[Jewelltrail]

V5Planet: here are a couple contributions in the meantime, both with the 105/2.8:

I love the duck shot, the way the Sun's beam points riight to the duck, the way the duck moves on, seemingly unaffected--nicely done.

[Ira]

I have no reasonable answer to that question. The short of it is that I cannot!

I met my wife in Caracas, and because my ad agency had the Pan Am account, I got 50% off travel--so I was able to fly down literally every few weeks for more than a year until we got married and she moved to NYC with me.

The Customs Agents saw all of the stamps in my passport and thought I was a drug-runner.

Actually, I WAS a bootlegger of sorts. I made quite a bit of money bringing in Cuban cigars for bigwigs in my agency who BEGGED me to do it. They paid me top dollar, bought me dinners, and even promised bail money and an attorney if things went bad.

But if you're getting flare with the 85, your hood isn't long enough. I have zero with mine.

[v5planet]

I met my wife in Caracas, and because my ad agency had the Pan Am account, I got 50% off travel--so I was able to fly down literally every few weeks for more than a year until we got married and she moved to NYC with me.

The Customs Agents saw all of the stamps in my passport and thought I was a drug-runner.

Actually, I WAS a bootlegger of sorts. I made quite a bit of money bringing in Cuban cigars for bigwigs in my agency who BEGGED me to do it. They paid me top dollar, bought me dinners, and even promised bail money and an attorney if things went bad.

But if you're getting flare with the 85, your hood isn't long enough. I have zero with mine.

Maybe I need a better hood, then. Do you have any recommendations for a suitable generic?

[Ira]

Get a generic/clone Cokin system off eBay with a few filter ring holders to accommodate various filter thread sizes, a holder, and 4 or 5 of the cheap modular hood segments.

Remember that on our FF lenses, we can go a lot further out with the hoods, since vignetting is not an issue because a significant area of the outer perimeter doesn't come into play at all.

On my 55, I can safely use 3 hood segments for a hood of about 4" plus with zero vignetting. I use this same configuration for my 85, although I could easily go even longer.

Not telling you what to do, but I know you're serious about this stuff and I think you would really benefit from and enjoy the extreme hood flexibility that Cokin-type systems afford you. And on a related subject:

Isn't it interesting how no one here in Takland posts zoom photos? But I I bring this up because when you look at hoods for zooms, especially tulip ones, they make no sense. They're all designed for minimal flare protection at their widest FL, and do nothing for the longer lengths.

[Lowell Goudge]

Uh oh. Here is a familiar point of contention

I understand Ira's points about the 105, and I have found many to be valid. It is soft, it likes to flare. But to be honest I would much much rather reach for it than my 85/1.9. I find that lens to be quite susceptible to flare as well, and for whatever reason the longer focal length of the 105 is more comfortable for me. Maybe it's because I mostly shoot outdoors and like a fair amount of standoff when I am taking photos of people, but whatever the reasons, I find the 105 to be fun and reliable, even if it is far from perfect. When I'm using it I have no desire to take it off my camera, and I have trouble thinking of better praise for a lens...

I thought the 85F`1.9 was really susceptable to flare as well until I took the cheap filter off the front.

I tested with Canon, nikon, hoya, a cheap "henry's" store brand, and SMC Pentax.

The only acceptable filter I have for the 85 is the SMC pentax.

Maybe try without filters?

[Ira]

I thought the 85F`1.9 was really susceptable to flare as well until I took the cheap filter off the front.

I tested with Canon, nikon, hoya, a cheap "henry's" store brand, and SMC Pentax.

The only acceptable filter I have for the 85 is the SMC pentax.

Maybe try without filters?

I don't think he's using filters, besides a CP, which sure wouldn't add to flare.

[pdophoto]

erkie:
I have seen on Flickr that the max.trigger voltage for the yongnuo CTR-301 P is around 300v.

The only inconvenient that I found is that it operates at 433mhz and is susceptible to interference.

Make a search on *bay (they are real cheap) and check on Flickr for references.

[Mike Cash]

Pentax K20D
S-M-C Takumar 35/2

[erkie]

Mike, Most of my old flashes I have accumulated off the auction site on old cameras that happened to have the lens I could not live without at the time I've tested most of the a few months ago and most are over 100 volts one was even close to 300 volts . I think one of my older Minoltas for my old srt101 will actually work. Bu my nice trio I had set up for macro on my 7000i have completely different hot shoe pins. I think some of the recievers you can get in minolta mount though. It was a sweet setup for macro but I didn't have much luck with it in normal shooting. Of course I never had any idea how to do it properly. And back then when I wasted a few rolls of film it really irritated me. Now with digital it's not an issue.

Man I love how that smc 35/2 handles red ! It's funny to me how different lenses handle different colors. My F 35-70 does red well too. But the 18-55 kit lens sucks on red. To me the smc 200 tak has the nicest blues I've seen. I like it better than Zeiss blues.

It seems to me the af200t sells quite reasonably here. I never really looked closely but it seems I see a lot of them around. Something to keep in mind.

Eric

[v5planet]

Something's down there.

I think I'm spent for a while.

Ira - thanks, I will check out those modular hoods, sounds interesting. And nah, I don't bother with filters.

[erkie]

erkie:
I have seen on Flickr that the max.trigger voltage for the yongnuo CTR-301 P is around 300v.

The only inconvenient that I found is that it operates at 433mhz and is susceptible to interference.

Make a search on *bay (they are real cheap) and check on Flickr for references.

Thanks for the heads up on this ! I'll look into it


V5planet : I think you are probably more used to the 105 focul length. You really make it sing. with the 85 it seems like you are a little farther away relative to the 105 shots. I know I get used to being a certain distance for most of my shots because I love 50mm so when I go wider I'm rarely right up there where I need to be.

I really like Ira's suggestion on the hood. I almost always have a hood on if I'm outdoors. I don't care for filters either so I feel safer with a hood. Not only for contrast enhancement but for safety for the lens too.

Well heres the view from on the roof of the building standing waist deep in snow. If it's a little blurry it's because I'm shivering

Eric

[Mike Cash]

Something's down there.

Or:

Something's down there....even the dog thinks so.

Pentax K20D
Macro-Takumar 50/4

[Fixcinater]

Super Takumar 85mm f/1.9 at f/1.9:




Recesky 35mm TLR (Build It Yourself Kit)

[stash]

Three from today:

200mm f4


35mm f3.5


28mm f3.5

[arbib]

Pentax Super Program
Delta 100 @ ISO 64
Xtol 1:1 for ISO 100