text:
Sigma US gives price for APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
Sigma US has given details of the price and availability of the 180mm F2.8 macro lens for APS-C and full-frame DSLRs it announced in January. Featuring the company's Optical Stabilizer system, and three of its fluorite-like FLD glass elements, the APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM is billed as the world's first 1:1 180mm F2.8 optic. It will be available in the US from July 27th, at a street price of $1699.
Press Release:
Sigma Corporation of America announces APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
World's first 1:1 180mm F2.8 macro lens arrives in the US in July for street price of $1,699
RONKONKOMA, NY July 13, 2012 – Sigma Corporation, a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world's most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, has announced that the Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM will be available in the United States on July 27 for the street price of $1,699.
The new APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM lens boasts Sigma's proprietary Optical Stabilizer (OS) technology and a wide F2.8 aperture to allow faster shutter speeds for narrow depth of field. With the OS feature, the lens offers the use of shutter speeds approximately four stops slower than would otherwise be possible, enabling handheld, close-up photography. Three "F" Low Dispersion (FLD) glass elements, which have a performance equal to fluorite glass, are included to provide excellent correction for color aberrations, and an inner focusing system enables this lens to photograph objects precisely throughout the entire focusing range. Overall length does not change during focusing.
"Macro photography is becoming quite popular and we've been growing our lineup of macro lenses as a result," said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. "We're filling a gap in the industry by introducing the world's first 1:1 180mm F2.8 lens to the market. The Optical Stabilizer technology and the larger focusing distance also provide photographers with more control for highly sensitive subjects that are on the move, like butterflies and insects."
Equipped with the Super Multi-Layer Coating feature, the APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM lens reduces flare and ghosting, and delivers sharp and high contrast images, even in backlit conditions. The incorporation of Sigma's Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) ensures quiet and high-speed autofocus, as well as full-time manual focus override capability. The macro lens has a rounded nine-blade diaphragm to create an attractive blur to the image's out-of-focus areas. At 1:1 magnification, this lens has a focusing distance of 18.5 inches, which is a greater working distance than shorter focal length macro lenses, making it advantageous when taking pictures of highly sensitive subjects. It is also compatible with Sigma's 1.4x EX DG APO and 2x EX DG APO Tele Converters.
To locate an authorized Sigma dealer near you, visit http://www.sigmaphoto.com/where-to-buy-sigma. To use Sigma's new Lens Finder Tool to find the best glass to suit your needs, visit http://www.sigmaphoto.com/sigma-lens-finder. For information about Sigma Corporation of America, visit www.sigmaphoto.com, or follow the company on Twitter and Facebook.
About Sigma Corporation
For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation's expertise and innovation has driven the company's core philosophy of "knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination," with an emphasis on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology at moderate prices. This family-owned organization is the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 40 lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax.
Sigma Corporation also produces digital SLR cameras and high-definition digital compact cameras. The company is headquartered in Japan, with offices strategically located throughout Europe, Asia and North America. For information, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com.
|Principal specifications
|Lens type
|Prime lens
|Max Format size
|35mm FF
|Focal length
|180 mm
|Image stabilization
|Lens mount
|Canon EF, Nikon F (FX), Sigma SA Bayonet, Sony/Minolta Alpha
|Maximum aperture
|Minimum aperture
|Aperture ring
|Number of diaphragm blades
|Special elements / coatings
|3 FLD glass elements
|Minimum focus
|0.47 m (18.5″)
|Maximum magnification
|Motor type
|Ring-type ultrasonic
|Full time manual
|Focus method
|Focus notes
|Floating focus system
|Distance scale
|DoF scale
|1640 g (3.62 lb)
|95 mm (3.74″)
|204 mm (8.03″)
|Filter thread
|86.0 mm
|Tripod collar
Jul 6, 2015
Jul 2, 2015
Jul 2, 2015
Jun 29, 2015
I'll take the Nikon 200mm f/4 over this lens any day, thank you. Especially for only 1400$.
And with this, Sigma signals that they have abandoned K mount for macro lenses.
Or that they have abandoned K mount for all new lenses. The big question is, are they still producing the existing K mount lenses, or when the supplies in the warehouse are gone, is Sigma out of the K mount business?
Tamron appears to have pulled out. Cosina (Zeiss and Voigtlander) has pulled out. That would leave Pentax the only camera brand with no third-party lens support.
Why do you think they'd do that, or that be happening? And what would that mean to Pentax and Pentax shooters?
Who am I going to use for my 3rd party lenses now? Sigma raising their quality and prices. They are pricing themselves out of the market for the casual macro shooter.
Well you can always use the plethora of old manual focus macro lenses on fleabay which are optically very good (almost all macro lenses are). And if you NEED AF for non macro work and in general then there is always the time tested Tamron 90mm f2.8 (which I use and like) as well as other sharp but cheap (relatively) lenses like the Tamron 60mm f2 and the Sigma 70mm f2.8.
2 Sigma lenses, both AF dead within a year. One Sigma flash for Canon, again dead within a year. Never again Sigma.
I have a 7 year old Sigma 18-125mm zoom for Canon, which I bought for $300 to use with my Canon 20 D. It just keeps working! I use it on a Canon Rebel T1i now. I shot over 100,000 photos with that lens over the years. I wish it had OS. I might buy the newer OS version of that lens for my Sony A55.
It looks a very good lens for anyone who tends to specialise more in tripod macro photography.
However, I admit it looks a bit large and expensive for my tastes. Currently I use the older non-OS Sigma 150mm, often with a 1.4x converter for a 210mm f4 1.4:1 lens. I've always been pleased with this lens. Nevertheless OS would be useful at times. I wanted to see the prices and sizes of the newer 150mm and 180mm.
Whilst the 180mm will probably be a macro lens to lust after, I'm not so sure I'd enjoy carrying it around. There's also probably a lot of useful equipment you could get for the price difference. So I think if I did move up to an OS version I'd get the 150mm as it's easy to turn it into a very serviceable 210mm with a 1.4x converter.
I have a hard time believing they don't know how much it will weigh. They sure are proud of it. The 150mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO Macro is only $1,100 street price! I don't see how 20% longer focal length makes this lens worth 50% more. Maybe the 150 is selling so well that they figure this one should be priced higher, so it can make them a little more profit. Besides, Nikon and Canon would be proud of a 180mm f2.8 VR or IS macro too, I'm sure.
quesitonable move by Sigma
ideal focal length for butterflies
given the specs posted, it is likely more ungainly from the optically superb Nikkor 200 Micro f4 ...lots of lens elements!
the additional speed likely comes at significant cost as I suspect this is a heavy lens as well as a large one
I love using macro lenses for non-macro photography & the f2.8 with good quality IS is highly appealing at this focal length
$1700 is not a cheap lens. I expect it will outperform other lens in its class or Sigma can't sell to anyone.
19 elements, wow! it is not easy to design and put together with many piece of glass.
I seriously doubt too many people will buy this at $1700. Though they do say its a street price I feel its closer to the MSRP and the lens will sell for around $1300 or so which would make it cheaper than the Canon 180mm f3.5 L.
Joseph Wisniewski: "Breathing" - that is a new term to me. Could you explain what you mean? Optical diagrams I get, but you can't readily show these in comments.
Ill like to give it a shot. Generally all lenses are rated at near infinity focus. However once you approach minimum focusing distance then most lenses show a reduced focal length. To give you an example, ill quote directly from Thom Hogan's site where he reviewed the Nikon 70-200mm VR II.
The 70-200mm (@200mm) is actually 192mm at infinity focus, this drops down to 164mm when focusing at 3m and finally at MFD (1.4m) the actual focal length is just 134mm.
Similarly the Sigma 180mm is approximately 180mm only at infinity focus. Once you focus at near 1:1 magnification, in all likelihood the actual focal length will be less.
I believe all lenses show some focus breathing but some show significantly higher focus breathing than others.
Brendon's on the right track.
Breathing is an old movie term. Still photographers don't pay as much attention to it, but it's a real problem when you focus in to blur a scene for a transition, or cross focus between two people at different distances, to add emphasis to a dialog.
It means the angle of coverage of a lens changes as you focus. Even a "unit focusing" lens that doesn't change focal lengths when you focus breathes.
Let's pick on my 58mm f1.4 Voigtlander. It doesn't change focal length when you focus: it's always 58mm. So, at infinity, the lens is a "hole" 58mm from the sensor. On a FF camera, that's 2*arctan(43.3mm/2/58mm) = 40.9 degrees.
When you focus to 1m, the lens extends 3.6mm. That hole is now 61.6mm from the sensor. So, the angle of coverage is now 38.7 degrees, a very visible difference from the 40.9 you had at infinity. Stuff gets larger looking.
A lens that changes focal lengths as you focus can partially or totally compensate for breathing. The older Nikon 85mm f1.8 D, for example, has an "internal focusing" mechanism that moves the lens's rear inner elements to alter the focal length of the lens when the camera tries to focus it.
Instead of racking out from 85mm to 92.9mm when you focus from infinity to 1m, it changes focal length. At infinity, it's an 85mm lens, 85mm from the sensor. At 1m, if it were perfect, it would zoom, becoming a 77.3mm lens at 85mm from the sensor. Since the "hole in space" is always 85mm from the sensor, the lens is always covering 28.6 degrees.
Note that I said "if it were perfect". In reality, it both zooms and moves as it focuses. So, it might use zooming to account for 5 of the 7.7mm that it needs to focus from infinity to 1m, and use movements of some elements near tie aperture to pick up the other 2.7mm. The result, the angle changes, but only 1/3 as much as it would if you used an old-fashioned unit-focus design.
So, the 85mm f1.4 Nikkor is "better" for video than the 85mm f1.4 Cosina Zeiss Planar. The Nikkor is not free of breathing, but it breathes about 1/3 as much as the Zeiss.
Some lenses overzoom. The Nikon 70-200mm VR II is an example. It actually changes focal length from 85mm to about 59mm when it goes from infinity to 1.4m. That's 25.5mm outward, when it only needs 5.5mm. So it "overzooms" about 20mm, and ends up breathing worse than a unit focusing lens that would only have moved 5.5mm.
The older version 1 zoomed much less, and has much less breathing.
To sum it all up. A unit focus lens is one "extreme". It breathes in, the angle of focus decreases, looking like it's "zooming in" as you "focus in" on closer objects. It's "not compensated" for breathing.
A "perfectly compensated" lens changes focal length exactly as much as would be required to focus, there's no movement of the lens's "rear nodal point" and you get no breathing, at all. Zeiss "master primes", at $15,000 each, are examples of perfectly compensated lenses.
An under-compensated lens changes focal length, but not enough to achieve focus, so it has to move a little, and the end result is it still breathes in as you focus in, but not as much as a unit focusing lens. The Nikon 85mm f1.4 is such a lens, Nikon eliminated about 70% of its breathing.
An overcompensated lens changes focal length more than it should to achieve focus, so there has to be "wrong way" motion to take up the slack. The breathing is more "noticeable" because they breathe out when you focus in.
This can be a small amount, an overcompensated lens may breathe 1/2 as much as a unit focusing lens, and you only really notice the breathing because it's "wrong way" breathing, out as you focus in, in as you focus out. Or it can even be more than a unit focusing lens. That's why the Nikon 70-200mm VR2 gets a lot of comments from people shooting video, because it has a lot of that "wrong way" breathing that's so easy to notice. More than a "conventional" lens, and wrong way, to boot.
Thank you very much, that was an excellent explanation. I have noticed the focal length change on macro lenses at infinity vs. 1:1, but as I don't shoot video, it never occurred to me that this optical feature might be detrimental for some users.
The Zeiss "master prime" design may have no constraints on weight or bulk. I suppose lenses are like tripods, an inevitable compromise: you can't have high quality, light weight, no "breathing", and reasonable cost in the same lens.
Is this a better lens than any of Canon's macros?
The Canon 180mm f3.5 is a strict average lens thats grossly overpriced. They have nothing in the 150mm range but their 100mm f2.8 USM and 100mm f2.8 IS L USM lenses are darn good.
However if you need good working distance then you need a 150mm or 180mm macro lens.
Since Sigma's 150mm lens is very highly regarded this 180mm should also be a stellar lens unless Sigma has really screwed up the design.
Do note that 90mm - 100mm lenses can be used handled for good results but 150mm and higher macro lenses theoretically NEED to be used on a tripod. So the OS is more for non macro purposes.
Thanks for the info. :-)
well, would like to see an lens equivalent to canons MP-E 65 instead that have 2-5:1 instead.
That lens is the one and only lens i envy the canon shoooters for, wish there was one with nikon mount.
This 180mm lens will probably be to heavy for everyday macro shooting, ig handheld.
My 150 mm sigma macro lens is a tad to heavy for all day usage hand held.
To heavy! & Who needs f2.8 with iS at least when you can shoot at iso 1600 on Pro bodies.
Huh? Have you ever shot at 1,600 ISO? Noisy is not the word. That's a word reserved for ISO 400 and ISO 800. Try shooting with a high resolution camera, like a 7 D or a D 7000 at ISO 1,600, and take a close look at the image. Pro bodies? I'm assuming you mean something like a D 800 then. JUST AS NOISY, though you can downsample to 18 megapixels and get a resonable result. Still, that won't compare with what you get from the same camera shooting at ISO 400. Look at any large prints lately? Macro prints are especially needy of low noise, because people inspect them very close up, to see how much detail they can see in the print.
Can someone please explain what 'flourite-like' means vs. actual flourite, and how this affects quality?
At 1.6 kg/ 3.5 lb, that OS will come in handy.
At least as far as the aperture and OS, this is a category leader.
I have an old Canon 180mm f/3.5 L non-IS, lighter at approximately 1.1 kg, and it's strictly a tripod/ monopod/ "Lord V beanpole"/ beanbag lens at macro range.
I have the older f3.5 version of this lens, and always liked it. For general macro purposes, one is probably better off going for a lens in the 90~105mm range, and consider this lens after mastering a shorter focal length. The 2.8 version is quite a bit heavier (about 700 grams heavier) than the the 3.5 version, so the weight alone could be a dealbreaker for some.
Advantage of the long focal length is much better control of backgrounds, along with the working distance, as others have mentioned.
Here's a recent post of some bees I shot, using the 180 f3.5's AF at 1:1 distances. I was very pleased with the success I was having:
I have two Sigma lenses one is good the other is good? But it took 6 months and 4 trips to the service center to fix AF problems. For me. It would be easier to buy and spend more and not have to worry about it. Sorry Sigma it might be the best thing since sliced bread but you burned the bridges for me.
