Astronar 300/5.5 Fuji 400 Xtra superia

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Not sure I like this lens I may need a heavier tripod to stop vibration or be more patient Very Happy

#1 resting the lens on a towel on the car roof,it was a very overcast day and the sun was shining on this cliff face.

#2

#3

#4 Still having trouble with the backlight I did adjust exposure but need the flash I think?

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

***Still having trouble with the backlight I did adjust exposure but need the flash I think?***

....or just only take shots when the parrot is in full sunshine against a deep blue sky.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

erm well very professional using a seperate exposure meter....too much hassle for me, I just want to take shots and let my cameras do the work...of course you have to help the camera out now and again with difficult lighting conditions, and all you need is a small bit of experience.

marty · Joined: 09 Apr 2009 Posts: 767 Location: Italy

Use self timer or cable release for minimize shake. Try to find a better point of view,or use flash,or expose a bit more, use a hood when shooting against sun. Then pay attention to your posture if shooting hand held: take you legs apart to gain more stability, elbows against chest, camera rested on your cheek, one hand below the lens barrel, the other holding the body and releasing the shutter. Take a deep breath and trip the shutter while breathing out. This often works for me, if I manage to have the speed at its faster setting (And, no, I'm no big guy... Smile

). That said, good compositions. I like the heron (?) caught at mid fly.

Cheers, M.-

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Thanks again Marty I will take note next time of body position.
The last 2 were with the Ricoh TLS so the meter was helping me work out if the cameras meter is working properly as it can be a pain at times it also helped me work out whether the hand held meter was working as well $2 special from ebay nice soligor selector CDS meter Very Happy

Univer traded with me and gave me some extension tubes so I was playing with those as well.... they are a lot of fun Very Happy

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

Looking out of my window I saw similar conditions as your parrot shot...it was pinky white cherry blossom in sunshine against a pale blue whitish sky. Well the camera would have got the exposure wrong by two stops.
When you have the neg film developed and put onto a CD or prints the machine would have compensated for the error and the shot would probably look ok, but the difference between a correctly exposed one would be at least.......the grain would be for optimum results and it would be sharper.

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Nice shots, Mo-Fo! Using a 300mm hand-held, even resting on the car roof, is never easy. I think you did very well. I don't think fill-in flash is going to help a lot at the distance you were from the subject.

I'm not sure about this lens. There seems to be a fair bit of flare in most of the pictures, reducing the contrast considerably. This also reduces the apparent sharpness.

I think the bird is an Ibis, the sacred bird of Ancient Egypt. We saw very tames ones in Hyde Park in Sydney, scavenging in litter bins and waiting for you to drop your sandwiches! Smile

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Yes I can see it.I notice the only shot that does not have it is when it is aimed just about parallel with the ground,as in the duck photo,all the others are aimed up or down at steep angles.

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Looking at the Cockatoo pic, I'm wondering if the mistiness is just down to the compensation for under-exposure. Did you just point the meter in the general direction? That would include a lot of bright sky in the reading and give a false value, so the tree would be under-exposed. Taking a reading close up to the tree or by using a spot meter would give a lower value - then the tree would be correctly exposed and the sky over-exposed.

Here's what the pic looks like after adjusting the middle Levels slider. I haven't touched the sharpness. Although the tree is a little dark, notice how the contrast and sharpness seems to be a lot better?

fish4570 · Expire: 2012-03-21

yes, exposure for the cockatoo was dead on. i think it is a lens-coating flare issue. a hood would be a necessity, i think, for this lense.
i, too, have trouble with dampening vibration. my tripod is much better with me sitting on the ground and only the heaviest leg segments extended. a small sandbag would greatly help your non-tripod shots, such as shooting off a cartop or your car window. just be sure the motor is turned off. Very Happy

you can make sandbags of various sizes from old bluejeans legs ...

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30