Another shot from last night with the 28mm 3.5 PC. My favorite place by my house to test lenses.
6 shot pano. When shifted it seems like it exaggerates the issues when not using a gimbal. I do panos a lot but it seems a lot trickier when doing shifts. I shot this in landscape and did standard, full shift up, full shift down. I did this in 2 rows.
Cars are always welcome... and today we have TWO Peters contributing their visions. I love the conversation on the newer Minis which should perhaps be called Maxis...
Peter B, I caught your comment on the 180 and the fact you'd likely be using it often in the near future. The recent conversation about that lens motivated me to drop my copy in the camera bag with a set of Vivitar extension tubes. I have some photos I'll post. I love that lens... but in the meantime I'll follow your offerings with the 55 f/1.2 with a couple from a trip I took with Sue to Sonoma yesterday afternoon. Here are two, both converted with Silver Efex Pro 2. I'm shooting, of course, with the 55 f/1.2 S.C. AI. As you observe Peter, this lens is spectacular at f/2. It can be a challenge wide open but when you nail focus, it can be quite delicious.
And before turning in for the night I'll post a couple of shots taken today with the 180 f/2.8 AI-s, which is one of my desert island lenses. I haven't shot with it for a long while, which is surely a shame. These were shot without tubes.
pburke wrote:
recent minis are super-sized blobs of altered Mini DNA - something went horribly wrong at BMW when they allowed the bean counters to drive the development of cars. As an end result you now get BMW 1-series sized Minis with really large tail lights to obscure the fact that they aren't small any longer
here are some more German cars - these two are of different generations. Again, the new car is twice the size and double the weight of the old one, or at least so it seems from the perspective
Peter, I fully agree and don't like these size increases one bit. I could start writing on my opinion, but it would take the better part of the afternoon to pour the technical, economical and evironmental aspects of this size creep problem into a format understandable to all. So I'll constrain myself a bit here to not wander all the way off the topic of manual focus lenses and into the land of engineering and physics
the solitaire wrote:
Peter, I fully agree and don't like these size increases one bit. I could start writing on my opinion, but it would take the better part of the afternoon to pour the technical, economical and evironmental aspects of this size creep problem into a format understandable to all. So I'll constrain myself a bit here to not wander all the way off the topic of manual focus lenses and into the land of engineering and physics
Such constraint Buddy. My guess is that as a recently minted father, you don't have TIME to wax eloquently on any subject, except perhaps potty training...
I'll add a coda to your comment, however, because I'm sitting alone in my cottage with nothing ahead of me for the day except putting away laundry... I'd rather chat.
As cars have gotten bigger and much more sophisticated in features offered, so have homes. I continue to be very happy in my 400 square foot cottage for the past 26 years but it seems most folks want more house. I saw a report that said home size in the U.S. over the last forty years has increased by 1,000 square feet. At the same time family size has gotten smaller. It is little wonder that homes have increased in cost. Forty years from 1960 to 2000 prices, adjusted for inflation DOUBLED in the U.S. and TRIPLED in California. The home I bought in Vallejo in 1980 for $36,500 sold a year ago for $325,000. Amazing!
Apparently the crash in 2008 has contributed to some reduction in home size but prices are still over the top... I wish the next generation well as they establish themselves. The American dream has become very expensive to achieve.
So a few photos taken with the 180 f/2.8 AI-s with an extension tube attached. I'll cross post these on the Shooting with Tubes thread in Macro World. Although I started that thread years ago I've not given it much attention. Thankfully, the moderator of that forum decided to sticky the thread so it has stayed near the top of the queue ever since it began. Thanks again to all the folks from this thread who've continued to make contributions there as well as here...
The first two were shot with the 36mm Vivitar tube. I bought a set of three tubes with the leather case for under thirty dollars. They are very serviceable, though they are not at finely made as the Nikon tubes I bought later.
CGrindahl wrote:
So a few photos taken with the 180 f/2.8 AI-s with an extension tube attached. I'll cross post these on the Shooting with Tubes thread in Macro World. Although I started that thread years ago I've not given it much attention. Thankfully, the moderator of that forum decided to sticky the thread so it has stayed near the top of the queue ever since it began. Thanks again to all the folks from this thread who've continued to make contributions there as well as here...
