The manufacturer tells you the ’35mm equivalent focal length’ of the lens but then claims its absolute aperture. Here’s an example. Let’s say the camera has a 1? sensor, which is a 2.7X crop factor. If they claim it has a 24-70mm full-frame equivalent lens, it’s actually a 9-28mm f/2.8 lens. OK, fair enough.
But then they calculate the aperture at the actual focal length (not FF equivalent). So the lens is a 9-28 f/2.8 aperture is 28mm divided by 2.8 = 10mm. That’s the actual size of the aperture. But if you then list it as a 24-70mm, well, a 10mm aperture at 70mm = f/7 (same math, different direction). It’s not a huge problem, but it makes you think that the lens might act like a 24-70 f/2.8 lens on your SLR and it won’t. ~ Roger Cicala
Roger’s post is an informative and entertaining read. After reading this, I think I am reconsidering “needing” a Fuji X100F ($1300 new) for travel/walkabout photography. I love the design of the camera, and it has just the right size and looks to make me feel like an invisible tourist while walking around. However, I would prefer a normal focal length and I think I can achieve the same result with a Fujinon XF27mm f/2.8 pancake lens ($450 new) which has a ~41mm full-frame focal length.
On a drive, down from an overnight trip to Williamstown, Massachusetts my wife, hoping to make the drive more interesting for me, asked if there was any special location I wanted to photograph. From my list, I suggested the historic Saugerties Lighthouse in Saugerties, New York. I don’t recall the exact details about how I found out about the lighthouse but I think I used the map feature of 500px. I can pull up a map, zoom in on an area or region and see photos uploaded by other 500px users in the surrounding area. The majority of 500px photographs won’t have geolocation data attached to them automatically but it’s still a useful way to explore photography options. I think I simply used the map to scroll around and along our intended return route and somehow I found the lighthouse.
Saugerties Lighthouse, Saugerties, New York[exif id=”21875″]
Saugerties is about halfway between Williamstown and our home in New Jersey. The town lies between the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River and is a popular vacation spot for the area.
We left the Purple Pub, where we had lunch, and got to the lighthouse parking area at the end of Lighthouse Drive around 3 PM. My daughter decided to stay in the car and read. She didn’t enjoy her retreat experience as much as we had hoped and she just wanted to be alone with one of her many books. I grabbed my gear and my son and my wife and I walked along the half-mile nature trail to the lighthouse.
Saugerties Lighthouse, Saugerties, New York[exif id=”21876″]
According to my research, Saugerties becomes a lighthouse in 1834. The lighthouse was built at the mouth of the Esopus Creek to guide ships away from shallow areas of the Hudson River when daily commercial and passenger transportation came into the port. While walking the trail we noticed people enjoying the cool and shallow waters at the wide end of Esopus Creek.
Saugerties Lighthouse, Saugerties, New York[exif id=”21878″]
Construction of the lighthouse began in 1835 by Charles Hooster, a residence of the town. He won the job with the low bid of $2,988. The original source of light came from 5 whale oil lamps with parabolic reflectors, but in 1850 the whale oil lamps were replaced with mineral oil lamps.
In 1867, Congress budgeted $25,000 to construct a newly developed lighthouse which was built on a circular stone whose base is 18m in diameter. The carpenters used the old mineral oil lamps from the original lighthouse in the new lighthouse building. Two years later in 1869 the newly built lighthouse became functional and is still the present-day light of the town of Saugerties.
Currently, the lighthouse serves as an overnight two-room bed & breakfast and a day-time museum offering public tours and hosting special events. We arrived at a day and time when the lighthouse was not offering any tours and signs indicated that the lighthouse was closed to tours and asked for quiet due to visiting guest. I set up my gear on the beach and on the pier to get as many viewpoints of the building.
Name: Bright Ideas Brewing
Location: North Adams, Massachusetts
Recommended Beer: Bright IPA
Notes: Located in the MASS MoCA courtyard. Taproom open for pints, flights, growler fills, merchandise and crowlers to go. Outdoor seating in the summer. Outside food allowed. Parking is on the street or a nearby deck.
My wife and I were in Vermont twice this summer. Once to drop our daughter Kiran off at Sky Meadow Retreat for a wilderness camp and again to pick her up. We visited Burlington on our first trip and Bennington on the return trip. We also decided we would use the opportunity to do some college touring with our son Shaan at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts so booked a room in North Adams, Massachusetts with the intention of touring the college campus the next day.
On the drive to North Adams, we stopped and had dinner and sample the ale at Madison Brewing Company in Bennington, Vermont. Bhavana and I sampled one ale each. I had the JU-C Double IPA which the brewery describes as a “super juicy, super smooth Double IPA utilizing Mandarina Bavaria hops and Summit for a distinct orange hop presence and finished off with delicious blood orange juice”. I was expecting more of a fruit forward ale similar to what would be found in a West Coast Style IPA. I think the citrus flavours were too subdued.
On our way out of Bennington, we stopped at a beer retailer and picked up some more Vermont beer to bring back to New Jersey. We enjoyed the Cone Head by Zero Gravity Brewing on our visit to Burlington, so we bought two six packs of Cone Head, a four pack of Tribute by 14th Star Brewing Company, a four pack of Nawch Hoppa Double IPA and Limited Access by Rock Art Brewery. We would have bought more Vermont ales back with us but we did not have any more space in the small cooler.
North Adam is just 30 minutes from Bennington so once we were checked into the hotel, it was still early. We left the kids to watch Steven Universe and we took the opportunity to visit downtown, North Adams. Bhavana had a chat with the bartender at the hotel restaurant and discovered that our hotel was walking distance from a beer garden at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA).
We had a pleasant walk over to Bright Ideas Brewing while enjoying the art painted on support poles of the overpass. We were at the brewery until closing. We chatted with a wonderful bartender couple (the place was quite busy so our conversations were sporadic) while sampling (2 ounce pours) every ale in the brewery. The gentleman bartender is from Connecticut and his wife is Australian. Before we left, we purchased two crawlers — canned growlers — one of the Bright IPA and the other of Bright Wheat. I enjoyed watching the canning process. The Bright Wheat has lemongrass and blood orange.
Vermont has excellent breweries and excellent beer. Try them all.
