I’ve got quite a few places marked that my car can’t make it to, but that are < 1 mile away. I guess I could just walk there… I dunno. its hot now. I’ll fly the drone.
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@europlatus @paperdigits Seems hot and dry where you both are situated.
It is a cool 21°C here in TO. We had a major thunderstorm cell pass by cooling the whole region. Also, making quarter-sized hail fall in parts of Ottawa.
Still too windy to take stills of landscapes.
Yes, it’s hot and very dry where I am in the Okanagan, BC - drought conditions and water restrictions. But that’s not unusual in summer.
It’s been very frustrating from a photographic point of view because May and early June were great conditions for landscape photography, with some stormy conditions, cool cloud formations, flowers blooming and high visibility. But I was too busy with work to get out at all. Now work has slowed down a bit, but the weather has gone hot, dry and dusty! And it could remain like this for a while now.
But I’ve made a pledge to myself to get out and keep shooting in any conditions. There are great photos to be made whatever the weather. You just need to find them…
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It’ll actually be nice here for a few days, mid 70F, a little cloudy. Then it goes to 90+.
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Being in the wind is part of the experience! 
Somehow I missed that Fuji has a new kit lens?
XF 16-50mm f/2.8-4.8 R LM WR, 240g with internal zoom and weather proof? Pretty good specs if the glass holds up, seems way better than the old kit zoom.
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Tbh that’s a really cool combo to have in a kit lens. Over on Z mount, that’s what only the most expensive 24-70 f2.8 II gets. My f/4 version’s got a collapsible design, which is both good for portability and ever so slightly annoying to extend it every time…
To be fair, Fuji’s 16-55 F2.8 II which is a “premium” lens does not have internal zoom 
But it is weather proof, but so is the Nikon Z 24-70 F4 right?
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It is weather sealed, indeed.
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There’s also the new “cheap kit lens”, the XC 13-33. I love that lens dearly! Super useful focal range, smaller than the 15-45, yet manually zoomed! And quite good image quality for my needs.
It has replaced my 10-24. Giving up 3mm is tough, but losing 400g is nice, and gaining a more useful long end is very useful.
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Yeah, I have considered it myself because I don’t love the 16-80 F4, but I find it really hard to pay full price for a kit lens that is heavily discounted if you get it with a body. There are probably more on the used market now than when I first looked.
I haven’t read many reviews but I get the sense that users are fairly split between getting this 1st party Fuji and the Sigma 18-50 F2.8. With the latter, it’s not as wide, but it is a constant F2.8.
But I’m in a quandary over where to invest now, having 3 bodies, 1 in each format. I keep flip flopping over which to sell, which to invest in, etc. I had resigned myself to selling the Fuji kit, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it Then I thought maybe I should give up Micro 4/3 and just be content with APS-C, but then I picked up my OM-5 today and realized how much I love the size and handling of it… Maybe I’m just destined to be one of those people that has too many cameras.
Only three is too many these days? 
As a follow-up I think I’ll be trading this lens in for something like a Sigma 18-200mm or the Canon kit lens equivalent.
Perhaps I have been unlucky but the Tamron 16-300 F/3.5 - 6.3 is very soft throughout the focal range, almost like it is not focusing correctly at all.
https://www.michaelthemaven.com/best-walk-around-lens-canon-18-200-vs-sigma-18-200-vs-tamron-18-270/
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Any recommendations on an affordable diffuser for macro? Is AK diffuser worth it, or is DIY the best option?
I’m not a pro or intend to do a ton of macro, but it would come in handy. I have a Laowa 65mm F2.8 2x, and I enjoy photographing critters, but my flash only has a built in gimpy diffuser that doesn’t work that well.
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I do macro without a flash 
Back when I had a built-in flash I used LED bulb diffusers over it lol
While it made an already weak flash even less powerful, it produced a noticeable softening effect.
But now seriously. 103 dollars for the AK diffuser is quite a lot, but if it’s going to help you get shots that you currently cannot get (or it’s too difficult), then why not? 3D printing could be quite helpful, but the biggest problem is the reflective material IMO.
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Yeah, sadly I don’t have a 3D printer, I would love to, but don’t really have the space at the moment
Same question in my head at the moment.
But I need a new flash first…
I have a 3D printer, but I’d still just cut a dome off a LED bulb. The materials available for consumer 3D printing don’t have much attention paid to color temperature in their formulation.
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There’s a small fluid head for sale on a local forum. I detest ball heads, and already replaced with pan/tilt, but I fancy a fluid head.
Just one problem: I almost never actually use a tripod!
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I feel the pain. I actually own 3 tripod heads now, including a ball head, pan/tilt/self-leveling head, and a geared head. But I generally don’t like using tripods!
But sometimes you need one, and I aim to be doing more studio work over the next few years.
My main annoyance is that you never truly know what you enjoy using until you use it several times. Trying it out in a shop is no substitute for some proper photo shoots on location. It’s a problem I have with all photography gear actually, even the cameras and lenses.
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