The first two were shot with the 36mm Vivitar tube. I bought a set of three tubes with the leather case for under thirty dollars. They are very serviceable, though they are not at finely made as the Nikon tubes I bought later.
Gotta love the way tubes so narrow the focal plane that the background is practically obliterated... juicy smooth bokeh produced by this combination....Show more →
Curtis,
I particularly like the last one of the sun dappled orange petals against the deep green background.
Thanks Colin... that is perhaps why I chose to post it last. The last two are from the backyard of the home in front of my cottage. I'm in one corner at the rear of the lot with a house and carport between me and the street. My 12 foot wide three panel front window looks out on the adjacent backyard for the house. Until about a month ago a large, volunteer plum tree sheltered the yard and my cottage from the afternoon sun. But the tree tumbled during a storm and now the whole area is flooded with light... Nice to be able to take photos of flowers in the sunlight, but definitely not as pleasant to live in the cottage. I'm in the midst of selecting shades for that wide window. I don't know if I could survive a hot summer without protection. At the moment, I have a sheet hanging over two thirds of the window. Amazing what a tree can do for our environs...
Great to see you Kristian. You've been missed. Then I know you have a family, a job, a busy life. I can imagine that photography can easily lose its urgency. My almost six month absence is testament to that and I don't have any excuses...
That skateboard setup looks terrifying to me... but at 75 years of age, I'm much more protective of my limbs... breaking them comes at too high a cost...
CGrindahl wrote:
Great to see you Kristian. You've been missed. Then I know you have a family, a job, a busy life. I can imagine that photography can easily lose its urgency. My almost six month absence is testament to that and I don't have any excuses...
That skateboard setup looks terrifying to me... but at 75 years of age, I'm much more protective of my limbs... breaking them comes at too high a cost...
Thanks Curtis,
I´m always happy to enter this thread and look at all the good stuff. My biggest problem this last two months (the others months before that I have no excuse for though...) have been my thumb that´s not quite healed yet. Tomorrow I´ll go to the hospital again to see if there´s been any progress
Sometimes one needs some time to get the inspiration back as well, nice to see you post again, such great work with the 180mm...
I ride some skateboard as well but not like the guy in the picture. I would probably be hospitalized for years if I tried something like that...
I´m always happy to enter this thread and look at all the good stuff. My biggest problem this last two months (the others months before that I have no excuse for though...) have been my thumb that´s not quite healed yet. Tomorrow I´ll go to the hospital again to see if there´s been any progress
Sometimes one needs some time to get the inspiration back as well, nice to see you post again, such great work with the 180mm...
I ride some skateboard as well but not like the guy in the picture. I would probably be hospitalized for years if I tried something like that......Show more →
Over the years the topic of waning inspiration has come up from time to time. I know for myself that it is often the addition of a new lens that stirs the juices. That worked quite well for me largely because I bought so MANY lenses... not something that makes sense for everyone. Without adding to my kit, it is generally a change in my setting that can get me inspired again. When I've traveled to Europe, which has happened twice since I started this thread, I took a great many photos. When Rinie came for visits on two occasions, we bounced around California and I took a great many photos. My trip to New York last year prompted a fair amount of shooting. When two traveling lenses visited, I took the occasion to strike out looking for opportunities. It seems that the ordinary flow of life can diminish enthusiasm, perhaps because so much of my normal environment has been photographed so many times.
Extension tubes got me going in the distant past. I've no idea whether it will happen once again. But I am happy to have my camera bag in the trunk of my car and getting back on the thread does in itself inspire me to shoot. It is nice to make a contribution to the conversation, both with words and with photos.
Hope your recovery continues Kristian and that with Spring you're inspiration will return.
Ahh yes, the dreaded inspiration dilemma. I often have to battle that and having to shoot while at the market doesn't really help. I used to find inspiration like you Curtis with a purchase of a new lens, but that ain't happening for a while.
) have been my thumb that´s not quite healed yet. Tomorrow I´ll go to the hospital again to see if there´s been any progress