New/Old look to gototmn.com website

I made some eye pleasing, ease of navigation type changes to the gotomn.com website. The page is all white and we went back to one of the older logos that I like better than the one I was using. No fancy innovations or anything like that, just the same old photo, history and links page that's been out there for over ten years. Kind of like an old pair of sweats, easy going and comfortable but nothing fancy.

There has been a lot going on with me lately so I haven't made many blog posts. The wife is going in for shoulder surgery later this month so I'm going to be busy. I've been having some car repairs done recently. Things like intake gaskets, water pumps and a MAP sensor on the Olds. An upcoming radiator replacement on the Ranger. It's tired old iron but it's paid for and they've been running pretty good so I'm going to invest a couple more years in the current fleet.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming racing season. I ended up buying another lens to add to my collection. It's a prime lens, a manual focus 135mm f2.8 third party lens that was marketed by a distributorship known as Kalimar that started in St. Louis in 1952 and was in business through the mid 90's. As close as I can trace it's origins the lens was probabaly manufactured by Sigma for marketing by Kalimar. I got this lens off eBay for less than $100 but in it's day it was a $400 lens (mid '90's dollars) when it was being marketed for film cameras.

This thing was a rare find. It's a solid build by what I would consider the best third party lens builder, Sigma, and was marketed by Kalimar to stores such as JC Penny, Sears and others of that genre. It's a manual focus lens but it's pristine and produces excellent images. It's not something I'd use all night long but there's a niche for it during certain lighting conditions.

I tested this lens out by pointing it out the front door and taking a couple of shots across the road. I was impressed by this lens' sharpness and clarity which in my opinion rivals that of much more expensive professional lenses. You just can't go wrong with prime lenses, they're a pain in the ass to carry around in the dust and the weather but they flat out rock when it comes to photo quality.



I am thinking about doing a video version of this blog so that I don't have to type the blog anymore. I've got a webcam that would be up to the task and it would be a quick edit so I might do that when I feel like talking more than I feel like typing. A carpal tunnel saver for sure!!!

I'll type (or talk) to you again real soon...