My New Canons...

First of all, as a continuation of my last post I present what I hope to be my newest canon/lead thrower...

Kimber Custom Target II 1911

She's not quite as pretty as the NHC T3, but she also isn't as expensive. It's a straight shooter, so I'm looking forward to getting her in my hands and winning some competitions with it. While I absolutely love my MP and have put a lot of time, money, and work into it, I think it's like your first love. You know you love her and you dedicated a lot to her - but know it's just not meant to be "forever". I suppose technically in this scenario I'd love to be a polygamist and have them all - but we can't have everything, right? Some unexpected bills came up, but if thing go well I may be shooting this in the next month.

The next canon that shoots is my latest gift from my father.
My father has always been on the forefront of technology. Because of this fact, and also that he rarely throws anything away, he also has a few relics. I think he got pretty excited when I took up photography. When he was in college he got involved with photography himself and apparently was pretty good at it; even making a few bucks. I assume he knew what he was talking about because while he tries to tell me about color balance and how xyz works with the right lighting and blah blah blah I zone out and praise my wonderful digital camera. I'm pretty knowledgeable about photography, but he knows details.

A couple months ago he tossed me what amounts to a small baseball bat of a lens. It didn't have the right mount for my camera, but thanks to modern technology (which this lens has never seen) I picked up a cheap one on ebay. I present a Rexatar 400mm 6.5 baseball bat lens.

Although it is not the best quality lens, this beast is interesting. It made me step out of my digital world a bit. To be a great photographer you need to not just know about your equipment, but also how to set up your shot and what light is and how to manipulate it. That's a short and sweet sentence to describe years of practice, trial and error, and classes. A fully manual lens is a fun thing to play with and get that education on how things were back in the day when cameras only used film, each shot took more time and money, and people walked uphill both ways to school in the snow barefoot.

Not so sure I'd use this for many practical purposes, given he also got me a 300mm that is a bit better; but as I said, it's fun to play with: so I did some comparisons between my Tamron at 55mm and the Rexatar 400mm.

TOP: 55mm BOTTOM: 400mm
1/160 f/6.3

TOP: 55mm BOTTOM: 400mm
1/20 f/22

Click on the images for the goods. In this horrible, lower light, unscientific test out my dirty front window I'm not incredibly impressed with the quality, but I do love having such a long reach. I'm actually looking forward to finding the perfect application for this lens - I'm thinking it can really give a classic feel to B&W shots if I find the right place for it.

BTW, anyone know anything about Rexatar? I usually take great pride in my Google hackery talents, but I haven't really turned up much on this lens. Please coment if you know anything about it or the company.