"Sevilhanas", Montemor-o-Novo, 2008

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I am not different from everybody else: there are things that I like and things that I regard with aversion.
Gladly, most of them I can accept or tolerate.

That's the case with my Canon 30D digital camera.

A kind of fast-food feeling when I use it...

Saying that, I perfectly agree that there are some occasions where the 30D clearly delivers a better image than analogic cameras. That's the case with high ISO images in color.

At ISO 1600, I believe that even my Leicas would have a very hard time to compete and be able to do better. At least in slide film.

I am well aware that I could still get better digital models out there...

It just doesn't feel right to me to spend a whole lot of money in top of the line cameras that have a useful life of maybe one or two years before they are obsolete.

Many years ago, I very much enjoyed to use a fast color slide film from Agfa called Agfachrome 1000 (yes, 1000 ASA), that sadly as long been discontinued.

In 35mm it showed maybe too much grain, but in medium format that grain just turned beautiful, giving the photographs a very nice atmosphere. I miss it!

When I find some pictures I will post them, for you to see.

Montemor-o-Novo is a small, but culturally active, town.
"Sevilhanas" is a dance group from local people that learn Flamenco. I must say that I was very astonished: they perform with a very high level of expertise.

I really enjoyed their show in Curvo Semedo theatre.

I shot most of the pictures with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM lens (the older version without image stabilisation).

Although a somewhat cumbersome lens, I really admire it's optical performance, taking into account that it is a fast zoom with several elements.
I dare to say that it is so good as good prime lenses.

I think that I am glad that it doesn't have IS, as it nerves me a little to feel it working...
My hands still hold steady!

I was more concerned with beeing able to stop movement at the slow shutter speeds.
To do so, I had often to deliberatly underexpose to get somewhere around 1/30.
Of course, PP correction was needed...

If you saw attentively my former posts, you probably have noticed that I often don't crop my images. I like to show the whole negative.

I try to respect myself and my compositions.

If a image fails in camera, I tend to reject it... Not a religion, though...

In the same time, it seems that I don't give much importance to crop a digital image.

Perhaps it is because I don't feel it physicaly... So why should I care?

It's only pixels, it's only numbers...

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