There press release should read:
For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation's expertise and innovation has driven the company's core philosophy of "knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination," with an emphasis on producing sorry-quality, crummy-performance photographic technology at moderate prices.
Holy cow! Are they serious? $1,700. That is 3 times what I paid for the extremely good Sigma 150mm f/2.8. I can't fathom why it would cost so much more. I don't think they'll get many takers at that price.
longer focal length + optical image stabilization = more glass + bits = more $$$
fmian: Just like todays typical company, every time somebody scratches him or herself a consumer has to pay for it.
I agree. Every time Sigma release a new lens the price is about triple the previous incarnation. OK it has IS and and no doubt very well built but surely the attraction of third party lenses like Sigma and Tamron is the very fact they offer very good quality at cheaper prices than camera makers own lenses. The Tamron 180 macro is £640 (and on a Sony or Pentax this is stabilised anyway). The equivalent Canon and Nikon lenses are around £1100.
Sigma are going to price themselves out of the market.
The price made me cringe also as I was looking forward to this lens to possibly replace my Tamron 180mm. What is Sigma thinking ? At that price, I'll skip and get a used but excellent condition Nikon 200mm f/4 micro. Heck, at that price I could get a new 200mm f/4 micro ! Considering their less than stellar reputation in the quality control department, Sigma needs to get real with their prices.
Well, since the 105 and 150 both say they have a MSRP of 1400-1600, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't actually pay that much... just like always...
Also, how did the OP only pay ~$550 for the 150 macro? You must mean the one with no OS. The new one goes for about $1100.
This is not out of the ordinary - stop flipping out. Show me another > 150mm macro that's stabilized and doesn't cost that much...
For all those who dislike the price it seems that there is a market opportunity for you. It maybe time for you to design, produce and market a lens made in America for half the price.
I am sure you would become very wealthy on the volume of sales even at your reduced margin because everybody would insist on owning at least one copy. ;)
I taste bokehlicious.
Always wanted lens manufacturers to push the magnification
100mm F/4 1.5x magnification anyone?!
Not everybody needs a mp-e 1-5x
But 1.5x is common for bugs.
don't mind if it's MF, the focus path might just be too long for practical AF.
The Nikon 105/2.8 AF-S G Micro can take any Nikon teleconverter (1.4X, 1.7X, and 2X) which increase the magnification by the same amount. In good light, the lens will still AF even, at least with the 1.4X TC that I've tried (yielding a 147.5mm f/4 1.4:1 magnification lens with AF and VR).
Then again, the same applies to the Sigma macros as far as I know.
I noticed they did not state in the specs, how much it weighs. At F2.8 and 19 elements, it must be substantial.
1.64kg, 3 lb 9.8 oz
Oh my god, 1.64kg are they kidding! This is almost double the 150 f/2.8 weight and more than a 70-200 f/2.8L IS.
Absolutely absurd. I had my heart set on this lens but will probably now just get the 150 f/2.8 OS or get a 90/100mm 1:1 macro for my Olympus E-M5 at 1/4 quarter the weight and the Oly has IS built in.
I am 2 for 2 with dud Sigma lenses, including a 150mm OS Macro which will periodically decide to have problems with autofocus and with image stabilization. I won't buy any more Ford cars and I won't buy any more Sigma lenses, particularly when there are reasonable alternatives from Canon and Nikon. The specs for this lens look good, but Sigma does not have adequate quality control.
I'm 6 for 5 (one lens went in twice, for two unrelated problems).
The HSM died in my 30mm f1.4.
The 14mm had a problem with its own lubricants coating the glass elements, and, as it was out of warranty, Sigma promptly pronounced it irreparable, but a local shop fixed it.
My 400mm 5.6 went in twice: once for the AF mechanism, once for an internal element that came unmounted.
My 8mm has a focus problem that Sigma says (in tiny print, in the manual, no less) is normal for that lens.
My SD-14 died the second or third time I turned it on, and I returned it for "fitness for purpose".
Yea Joseph ...
I use Sigma gear a lot and never had any problems. The only one was a shipping problem.
My DP2s is close to 35K actuations too.
50 f1.4 never had problems.
17-50 EX 2.8 never had problems.
85 f1.4 never had problems.
150 Macro OS APO HSM f2.8 EX never had problems.
17-70 Macro had shipping problems.
And so on ...
There is always a big gamble with Sigma, tried 3 50 1.4 all of them had horrible AF issues.
my sigma 70-200 2.8 os had to go to sigma because AF just stopped working, was hunting like crazy
I hope you change your mind about Ford...
Depth of field: 0.0004m at 0.47m and f/2.8. LOL ... even at f/16 it is just 3mm. I am not sure the world really needs lenses like this.
Actually, teleconverters are common with long macro lenses, to get more working distance around "skittish" subjects. Shaw's "Closeups in Nature" has a lot of good information on that technique. That's one reason for an f2.8 macro.
A lot of us do extreme shallow DOF macro. I often use a Nikon 85mm f1.4 (76mm f1.4 at its closest focus) with a Canon 500D diopter. That's effectively a 66mm f1.2. That's another reason why people need lenses like this.
Zeiss makes a pair of f2.0 macros, a 100mm and a 50mm.
Now, if you know so little about the subject, you really shouldn't be getting so rude with people who do know about it, or ridiculing equipment manufactures. Instead, ask intelligent questions, like why would they make this? What would you do with it?
You're both welcome.
1:1 @ 18.5 inches/47cm working distance!!!!!!!!
From the film/sensor plane , Yes
Focusing distance, not working distance. To get the working distance, subtract the length of the lens and the distance from the mount to the sensor (44 mm for Canon EF)
So, 470 - 204 - 44 = 222 mm.
Still very good of course!
I love my Canon macro lenses ... I really do, but in the same time I am a proud owner of a 150mm f/2.8 and a 70mm f/2.8 Macro lenses from Sigma. They are truly Spectacular in every way ..... impressive resolution characteristics even wide open, superb sharpness, lovely bokeh ( well not the creamiest but still pleasant ), nicely controlled Chromatic Aberrations and most of all great value for money!!! The latest Macro introduction from Sigma surely can be a welcome addition to the very impressive range in the line .... Bravo Sigma ...You Can too ;)
High quality at moderate prices ???? I Am dead !!!! If you want quality you have to pay for, cheap stuff from sigma is not a good deal : 50 per cent is decentered, mecanical problems, un reliable autofocus.....
So again a 1700 USD Lens and what ? Buy a used nikon or canon instead.
First party is overrated.
Don't agree on the price but this 50% decentered seems to be waay off line. I used 3 Sigma lenses and all 3 were great lenses without problems. Though there are plenty of dud Sigma lenses, many of their EX lenses are as good as any Canon L lens especially their macro range like the 105mm OS, 150mm OS and non OS and their brilliant one of a kind 120-300mmf2.8 OS.
i have no sigma lenses anymore.. because all of them had issues. sigma is a lottery for cheap buyers.... if your lucky you get a good one. thx but im not buying sigma anymore. it´s not for no reason that so many complain about sigmas AF. maybe that´s why macros from sigmas seem to get a better report. for macro most will use manual anyway i guess.
Sigma lenses so far (for Canon 1DsII and 5DII):
15mm f/2.8 fisheye: Fine.
12-24mm f/4.5-5.6: Fine.
20mm f/1.8: Required tape on the hood to avoid ratteling.
28mm f/1.8: Fine.
70mm f/2.8 macro: Sharpest lens ever encountered.
100-300 f/4: Fine.
So except for the tape on the 20mm hood (just like the Canon 200mm f/1.8!) no problems at all for 6 lenses.
Yeah, I've owned a few Sigma lenses, too. Going all the way back to my old Sigma manual focus 70-210mm f/2.8 APO. Currently I have the 20-40mm f/2.8 EX DG Aspherical, the 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM, the 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO Macro and the 300mm f/4 APO Tele Macro. I've had no problems with any of them. No decentering. No autofocus issues. Nothing. My guess is that a LOT of the complaining about quality issues with 3rd party lenses is coming from people hired by the majors to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt.
I had the 70mm 2.8 Macro, it was an amazing lens wh good price. But... Sigma lenses have problems:
- 50mm 1.4 more than +2 correction on my 5DII so useless go back to Sigma.
- My fiend with 30mm 1.4 => problem
- I try a 85mm 1.4 prime lense => problem
So i understand 1700$ for this lens is expensive. Hope do not have focus problem...
We've all heard of sample variation from Sigma and it's a bit higher than the others I believe, but I've never ever heard of an issue with their line of Macro lenses, especially the 150 f/2.8 APO. Somehow Sigma's macro glass comes out of their own factory or own special assemblers or something but they are superb lenses.
Your comment is ridiculous... Sigma disturbs ultras-Canonistes and persuaded Nikonistes that they have the best material of the world... Sigma proved and proves for a long time that they are capable of making objectives of very high optical quality, furthermore, the last generations at the level of the HSM and of the OS does not much have to envy in Canon and Nikon. know the number of produced objectives not Sigma every year... What stands out in 100 % of products with no problem at all? Nobody!... Do not make of a 4 or 5 % of the totality of products for a majority !
@Chris : The image quality is not the problem. Sigma produce lenses with very good image quality
Canon has exactly same problem. The problem is not Sigma or Canon or Nikon brand. It's product controlling.
That's the reason why i choose to buy zeiss lenses. They control each piece of production. So you have never problem.
Sorry but i don't want to pay 1k€ and to hope for a good product.
Great for macro and portraits,i ll wait for test results.
If you use it for anything else than macro the speed of the AF system becomes important.
I'm curious about that.
While I can't see it mentioned anywhere in the press release, I can see from the photo that there is indeed a focus limiter which should boost the AF speed in normal photography to pretty good levels. :)
I'll wait an see if they are truly f/2.8 at the 1:1 ratio position or if the the 2.8 is at longer range. Also I would be curious about the diaphragm design and the kind of bokeh this lens can produce. For me the best 180 lens and probably the best lens created remains to be leica 180/2.8 apo.
Even if f2.8 was possible at 1:1, you would never use it. You'd have no DoF (even at F11-16 you still need focus stacking).
@ sirkhann
I do understand the physics behind it and that's why I was questioning their statement. But thought perhaps they have larger glass and aperture and extended 1:1 it still stays at 2.8.
I know the leica is not macro. However, an APO lens that is corrected really well could make a great general use lens and for me the benchmark is the leica 180 apo. So my point was that I want to see it tested against the leica at infiniti
@Epitaph_pmr I understand the DOF macro issues. Though for some artistic reason you may just want to shoot 2.8. In general for macro when possible I don't set my lens beyond 5.6 or f/8 and I then stack. The result as you probably already know is far better. I've even stacked the famous arch shot at mount whitney in eastern sieras (not macro obviously) and got some amazing results. The texture on the arch is so much more 3D looking vs. the other shots I've seen from that spot that were taken with wider lenses at f16-f22 range.
This one, like my Nikon 200mm, is an internal focusing type: the focal length drops as you get closer to 1:1. WillemB says 117mm, which makes sense. 180mm f2.8 is a 64.3mm aperture, so 117mm at 1:1 is f3.64, which is a lot better than the 150mm does, a "conventional" macro that goes from f2.8 to 5.6 at 1:1.
@sirkhann, aperture is reduced (see "bellows factor") but light transmission (see "t stop") is unaffected.
@Joseph S Wisniewski good point about the effective focal length at shorter range.
@sirkhann thanks but we all know about the extension tube and the effect on focal length. This camera seem to have a larger front element . Leica uses is a 67mm front thread vs. the 86mm, it does not take a trigonometry genius to figure out there is potential for larger diameter that may have been used to design that could maintain a higher fstop. A bit like how zoom lenses with fix fstop do. So that's part I'm trying to explore and not the basic extension and fstop reduction that we all know about.
Just wondering but why would you need f/2.8 for doing macro? Don't you usually want as much DOf as possible since you are focusing so close?
2.8 on macro is great for portraits, studio use and since its a 180mm lens you can use it for taking pictures of birds as well at that aperture settings.
yeah it will be a great long prime
The reason it is f2.8 is so because that helps with using a teleconvertor. A f/4 could only use a 1.4x TC while a 2.8 can use a 2x. AF and all that happens at max aperture and the lens is stopped down as you take the photo. Max aperture for reliable AF is f5.6. Even when using manual focus as is typical with macro a brighter viewfinder is helpful
Willem, it's close to the length you need to avoid breathing. If your lens doesn't change focal length at all, you get "breathing in" when you focus in. Say you've got a FF camera. At infinity, the angle of view is 2*arctan(43.3mm/2/180mm) is 13.7 degrees. Now, simply extend to 1:1, and you've got a pupil 360mm from the sensor, and 6.9 degrees.
If your lens zoomed to 90mm when it hit 1:1, you'd have the original 13.7 degrees, "breathing free", but you'd have a short working distance.
I guess 117mm is a "happy medium", you breath from 13.7 to 10.6 degrees, but still retain about 200mm of "working distance".
Oh, and of course, if it held its 180mm focal length, it would need to extend an additional 180mm to reach 1:1. It's already 204mm long: a 384mm (15 inch) long macro would be very hard to handle.
Almost all macros focus breath ALOT at 1:1. Most 90-105 mm macros focus breath down to around 60mm. For example at 1:1 the Tamron 90mm (with typical focus breathing) and the Tamron 60mm (with remarkably little focus breathing for a macro) have around the same effective focal length and therefore nearly the same effective working distance.
so you can use the mentioned teleconverters for additional working distance and still have usable light levels
The new Prynt Pocket can print a photo directly from their iPhone simply by inserting the phone into the printer, then snapping a photo. Each print will cost about 50 cents. Read more
Updates for Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom CC bring support for the Sony Alpha 9 and Panasonic ZS70/TZ90, along with bug fixes.
After the makers of the Triggertrap remote camera control system is no longer sold due to the company folding, users will be able to build their own, as the hardware design has been released to the public.
The Magic Format Converter comes with internal optics that expand the image circle of full-frame DSLR lenses for use on the Fuji medium format camera. Read more
The usually Apple-exclusive MacPhun software developer has announced that it will introduce PC versions of two of its most popular applications. Both Aurora HDR and Luminar should be available for the Windows operating system by the autumn of this year. Read more
Sony's newest G Master telephoto zoom, announced alongside the a9, is the first of the company's FE lenses to reach 400mm natively. We had one in California and photographed horses, portraits, and landscapes - check out how it did. Read more
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The Kodak EKTRA, the company's 'camera first' smartphone, is now available to purchase in the United States. Read more
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No mic socket? No problem. In this video, Daniel Peters at Photo Gear News shows you how to make a lapel microphone using just a smartphone and a pair of earbuds.
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In this terrifying video, Iraqi journalist Ammar Alwaely narrowly misses a sniper's bullet, which takes out his chest-mounted GoPro. Warning: strong language. Watch the video


