California poppies mean Spring! Combined with purple lupines, the mountainsides are a delight to behold. These poppies are in the local botanical garden, but they can show up anywhere. They vary from deep orange to yellow, some with orangey streaks in the center of their golden petals.
In reading reviews of the Nikon Df, there is a lot of controversy about the camera. Personally, I don’t care, because what any camera does is take pictures. And the quality of the picture will be dependent, in part, on the camera, and, of course, on the photographer.
I like this camera very much. I like the images, I like the way it fits in my hands so easily, and I like the dials and knobs and levers. The LCD on the back of the screen is bright and clear. There are other little things I like too, but first, I want to look at some of the images.
I went to the local botanical garden here where I live. The pictures below were taken with old lenses from the 70s, AI compatible. I also used a Tokina 11-16 DX, but that is for a later entry to IY&B.
First of all, the picture above is my breakfast this morning – yogurt, strawberries, and pecans. This was shot at iso 4000. Certainly a good reason to use this camera at night! If you click on it, you can see it full-size – you may need to do it twice to see it at 100%.
The next few pictures are done using my Elicar 55mm macro lens. This is a lens that is about 40-50 years old and completely manual for focusing. There are complaints that, as a retro styled camera, a split-screen focusing screen should have been included. Maybe. However, I found that the focusing dot and the screen in the viewfinder both work very well together. This bee was shot, handheld, at iso 64 – one of the lower end iso settings – at 1/200 s. Not sure about the f/stop. Click it, too, to see it full size.
Another one from the Elicar macro lens. Here, iso is also 64; some contrast enhancement done 1/160 sec.
I like this one a lot. Again, the Elicar 55mm macro, iso 100, 1/100 sec. Enlarge it, and look for the ant on the flower in the right side of the picture. Pretty sharp!
This last picture is a panorama of about 8 pictures stitched together. Iso was 50; time varied. All hand-held. Exposure time was about 1/100. This worked quite well with a Vivitar 24mm prime lens from the 70s. I think the f/stop was most likely 6.3 or 8.
Yesterday the FT-1 attachment for the Nikon 1 arrived. This allows the attachment of F-mount lenses – Nikon and 3rd party – to be used with the Nikon 1. Given that the crop factor is 2.7, my 55mm Elicar Macro becomes a 148mm equivalent. This morning I went out and took a picture of a white rose, the Pope John Paul II, a fragrant, lovely rose. Handheld, manual focus.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 