a700 + beercan

[KevinBarrett]

I'd like to invite you all to share or comment on your favorite work here with a Minolta 70-210/4.

160mm, f/6.3, 1/2000 sec., ISO 800

70mm, f/13, 1/320 sec., ISO 200

210mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec., ISO 800

[KevinBarrett]

More from Fort Worth Botanical Gardens

75mm, f/4, 1/125 sec., ISO 250

210mm, f/4, 1/100 sec., ISO 800

210mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec., ISO 400

[David Kilpatrick]

Very good bokeh at f6.3 - and I am impressed by your getting so many good f4 wide open images. I am looking forward to trying this lens on the A900.

My 70-200mm SSM will definitely be for sale I fear, I've just decided I need to be insured after five years without insurance for equipment. A premium of over £900 ($1800) including professional indemnity, public liability, £12500 worth of Alpha gear (at s/h prices or new for recent items only - I had no idea it added up to that much!), £15000 worth of Macs and studio flash etc, £10000 worth of office furniture and... the expensive bit, being covered for £10000 worth of temporarily loaned items. I've been risking it for too long walking around with increasingly expensive DSLRs sent to me for a week, which the distributors will NOT insure (they make that very clear when lending stuff to journalists for tests).

So the 70-210mm had better turn in some good results!

David

[Javelin]

Didn't you ever use the beercan on film? I looks really good there too

[KevinBarrett]

Didn't you ever use the beercan on film? I looks really good there too

I got my beercan (as a wedding present) just before my brother gave me the a700 for a wedding present. I'm not a "wealthy amateur," or an "advanced amateur," just a very fortunate one. No budget to shoot and develop film on my Maxxum5 right now, and I've been getting better by leaps and bounds since I've been able to shoot and compare results instantly.

[Dr. Harout]

Nice shots from #2 onward.
The aerial shot is beautiful, as well as the shot of the leaf on the stone, as for ...
OK, OK just great shots (except the first). I have to say something, don't I?

[KevinBarrett]

The first picture was just kinda fun, very recent. I lost my $2 airplane in the tree and decided to make the most of it.

The second is the result of flying into Milan at sunrise, then fiddling with the levels. When I took it, it was all blue.

The third was at my feet in very low light. There was so little contrast and so little light that I had to saturate the colors and raise the contrast...I'm not very happy with it myself, but I wanted the feedback here, so thank you! I found it looks a little better in a black frame.

The fourth is one of my favorites. I can see how it could benefit from Sonolta's suggestions, but its not my style to retouch an image beyond levels and the occasional dust-deletion.

The fifth was a lot of fun, though I think I could resolve those feathers better if I stopped down a bit. The bird is probably still sitting there, so I'll give it a try on my next day off.

The softness in the last image was intentional, but it would have been equally attractive stopped down to f/8 or so.

[KevinBarrett]

I don't even know where the sharpening tool is on my computer! That's not to say my wife couldn't have done it behind my back. I had a picture of a squirrel that I attempted to "level" but the peanut he was carrying kept getting burned. She opted to select the peanut and level it individually but I wasn't very happy with those results either. I don't like to do anyhting to my pictures that effects it beyond color, and then I only like to do it to the whole picture. Maybe I'll grow out of that.

[Jonathan K]

Hi Kevin,

why'd you tell anybody? Of course the second picture was taken when you were about to reach the tip of the Mont Blanc...

Seriously, I actually prefer the 4. one, although I might have taken the composition a little different, maybe a bit higher. The red leaves are too centered for my taste and their effect would be stronger, especially since the lower part does not bring anything relevant into the picture and you could show a bit more of the trees... But that is just a personal idea, no critic of course.

Otherwise I like nr 3 very much. Your PP skills seem better than you admit... If one doesn't notice it, it is best.

Thanks for posting,

Cheers Jonathan

[KevinBarrett]

Actually, in another of that series, I think I did shoot Mont Blanc, so when the other photos are viewed I could be in trouble... Thank you very much for the critique, and I'm getting better with the PP, I think. At least for these I went through and rebalanced everything from original before I uploaded. I've got nearly 400 exposures from a wedding to play with now though...

[Birma]

Some beercan shots from Saturday.

Butchery amongst the blooms!
1/320 F10.0 ISO400 @210


Busy
1/640 F14.0 ISO800 @ 210


Blooms with Baby Beercan 35-70/4
1/60 F16 ISO100 @70


Some minor tweaks in IDC3, and USM after cropping in Elements.

C&C welcome as always.

[wave_wizard]

I quite like the leaf shot it has a prehistoric feel to it and the japanese maple looks stunning with the green and contrasting reds.

[KevinBarrett]

The beercan makes an excellent macro! The first image is a little soft, albeit with beautiful bokeh. I'm going to guess that you were right at the edge of the minimum focus distance? The second image is very nice, easily my favorite. I've never heard of the 35-70/4 referred to as the "baby beercan," but it makes sense to me!

[Birma]

Hi Kevin - you're right with the spider shot being at minimum focus distance; it was a day of learning and I think I should have moved back a fraction before focusing (manually). I have enormous admiration for anybody who tried to shoot bees with film - these chaps are always on the move and trial and error were a big part of getting shots. Not 100% sure on the baby-beercan, but it seems to be the in vogue term on ebay. Perhaps clever marketing?

[Javelin]

ave the 35-70F4 and it's definatly a nice sharp lens, I had intended to use it for outdoor events but it is a litle too prone to flare.

The beercan does make a nice closuup/macro lens