text:
Central Copenhagen with sunny courtyard - room #2
Size15 m²
Floor No.0
- Washer/dryer
- Balcony/terrace
- Internet/WiFi
- Kitchen
- Towels
- Baby cot
- Dishwasher
Accommodation summary
|Thorvaldsensvej, 1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark
|Property type
|Private room
|Property ID
|Acceptance rate
|Response time
|A few hours
|Calendar updated
I offer 2 double rooms in my private apartment. This room has 1 double bed, table with chairs, TV and free wireless internet , fridge, electrical kettle with tea and instant coffee. The room fits 2 people, but I can arrange for the third, an extra bed or baby cot. Only 3 steps up from the street level, the apartment is on a high ground floor. The rooms are private with beds linens and towels, only the bathroom is shared.
The building has a sunny patio where you can relax, read a book and enjoy some good moments.
Quiet residential area just 15 minutes walking distance from: Tivoli and old city center, as well as the pulsating areas of Vesterbro and Norrebro. Metro 'Forum' - direct to the Airport and Beach in 20 minutes - running 24/7! Shopping and park around the corner. Parking in front of the building (2 hours free - 35dkk city day ticket).
Looking forward to welcome you!
House rules
|Weekly rate for 1 guest
|Price for > 1 guests
|R 205 ZAR per guest/night extra
|Check-in after
|On arrangement
|Check-in before
|On arrangement
|Check-out before
|On arrangement
|Cancellation Policy
Reviews of this property
Good apartment, nice host, in convenient position. No need to have car because you can get the city center by foot (20 minutes walk), by metro or by bus.
I didn't understand by the announce that the apartment was shared with another guest room and with the host room, but it has not been a problem.
We really enjoyed our stay at Frederic's. Most of all, we appreciated Frederic's hospitality and attention : it was a pleasure to visit the city with his advices ! The room, as the rest of the home, is really nice, calm and peaceful.
Thank you !!!
Nice room in a central but quit area very near to the central station and the city. Friendly and helpful host. We enjoyed our stay there much.
Very pleasant stay at Frederic's place., good location in Copenhagen. We had everything we needed, nice room. Recommended!
Frederic and his sons were very friendly. Nice room with all you need.
I will come back again.
Frederic is a very friendly and helpful host, the apartment is well furnished. He gave me good advice on what you should have seen in Copenhagen. On foot or by bicycle is all well and quickly accessible from his apartment.
Frederic ist ein sehr freundlicher und hilfsbereiter Gastgeber die Wohnung ist toll eingerichtet. Er gab mir gute Tipps, was man in Kopenhagen gesehen haben sollte. Zu Fuß oder mit dem Rad ist alles gut und schnell von seiner Wohnung zu erreichen.
We stayed for two nights at Frederics apartment, and I would recommend it! The apartment is located at a good neighborhood and Very central.
Frederic is a good host.
The room is well located for a trip to the center of Copenhagen only 15 min walk.
The kitchen and bathroom were clean.
Overall a good stay there and seen many of copenhagen
Frederic is een goede gastheer.
De kamer is goed gelegen voor een uitstapje naar het centrum van kopenhagen slechts 15 min lopen.
De keuken en badkamer waren schoon.
Kortom een goed verblijf daar en veel van kopenhagen gezien
Our room was very comfortable and well equipped and our host was very helpful - Frederic recommended some very good eating spots as well!
- Quality assured accommodation
- Every host is verified by telephone
- Secure payment via SSL encryption

