Just a shell

[Rick58]

While waiting to go out today, I raided the wifes bedroom accessories and here ya go. Yes, no, maybe?

View attachment 37175

 

[ceeboy14]

Focus is just a wee bit off, but too much so to make it a stellar shot. Lighting is fine as is the composition.

 

[Rick58]

Focus is just a wee bit off, but too much so to make it a stellar shot. Lighting is fine as is the ocmposition.

Dreaded focus!
I'm focused in the center of the shell and shooting at f16. This is really getting annoying.
I got Brent's 35mm this week and I'm hoping to get out today to try it. I'm just about ready
to use this D200 for Skeet practice!
Thanks CB

 

[ceeboy14]

Perhaps, darest I suggest, it is not the lens but your eyes or your diopter is not set correctly to your eyes.

 

[Rick58]

View attachment 37146

Could Be CB, these old eyes are kind'a tired.
Here's another attempt at playng with shells.
Same Lens (55 Macro Nikkor) The only difference
is I shoved it in as close as I could and still allow
focusing.

 

[ceeboy14]

I cannot say with total certainty it is in perfect focus, but it is infinitely more in focus than the first shell.

 

[Rick58]

Same lens, same eyes, same lighting. I could think "ok, I missed the focus on the first shell", But I made 1/2 a dozen takes on the first shell and every one looked exactly the same. Time for more experimenting.

 

[Rick58]

View attachment 37146

Could Be CB, these old eyes are kind'a tired.
Here's another attempt at playng with shells.
Same Lens (55 Macro Nikkor) The only difference
is I shoved it in as close as I could and still allow
focusing.

View attachment 37176

I put Brent's 35 to work. Thoughts?

 

[o hey tyler]

Focus is just a wee bit off, but too much so to make it a stellar shot. Lighting is fine as is the ocmposition.

Dreaded focus!
I'm focused in the center of the shell and shooting at f16. This is really getting annoying.
I got Brent's 35mm this week and I'm hoping to get out today to try it. I'm just about ready
to use this D200 for Skeet practice!
Thanks CB

I don't think you missed focus. I think your lens is suffering from diffraction. I would try F/11 to give you adequate DoF, and a sharper image. Also, Exif says you were at f/20...

 

[Rick58]

Focus is just a wee bit off, but too much so to make it a stellar shot. Lighting is fine as is the ocmposition.

Dreaded focus!
I'm focused in the center of the shell and shooting at f16. This is really getting annoying.
I got Brent's 35mm this week and I'm hoping to get out today to try it. I'm just about ready
to use this D200 for Skeet practice!
Thanks CB

I don't think you missed focus. I think your lens is suffering from diffraction. I would try F/11 to give you adequate DoF, and a sharper image. Also, Exif says you were at f/20...

Thanks I'll certainly give that a shot. I thought I would be OK at 20. I had to move in tight to fill the frame. I knew the DOF was going to be shallow, so I stopped down. I'll try backing off a stop or to.

BTW, the snail was stopped down f32 just to give me about 1" of DOF, but that was with a macro

 

[Mully]

Rick shoot with an "old" E series Nikor lens and see what happens .... Sometimes I just hate autofocus.....the old primes worked then and still work today.

 

[Rick58]

Thanks Mully, I'll have to do just that, but I have a 1.8 and a 2 (both 50mm AIs). Both are mint glass from my F2's.

I have to say the sharpest shots I've gotten so far with this 200 were the rose thorns and now the snail shell. (The actual snail shell is a little smaller then a quarter). These were both taken with my AI macro.

I also haven't given Brents 35 a fair shake. Minimum focus distance on a dark lit subject is exactly the fairest test.

A few D200 limitations I've learned so far is, they don't like:

High ISO ( My taste is no higher then 400)
Long exposures
Under exposures

 

[invisible]

I'm focused in the center of the shell and shooting at f16. This is really getting annoying.

Are you focusing and then recomposing? If so, the recomposing might be affecting the accuracy of the focus, especially if the front of the lens is very close to the subject. Just a thought.

EDIT: I like the second shot A LOT.

 

[Rick50]

Rick, have you considered buying a camera? J/K, I like the Brent 35 shot. It looks pretty clean.

 

[Rick58]

I'm focused in the center of the shell and shooting at f16. This is really getting annoying.

Are you focusing and then recomposing? If so, the recomposing might be affecting the accuracy of the focus, especially if the front of the lens is very close to the subject. Just a thought.

EDIT: I like the second shot A LOT.

Thanks Fedrico. That was taken with a 40 year old manual focus macro so I know my eyes aren't gone. Not too shabby for a shell a little smaller then a quarter.

As far as focusing, I put the shell in front of the lens, carefully focus about 1/2 the distance and snap the shutter without doing any recomposing. Like Mully suggests, if I need to use my 40 year old primes to get a good shot, I don't have a problem with that. I'm really beginning to think something is misaligned with the AF on the camera. Has anyone heard of such a thing?
I'm also not discounting Tyler's thoughts. I want to do some experimenting at lower f stops. Yet another limitation for my list?