Pushing SSS limits with 200mm f2.8 APO - mountain/barn

[Mr_Canuck]

In a hurry, I rushed out the door when the sky was looking gorgeous, and got some late day shots near our home. Unfortunately, I was a little late with the light and I didn't have a tripod.

However, these didn't come off bad at all, considering I was using a Minolta 200mm APO, at 200 iso and 1/40s shutter f10 (mountains) and 1/60s shutter f6.3 (barn). But I have to hand it to the Sony a700 for providing shots with only a hint of camera shake blur. But it's there, especially in the mountains.

How would you have adjusted settings or done things differently to improve this scenario?

I did a little increase of saturation in PS. Too much? Just right? These are the JPGs with DRO at +1. It "really" pumped up the colour and contrast of the trees vs the RAW image, but it seemed to capture a pretty authentic essence of the scene as I recall it.

I haven't cropped them at all as they seemed OK. Composition thoughts to make them more engaging?


Mount Fisher and The Steeples, near Kimberley, British Columbia



Wycliffe Barn, near Kimberley, British Columbia

[Dr. Harout]

There is no shake discernible on those excellent but small sized pictures.
The composition is great specially the first one. They both have a certain appeal for me (maybe I like mountains too much)
Thanks for sharing

[David Kilpatrick]

One thing to watch late in the day, with views like this, is thermal turbulence in the air. With a lens of 200mm or over, it will show up as a slight smearing or disruption of details when you view the image at 100 per cent, and it may look like camera shake or even like over-processed (noise) digital. It's rarely a problem first thing in the morning, but after the sun has warmed up the dark trees and ground, rising warm air can lose you all the sharpness you have paid for. Anywhere that a paraglider might find ideal for jumping off a mountain, you are likely to have sharpness problems with lenses over 200mm and distant views.

David