.SUB to .SRT Converter

I've finished downloading the movie Y Tu mama Tambien but unfortunately, the subtitle that came with it is in portuguese. I've downloaded an english subtitle but it's in another format (.sub) that is currently not supported by my video player. I couldn't find a decent .sub to .srt converter on the net so i wrote my own. You can see it here (http://stimae.freehostia.com/sub-srt-converter.php). f you know hot to program, i have attached the source code here.

50mm f/1.8 and pinholing

Left: 50mm f/1.8 MKII, 50mm f/1.4 USM, and 50mm f/1.2 L USM

Last Saturday afternoon, I walked on the street of Hidalgo in manila (photography haven) to buy a polarizer for my cheap canon lens as I was preparing for a sunset shoot at Manila bay (which i did by the way). I saw that the shop also sells *brand new* canon lenses and I saw the cheapest on the line: a 50mm f/1.8 MKII, an all plastic cheapie (except for the lens elements and electronics of course) like my 22-55. I was looking for a second hand before but could not find any. I saw some on ebay but the price is just the same (and some are more expensive) if I buy a new one from that shop in Hidalgo. Reviews say that it is the best (read: renders sharp images -> good enlargements) among the cheapies. For 4,200, I think I'll buy it (if i don't find a 50mm f/1.4 USM, which is better, faster, and has a metal mount), as a backup lens. But having a smaller filter diameter (52mm which i don't have), it means that i have to buy another set of filters for it :( sad but anyway, as somebody have said, "photography is an expensive endeavour."

Being frustrated at the prices of canon lenses, and being influenced by my workmate who brought a plastic pinhole camera, I tried looking for photos done using pinholes. some good pinholers really make good photos. I mean, they all make all those big boxes of wood or corrugated board to capture the image, but hey! I have an SLR camera with removable lenses. What if I make a pinhole on my camera's body cap? I googled for "SLR pinhole" and sadly, that idea of mine was not original :D somebody has tried to do it already, and yes, it's possible. I don't have to deal with hacking wood or cutting boards and pasting them together anymore. I can have a pinhole camera that's auto exposure, auto film advance, auto rewind, has an accurate viewfinder, and has flash!

I tried it though and I am not getting sharp images on the viewfinder (which will of course be the same on film) so i'll figure out a way to sharpen the images this weekend and try it on film.

I have a new lens!

Hooray! I bought myself a real Canon 22-55 USM wide angle lens. This is way better than my 70-210 Sigma Canon-compatible lens. Its minimum focusing distance is 35 cm (whoopie! closer shots) but still, a slow lens (f/4 - 5.6). The only downside of it though is that it is made of plastic. I have read several negative comments but most of them compare the lens to the L (for luxury) line of canon lenses. It is classified under the "cheapies" although it is not that cheap for me Mr. Beginner (it costs 4,500 Phil. pesos / US$ 97). I saw a 20mm (I did not even care to look for the L [red] band) which costs 17,000. I will stand by this lens until I can afford a better one or even an L lens.

I will post pictures really soon. I got some good shots with this lens.

haaaay buhay

ang buhay ng programmer ay masayang tunay (not)
masayang tunay (not)
masayang tunay (not)

and buhay ng programmer ay masayang tunay (not)
maaaaa-sayang tuuu-nay (not)

New Hobby

I have never made a dream book: that book where you paste pictures of the things that you want and get them one by one in real life. But if ever i had one, one the pictures would be a Canon EOS SLR camera.

Just recently, I have made this dream of owning an EOS come true. I bought an EOS 50e from ebay and it came perfectly handsome, with all the gigantic lens and hood. I assembled it and pointed to everything like it was a hand-held cannon... And yes, it is a Canon.

I did some experimental shots on a 24 exp. roll and I was lucky to save 10 of them. The others? they were either underexposed or overexposed. I was really planning to take note of the settings of the camera while I take the shots but I do not remember why I did not. So I am going to start all over again to memorize the appropriate shutter and aperture settings for a given lighting condition.

It came with a cheap 70-210mm Sigma zoom lens (3x magnification because 210 / 70 = 3) and it was fine. The only problem is, the lens requires at least a 1.2m distance from the subject to focus. Any closer than that and it won't focus. I want another wide format lens. Somewhere between 10mm and 30mm to get closer shots. Sadly, lenses like these cost on the 5 digit range. Some cheap EF lenses cost about 15,000 pesos and some hover above 32,000+ pesos (1,000+ Singaporean Dollars).

For a while, I'll just make the most out of my telephoto lens and wait a little longer until I can afford another.

Techistupidos

From Manila, we stopped over at a gas station somewhere in the South Luzon expressway on our way to Tarlac to visit a friend's house. (To those whom i went with, you know this was already weeks ago :].) I saw this Mitsubishi adventure with a weird sticker on it's rear bumper. Too bad i did not bring a good camera aside from my Nokia 6820.

Try visiting his website and if you really can, then congratulations!

Piano

I was searching for a sheet music of "Lost Memory" (from the Korean Movie My Sassy Girl) and Google has led me to this site: http://www.sodasheetmusic.com/. it is quite old since most of the sheets were uploaded about 2005. Anyway, i found that her arrangements and improvisations are really quite good and I am posting here one titled "Theme in F major."



Piano: Theme in F Major