Manual Focusing " Vintage Lenses"
Today I went out on a little photo walk/shoot at my local state park and into my town with nothing but vintage lenses and my Sony A6000 just to see how well I could focus with these old lenses. I took four lenses with me to this exercise in photography. These are the lenses I took. Pentax 28mm f2.8, Vivitar 35-70mm f2.8, Nikon 50mm f1.4, Pentax 80-200mm f4.6. This was truly a exercise in basic photography. This was like when I first started taking photos with my first SLR which was all manual. The only decisions I had to make were what shutter speed, film speed (ASA/ISO), and aperture focus and shoot. The only difference was I could see instant results. I did find that certain lenses I liked better than others.
The Vivitar 35-70mm lens is one of my old favorite lenses, and the focal length was a great one in full frame. However, with my crop sensor it was a smidge too long. My old faithful push-pull zoom lens worked well, and I used it quite a bit while walking through town. Solid metal construction, sharp lens, worked well.
The Nikon 50mm 1.4 lens is the fastest of my manual lenses and is great for isolation. This would be a great portrait lens for the crop sensor being equivilant to 75mm. Solid plastic construction, very sharp lens, and I can use it with my D800 and D7000. The biggest suprise of the experiment was the Pentax 80-200mm. This lens was the cheapest build of the four lenses with very inexpensive plastic and with a minimum f-stop of 4.6, the slowest of the bunch. But for sharpness this was the clear winner and will be in my bag for when I need this focal range. Above 100mm I don't use too much, but this lightweight lens will go with me backpacking as well as around town.
Will I be using these lenses all of the time? Except for the Pentax 80-200, probably not. I have auto focus lenses that take me from 15mm to 150mm, and I have a 60mm macro that I didn't mention that I can use on both my Sony and Nikon systems. The overall experiment went well. If you're looking for some different lenses for your mirrorless cameras, start looking at vintage glass. It can be inexpensive (as low as 5 bucks) in a yard sale or bid on one on Ebay or pull some of the old friends out of the closet that you used with film. These old lenses are very high quality and durable (most of them are built like a tank) and very fun to use. Keep shooting!
Day Trip to NC Transportation Museum
Keep Shooting!
Photo Walk "Raleigh NC"
It was a very over cast day perfect for Black and White photography but as my friend Kevin would say its always a good time for B/W photography. So after lunch we went out again but rain was forecast for later in the day so we tried not to lollygag too much. We went to the capital building and worked our way back to the parking deck where we parked. We decided to go to the local camera shop and of course camera nuts like us we had a ball. I actually bought a few things.
Keep Shooting!
Photography Day Trip "Cedar Point"
This coming weekend I plan on going on a photo walk in Raleigh NC to do some street photography. This will be a good fit for my Sony A6000 Kit. I like using it in different situations. Im still a little awkward with the A6000 kit but I have fun playing with it. Looking forward to seeing new things and getting way out of my comfort zone. Hopefully I'll get some great Photo's. Trying to put myself in more uncomfortable photography situations to make myself a better photographer. Hope to to some more traveling also. I'll post about my trip to Raleigh next week.
Keep Shooting!!!
New Year's Photography and Backpacking Resolutions
Take More Photographs- This sounds simple enough but for someone that works 45 hours a week and commutes 15 more hours this can be quite a chore. As I get older I seem to take fewer photos than when I was younger maybe this is because of inexperience when I was younger but as I age the photo's are getting better but I'm taking fewer. I want to take more quantity and quality photo's.
Take Photo's that Tell a Story- Many times we get caught up on the scene at hand and end up taking really good snap shots that are pretty, but don't really tell a story. Photo's that tell a story are more meaningful but not only for you to remember them by but for others that see the photograph. The story doesn't have to be a dramatic one it could be something in the photo that tells the viewer where it is. For example taking a photo of the Mississippi River can be a fine photo but if you have the St. Louis Arches in them then you know exactly where the photo is from. A very small story but anyone that see's the photo knows a small story. Explore New Places- Taking time to research and go to places where I haven't been before. Taking Backpacking trips and hiking places where I've never been. I'm also looking into a teardrop trailer (Small Travel Trailer) that I can pull behind a small vehicle to go camping at RV parks with my wife to save cost of hotel rooms. Would really like to take a trip out west but I really don't see that happening this year but maybe in the future.
Get out of my Comfort Zone- Getting out of my comfort zone will help me be a better photographer. When you take photo's out of your comfort zone you tend to think more and take your time to get a shot and that usually always produces a good shot. So get out of yours. Print more Photo's- I have a nice printer that I don't use as much as I should. People like photo's they can hold either in a frame or just the print. When you make a print you have something that can last for decades and also gives your relatives something to look at. One of my favorite things to do is go through photo's that are saved in a shoe box. Flipping through the photo's by hand is a real treat. I would love for my grandchildren to do that with my photo's. So print more! So these are some of my Photography New Years Resolutions. What are some of yours. If you don't have any make some or use some of mine but please make some. Keep Shooting!
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