Evan's photography phun

[Matt308]

My wife has a Nikon D80. I'm beginning to think it is more camera than she will ever use.

[evangilder]

That's a nice one. You never know. If she learns about it, she should be able to get some dazzling shots with it.

[Lucky13]

Great stuff Eric!

[evangilder]

Thanks guys. More to come in a couple of weeks. I am also working on some new free desktop wallpapers.

[trackend]

I'm still toying with getting that sigma for my D50 Eric But Ive also found a X2.2 matched multiplier for my Olympus 770 which would rate it at 650mm (35m equivalent) the reviews on it seem pretty good and the images they posted using it looked quite impressive. It could be a really could stop gap until I've saved enough wonger for the Sig and as its a compact very handy for holidays.

[evangilder]

My only concern with multipliers is the loss of f-stops and some top end focus normally. But for saving weight and a few quid, its probably not bad. I was playing around with the Sigma all day yesterday, and it didn't take too long to get used to. I took this self portrait yesterday while playing around.

[trackend]

Thats got some punch Eric the monochrome image brings out the crispness really nicely specially the wall texture.
Be interesting to see your next series of aircraft shots sounds like you've got the beast tamed already I look forward to you running off a few megs of images although I'm running out of dribble. I should be able to make Duxford this year and I'm taking a young lad with me who's aircraft mad. It's a shame really as although his dad holds a PPL and also does a lot of gliding he just packs the boy off to boarding school each term and hardly has any quality time with him I've even managed to persuade my wife to act as chaperon and getting her to go to an airfield (unless its for a vacation is like pulling teeth)
Id have to use that multiplier on focus lock anyway for aircraft Eric as the Olympus has very slow AF even on continuous and Ive found the metering on it needs 1.5 - 2 stops over exposure for aircraft in flight as the spot meter is not that precise still for £90 its worth an experiment, I will still get the Sigma. If the multiplier comes through before I go to Italy in a fortnights time I'll take it with me and give it a test on some candid work on the Grand Canal, cafe life Etc. but hopfully Ill be able to get the Sig before FL at Duxford.

[evangilder]

I'll be interested to see how that works for you. I have been noticing a little bit of softness with the lens at between the 300-500mm range. Then I realized what the problem was. I bought a UV filter with the lens and did a dust off and put it on. I should have thoroughly cleaned it first. The packing foam that cushioned the filter for shipping left some funky residue on the filter, slightly oily, which was softening the focus, especially at the far end of the zoom.

So lesson learned. When buying new glass, of any kind (lens, filters, etc), clean it well before use! I cleaned the front and rear elements of the lens as well as the filter. I would highly recommend a UV filter on the lens. If something gets kicked up by an airplane, which does happen, it can chip the lens. I have a 70-300 here to prove that. A $40 filter can save you a $900+ lens.

Here are some shots, the last ones being after the lens cleaning (roses).

[trackend]

Whether its a different point of focus or cleaning your UV I dont know Eric but the second flower image is notably crisper I suspect it is the latter
I know exactly what you mean about fitting a filter Its always my first purchase after the camera, a dam sight cheaper to replace than a new object glass .
I'll push the sup lens ( if it arrives in time) to the limits on a couple of subjects and post the results when I get back. One other question Eric how have you found the Sigma for panning shots etc on the high end, no problems? or is it getting near the max for hand held?
Cheers in advance

[evangilder]

Panning with this lens takes a little getting used to because of the weight of the lens. When fully zoomed, at 500mm, you have to be pretty steady as the slightest movement gets quite pronounced in the viewfinder. I don't find any switches/buttons to turn off or on any vibration reduction, but I did take some shots of a taxiing airplane at 1/60 of a second and it was crystal clear with great prop blur. I suspect there is something in there for it as there is no way I am steady enough to get a crisp shot at that shutter speed.

[trackend]

Thats pretty slow even with a fairly standard lens Eric, I would imaging that although you may as you say not be totally stable when hand holding, as you have taken so many images of moving objects you must have naturaly improved your technique and abilites. Have you ever had a bash with a mono pod I used to use one with a ball mount on top for my Mamiya and just having the camera stable in the virtical plane helped me quite a bit although I was not taking aircraft pictures in those days.

[evangilder]

Playing around with the 28-80 yesterday at Disneyland. We took my son for his birthday. I love the Condor Flats section of California Adventure. Here are some shots from that part.

[trackend]

Sweet Eric I really like your composition eye, I also had a look at the Chino shots on the other thread I was impressed but IMO I think yours stand up well against those, the ground to air shots you've been taking I personelly prefer thats not to decry the other guy of course I would love to have half the ability of either of you.

[evangilder]

Thanks Lee. Britt's ground to air and air to air shots have a particular pop to them that I am working on. The part that kind of bugs me about Britt's shots is that he is only about 23 years old. He has a natural eye and ability that is phenomenal, whereas it has taken me years to develop. But, that being said, I occasionally get a shot that I am particularly proud of, like this one:

[Pisis]

He's growing nicely man, mazl tov! Oh, and nice pictures, too!