The problem with manual lenses - -

[Ron Evers]

- is camera shake. I was out this morning shooting Monarch butterflys & the light was poor due to haze. I had my ISO set @ 200 & was working with a Sears 135/2.8 set to f3.5. Although there were numerous bflys about I had great difficulty getting close enough to any for a good shot so had to shoot hand held until I found one not so skittish.

The following three shots demonstrate how camera shake can spoil the sharpness of an image even when accurately focused.


1. Hand held 1/30s

2. Hand held 1/80s

3. Tripod 1/50s

See how much sharper this last shot is over the hand held ones.

 

[pgriz]

Hey Ron, nice shots! Yours are probably better than I can manage under the circumstances, but I have a photo buddy who shoots with a 180mm macro with a ring-flash, and he's able to get some stunning shots. The challenge, of course, is the very shallow DOF, and nailing the focus on the desired animal part - so he takes lots of shots and some of them are sharp in the right places. Recently, he also got a 400mm lens and he has fitted extension tubes to this and has been again testing his "macro" capabilities. I don't think the ring flash fits around the 400mm, so I don't yet know how he handles the lighting situation. It ain't easy when you're in the field!

 

[tirediron]

True, but if I were you, I'd be darn happy to be able to hand-hold a big old metal-barreled 135 at 1/30 and get that good a result!

 

[reznap]

I have an old Nikkor 200mm f/4 manual focus and aperture lens. Mounting it on the new Canon with no split prism makes for a very difficult platform to get proper focus on. I can definitely appreciate your pictures because I know just how difficult it is to pull this off..

 

[o hey tyler]

I have an old Nikkor 200mm f/4 manual focus and aperture lens. Mounting it on the new Canon with no split prism makes for a very difficult platform to get proper focus on. I can definitely appreciate your pictures because I know just how difficult it is to pull this off..

You can still use live view mode with a manual lens (at least I think you can...?). I'd recommend that when trying to achieve sharp focus.

 

[DanEitreim]

I really like your Monarch photos. I'd be thrilled to be able to handhold my camera and get photos that sharp.

 

[Ron Evers]

Thanks for your comments guys.

I was fully expecting someone to say up your ISO.

Well, I like to control noise & am a bit confident (read stubborn) in controlling camera motion blur which these photos disprove.

Ideally I would have been using a shutter speed of 1/200 with this 135mm lens but that would put my camera in a potential area for noise.

Working with old glass is not for everyone but I like the challenge as it takes me back to my late teens (50s) & a Minolta SLR.