subset: commoncrawl


text:
We all have a soft spot for The Underdog - it's "the American way". So when little, white guy Cody Pearcy, from Div III Glenwood College shows up at Pro Day workouts and mauls the competition, I just have to root for him. He's only about 5'9, 165 or so but he ran the 40 in 4.31, faster than any receiver at the NFL combine. His vertical jump measured 44 inches, better than any player in Indianapolis.
And the short shuttle, at 3.76 seconds, is one of the fastest in the combine's history.
He was the teams #1 receiver, forcing opponents to game-plan around him. An agent quickly snatched him up at the combine and has spoken to at leasy 24 teams about him. He projects as a DeSean Jackson - type slot receiver/KO/PR guy at the next level. Anybody interested in signing this guy? He projects as an UFA.


text: Season opens for MTA Red Sox Reading Game Catcher David Ross is new to the Red Sox this year — but he is also joining another important team. Ross is serving as the spokesperson for the MTA Red Sox Reading Game and the Most Valuable Educator program, which work in tandem to promote summer reading and recognize individuals who promote student achievement. The reading game and the MVE program are two of the MTA's key partnerships, and both are sponsored by The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation. Reading MattersClick here to download entry forms and other materials. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade are eligible to participate in the game, which encourages reading during the summer, when literacy skills often take a slide. They can enter by pledging to read nine books — one for each position on the baseball field — and sending in an entry form that is signed by a parent or guardian. The MTA draws 100 of the entry forms from among the thousands submitted and invites the students and their teachers to a game at Fenway Park in September. Each giveaway winner receives two tickets. Five grand prize winners get to go onto the field for a special ceremony. The MVE winners are selected by the Red Sox based on nominations from the public, each of which must include an essay explaining the reason recognition is deserved. They are lauded at Red Sox home games. David RossRoss will join the team's mascot, Wally the Green Monster, and thousands of educators around the state in promoting the MTA's efforts. The early development of reading habits provides the foundation for lifelong success, and reading during summer months leads to better academic performance when children return to school in the fall, according to educational researchers.The reading contest is a hit in schools around the state."When the students come back in September, I make a big deal about the MTA winners, letting all the kids know that winning Red Sox tickets is really possible," said Sharon Lavallee, a librarian at the Freeman-Kennedy School in Norfolk. "We discuss what their favorite summer reading book was, and they have plenty to talk about."By providing innovative, enjoyable summer reading programs that involve the entire family, we can provide young people and their parents with the tools necessary to ensure year-long learning and cultivate a lifelong love of reading," Lavallee added.Julie Nally, a reading specialist at Thomson Elementary School in North Andover, agreed. "Any time we can motivate children to read, write and discuss their thinking more, it's extremely beneficial for their growth and development as engaged readers, writers and learners," Nally said. "The summer is a wonderful time to encourage reading for pleasure — and when students enjoy reading, they always choose to read more!"Nally has a special insight into the game's influence — because her son, Colin, won tickets to Fenway last season.To publicize the programs, 15,000 posters and 500,000 entry forms and bookmarks are being distributed in schools around the state. This year's materials feature Ross and Wally reading the award-winning children's book "Mudball."The book, written and illustrated by Matt Tavares, tells the tale of a diminutive baseball player who hits the shortest home run in history. Tavares called the contest "an awesome program that promotes literacy at every school in Massachusetts." Dr. Elizabeth Englander Where the MVE program is concerned, anyone can nominate an outstanding teacher, education support professional, school staff member, coach or volunteer by writing about his or her contribution to student achievement.Jennifer Luisa, assistant vice president of community relations at The Hanover Insurance Group, said the company's foundation is thrilled to sponsor the two programs for another year."It is our mission to help youth to reach their full potential. Quality educators are a critical component to making our vision a reality," Luisa said. "We are excited to be a part of these programs to encourage summer reading and help honor people who work in our schools, making a difference in the lives of children."For further information on the MTA Red Sox Reading Game, visit www.readingmatters.org. Visitors to the site can download entry forms and other materials. To nominate someone to be an MTA Red Sox Most Valuable Educator, send an essay of up to 400 words to Most Valuable Educator, c/o Red Sox Community Relations, 4 Yawkey Way, Boston MA 02215. MVE nominations must be postmarked by July 1. To find out more about visits from Wally, click here.


