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finished my cfa3 this week, thanks kevin gilmore for the desing and the support from the forum members. running on +-30v with moderat bias, changed the gain resistors to 3.2k for lower gain. needed some 3d printed parts so that all fit fine, a cfa3 in a quad 405 chase. no pot this time, i use a dac with volume control or a preamp. after all amps i build i think the best solution for a 1 case build ist mounting the trafos outside in vertical position, absolut no magnetic hum inducted. i also added grain oriented metal band around the trafos inside the trafo cases.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! Sorry for the delay - it's been a super busy weekend! Had a good birthday week with Florence and the Machine on Tuesday, dinner on Thursday with a bestie, watched Rushmore with a friend of mine who is going to start teaching at St. John's High School next year (that is where it is filmed) on Friday, dinner and a Dash (Houston women's soccer team) with a bunch of lezzie friends on Saturday, and now I'm in the Denver airport waiting to go to Durango for the week.

Had a MRI. I passed. (Apparently, I'm very good at laying very still.) They want me back to repeat the procedure on different equipment, so they can calibrate the equipment. 🙃 Kinda reminded me of a concert I saw where Pan Sonic played one long drone and manipulated the timbre so that different parts of audience members' bodies resonated. (The concert was a very visceral experience.)

RIP -- It served us and myself personally with honor. 🫡

We had my parents down for dinner so I made 6 lbs of baby back ribs and both sweet Italian and garlic/cheese smoked sausage.

A redditor's father died and left him this: Also, I was born into the wrong family.

Nice @n_maher! The 30 fps is glorious. How do you like it thus far? Drove up to NYC to help Julie move out as she finished her 3rd year rotations for medical school. Exceptionally difficult light in the parking under the building. The A7 did quite well here, I think. Taken with a Batis 85/1.8. Stopped by in Virginia to visit with my sister and tried playing with the Batis 135/2.8. Failed miserably but got a somewhat cool extremely close crop. In color.

Shooting with primes will make you a better photographer, but they won't make you take better photos. Modern (as in the last 20 years) zooms are so good that primes are vestigial beasts best left to eccentrics. There are exceptions to this rule of course, mostly super-teles that operate in a range outside of any zoom. Personally, I muck about with primes because I find them interesting. To me cameras are fiddly devices that get between me and the photo I want to take. Lenses are tools to make art. While I use modern (or "modern") autofocus lenses all the time, for me the real joy is ancient manual focus ones. Also, I haven't posted any of my own photos here in like six months. Two of my favorite bits of vintage glass are Asahi Super-Takumars: A 35mm F/3.5 and 50mm F/1.4. It's a tossup which one is more crackheaded. The 35mm, in spite of its woefully slow aperture for its focal length, has a really fat ass and will not fit properly in Nikon or Canon DSLR bodies. It will fit in a Canon cropped sensor body, and presumably most mirrorless ones. I've posted shots with it in this thread many times over the years. I liken the images it produces to a horror movie. The 50mm does the same thing, but much more so. My particular copy is a third iteration (IIRC) and it's notable for being radioactive. Glamour shot taken with my 100mm F/2.8 Macro. The 50 has a permanent warming filter (that gets more warm over time). It's useless for anything serious, but endless fun for goofing around. For me this is definitive example of "Takumar horror." The color temperature, weird rendering of OOF highlights and slight vignetting are all produced by the lens. I did only minor tweaks in Photoshop. The same view, taken with the 35mm mounted to a 7D Mk II. Not really horror at all. First and foremost, I stopped down and used infinity focus. Also the 35 is not radioactive. I have a long term goal of buying a full frame body so I can mount the 35 to it and see how bad the corners are. Yes, buying a $3K body to mount a $75 lens. Makes perfect sense. I mentioned in the snow thread that we got absolute decimated here in February. I promised to post photos and never did. The AF system on my 5D IV was not impressed with the condensation on the outside of our windows. One nice thing about old primes is that most of them have a hard infinity stop. Modern glass often lets the user focus beyond infinity (calm down, Buzz Lightyear) meaning they're a PITA to use in low light and other difficult circumstances. This shot is in focus, but still quite blurry because of the water on the window. Looking out my front door. No giants doing cartwheels or a statue wearing high heels. Quite the whiteout, however. Taken with the TTArtisan 100mm F/2.8 "Bubble Bokeh," which is a Trioplan copy, more or less. I have mostly used it as an actual 100mm and ignored its abilities with OOF highlights. Our poor, battered thermometer. Back to the OG Canon 50mm F/1.8. My ca. 1988 copy is one of my most prized lenses. Back to the 35mm Takumar and 7D II. Not exactly horror movie, but exhibiting how the 35 is not entirely sharp at any aperture. The images it produces have a slight uncanny quality in more or less all circumstances. One of the casualties of the nor'easter, which had some very powerful winds. As of this writing, the boat is still there. The mighty Canon 135mm F/2L. Designed as a portrait lens, it's good at photographing more or less anything, provided the photographer is up to making use of its FoV and DoF. Oh, hey. Actually using the TTArtisan 100mm for its intended purpose. The late afternoon sun reflecting on the pond and some early spring buds.

