As we move closer to "official" summer here in Montana (it's been a rather cool spring so far), the parade of wildflowers continues to unfold. I spotted some of these Fairy Slipper orchids (Calypso bulbosa var americana) on a hike last evening. I posted a photo of one of these a few years ago. This is a focused stacked effort - tripod all sprawled out on a slope - not very stable.
Orchids F by Doug Stevens, on Flickr
Nikon Df; ISO 80 (I thought I was on 100); 55mm f2.8 micro-Nikkor @ f5.6; 1/6 sec
These little guys barely stand 3" above the forest floor and their heads are about the size of a nickel.
the solitaire wrote:
But a good friend sent me his 24mm f3,5 PC-E Nikkor touse. He just didn't like it much. So I have a question for Jay. You own one of these. Is it normal that the lens shifts down under it's own weight when you shift it up? Unless you lock it of course. Because this copy doesn't appear to be able to support it's own weight in an equilibrium unless you use the lock buttons to lock it's movement
That is quite normal, since mine is my daily carry it is quite loose as well. The lock controls are delicate too, I once bumped my copy and the vertical shift lock broke. I was traveling and used a piece of aluminum tape, and in fact it proved to be easier than the knob. It was an expensive repair!
I find your second beach shot rather perverse, so I hope you don't take too many like that but it seems everybody with a tilt shift goes down that road. You have inspired me to dig up a different sort of selective focus shot.
I think it is an excellent lens that in addition to its perspective and plane of focus controls makes for a nice close focusing unit.
It would be a good way to feature some of your woodworking and knife creations.
What a beautiful photo Doug. Shots like that is when I wish the Df had a tilt LCD
Wildflower season is basically over here. Hit 93 degrees today. Missing that cool weather from a few weeks ago already.
graytrekker wrote:
As we move closer to "official" summer here in Montana (it's been a rather cool spring so far), the parade of wildflowers continues to unfold. I spotted some of these Fairy Slipper orchids (Calypso bulbosa var americana) on a hike last evening. I posted a photo of one of these a few years ago. This is a focused stacked effort - tripod all sprawled out on a slope - not very stable.
GeorgeBo wrote:
What a beautiful photo Doug. Shots like that is when I wish the Df had a tilt LCD
Thanks,George.
Yes, would that be nice! With these little guys you have to lay on your stomach and hope you can see that back screen well enough to focus.- multiple times for stacking . Its all part of the challenge, I guess
Maybe that's why when I look at these tiny orchids, they look like they are laughing at me
DeltaSigma wrote:
Three decades ago when I worked in Germany I received 30 days paid leave per year. On top of that I got back up to 5 'fenster tage' (window days) per year which accumulated over time due the actual weekly working hours being slightly longer than the paid hours. There's 7 weeks already for you Leighton. Mmmm, why did I leave?
Not sure what it is like these days though.
Colin
This is the way it should be throughout the world. When I left the power company 25 years ago, I was up to 6 weeks of vacation per year. But it took me 20 years of service to get there.
Indeed, with my current employer I have 47 days of paid holidays a year. I did work some extra hours during Corona lockdowns so in addition to those days, I started 2022 with 600+ hours which I collected, and now trade one on one for paid holidays as well.
leighton w wrote:
Nice images. Haven't you recently, like in the last few years, started this new job? And you have 10 weeks of paid holidays coming?
Indeed, that is "one of those shots" trying to find out what does what on the lens.
Thank you for confirming my suspicion. I could not imagine this to be caused by mechanical malfunction
HCE HCE wrote:
That is quite normal, since mine is my daily carry it is quite loose as well. The lock controls are delicate too, I once bumped my copy and the vertical shift lock broke. I was traveling and used a piece of aluminum tape, and in fact it proved to be easier than the knob. It was an expensive repair!
I find your second beach shot rather perverse, so I hope you don't take too many like that but it seems everybody with a tilt shift goes down that road. You have inspired me to dig up a different sort of selective focus shot.
I think it is an excellent lens that in addition to its perspective and plane of focus controls makes for a nice close focusing unit.
It would be a good way to feature some of your woodworking and knife creations.
leighton w wrote:
This is the way it should be throughout the world. When I left the power company 25 years ago, I was up to 6 weeks of vacation per year. But it took me 20 years of service to get there.
In the UK it varies from 20 to 25 days with some companies offering more for long service.
I have a 25 day base with and extra 2 given after 5 years' service. Pity it wasn't 2 days for every 5 year increment.....
My overseas co-workers have much more flexibility and go on extended holiday every summer. So good for them. Here in the US with the same company we feel guilty if we take a week off.