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View Comment
Posted at 11:36 PM on April 2, 2014
A married man does dating lawyers not want you showing up at his abode.
You should be able to handle this type of response.
In other words, if your photo is of excellent quality and presents dating lawyers the
best side of your personality, you have a solid relationship don't stop listening!
Oh, it was magical!
Posted at 10:45 AM on November 21, 2013
Posted at 8:28 AM on November 20, 2013
Jennifer is just a copycat, or should I say her stylist is, Kristen Stewart wore something very similar for her BD2 premiere, remember the gold see through. Kristen's was much better than this one, this one is too sheer, why wear anything at all? Jennifer you should look in a mirror before going out in public, really stupid dress, way to wide on her!
Poor Jennifer she always gets Kristen's sloppy seconds, Kristen worked with Josh and Sam a long time ago, before Jennifer was even on the scene, just to name a few.
Posted at 3:03 AM on November 20, 2013
Posted at 9:20 AM on November 19, 2013
Posted at 2:02 AM on November 19, 2013


text:
603-578-3338 | email@example.com
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WE BELIEVE IN:The Environment.Sustainable agricultural practices improve soil and growing conditions, resulting in better coffee and tea, which is why A&E Roastery buys certified organic and shade grown coffees and teas.
Economic Fairness. A&E Roastery feels strongly that supporting the farmers, as well as their environment, is a n essential corporate responsibility. Economic fairness benefits us all. We provide farmers a fair price so they can have a living wage and maintain the vitality of their farms.
Amherst Roastery 135 Route 101A, Amherst NH 603.578.3338 email@example.com
Mon – Fri: 6:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Sat – Sun: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Manchester Cafe1000 Elm St, Manchester, NH 603.578.3338
Mon – Thurs: 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.Fri: 7 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. Sat – Sun: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.


text:
MAKERS Showcases Artist, Health-Care Advocate
Aug 1, 2012
The growing MAKERS.com gallery of groundbreaking role models now features more than 115 profiles, with more stories added each week. Debuting this week: an artist and an advocate for health care for the poor.
An artist and business owner, Julie Rofman is a Venice-based painter, sculptor, and jewelry designer whose colorful beadwork bracelets have sold online and in more than 100 stores worldwide. Inspired by Native American bead weaving and Bauhaus designs, she works with artisans in Guatemala to create her trademark handwoven cuffs with a modern twist. She holds a master of fine arts from California State University, Long Beach, and a bachelor of fine arts from Tulane University.
Ophelia Dahl is an American health-care advocate who has fought for the rights of the poor and sick for more than 20 years. The daughter of two accomplished parents, author Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal, Dahl was raised in a unique environment of creativity and exploration. As a teenager, she travelled to Haiti to volunteer at Eye Care Haiti, where she met her business partner Paul Farmer. As Executive Director of Partners in Health, a non-profit organization that advocates for health care in developing nations, Dahl has led projects in Haiti, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Russia, the urban U.S., Rwanda, Lesotho and Malawi. In 2011, both Dahl and Farmer were named as two of three Bostonians of the Year by the Boston Globe in recognition of their efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Learn more about Ophelia by watching this video:
Check out MAKERS.com to learn about more amazing women.
@makerswomen Showcases Artist, Health-Care Advocate aol.it/Nb6FPf
- AOL PR (@AOLPR) August 1, 2012


text:
Greetings from the line for Hall H! I took a slight gamble and came "late" this morning (7am for an 11 am panel). My Comic-Con instincts proved accurate… I have a similar spot in line as I did yesterday, when I wound up with SPECTACULAR seats.
Today's plan is to catch Francis Ford Coppola, who's here presenting his upcoming movie "TWIXT". I don't know anything about it, but it's Coppola, so I'm there.
The Coppola panel springs at 12:45. The "Community" panel starts at 1. I'm going to make myself available for a Comic-Con miracle and see if there's any chance that that panel doesn't fill up. It IS being held "off-site" at the Hilton across the street. I don't know how gnarly that line is going to be.
Later in the day is "Fringe". If I don't have to sacrifice my entire day on the floor, I'll suck it up and brave the Ballroom 20 line again.
Speaking of Ballroom 20 lines, people are calling yesterday's Ballroom 20 line "The longest line in Comic-Con history" of course, that's just line gossip, but I know Jay quit it after 2 hours, giving up hope. The schedule began with "The Walking Dead", ended with "True Blood", and in between was a bunch of geek friendly shows like "Eureka" and "Warehouse 13". So I guess it's not surprising. I still think it's mainly a factor of the lack of a "WOW" movie being presented (like "The Avengers"), so people were like, well, then, there is no WAY I'm missing "True Blood"!
So I'll be here in line til 11. I'll be in panels (hopefully) for a couple hours after. So I'll be radio silent til 2ish (here) at least. But after that, today's the day the costumes REALLY come out… I'll be taking loads of pics! You won't want to miss!
In the meantime, I'll be roughing it out here in line…


text:
New Proposals for Hybrid Fixed/Variable Interest Rates on Federal Student Loans
Mark Kantrowitz
April 12, 2013
The interest rates proposed for the unsubsidized Stafford loan — the 10-year Treasury rate plus 2.93% or 3.0% — are similar to the old CMT plus 3.1% variable interest rate that was available on PLUS loans made before June 30, 1998, but without any cap on the interest rate. Effectively the hybrid interest rates represent interest rate increases masquerading as interest rate cuts.
If interest rates were to return to pre-credit crisis levels, the interest rates on the unsubsidized Stafford loan will increase to about 8.0% under both proposals, much higher than the current 6.8% interest rate. (The interest rates on the subsidized Stafford loan will increase to 6.0% and on the PLUS loan to 9.0% under the President's proposal and 8.0% under the Republican proposal.) But it could be even worse, since there are no caps. Based on 10-year Treasury rates from the early 1990s, the interest rate on the unsubsidized Stafford loan could be as high as 12.0%. (The interest rates on the subsidized Stafford loan will increase to 10.0% and on the PLUS loan to 13.0% under the President's proposal and 12.0% under the Republican proposal.)
Both proposals would save the federal government tens of billions of dollars over a 10-year period, money that would be paid by future borrowers.
The Republican proposal would use the savings for deficit reduction. The President's proposal would use the savings to expand eligibility for the Pay-As-You-Earn Repayment (PAYER) plan to all borrowers. Currently borrowers must have at least one loan disbursed in FY2012 or a subsequent year (on or after 10/1/2011) and no loans from prior to FY2008 (before 10/1/2007) to qualify for this repayment plan.
The President's FY2014 budget also reintroduces a proposal to expand the Perkins loan program from $1 billion a year to $8.5 billion a year by turning it into an unsubsidized Stafford loan, designed to replace private student loan borrowing. The increased revenue from the unsubsidized Perkins loans would be used to fund an expansion in the number of Federal Work-Study jobs, doubling the number of Federal Work-Study jobs over a 5-year period. In the first year there would be 112,000 additional recipients of Federal Work-Study jobs, out of a total of 809,000 recipients, and total Federal Work-Study funding would increase by $150 million as compared with 2012.
Lack of Interest Rate Caps Yields a Bad Bargain
Trading off lower interest rates now for higher interest rates later is a bad bargain. Even if interest rate caps are added to the proposals to prevent double-digit interest rates, these proposals still draw attention away from the real problem, which is the growth in the amount of debt. New Stafford and PLUS loan debt will total about $117 billion in FY2014. Average debt at graduation continues to grow every year because of the failure of grants to keep pace with increases in college costs. The federal and state governments continue to cut their support of postsecondary education on a constant dollar per-student basis. The most effective way of making college more affordable is to reduce debt by increasing grants, not by tinkering with the interest rates.
The President's FY2014 budget proposes to increase the maximum Pell Grant to $5,785 in 2014-15, up from $5,645 in 2013-14, a 2.48% increase. A total of 9.4 million students would receive Pell Grants. That's a baby step in the right direction. But much more money is needed to make a dent in college affordability, not just a small $140 inflationary increase in the maximum grant. Instead of discussing the possible doubling of student loan interest rates, student aid advocates should be demanding that Congress double the maximum Pell Grant.
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Every semester, Fastweb helps thousands of students pay for school by matching them to scholarships, grants and awards for which they actually qualify. Sign up today to get started. You'll find scholarships like the Course Hero's $5,000 Scholarship, and easy to enter scholarships like Niche $2,000 No Essay Scholarship.


text:
Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word
90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.
The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary. Click on the thesaurus category heading under the button in an entry to see the synonyms and related words for that meaning.more
|present tense
|present participle
|past tense
|past participle
Police suspected that she had some connection with the robbery.
men suspected of involvement in the bombing
I suspected Alex of deliberately forgetting her purse.
He'll be missed by some, but not, I suspect, by all his colleagues.
This is the British English definition of suspect. View American English definition of suspect.
Change your default dictionary to American English.
a lifestyle focussing on simple pleasures such as comfort and cosiness in the home, and spending time with friends and familyBuzzWord Article
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a form of location that involves the underwater detonation of a bomb which causes sound waves that are picked up by shipsadd a word
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A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.global English and language change from our blog


