I had a chance to play with my Rokinon 500mm f/6.3 lens on the weekend, and I took some test shots of the sunset from my deck.  It’s definitely a difficult lens to use, but you can get some pretty cool shots if you keep at it.

Sunset Over Kelly Creek

For this shot, I used the 2x teleconverter for an effective focal length of 1500mm (I have a D80 with a crop sensor).  The hardest part of taking this shot wasn’t actually the focus, although as you can see, I didn’t quite nail that either.  The most difficult thing was positioning the camera on the tripod so that the sunset was in the frame correctly.  Even the slightest movement caused the sun to jump out of frame, and as we all know the sun sets very fast.  So, that’s why I only got the tail end of this one.

I think I had to take about 20 shots to get this, and even then I had to straighten it because I couldn’t get the camera positioned properly before the sun went down.

Sunset Behind Tower

I wasn’t going to attempt another shot like this so soon, but I took this one yesterday because the clouds were just breaking at sunset and the way they were sitting before the sun was awesome.  I had to give it a try, but I knew from the other day that I didn’t have time to mess with the tripod.

Normally the rule of thumb is that you can hand-hold the camera if your shutter speed is greater than your focal length.  So in my case where the focal length was 1000mm I would need to use a 1/1000th sec shutter speed.  At sunset, with an aperture of f/6.3 – 2 stops for the 2x teleconverter, that wasn’t going to do me any good.  Because this is a mirror lens, I was able to get away with 1/200th of a second if I held my breath while shooting.

I really can’t wait for the snow to melt so I can get out there and experiment a little more with this lens.  Knowing that I can hand hold it is giving me an itchy shutter release finger.

Ever heard of a mirror lens? Well I have one.  It uses mirrors to achieve a long focal length in a shorter lens, rather than traditional glass elements.  That’s my description.  If you want a proper one, read this. I have a Rokinon 500mm f/6.3 mirror lens that I decided to try out tonight.  I wanted to see how it compared to my Nikkor 70-300 f/4.5 – f/5.6 VR lens. You be the judge.

What I did is set up a tripod about 25 feet away from a glass vase on a bookshelf.  I would have liked to use a better subject outdoors, but I won’t have the time to get out and shoot for a few days, so I did this quick and dirty.

I took a shot with the 70-300 first, then I used the Rokinon 500mm, and then I used a Rokinon 2x teleconverter to extend the focal length to 1000mm. The tripod was necessary because, even though the lens was physically shorter, it’s still subject to some nasty camera shake.  I also used a remote shutter release cable.

Here’s the Nikkor 70-300 f/4.5-f/5.6 VR at 300mm (click to enlarge):

Here’s the Rokinon 500mm f/6.3 (click to enlarge):

Here’s the Rokinon 500mm f/6.3 with a 2x teleconverter for 1000mm (click to enlarge):

The lens is Korean-made, it has an aluminum body, and it has the feel of a no-name product. It comes with a pleather case, and the warranty card doesn’t mention Rokinon anywhere. What can you expect from a $100 500mm lens?

Overall, I found the lens difficult to focus with because of the really shallow depth of field. Indoors, it was impossible to hand-hold, though I imagine outdoors on a bright day, you could manage. When you add the teleconverter, you’re definitely tied to a tripod.

Although I haven’t experienced it yet, mirror lenses are notorious for donut-shaped bokeh. This has to do with the fact that the secondary mirror in the lens is smack in the center. I’ve read that this isn’t much of a problem when shooting subjects against a relatively consistent background. We’ll see. I bought the lens expecting exactly what I got, so I think I’m going to be happy in the end.

It’s kind of funny to look at this lens when attached to my Nikon D80. The filter size for the lens is a whopping 95mm. It’s almost as wide as it is long.

Without the teleconverter (click to enlarge)

Without the teleconverter (click to enlarge)

My sister...thoughful

What is it about black and white photography that seems to convey a certain sense of drama or intensity that often escapes color photographs?

Calista Approaching

Often times, when you convert an image to black and white, and increase contrast, you get a level of vitality in a photograph that cannot be achieved in colour.

Window and Plank

Even the most mundane of subjects can hold the eye’s interest when in black and white.  I suppose that speaks to the power of simplicity. So often in today’s society we have to deal with so much information at any one time.  It’s no wonder that when we take the time to focus on something simple, it’s beauty and composition seem to jump out at us.

Neglected Window

Even neglected and decayed objects and settings from every-day life can take on an air of eerieness when presented in black and white.

Over the Labour Day weekend, some friends and I got together and we were playing around with light painting and long exposures. Here’s one of the shots we got. I was holding a sparkler in my hand and we used a 10 second exposure time.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Nikon D60 that I got a couple of weeks ago, but at that time, I really didn’t even know what to look for in a digital SLR. After playing around with the D60, and talking to some friends I gradually got the feeling that I should have gotten the Nikon D80 instead.

I think one of the main reasons I chose to upgrade to the D80 was the focusing motor. The D60 can only auto-focus with AF-S lenses (those that have the built in focus motor), and those lenses are ridiculously expensive. Also, I’m thinking of getting a 50mm f1.8 lens, and there is no AF-S version of that as of yet, and when/if there is one, I doubt it’ll be $150.

Some other reasons I chose the D80 were

• Increased battery life
• Bracketing
• The larger body (My hand would cramp after a while with the D60’s smaller body)

Also, to offset the cost of the upgrade, I traded down from the Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm VR lens to a Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm VR lens. That trade paid for the upgrade and then some.

Now, how do I take pictures with this thing again?