[luftfluss]

Yep, I have a 150mm plate. The clamp on the tripod head had loosened just enough for the body+lens to slide into the wall I was near, denting the hood and a few scratches... by that point my foot was the fulcrum underneath it, about 2 ft above the ground, and the setup then levered back so the body+batt grip landed on the ground, lens pointing skyward.

I'm annoyed with myself because I usually grab both the tripod and camera when I move it, so I would have felt the looseness of the clamp and the near-catastrophe would have been averted. My laziness cost me, but not as much as it might have.

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Last edited by luftfluss; 09-15-2020 at 09:23 AM.

[luftfluss]

... oh my goodness ... let me see ... is this 31a a Need or a Want ... ? ... ... ... silly grin ....

It is a nice lens It gets lost a bit in the shuffle, though, as I have a handful of 300mm+ lenses.

[marcusBMG]

More pics with adaptall 65B 400mm f4 + k3-ii. (X-post 300mm lens club thread).

I have now made my custom long plate. You can see from my balance test how front heavy the lens is, even with a weighty camera like the K3-ii.



I have also added more padding to the original case, made from some old open cell foam from an old cushion that was kicking around. The case has a rigid base, but then had no padding around the top 2/3rds. The most immediate benefit is it is more comfortable when slung over the shoulder.



Wagtails at the RSPB gave me a good opportunity to see how my eye is getting in. Mmmm I rather relied on LV actually. These pics showed up the bokeh is actually distinctly busy. F7.1, and with 1.4x tc. But pleased with the detail from these large crops..






and from this 1:1 fullsized crop of a stonechat.



Hand held point 'n shoot at passing flying objects worked better than expected.



I was sat on a bench hoping for a little avian fauna action in vain so took a pic of this erratic on the flank of Conwy Mtn. I rather like the colours and textures! And the 1:1 crop shows the detail realised. Monopod, no tc.




The more I use this lens the more impressed I am with it.

[luftfluss]

30A @ 200mm

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[fuzzyphoton]

... i just added a 30a to my line-up ... i justified it by promising to let go of one of my 19AH ... see how that works ?? ...

[luftfluss]

... i just added a 30a to my line-up ... i justified it by promising to let go of one of my 19AH ... see how that works ?? ...

Congrats! I had fully intended to keep only one of either the 30A or 19AH, but found they are so different that for now I'm holding onto both.

FWIW this year I've sold more gear than I've acquired, so I guess I'm ahead of the game...?

[marcusBMG]

X-post with 300mm lens club

This is my first comparison of the three 300mm f2.8's, and the 400mm f4, alone and with the 014F 1.4x teleconverter (a lens p0rn pic here ). The DFA 150-450mm provides a point of further comparison.
The 107B and 360B are in very good condition, the 400mm 65B is a bit more worn but optically pristine, my 60B is a bit of a beater, it was very worn when I acquired it about 5 yrs ago, and then I dropped it (it slid out of a Lowe slingshot pack when the zip undid) onto the mount end, subsequently I have not been able to use PKA mounts and the aperture ring is stiff and doesn't click.
My usual test subject - a turret on Conwy castle with good bright sunlight. I used my K3-ii, M mode and manual focus with all lenses using 10x live view, manfrotto 055Xprob tripod with Slik 800 (~45mm) ballhead (all the lenses have plates to balance them), remote shutter cable. Actually I found this set up to be a bit prone to vibration, I ended up pressing a finger against the side of the camera a lot to try to supress that, and I had to switch off SR. I didn't end up with any images obviously showing shake (and I upped the ASA to 200 and 400 rather than dip the shutter speeds below 1/320th) but it's a potential source of inconsistency/error.

Cropped section was also approx the point of focus.


300mm lenses alone. "Filmstrips" by f stop.






300mm's + 014F tc = 420mm, and 400mm 65B.





Observations.
First thing I can say is that these are all very good lenses. Second, the DFA 150-450mm stands tall against some heavyweight vintage competition. However both the 60B and the 65B yield little/nothing to the DFA at optimum F stops: f5.6, f8. The "beater" 60B is the surprise front runner of the 300's. 107B is a tad softer at wider apertures, improving as its stopped down and eventually catching up at around f8. My 360B is a slight disappointment, it's possible I have a slightly "off" copy, it is also possible that this is a lens where you're always chasing critical focus without ever being sure you've actually nailed it, it's that ticklish! The 400mm 65B is impressively consistent, definitely holds an edge over the 300's+tc, although the 60B+tc is very close. Comparing wide open 65B image resolution with the DFA (I am using a hazro 27" IPS screen these days, a big upgrade over my old one), the DFA edges it but its very close. F5.6 vs f5.6, still DFA by a short nose imo. At F8 I can't put one ahead of the other. The DFA also has no purple fringing of reflections off the lightning conductor.
65B also performed well with the 1.4x tc at 560mm.

[luftfluss]

- Neat that you have all 3 of the Adaptall 300/2.8's!

- I would be terribly disappointed if my 360B performed as shown. However, the focus ring is indeed "ticklish" - super smooth and super fast, there is a definite learning curve compared to other manual focus teles. Also not a fan of the 360B's vanity focus ring.

- I feel like the 65B test results should be a little sharper, but I'm not sure.

- The DFA 150-450 looks really, really good!

[Richard & Sheila]

[fuzzyphoton]

...ok, i broke my own rule of not paying over $50 for one of these old AD classic lenses ... got me a 19ah and 01a and 72b within that ... but hey 2020 is a special year ... so now i get to play with a 30a ... geepers ... and a couple days ago my lady friend wanted to remember her petunias through our upcoming winter ... YAY! .. the 30a to the rescue ! ... ..... and thanks guys for the temptation here ! ... it is almost as if it came with good pics already installed ... SOC ...

[luftfluss]

...ok, i broke my own rule of not paying over $50 for one of these old AD classic lenses ... got me a 19ah and 01a and 72b within that ... but hey 2020 is a special year ... so now i get to play with a 30a ... geepers ... and a couple days ago my lady friend wanted to remember her pansies through our upcoming winter ... YAY! .. the 30a to the rescue ! ... ..... and thanks guys for the temptation here ! ... it is almost as if it came with good pics already installed ... SOC ...

Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[luftfluss]

From a too-brief walk...

30A & 13A

[luftfluss]

More with the 30A...

[fuzzyphoton]

my eyes like all those ..... .. i like that last one too ... now even the cameras are taking selfies ...

[luftfluss]

A couple from today, again the 30A...