text:
My houseguest, a sixteen-year-old French brunette, pointed at the French toast we were serving for breakfast. "What is it?" she asked.
"It's French toast!" I cried, baffled. "What — it's not French?"
"Non." She said, as confused as I was.
Well if French toast isn't French, what is? She offered to make us her favorite dinner from home: ratatouille. My first thought was that it'd be pretty good, but a little mushy. My mom used to make a vegetable stew by the same name throughout youth — along with everything else in The Moosewood Cookbook. "You don't understand," my mother recently defended her obsession with Mollie Katzen's recipes. "Before that cookbook, in the '70s it was just meat and potatoes, ketchup and mustard." After growing up on Katzen's vanguard internationally inspired vegetable dishes, I went on to become an expert in international cooking. In my professional opinion as the lead investigator at Immigrant Kitchens, I believed Katzen's ratatouille recipe, even though it delighted millions of liberated American cooks, might have missed something from the French original. And I suspected Mademoiselle Tricaud might help us find it.
I procured the ingredients she requested: garlic, zucchini, yellow summer squash, eggplant, different colored bell peppers, tomatoes, and sweet potato. "Not every one in France uses sweet potato. Just my mother," she explained. She cut up all the ingredients and cooked them in large skillet with deep sides, starting with the peppers, onions, and garlic, then adding another ingredient every five minutes or so. She served what became a red vegetable mass flecked with orange on top of fine couscous. The sweet potatoes made this ratatouille better than my mother's (nice touch Madame Tricaud!), but even Mademoiselle Tricaud was a little disappointed. It's not supposed to be mushy, she concluded. She didn't know what she did wrong.
Later, I was watching my kids swim off a public dock when I heard a French mother speaking to her children in the water. I introduced myself and explained the ratatouille situation. As it turns out, she lived just three miles from my house and offered to show me how her grandmother had taught her to make ratatouille in Provence. Provence? Really? That's the very place the dish is thought to have originated! Provencal cooks in the 1500s must have tossed together ingredients they'd worked with for thousands of years — onions, garlic, herbs, and olives — with new ingredients — tomatoes, peppers, and squashes — recently encountered in the new world, and eggplant from the Indian subcontinent.
In her Freeport kitchen, French mother Stephanie Looten-Caceres proved my theory correct! Ratatouille can be truly glorious when it's made in stages. The key is to keep the shape of each cooked ingredient intact before tossing them all together. She did this by sautéeing the peppers, eggplant, squash, and tomatoes each separately with flavorings (olive oil, herbes de Provence, garlic, onion, and black olives). Then she tossed all the cooked vegetables into a large pot where the flavors continued to meld. The result is less like a stew, as Americans have fashioned it for decades, and more a collection of chunky, cooked vegetables you spoon onto pieces of baguette, or eat with rice, couscous, or meat if you like. The name, "ratatouille," is from the French verb "touiller," which means to stir or toss — not to mush. It's delicious, healthy, and something meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans can all enjoy together. Oh no! I've become a ratatouille evangelist just like my mother.
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text:
TEMCo Control Transformer TT1876 - 3.00 kVA 480 Primary V, 480Y/277 V Secondary, 3 Phase, 50/60 Hz, Copper Wound, Enclosed
List price: $
You save: $1,485.00
Your price: $2,475.00
Shipped in just 2 weeks
Product description
TEMCo transformers and Euro-Standard transformers are used to convert standard 3 phase U.S. voltages to standard 3 phase European voltages. This is useful when importing European Machinery into the U.S. Additionally, these transformers come in 50 or 60Hz with most of the larger sizes rated for 50 and 60Hz, allowing them be connected in reverse to convert European voltages to U.S. voltages when importing U.S. machinery into Europe. Either way, these transformers are built to last, guaranteed! That's why we back these with a decade long warranty.
Product features
- CSA Approved
- UL Listed
- Copper windings
- 1.5 to 2 week build time
- Built with heat-proof insulation for compact size and long life.
- Soldily fixed terminals with standard combination slotted Robertson head screw connections facilitate wiring.
- Unique bobbin-wound coils for greater efficiency, superior heat evacuation, and compact structure.


text:
Discussion in 'Artwork Zone' started by bbgun, Jun 14, 2010.
What? No color?
Nicely done.
BTW, this is one of my favorite pictures of all time.
Very nice, BB. I wish the Cowboys would wear a throwback of the royal blue jerseys/metallic silver blue pants.
I hate to be greedy bbg but "KEEP 'EM COMING"! Those are great pictures.
The Dave Edwards pic reminds me he had emergency heart surgery.
I wonder hwo he is doing.
Alexander, me too.
lol..same here.
That picture of Dan Reeves in a cast is quite telling of how times have changed...
Here sits a professional athlete, a RB for the Dallas Cowboys - America's premiere sports franchise, sitting in a hospital bed... with a pack of cigarettes on his table.
That pic was actually taken in color, but reproduced in black & white.
I have a lot more, but I think I'll hold off until training camp.
WOW...they bring back great memories...thanks
Don't know why, but when I read "Standard Players Contract" I laughed.
I would imagine if a rookie signs for the CBA minimum, that simple contract is probably contained in a one inch 3-ring binder.
Great stuff. Thanks for posting.
These are awesome, bbgun.
Awesome. Just awesome. Thanks for the share, bb.
The blocking sleds in the background in the St. Louis pic. The horrible field in the Greenbay pic. Looks like torn up asphalt.
He is doing fine. I have him on FB and he said he is enjoying life.
BTW, the Edwards photo isn't a press photo but a Team Issue photo that they released in sets and were given away to fans. Just FYI.
nice share... thanks


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To post a response so long and complicated on a debated subject that no one is willing to read it or dispute it
Your analysis, which is based on Newtonian physics, is antiquated. I mean come on, you're drawing conclusions in your comfort zone, sticking to your comfort zone, and then blaming other people's comfort zones for being stupid. You've been Chittillaed!
by sofakingdead October 06, 2011
The vengeful act of crapping on a lover's chest while they sleep.Buy the plush


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{N2} Cosy Room - Private Bathroom
Size16 m²
Floor No.3(with elevator)
- Internet/WiFi
- Air conditioning
- Towels
- Lockable room
- Elevator in building
- Family/child friendly
- Kitchen
Accommodation summary
|Carrer de Salamanca, 46005 Valencia, Spain
|Property type
|Private room
|Property ID
|Acceptance rate
|Response time
|A few hours
|Calendar updated
The room has a lot of natural light, high ceilings and decorated with beautiful moldings and carving and has tile flooring. The charming building's date is from 1934 with a historical range.
We are located in one of the best zones of Valencia. You can reach the main attractions of the City, bars and restaurants just walking. Two blocks from our place you can find a Taxi station and Bus stop.
We have an equipped kitchen for guests with Microwave, Burner, Sink, Skillet, Dishes, etc. Open for 10am to 9pm each day.
All the rooms have access to our Free WiFi.
We offer some services for an extra fee: Breakfast. SURF / SUP / LONGBOARD Classes at any level. English and Spanish classes at any level. Laundry (except august).
House rulesNon-smoking rooms
Ask for schedules for availability of inputs and outputs
Respect other guests, feel and behave at home
Relax and enjoy your stay!
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Reviews for this host's other properties
Excellent! I agree with the previous comments.
Very friendly and helpful. Lily and Dani gave me great tips. Insiders only!
Rooms, bathroom and kitchen were very clean.
Lili and Dani are two great people and super hosts!
We had a very good time and felt like home in our nice room!
The whole apartment is very clean, modern and welcoming.
Thank you Lili and Dani!!
See you next year!
The stay at Dani's & Lili's apartment was really great! The room was like it is on the pictures and everything was very clean and tidy. They both arranged to be there when we arrived at the apartment. They showed us around and gave us some tipps for Valencia. All in all a very nice stay! Only recommendable!
Amazing!!!everything was perfect!!!Lili and Daniel are so kind and helpfull. The room was clean and with all the confort, close to lot of good restaurant, public transport and everything you need to visit valencia! i'll suggest to everyone this accomodation
Having just arrived home from travelling through the South of Spain for a few weeks, we are all too happy to share here how wonderfully we started that journey with our stay with Lili and Dani. Not only a very patient couple (our arrival was hours late because of our delayed flight, and they waited for us and welcomed us with ease and cordiality) but also such joyous, helpful and warm people. For us, the most memorable thing of our stay in Valencia is having met with Lili & Dani. But we also felt very welcome in our little studio that was decorated and furnished with impeccable taste,designed to make you feel at home! If you love the pictures of the rooms - well, nothing is exaggerated, it is at least as nice as you see in the photo! Also really comfy is the location of their place: near the park, on walking distance to the old city, and in the middle of nice places to eat very Spanish tapas or to have a nice breakfast. We think we will be back one day...
Great place in a good location. Lili and Dani where very helpfull.
Very friendly staff, room was prettily furitured, hence to the old character of the buildings in that area, the walls and doors were pretty thin, so expect some noises from neighbors:)
The bathroom was shared but very clean.
We would stay again anytime.
Valencia stay was great. The room is very comfortable and is well-equipped and very well located in Salamanca street right between the City of Arts and Sciences and the historic center floor, both less than 15 minutes away (and did not need any means Of transport). Lili and Dani are lovely and are for anything you need. The plan and the recommendations we have made have allowed us to see the fullest and enjoy our short stay in Valencia. We highly recommend it !!
La estancia en Valencia fue genial. La habitación es muy cómoda y está en un piso bien equipado y muy bien situado, en la calle Salamanca justo entre la ciudad de artes y ciencias y el centro histórico, los dos a menos de 15 minutos andando(así que no hacía falta ningún medio de transporte). Lili y Dani son encantadores y están para cualquier cosa que se necesita. El plan y las recomendaciones que nos han hecho nos han permitido ver el máximo y disfrutar de Valencia en nuestra corta estancia. Lo recomendamos mucho!!
The property is truly outstanding. The room and the kitchen are great. The location is excellent. Everything is very easy to reach on foot, very close, there are great tapas bars and also the Rio Turia Park. I drive determined to go back. However, I find the referral fees of Wimdu too high.
Die Unterkunft ist wirklich hervorragend. Das Zimmer und die Küche sind toll. Die Lage ist ausgezeichnet. Alles ist sehr gut zu Fuß zu erreichen, ganz in der Nähe gibt es tolle Tapas-Bars und außerdem den Park Rio Turia. Ich fahre bestimmt wieder hin. Allerdings finde ich die Vermittlungsgebühren von Wimdu zu hoch.
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Embark on a journey to rediscover and learn the lost Ancient Fighting Arts of Westoria Kingdom, a land plagued by a legion of undead and monstrous soldiers, ruled by a nefarious Demon Lord. Legend foretells a hero who will rise up and wield the powers of the lost Fighting Arts to destroy the bringer of death, restoring peace to a once beautiful and great kingdom.
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The location of the race start is the Lake Chabot Marina. The address listed on the park website can be confusing and may lead you down the wrong road. We recommend you click here and then click "get directions" in the upper left corner.
Or click "view larger" on the map below, then click on the green arrow, then "get directions".
View Larger Map
Parking at Lake Chabot will be free for all participants who arrive before the lots are full. Because space is limited, participants are not guaranteed
parking space in the park's lots.


