I was playing with my X-E1 and FD 500mm 4.5L today. I managed this shot through a double pane (or is it Pain as in Pain to shoot through?) window. It does not quite hold up at 100%, but prints a nice 11x17. shot wide open, RAW, Iso 2500 processed in Lightroom 5.3. I am having some difficulty with this lens, mostly noise and blur, but in my defense when I usually want to use it the light levels are not good for base iso & 1000/sec shutter speeds. Never the less I will keep trying to master it. One thing I find is that the focus peaking on the XE-1 is not all that accurate with a lens such as this, at near MFD the DOF is a bit narrow, I do better with magnification.
Even though I have a lot of "top-grade" macro lenses (Zeiss 100mm f2 MP, etc.) I decided to bring along my smallest, lightest full frame macro -- the FDn 50mm f3.5 -- for a day of mixed shooting that included a botanical garden.
I knew from testing that this lens is not just a great macro, but also works great for general shooting and even at infinity, so I wouldn't have to swap it out for non-macros shots.
The FDn 50mm f3.5 did great. I really loved the results I got from it.
The FDn 50mm f3.5 did great. I really loved the results I got from it.
I like FD 50/3.5 for it's overall IQ.It is one of the few older 50mm macros that can easliy serve as a standard lens,because it is equally good for close ups,mid range and infinity.
So I’ve been trying out mid-range FD zooms trying to find something that could sit comfortably between the 20-35 and 80-200Ls. The 35-70/4 (for the size) and the 35-70/2.8-3.5 (for the speed) were the first I tried, but didn’t take to either of them. So I moved on to the 28-85/4 and I think I may have found it. It’s big, as long and heavy as the 35-70/2.8-3.5 but thicker and probably about three-times the volume of the f/4 zoom, but it’s good throughout the range and very sharp wide open. The built-in flare stopper (a small metal ring between the 2nd and 3rd groups) seems to do its job well. It’ll never be a bokeh monster, but if you’re just looking for a decent kit-style zoom for walkaround/snaps, you might be very happy with it.
These were taken at our local Veteran’s Memorial. The first shot’s at 28mm and f/5.6. Not a great shot, but I wanted to get the flags across as much of the frame as I could and keep the Westin the background to help me judge perspective distortion. There was also a minor amount of barrel distortion, so post-correction, it’s probably down to 32mm.
