[flipster]

Finally got some sun. Still cold outside, so I just milled around in the back yard looking for birds to shoot at a distance. I used a piece of soda can box, sprayed flat black and duct taped into a tube for a lens shade. Worked pretty well I'd say.

Got the focus. A bit grainy at 800. Hmmm. I'll have to play some more. It's supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow. Takes some patience.

IMGP5097a on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Miserere]

Got the focus. A bit grainy at 800. Hmmm. I'll have to play some more. It's supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow. Takes some patience.

IMGP5097a on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

If you have that much light, I would recommend shooting at 1/1000s and ISO 200. Even without SR that should be fast enough to get a sharp shot. Or were you high on caffeine?

.

[flipster]

Or were you high on caffeine?

Heh. No. I was just trying it out for the first time, really. No shake reduction, sadly. I bought my camera a few months before the 100D came out.

I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEDED it! :-) Well seriously, I wanted the DSLR for a trip I was taking and that trip happed before that camera came out.

Focusing on flitty little birds is a bear with these things, that's for sure. Hopefully I can crank it down to 400 speed or 200 speed next time and get a clearer shot.

This IS fun, though.

Has anybody tried it with that doubler that comes with some of these? That's got to knock it down a few stops. Might have to break out at least the monopod for that.

[Numb Thumbs]

I have had a brief play with the 2x converter. I does knock it back about 2 stops and makes focussing even more fun!

It doesn't do anything for the sharpness, either. Hand held would be a difficult trick unless it is VERY bright. Even on a tripod you have to use a shutter delay or the shake from the mirror will make the shots really blurry, even with SR on...

Cheers
Numb Thumbs )

[GerryL]

And about this "catch focus". I have a *ist DL. Think if I try the foil trick I can use catch focus? What am I shorting out?

Or maybe I should just get a thin metal ring somewhere :-)

Catch focus is also known at trap focus.
You don't need to short anything if it works straight out of the lens you are using.
As with the K200D that has been discussed here, it would seem that it has a problem probably with the mount of the T-mount.
You can search the forum about trap focus.
Good for shooting hummingbirds.
Anyway, here is a link on a thread discussing it: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/19513-trap-foc...ar-f1-4-a.html

[GerryL]

Heh. No. I was just trying it out for the first time, really. No shake reduction, sadly. I bought my camera a few months before the 100D came out.

I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEDED it! :-) Well seriously, I wanted the DSLR for a trip I was taking and that trip happed before that camera came out.

Focusing on flitty little birds is a bear with these things, that's for sure. Hopefully I can crank it down to 400 speed or 200 speed next time and get a clearer shot.

This IS fun, though.

Has anybody tried it with that doubler that comes with some of these? That's got to knock it down a few stops. Might have to break out at least the monopod for that.

I'm still planning to try it out with my Promaster 1.7X TC but haven't got the time to do it yet.
I bet a tripod would be a must, more than if ust using the lenses themselves as I think handholding them would prove to be difficult or a challenge.

[ovim]

Here's a shot from tonight. 3M-5A 8/500mm + Kiron MC7 2X converter =1000mm
with a little bit of cropping and sharpening.

[whelmed]

So I wound up getting the Tamron 500mm SP 55BB, and I'm happy with this bad boy! It's way more clear than I had expected, and it packs a real oopmh in terms of zoom. First day of shots is below (all hand held by the way):

[ovim]

Superb shots whelmed!

[MattGunn]

So I wound up getting the Tamron 500mm SP 55BB, and I'm happy with this bad boy! It's way more clear than I had expected, and it packs a real oopmh in terms of zoom. First day of shots is below (all hand held by the way):

I found the Tamron 55BB to be a really good lens too but took some getting used to. You have obviously got the hang of it already, nice photos, no obvious donuts in any of them. I especially like the close up one, no4.

[Marc Sabatella]

So I wound up getting the Tamron 500mm SP 55BB, and I'm happy with this bad boy! It's way more clear than I had expected, and it packs a real oopmh in terms of zoom.

Nice shots! Just a clarification of terminology: the lens has no zoom whatsoever: it's a 500mm lens and a 500mm lens only. It does, however have a lot of "reach". Or more technically, has a long focal length.

[Miserere]

It does, however have a lot of "reach". Or more technically, has a long focal length.

It even has a high magnification (10x magnification, to be precise)

.

[benjikan]

The model 55BB didn't have a tripod collar so it can't be missing.

I now have two Tamron 55BB mirror lenses. The first one I got cheep because it had a dent in the filter ring and quite a lot of fungus on the optical surfaces. I cleaned it up and it has worked well for me. The second one I only got this week. It's previous owner had removed the front element to clean the mirror and acidentally dropped the front element on a tiled floor, taking some chips out of it, nd so I got it very cheep. I only really wnated it for the hood as mine didn't come with one but when it arrived it turned out that apart from the front element everything else was in very good condition. I have now rebuilt one imaculate lens from the best bits from both.
I think I will put some black paint on the the chips on the damaged front element. This should reduce the stray light and so prevent the damage redusing the contrast. It could then be a perfectly usable lens as only a small proportion of the total lens area is affected. It could then be a perfectly usable if rather ugly lens.

I knew that. What I meant to say is the 55BB has improved optics but looses the tri-pod collar from its previous incarnation the 55B...Sorry for the confusion.

[Marc Sabatella]

It's been a long winter, but the weather's been cooperating lately, so I took my Vivitar (Samyang) 500/8 out for a walk the other day, along with my DA15 (!). I hadn't used the Vivitar since last fall, and looking at the images I got, I keep having mixed feelings on it. It is *not* a great lens; pixel peeping is not kind to it. But it does (barely) beat cropping my 50-200 or 70-300, and for web resolution, it really is just fine.







Sometimes I think the more interesting use of a mirror lens isn't just shoot wildlife from a distance, but to provide a different perspective on a scene than one could have shot from physically close - and to render a visual effect that just wouldn't have happened otherwise. Somehow, looking across the river at this fallen tree, I just knew the mirror lens was the right tool for the job:

[MattGunn]

I like the first image, the normally busy bokeh looks like a shimmering heat haze.
I agree that although they are rarely the sharpest lenses, mirror lense have their place and can provide images you wouldn't achieve any other way. As you obviously know how to get the best from your mirror lens, have you considered upgrading to a Tamron?

Here is one from my Tamron 55BB from yesterday, slight crop and I'm feeling Lucky'd in picasa.