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Q&A with Tim Kabat
1. Why do you want to be mayor?
La Crosse is a great city with a lot of opportunity. La Crosse also has challenges that need our attention and action. By working together, we can help our city grow and improve. I have the experience, knowledge and background that would make for an excellent mayor and I feel strongly that our community needs leadership with a clear vision for strengthening our economy and our neighborhoods.
2. What experience do you have that makes you qualified to be mayor?
I have spent most of my professional life in service to the community. My most recent experience as Director of Downtown Mainstreet Inc. has showed me that good paying, family supporting jobs are critically important to our neighborhoods and our community.
3. What will be your top three priorities for the City of La Crosse if you're elected mayor?
My first priority is to strengthen our economy by working with our local businesses to create jobs and hold the line on property taxes.
My second priority is to strengthen our neighborhoods so that La Crosse is a city where people choose to live. Neighborhoods are the backbone of our community.
My third priority is to improve city hall customer service and communication by promoting mutual respect, transparency and collaboration.18474956
4. What are your long-term goals for the City of La Crosse?
My long-term goals include increasing the number of good paying, family supporting jobs and expanding our tax base by growing our existing businesses and recruiting new complimentary businesses. I also will enhance and promote La Crosse's excellent quality of life by focusing on the arts, education, our natural resources and neighborhoods. And finally, as Mayor I will make city hall customer service and operations first class, so that our citizens and taxpayers receive high quality services that they can afford.
5. The current mayor and the City Council have had disagreements about several city issues lately. If elected mayor, what will you do to work with the City Council?
As Mayor I will promote mutual respect, transparency and collaboration in working with the City Council. I will also listen to our citizens and taxpayers. I will show respect to all City Council members and listen attentively, as this is how to be an effective leader.
6. How will you balance the city budget?
As Mayor I will work with our citizens, departments and city council to develop an effective and efficient city budget. We cannot cut our way to growth and prosperity and we must look creatively for alternative revenues including grants, sharing resources with other jurisdictions and collaborating with our neighbors.
7. Are you in favor of raising property taxes?
No I am not in favor of raising property taxes because there are too many people and families hurting right now. We must invest in our city and work to provide the most efficient and effective services that our taxpayers can afford.
8. How long have you lived in La Crosse?
I was born in La Crosse and grew up in Holmen. I have lived in La Crosse for over 13 years.
9. What do you like most and least about living in La Crosse?
What I like the most is that we have so much going on in La Crosse for a city of our size. Every weekend is full of so many events, festivals, and family activities. We have great arts and night life, excellent education and health care, natural beauty and opportunities to enjoy nature, and wonderful neighborhoods. But what I like most are the people. The people of La Crosse care about and give back to their community like no other place I have lived.
I don't feel that La Crosse is currently living up to it's fullest potential in economic development, certain challenged neighborhoods and City Hall.
10. Tell us about your family.
My wife Christy is an adjunct English professor at Viterbo University teaching writing and sustainability. My daughter Emma, 18, is a senior at Logan High School and my son Joe, 15, is a freshman at Logan. We love to get outside whenever possible, camping and enjoying nature.
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text: For the past few months intermidently I would get nothing turning the key but a click at the relay. This morning she started like normal, and I stopped for coffee and smokes on my way to work. I sat in the 7-11 parking lot for 2 hours after checking relays, connections at the starter Ect. Finally I grabbed the 5/16" wrench and got a 1/2 turn out of each post. I took both terminals off and cleaned the white crusty crap off and reinstalled... She turned over like new. Hope my miss fortune helps someon


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quote:what could of been
Neven Subotic.
Would love to see Jozy in the EPL.
Maybe villa can pick him up when Benteke leaves.
Playing largely in right central midfield, Bradley ranked third on Roma with 1,219 passes completed, and he did so at an impressive 87.8 percent clip. Among 44 Serie A midfielders who completed at least 1,000 passes, Bradley's completion percentage ranked third, trailing only Napoli's Valon Behrami and Inter's Javier Zanetti.
Playing primarily at right back for Stoke City, Geoff Cameron proved to be one of the most active players in the Premier League. He led Stoke with 89 tackles and 72 passes intercepted, while ranking only eighth on the team in fouls committed. Cameron was one of three Premier League players with at least 70 tackles, 70 interceptions and 50 clearances, along with Belgian Jan Vertonghen and Aston Villa's Matthew Lowton.
In his first season with Tottenham, Clint Dempsey saw his minutes cut by 40 percent from the previous season with Fulham. His productivity dipped marginally, from 0.4 goals per 90 minutes to 0.3, and his shots dropped from 3.7 per 90 minutes to 3.0. He was pushed to the wings more with Spurs: 61 percent of his touches for Tottenham were on the outer thirds of the field, compared to 44 percent with Fulham. Dempsey also fired more often from distance, taking 61 percent of his shots from outside the box, up from 42 percent last season. That resulted in an average shot distance of 22 yards, three yards longer than his final season at Craven Cottage.
All of the current talk – factual or not – may be for naught because AZ technical director Earnie Stewart has gone on record as saying they plan to have Altidore back at AFAS-Stadion next season.
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Pequot Lakes man dies in crash; three others suffer serious injuries
A broadside crash on Highway 169 in Aitkin County claimed the life of a Pequot Lakes man Saturday, March 23.
Roger Langenbau, 74, died in the crash that was reported at 8 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 169 and County Road 3.
Langenbau was driving a 1999 Cadillac DeVille east on County Road 3. The Minnesota State Patrol reported Langenbau ran the stop sign at the intersection with Highway 169 and was killed when his vehicle was hit broadside. Langenbau was not wearing a seat belt.
Langenbau's passenger, Jerry Swenson, 69, also of Pequot Lakes, was seriously injured. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis. Swenson was wearing a seat belt, the State Patrol said.
The other vehicle, a 2011 Buick Lucerne driven by Edward Cirkl Jr., 66, Minneapolis, was traveling north on Highway 169 at the time of the crash. Cirkl and his wife and passenger, Janell Cirkl, 65, Minneapolis, were also seriously injured and taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale where he was listed in serious condition and she in fair condition Monday. Both were wearing seat belts.