Today Ale helped me change the rear air springs on my car... Yesterday, we celebrated his 11th birthday and we got home in the early hours. His face gives him away.. 😁

Nate’s on Marsh, my first Michelin star restaurant.

I've discovered that I'm not getting weaker the older I get, but in fact quite a bit stronger. Yesterday I lifted a $100 bag of groceries with one arm, like it was nothing. I couldn't do that in my twenties!

Sub SnoreWoofer.

Obviously, no universal right choice, though I get a kick out of opposite prime/zoom conclusions somewhat arguing the same case. I rarely need many focus lengths with me... one, maybe two will do... so zooms, especially AF zooms, are too big and heavy... "too much to carry around". They only leave the house under special occasions. I really wish there was a new Leica WATE/MATE-ish lens made by someone. Also nice shots Knucks, especially the 135/tree. Here’s the single shot I took with a non-phone in Vegas recently. Sigma BF & 35mm f/2 Contemporary.

In the end, I decided on the F2.8... In recent months, I've used the 24-105 F4L much more than the 24-70 2.8L because of that extra telephoto reach, and I have to say it works very well except at sunset and indoors, where I struggled to take good photos without too much grain. At those times, I missed the 24-70 F2.8L. That's why I ruled out the 70-200 F4 and broke the piggy bank to buy the F2.8. 🙂 Some more photos with the 24-105mm F4L

It takes a lot for me to feel pride in America, but Eurovision is always up to the challenge.

Magnus Öström "Thread of Life" (Drummer E.S.T.) Every time I listen to this album... I get goosebumps. Especially "Longing". It gradually builds in intensity, the final minutes.... ufffff a masterpiece. And then; Dan and Magnus together again...

Mr Noods in Grover Beach pork noodle soup. Was the best broth I can remember.

^ In that post, I just used the URL posted by the guy on the audiophile subreddit. The following will be more UK friendly. Fuck Nigel Farage. This Scandinavian fella is living his best life:

Have listened to this four times in the last 48. Cluster & Eno's Cluster & Eno.

The Wigmore Hall Recital by Antônio Meneses (2013) https://open.qobuz.com/album/rt6bp6hxqcjgb Example: A pretty and mostly mellow listen and then there was this powerhouse of a Brahms work. Very symphonic for just a piano and cello.

Ledbetter Heights (30th Anniversary Sessions) by Kenny Wayne Shepherd (2016) https://open.qobuz.com/album/mu1i89de8zeac Example: It has been awhile since I have listened to any Kenny Wayne. Too long I would say. This is a very nice blues guitar album.

Goodbye old friend. You were the perfect place to meditate.

Golden Gate Park Picnic

I had to turn down precapture to a shorter time. With a full second and 30 fps, it was getting a bit cumbersome but I agree, I was able to get some shots of my niece in motion that I wouldn't have been able to get otherwise. One from an early morning walk with the Batis 135/2.8. Shooting plants even in the slightest wind is so freaking hard with this lens but it's a fun challenge.

Exploring The Human League & Don't You Want Me

🐠 🌮 🌮 speaking of TACO/NACHO Tuesday, https://www.perplexity.ai/search/aece1583-dd4c-4a3a-bbdb-f70a193ddebb

I’m kind of proud and relieved that Spain didn’t participate this year.

@blessingx - yes, very much a potayto/potahto scenario but I often find myself in fixed shooting positions where zoom is a huge benefit. Granted, I've been shooting 90% with the 70-200 these days for kids sports but when I'm doing landscape stuff for work the 12-24 is indispensable. The 24-70 has made rare but meaningful appearances for things like semi-formals or proms. A lot of $$ for not much use but live and learn.

I will likely never graduate to primes, it's just too much to carry around and switching in the field drives me insane. So the current bag has: A7V, 12-24 F2.8, 24-70 F2.8, 70-200 F2.8, and 2x doubler (only works with the 70-200). That kit has sufficiently murdered my wallet over the last several years and shopping used very carefully.

The Last Ride of the Skanky Van... to the salvage yard. RIP RIP trusty steed.

Speaking of which A.I. “Gingery Wonton & Prawn Dumpling Noodle Soup"

Thanks all. Won't be able to make the service, but will go down to NJ for Shiva/visiting.....

They are a fun listen.....I can't remember if it was posted here, but I also liked another Ukrainian group, Yagody....

Speaking of Tiny Desk, lots of talk about DakhaBrakha here five or so years ago, but there was a Tiny Desk five further years back.

@blessingx, what are her views on magnets?

After all the wonderful music Esmé has been exposed to, her current favorite band is Insane Clown Posse. That can't be a bad sign, right? 😵‍💫 So...

The glorious Natural History Museum in London. And like all museums in the UK, totally free entry.

Another vinyl record I bought in London.... it needed a couple of passes through the ultrasonic cleaner but it's in perfect condition now. Baby Huey - Hard Times

The Hot Sardines

Meanwhile at a Publix in the South...

Now we are using My Whoosh... no bad.

Mushroom onion bacon and ham

No other place to put this. Just fun with bassoons.