@dpollitt I have a nikon manual focus 135 f/2 and it's way sharper than my 80-200 f/2.8 wide open

and I've thought about doing the same thing

also because the 135 is a lot lighter than the 80-200

I almost never carry my two heaviest lenses anymore

heaviest and most expensive

I should just sell them

:O nikon announced a 70-200 f/4 VR? when did that happen?

@Aarthi Hats?

@EvanKrall Wasn't that around the same time they announced a ridiculously late 800 f/5.6?

apparently around Nov 5

though I don't see it on the dpreview home page

which is why I never saw it

@EvanKrall I don't know if i could use a manual focus 135 f/2 for all of my uses. My 135 is AF and actually is very fast indoors for sports and performances. I wouldn't be as fast using MF. But at any rate, I really enjoy the focal length and aperture over my 70-200 f/4 that I sold.

@jrista Oh, no. Did the email not go through? Well, here's an example meta post:

@Aarthi Sounds pretty cool! I wonder what kind of hats would work best for PhotoSE...maybe some hats with brand names, major retailers, etc?

@jrista Ah, alas, we can't do custom hats this year. :( Our one-man design team is too overextended to make it happen.

We're hoping next year, though, we can do custom hats for graduated sites.

oh, ok

But!

The set of hats is very diverse and filled with fun zany crazy things :D

ok, cool

@Aarthi I got the email.

@dpollitt oh! whew I was worried

but that was for smugmug.stackexchange.com

i'm guessing your main problem on this site is that we only have 1 active mod :)

he is overextended as is your graphic designer :)

oh nooo

@dpollitt oh dear, yes.

fortunately, it seems photo is reasonably, ah, self-sustaining?

@dpollitt ps, don't think you're off the hook for smugmug! :P

@Aarthi YEs, we are. We pretty much chose early on to take a primarily community-driven moderation approahc. I believe most closures, edits, etc. are done by active community members. I generally only step in when things get heavily flagged, or are flagged for a while.

That's admirable!

I manage our picture of the week contest, but generally the machine just rolls onward.

@jrista Not many communities are like that. Photo and DIY are the standouts in that regard.

@Aarthi It is a nice community.

:) Yours is a very nice community.

Well, on behalf of all of us: Thank you. :)

It is but the truth! :D

Mattdm is our most prolific contributor. He is the edit king, and is constantly addressing the little things.

he's a unix mod! I always forget that.

I have been slammed with a lot of personal stuff lately, like refinancing my mortgage and stuff like that.

:o I'm so sorry to hear that! :(

Our other active mod had a major life change recently, so he hasn't been around much.

So it has been very nice that our community is largely self-maintained.

It could have been a much larger burden.

Yes. That said: if you all ever need to walk away for a bit, please email community@ stackexchange.com so that we know.

Also, we'll cover for you while you fix up your meatspace life :)

Lately, I generally jsut address flags, check out new member posts, approve (or disapprove) edits, and update our contest winner on the banner.

@jrista ! Wow. that...is really amazing.

@Aarthi Well thanks. I don't think I need that right now, but if I do, I'll let you guys know.

@Aarthi Yeah...I think PhotoSE is THE testament to the power and efficiency of the StackExchange platform.

When you get the right people, the SE engine just runs like a dream.

:D

I've explored other forums, but this is my home.

Nothing quite like it.

lol

bbl...gonna head home

see you later! /waves~