Here is a capture from morning walkies a few days ago. The snow was still on, although it was melting down here in the valley. One of the neighbors had put up a sign. The wind blew it over and the snow covered most of it. All that was exposed was this portion. For some reason, this caught my eye. The capture was made with the Nikon D300 and a micro-Nikkor 105mm f/4.
My friend Les loaned me this old Bausch & Lomb 100mm f/2.3 lens. He added a Nikon F-mount and focusing helicoid to it. I took it out and spent some time with it. It’s obvious from the image at the right that the lens is a bit soft wide open, but is much better by f/4 or f/5.6. That is shown in the second image below, that was shot at about f/5.6. The background is not quite as pleasant, but the image is much sharper.
The image quality is quite good and the bokeh is pleasant (smooth). It’s a good lens. The iris fascinates me — so many blades. So the aperture is nearly circular throughout the full range of stops.
It’s a really neat piece of vintage glass.
A few mornings or evenings ago, the Girl and I went on walkies. It was a very nice evening and the light was gorgeous. I carried my D300 along with me, although I don’t recall which lens was mounted. Textures and contrasts continue to fascinate me and so I made this capture.
This morning was quite different. It was about 22F this morning when we went walking. It was the kind of day that is too cold and too warm. I was overdressed for exercise but my hands were cold. I got sweaty and clammy from the exercise and was happy to be home, shed a layer, and get a dry shirt.
On our way back from southern Nevada a couple of weeks ago, I drove through Death Valley. Although the Girl wasn’t welcome most of the places in the park, we were able to get out and walk around the parking lot for Dante’s Overlook. I even managed to snag a couple of decent frames.
The shot was captured with my D300 and a Tokina 28–85mm f/4 coffee cup lens. I probably made the capture at about f/8, which is a good aperture for that lens.
Same bird, same camera, same lens, different position.
Heh. This was a fun shot with the Nikon D300 and the Tamron 80–210/3.8.
A couple weeks ago I made a number of captures at Virginia Lake. All were shot with my Nikon D300 and a Tamron 80–210/3.8 BBAR zoom. Most of the captures were shot at f/8 or f/11, although there were a few exceptions. This pair of ducks was shot at 210mm and f/8, I believe. Enjoy.
While walking around Virginia Lake in Reno last Saturday, a number of the waterfowl appeared to pose for me. Of course, they’ve figured out that they can get freebies by playing to the crowd, so they do.
The shot was captured with my Nikon D300 and the Tamron 80-200/3.8 at about 200mm and most likely about f/8.
I don’t have a lot of use for an 800mm lens. But, now and again, it’s a useful tool to have when shooting wildlife, especially from long distances. It’s a catadioptric lens, meaning it’s a mirror lens. It’s an unusual piece in that the glass is one solid part. It was unusual and expensive when it was made, so not very many were sold. It’s also a decent piece of glass and can get the job done.
On my crop-sensor Nikon D300, it’s the equivalent of a 1,200mm lens. That’s a lot of reach. I have a Nikon 1.4x extender that I can use (and lose a stop), but there’s not much out there that needs to be shot that can’t be reached with an 1,800mm lens.
I made some minor adjustments to the image, mostly exposure and contrast, and added a bit of sharpening as a final step. Enjoy.
After comments from my friend Griff, I decided to mount the Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 telephoto on a tripod and shoot a few frames with my Nikon D300. The D300 is a crop-sensor dSLR with an APS-C sensor size and a crop factor of about 1.5. So, the 400/5.6 is equivalent to a 600/5.6 on a full-frame camera. I shot the lens wide open, f/5.6 , stopped down one stops, f/8, and stopped down three stops, f/16. The first frame (follows) is at f/5.6 (wide open). It is not very sharp.
The next frame is the test shot at f/8. It’s better.
The final frame is the test shot at f/16. It’s reasonably sharp.
So, here’s my take-home lesson. The Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 telephoto lens is unacceptably soft wide open. It’s better at f/8 and good at f/16. That means if I need a large aperture because the light is failing, this is not the tool to use. If it’s reasonably bright (where Sunny-16 is good), then the lens is useable at f/16 (maybe f/11) and can produce decent images. But, don’t let your friends shoot one of these wide open. It’s irresponsible photography and will frustrate everyone.