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Greg Ross
Keith Thomson is emeritus professor of natural history at the University of Oxford, a senior research fellow of the American Philosophical Society and a frequent contributor to American Scientist. His most recent book is The Young Charles Darwin, forthcoming from Yale University Press.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I have had a wonderful career as a professor of biology and dean (at Yale) and a museum director (Yale, Philadelphia and Oxford), but I have never had so much sheer pleasure in work as now, when I am a full-time writer. I started out as a biologist interested in the evolution of fishes such as lungfishes and the living coelacanth and the origin of major features, concentrating on the transition between fishes and tetrapods. That inevitably drew me more and more into both paleontology and understanding skeletal mechanics (feeding and swimming mechanisms). From that it was a short step to what is now called (rather unhappily) "evo-devo," or the study of the roles that developmental processes play in evolution. Having been supported by NSF continuously for some 20 years, I cheerfully stepped off the grant treadmill, and in recent years I have focused more and more upon the history of science and writing for a popular audience. My current interests range from Thomas Jefferson and 18th-century science to Charles Darwin. Recent books include Treasures on Earth (Faber and Faber, 2002), Before Darwin (Yale University Press, 2005), Fossils: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2005), The Legacy of the Mastodon: The Golden Age of Fossils in America (Yale University Press, 2008), A Passion for Nature: Thomas Jefferson and Natural History (Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2008) and The Young Charles Darwin (Yale University Press, 2009).
What books are you currently reading (or have you just finished reading) for your work or for pleasure? Why did you choose them, and what do you think of them?
For pleasure and sheer escapism, I love reading an eclectic range of mysteries and thrillers. Just now I have been reading Henning Mankell's Before the Frost (New Press, 2005) and John Lawton's Old Flames (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003). I found Mankell by accident on the shelves of Borders. He has created a Swedish detective named Wallander who suffers more than most of us from human frailties and foibles; his plots keep you on edge right to the end, even when you have guessed how it will come out. Lawton writes brilliantly about England immediately after World War II, which is where and when I grew up. The detail is superb, and I share his jaundiced view of those supposedly happy days. More seriously, I have been enjoying Gordon Wood's essays in The Purpose of the Past (Penguin Press, 2008); he has an old-codger-ish way of sticking pins into the ballooning fads of modern historical writers. I recently met the English author Andrea Wulf, whose The Brother Gardeners (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) is beautifully researched and equally well written. Finally, I have just reread Joseph Ellis's American Sphinx (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997), simply because he explains Thomas Jefferson better than anyone else.
When and where do you usually read (specific location, time of day, etc.)?
The wonderful feature of being retired is that you can read whenever you like; the downside is the pressure not to waste a precious moment of working time. For serious reading I tend toward a particular sunny window seat and try not to be interrupted by the birds in the garden. Casual reading is done in bed, and I have to read a chapter or two before I can sleep. For research there is no substitute for a really quiet library with a friendly staff, and I am lucky to have both the American Philosophical Society and the Academy of Natural Sciences at my disposal.
Who are your favorite writers (fiction, nonfiction or poetry)? Why?
For "serious" reading, I suppose my tastes were fixed a long time ago on people like Auden and Dylan Thomas. I have little patience for anything too complexly and (worse) self-consciously "arty," so I enjoy writers like John Banville, Ian Pears and Penelope Fitzgerald, and my daughters have introduced me to some wonderful modern authors, such as Orphan Pamuk (Snow, Random House, 2004), Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants, Algonquin Books, 2006) and the hilarious A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka (Penguin Press, 2005).
What are the three best books you've ever read? Explain.
There are just so many great books, so I choose three that introduced me to the pleasures and hardships of the intellectual life. Peter Medawar's Induction and Intuition in Scientific Thought (American Philosophical Society, 1969) is a simple, beautifully written introduction to what science is all about. I read it first as a graduate student, just when I needed it. Richard Hoggart's The Uses of Literacy (1957) is a brilliant exposition of modern culture that influenced me greatly when I was an undergraduate.
Sven Horstadius' The Neural Crest (1950) is a classic example of a scientific monograph that is both superbly written and technically complete. None of the vast amount of work that has been done since on the subject has been described with anything matching its timeless elegance.
What book has influenced you most? Explain how.
That is simply impossible to say. My whole life has been driven by books and reading. Perhaps one of the first to have shown me how reading could precipitate me into a different world from my own was T.E. Lawrence's The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1922), which I read when I was 10. History, excitement, philosophy, politics, danger, heroism, war, mystery and intrigue, exotic lands and peoples: What else could one want? But I would also add Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet (Dutton, 1962), which, in addition to being great writing, taught me to look at a problem from every side.
Name three books you want to read but haven't gotten to yet.
Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello (W.W. Norton, 2008); Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope (Crown, 2006); and N. A. M. Rodger, Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 (W.W. Norton, 2005).
What book recommendations do you have for young readers?
This is hackneyed, of course, but sooner or later you must read, or listen carefully to someone reading, portions at least of the King James version of the Bible and Shakespeare. They are the foundations of our language.
What science book recommendations do you have for nonscientists?
Brian Cathcart, The Fly in the Cathedral (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), a journalist's account of the first splitting of the atom by Rutherford in Cambridge. John C. Greene, The Death of Adam (1959), a dated but a wonderful exposition of the history of evolutionary ideas. And Richard Fortey, Trilobite (Knopf, 2000)—Fortey explains better than anyone the fascination of collecting and working with fossils.
Name one book in your discipline that you would recommend for scientists outside your field. Explain your choice.
In the history of science: Janet Browne's two-volume Charles Darwin (Random House, 1995). In order to understand natural selection and the place of Darwinian evolution in our intellectual history, you have to understand the man himself and the world in which he worked.
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With 14,000 original photographs and publications largely from the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the recently acquired Ira Wolff Photographic History Collection offers a major scholarly resource for the study of the history of photography.
Highlights from the collection of original photographs range from an 1844 photograph by the inventor of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot, to numerous travel albums from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Publications in the collection trace the pre-history of photography in the eighteenth century and continue through the development of all stages and types of photomechanical printing in the nineteenth century.
Considered in conjunction with the Libraries' existing photobook holdings, the Wolff Collection provides the university with one of the largest collections of photographic publications in the country, as well as one of the broadest in scope. Beginning with the 1991 acquisition of the David H. Tippit Photobook Collection, the Libraries established one of the largest collections of twentieth-century photobooks in the country.
In addition to furthering scholarship in such areas as the history of photography and visual studies, the Wolff Collection will also serve a wide range of disciplines not only in the humanities but also the social sciences and sciences.
Melinda Barlow, associate professor in film studies, recently included numerous holdings from the Wolff Collection in Primal Seen, an exhibition of photography she curated for the CU Art Museum. "With its memorial albums, lenticular photographs, hand-colored portraits, and stereoscopic slides, the Ira Wolff Photographic History Collection is an invaluable resource because it expands our understanding of photography as a medium in which artistic, commercial and vernacular forms are inextricably intertwined," said Barlow.
Ira Wolff, a resident of Stamford, Connecticut, acquired the collection over the course of several decades from bookstores and dealers throughout the United States and Europe. Now retired, Mr. Wolff worked as an executive at NBC in the mid 1950's to 1960's before embarking on a career in direct marketing. A longtime former member of the Grolier Club, the New York City bibliophile society, Mr. Wolff turned his attention to photography after meeting the renowned curator, collector, and companion to Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Wagstaff, through his service on the Grolier Club's exhibition committee. Mr. Wolff, who describes his collecting strategy as "strongly amorphous," built his photographic history collection in broad strokes, beginning with any book containing tipped-in salt or albumen prints and then moving outward to nearly all manifestations of photographic and photomechanical practice.
The University Libraries is currently in the planning stages for the cataloging and archival processing of the collection. Future plans for the collection also include exhibitions, select digitization, and curriculum integration. Interested researchers are advised to contact the Special Collections unit of the Department of Archives and Special Collections.


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Forward Air Controller & Tactical Air Control Party Memorials
Remembering our heroes
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo - A Wear Red Friday, I won't forget anytime soon. I was among a large group gathered at Memorial Park for the Dedication of the Tactical Air Control Party Memorial and the Re-dedication of the Forward Air Controller Memorial. Simply put, these are the people who direct air strikes in times of war and also put their lives on the line doing it.
Seven new names were etched on the walls. That means seven men with seven families and many friends who are grieving for them and remembering their sacrifice. Among this group of heroes was Airman First Class Raymond Losano. Here is the description of what happened in April 2003, "Pinned down and mortally wounded, A1C Losano returned fire and called in for close air support. Refusing to take cover so he could successfully direct the attacking aircraft, A1C Losano used his last breath to call in the air strike that saved the rest of his company."
Benjamin Gonzales is the Uncle of Raymond Losano. After the service he told me, "I'm very proud, very proud that he served." Raymond's Uncle and the rest of his family have a rich history of serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Master Sergeant Steven Auchman is also one of the seven who were honored today. He was killed in a mortar attack in Iraq in November 2004. His sister Lisa Butcher was honored by all those who came to honor her brother and the others who paid with their lives to save others, "It's just wonderful. To think that so many years after his death that he is so well thought of."
More than three hundred names are on these walls. Colonel Sam Milam was the keynote speaker at this event. He reminded everyone about the courage of these heroes and the courage of the families they leave behind, "Behind everyone memorialized here is a family who has sacrificed as well. You won't find their names carved in stone anywhere, but their sacrifices are every bit as painful. Our fallen heroes would want us to do everything we can to honor them as well."


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December 2008
Securing appropriate facilities can be a daunting challenge for those intending to open a charter school. Although, like all public schools, charter schools receive per-pupil dollars from the state, they generally receive considerably less—on average, only 78 cents for every dollar in state aid given to their traditional counterparts, according to one study.1 More to the point, however, because traditional public schools rely on their district to provide their school facilities, they can spend 100 percent of their per-pupil operational funding on their instructional program, whereas most charter schools have to stretch those dollars to cover facilities costs as well.
Some districts receive direct funding from the state for their capital expenses, such as school construction or improvements. Districts that do not receive this type of funding or that need additional capital can issue voter-approved general obligation bonds, which are secured by taxes. This is one of the most inexpensive forms of financing and one to which charter schools have had virtually no access because almost no states or local jurisdictions have granted charter schools direct access to local tax revenue. Instead, when looking for capital funds, charter school operators have had to turn to the private sector where, if financing is available, it comes at a significantly higher cost.
Anecdotal accounts suggest that many qualified charter schools never open because they cannot afford facilities.2 And of the 4,3003 charter schools that are already open, almost all have had little choice but to divert some portion of their state operating revenue to cover the expenses of buying or leasing, and in some cases improving, their buildings. Naturally, this leaves them with less money for what counts most—instruction.4
Across the country, state legislators and charter school advocates alike have been seeking innovative strategies to help charter schools keep more of their instructional dollars in the classroom, while, at the same time, giving their students a safe, suitable place in which to learn each day. This guide showcases charter school facility laws and practices that have been developed to tackle the facilities challenge in eight states and Washington, D.C. With few exceptions, these "solutions" do not solve the problem entirely, but all of them are intended to mitigate the facilities barriers charter schools face, and, as such, perhaps can provide some heretofore underutilized models.
Affordable Facilities: Key to Charter School Expansion
Charter schools entered the mix as part of the U.S. public education system in the early 1990s. These schools were established on the premise that they would enter into contracts (i.e., charters) detailing specific goals that they are accountable for achieving in exchange for independence from many of the laws and regulations that govern traditional public schools. This flexibility is intended to allow charter schools to educate students in new and potentially more effective ways and, in doing so, to serve as incubators for innovative ideas that could be adopted more widely as part of the nation's efforts to reform and improve public education. Charter schools provide an academic alternative for students, increasing the public school choices for parents and opportunities for educators to create schools based on a particular mission and vision. According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, there are currently more than 1 million students attending charter schools in 40 states and Washington, D.C.5 However, this enrollment figure can mask the challenges associated with locating and paying for facilities-challenges that some consider to be a major barrier to the expansion of the charter school sector.6
The federal government has initiated several programs to stimulate private and state-level investment in charter school facilities. Specifically, two programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement are designed to ease the facilities financing challenge by offering federal grant funds for charter school facilities: the State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grants program7 and the Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities program.8 The former program provides matching funds to states that offer per-pupil funding specifically for charter school facilities. The latter awards funds to public and nonprofit entities that help leverage other funds from the private sector for the purchase, construction, lease, or renovation of facilities by increasing the creditworthiness of charter schools. (An example of credit enhancement is when, in the home loan arena, a buyer who is able to provide only a small down payment purchases primary mortgage insurance to increase his or her creditworthiness with a mortgage lender.)
Four other federal programs also offer facilities-related support: The Public Assistance Grant Program operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency offers grant assistance for the replacement or repair of disaster-damaged facilities of qualifying private, nonprofit organizations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Programs administers programs to finance and develop essential community facilities and services, including schools, in rural areas. The New Markets Tax Credit Program and the Qualified Zone Academy Bond Program, both operated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, provide federal income tax credits for investing in qualified entities, which can include charter schools.9