I have been with my company for 30 years. They actually took away 5 days vacation this year for people over 25 and employees starting out get 5 days extra. Also about 10 years ago they took away the ability to carry over vacation from year to year (unless the laws in very few states override). So we have a “use it or lose it” policy. Union rules are different but still not near overseas.
leighton w wrote:
This is the way it should be throughout the world. When I left the power company 25 years ago, I was up to 6 weeks of vacation per year. But it took me 20 years of service to get there.
leighton w wrote:
Love the weeds in the foreground!
Thanks Leighton. Whenever I see good light, I look for opportunities. It was too bad that I was not close to a crossroad or interchange where I could pull off with rural architecture (farms, silos, barns etc) though they were present along the trip, just not at that particular point in the trip. Photography is about the light. In northwest Ohio it is REALLY about the light, and I have to capitalize as much as possible while doing my best to not repeat the same shots (with only some success, I might add).
Here's some other weeds. I had a hard time in post processing determining what balance of light and dark tones, and color grading to apply to the shadows. 75-150 Series E again, same quick detour.
leighton w wrote:
This is the way it should be throughout the world. When I left the power company 25 years ago, I was up to 6 weeks of vacation per year. But it took me 20 years of service to get there.
US companies will be generous with PTO (Vacation + sick time) only after many years of service, and most employees do not get the opportunity to be around that long. I cannot complain about my employer, they are generous/fair in many ways.
Cup and Saucer by the Window
35-105mm Zoom Nikkor Macro
That cup and saucer look really nice. How is the 35-105 for corner to corner sharpness? I'm still looking for a moderately small lens with good corner to corner sharpness at f5,6 or f8 and the ability to focus somewhat close. The intended use is quite (very) specific.
I got back into playing a nice cardgame which I stopped playing over 20 years ago. An old schoolfriend from Kristina actually brought the game back to my attention, and since then a world of unexpected surprises, friendships and business oportunities opened for me.
As it happens, this cardgame, which uses special cards, knows many variants. The variant I got involved in is a variant using cards printed in 1993 and 1994 only. Many of the people playing this variant of the game are keen on accessories, and have an interest in purchasing handmade dice from me. They also have an interest in artists who alter the original cards, mostly using acrylic paints. Fortunately for me, that is also a service I can offer. Lastly, tournaments are organised, and I visit those as supplier of handmade dice, as artist for altering cards, and as photographer. The role as photographer also includes making photos of the card decks those people collected and play during the tournament, and I found the 35mm f2 Nikkor-O does not have enough corner to corner sharpness to make usable photos of the card decks.
pbraymond wrote:
Thanks Leighton. Whenever I see good light, I look for opportunities. It was too bad that I was not close to a crossroad or interchange where I could pull off with rural architecture (farms, silos, barns etc) though they were present along the trip, just not at that particular point in the trip. Photography is about the light. In northwest Ohio it is REALLY about the light, and I have to capitalize as much as possible while doing my best to not repeat the same shots (with only some success, I might add).
Here's some other weeds. I had a hard time in post processing determining what balance of light and dark tones, and color grading to apply to the shadows. 75-150 Series E again, same quick detour.
That cup and saucer look really nice. How is the 35-105 for corner to corner sharpness? I'm still looking for a moderately small lens with good corner to corner sharpness at f5,6 or f8 and the ability to focus somewhat close. The intended use is quite (very) specific.
It's from the early 1980's. Not surprisingly, on my 42mp Sony A7R2 it does NOT have corner-to-corner sharpness at all focal lengths. I shoot it at the long end because I rarely shoot shorter than 50mm.
This lens is one of several that I found via Christopher Perez https://photosketchpad.blogspot.com/2019/04/nikon-nikkor-35mm-f35-105mm-f45-zoom.html who has tested the blur rendition of many older Nikkor lenses. The 55mm Micro Nikkor and 70-150 Series E also have wonderfully neutral blur. WIth the zooms, it varies a lot with focal length.
Because I purchased the 35-105 back in 1983 I have kept it and keep coming back to it for certain subjects.
I should point out that the apparent graininess in the image is due to JPG compression and banding, not sensor noise. Or the limitation of the monitor.
Thank you. That was indeed quite helpful.
The two lenses I have in close consideration at the momet are the 35-70 f3,5 Ai-S and the 35-105 of which you just kindly provided those nice photo's to view.
One thing I like to keep in mind with these older lenses is that as we focus closer (or shoot in crop-sensor mode), we use only the center of the image circle, where quality is best. Similarly, if we crop either taller or wider, we can also exclude the corners.
With a tool like Photoshop we can apply a second sharpening layer along a circular gradient (sort of like a Vignette correction layer) so that sharpening increases as we reach the edges. This can make the whole image look more uniform.
