Eye-level's Area 52

Eye-level

Banned
I screwed the pooch with the DOF on this one but at least I was able to take a walk today and make a few snaps...this was made with the 135 Q Nikkor and I believe it to be a death cap mushroom...all I know is I wouldn't eat any with my steak! :)

mushroom.JPG
 

Eye-level

Banned
Thanks for commenting Rick...it is an interesting photograph in terms of the various plant forms represented...you have trees, bushy vines, grass, fungi, algae (note this is the west side of the tree)...roots..etc...there is a giant group of wild cacti nearby I'll try to put one of those up here in a minute...I think I have one or two that may work...

The 135 Q close focuses at 1 meter...I wound her all the way to down to close focus and then moved in on the subject so I think it was 1 meter to the subject (UNLESS the crop factor means it close focuses at 1.5m on a crop camera!)...I was using the electronic rangefinder in the viewfinder and I noticed for the first time that it was telling me the range in some type of scale in the viewfinder but I didn't study it. I probably would have beat the DOF issue if I would have used Live View and the magnifier...the 135 Q is a cheap dirty mean and nasty masterpiece of a lens sir...heavy duty made of metal and glass with precision controls that feel similar to a Porsche... :)
 
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Eye-level

Banned
So do crop cameras have an effect on the close focus distance of any given old Nikkor? For instance if the close focus value on a lens is 1 meter on a full frame camera then is it 1.5 meters on a crop camera??? :)
 

Eye-level

Banned
Same lens same close focusing technique I had her set at about F5.8 and like 90 or 125 I think...5500 kelvin white balance...ISO 200...I warmed it up a bit plus added some saturation and some contrast after the fact...the 135 Q is a very capable lens for less then a bill...

The Cacti... :)

cacti.JPG
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
So do crop cameras have an effect on the close focus distance of any given old Nikkor? For instance if the close focus value on a lens is 1 meter on a full frame camera then is it 1.5 meters on a crop camera??? :)

No, it does not change the minimum focusing distance since the lens is at the same distance from the sensor in FX and DX. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to use them on both.
 

Eye-level

Banned
Disregarding the subject and composition etc. of these two snaps which one would you say is better in terms of exposure value? I've been shooting both the D5000 and the F2 using a lightmeter to meter for the 5000 until I get a decent result then I punch in those values into the F2...I've already seen the picture so to speak and I'll post some of those when I process the roll of film. I'm using 200 speed film so I tried to stay at 200 ISO. The light is very good as the sun was low in the western sky at my back....which one is better in your opinion? Thanks :)

PS I will tell you what the meter said later...or do you want to guess?

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testshot200isof8.JPG
 
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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Disregarding the subject and composition etc. of these two snaps which one would you say is better in terms of exposure value? I've been shooting both the D5000 and the F2 using a lightmeter to meter for the 5000 until I get a decent result then I punch in those values into the F2...I've already seen the picture so to speak and I'll post some of those when I process the roll of film. I'm using 200 speed film so I tried to stay at 200 ISO. The light is very good as the sun was low in the western sky at my back....which one is better in your opinion? Thanks :)

PS I will tell you what the meter said later...or do you want to guess?


I prefer the darker one, but if you are going to shoot negative film with the F2, I would use the lighter one for settings. For ektachrome, I'd go with the darker exposure and with negative the lighter.
 

Carolina Photo Guy

Senior Member
I'm with Marcel on this one. I always prefer my shots a little washed out simply because I can always darken it to recover details, but I can't always lighten the shot to gain lighter details. Or something like that.

How-ever, you're using the digital cam to help set up the film camera. You seem to be presupposing that iso is the same for both digital and film. But I think that you may not be weighing the importance of the individual film characteristics.

Of course, I have NO idea what the hell I am talking about! But I've spelled too many words correctly to give up now!

I'm going to bed now. My head hurts. Too damn much thinkin'! :)
 

Eye-level

Banned
In that case you'll be happy to know that the Gossen bad @ss light meter said F8 745 and ISO 200...read the second picture! :)

The contrast helps define the details maybe?
 

Eye-level

Banned
I'm with Marcel on this one. I always prefer my shots a little washed out simply because I can always darken it to recover details, but I can't always lighten the shot to gain lighter details. Or something like that.

How-ever, you're using the digital cam to help set up the film camera. You seem to be presupposing that iso is the same for both digital and film. But I think that you may not be weighing the importance of the individual film characteristics.

Of course, I have NO idea what the hell I am talking about! But I've spelled too many words correctly to give up now!

I'm going to bed now. My head hurts. Too damn much thinkin'! :)

No you are on the right track though except for I HAVE indeed accounted for what the film is gonna do by setting the white balance on the D5000 to match the kelvin temp of the film I'm using...well I might have it a little hotter...the interesting thing is gonna be seeing what the exposure looks like film wise compared to digital wise...it should be about the same shot really as I shot the F2 at 750 F8 with 200 speed film...it should be basically the same as the second D5000 shot... :)
 
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Eye-level

Banned
Continued the little exposure test today at lunch by going to the lake to see the birds...1st rule when doing exposure testing - don't leave the light meter at home! It was rainy and somewhat cold very cloudy. I shot at F4 so these are pretty washed out should have stopped them down a stop or two - tried to tone them down some after the fact...shot the film camera at the same settings...

BTW I haven't been shooting the F2 much lately until the past day or two...if you ever get a chance to look through the viewfinder of one (especially the meterless finder) you will be amazed. I'm telling you there is nothing else like it. If I could only have a digital back for that camera...

I took the film in for processing and some new person broke the machine yesterday so I have to wait until they fix it...

Photography was a bust today.

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