to write down some thoughts about what makes for a good photography workstation and whether or not, and how, to build one. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2006-03-16T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Pontification/a0099_Tripods_101/_Tripods_101.html Tripods are less exciting than lenses. I certainly don't enjoy them anywhere near as much as lenses or cameras. However, a bad tripod is pretty annoying to use, while a big tripod is annoying to carry. I've made a few mistakes in my choices, but have learned something in the process of buying and using them. Perhaps this article will help someone avoid making the same ones... Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-11-23T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/080_Raw_Shooter_Premium/a_Raw_Shooter_Premium.html#update2 I updated (well, more like rewrote) my field report of Raw Shooter Premium, with some thoughts about Color Engine, as well as a quite a few pictures. It's not perfect (but then, what is, on this mortal orb?) but I like it a lot. Read on if interested... Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-11-19T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/080_Raw_Shooter_Premium/a_Raw_Shooter_Premium.html#update Well, well, well. I only wrote my mini-review of Raw Shooter Premium two weeks ago, pleading for better color profiles, and here they are -- Pixmantec has announced the Color Engine for RSP... and it looks like Magne Nilsen of Etcetera made them. Fast work, guys. Can't wait to try it. ;-) Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-11-16T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/080_Raw_Shooter_Premium/a_Raw_Shooter_Premium.html A mini-review of Raw Shooter Premium. No pictures yet; I hope to be able to add some when I feel like it. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-11-02T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Reviews/090_5D_vs_20D_Wide_Angle/a_5D_vs_20D_Wide_Angle_Shootout.html Comparison shots and analysis of the EOS-5D with the popular EF 17-40/4.0L ultra-wide zoom, pitted against the EOS-20D with the EF-S 10-22/3.5-4.5 USM, by Rom Prakash at http://rommae.smugmug.com/. Rom.Prakash@undisclosed.net 2005-10-26T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Pontification/a01001_On_Perceiving_Brands/a_On_Perceiving_Brands.html Some rumination and self-examination about brand biases; how they happen, and what they mean. With pictures. Based on a discussion at DPReview, as is the next one. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-10-24T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Pontification/a0101_Why_I_Diss_L_Lenses/a_Why_I_Diss_L_Lenses.html A clarification on my (perceived) bias against the Canon professional "L" series of lenses. Hey, I did own one once, so I'm entitled to it. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-10-24T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/gallery/galleries/24-vs-35/index.html Some pixel-peeper crops of comparison shots I made, pitting the EF 24/2.8 against the 35/2.0, with the 50/1.8 Mk I watching from the sidelines. With a short analysis. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-10-24T00:00:00+03:00 http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Pontification/a0100_Full_Frame_or_Not/a_Full_Frame_Or_Not.html My thoughts on the relative merits of APS-C and full-frame, and the issues involved in transitioning from the one to the other. With pictures. Petteri.Sulonen@iki.fi 2005-10-18T00:00:00+03:00