Posts Tagged ‘flowers’
Retro Macro: Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2
It all started with a Tamron 70-150mm f/3.8 CZ-715 Adaptall lens I got thrown in as a freebie when I bought my Nikon F-301. Although I had a vague idea of the Adaptall technology, I knew nothing about this particular lens. While doing research on the lens, I discovered that Tamron had a strong product line of the SP series Adaptall 2 lenses targeted at serious amateurs and professional photographers. One lens, in particular, piqued my interest: Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2 54B. While this model is a bit slow, it has an impressive 300mm focal length and features 1:3.3 macro capabilities. More importantly, the lens is rather inexpensive, and I’ve managed to find a unit in excellent condition at a very reasonable price on a local online auction.
Nikon F-501, Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2 54B, Tamron SP 2X tele-converter 01F
Tamron also produced a 2x converter for use with Adaptall 2 lenses, and I was lucky to find one on eBay. This converter doubles the focal length, but it does so at the expense of the aperture. So the converter transforms a Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 into a 600mm lens with the maximum aperture of f/11. Tamron lenses with the Adaptall 2 adapter for Nikon F mount are compatible with Nikon’s analog and digital SLRs. When bolted onto a Nikon DSLR with a DX sensor, the lens’ focal length equals 450mm. Add the 2x tele converter, and you get an whopping 900mm focal length.
To test the lens, I went to our local botanical garden. I started with my Nikon F-501 film SLR loaded with Fujifilm Fujicolor C200.
Taken with Nikon F-501, Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2, Fujifilm Fujicolor C200. Processed in digiKam.
Taken with Nikon F-501, Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2, Fujifilm Fujicolor C200. Processed in digiKam.
Taken with Nikon F-501, Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2, Fujifilm Fujicolor C200. Processed in digiKam.
I also tried the lens with my trusty Nikon D90 DSLR. Using Tamron Adaptall lenses on a modern DSLR is only possible in the Manual mode. The camera can’t read aperture values either, and you have to switch to manual focusing. In other words, shooting with the Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2 lens is a full-manual affair. On the positive side, focus confirmation seemed to work just fine.
Taken with Nikon D90 and Tamron SP 300mm f/5.6 Adaptall 2. Processed in digiKam.
So how did the lens perform? For its age, the lens did admirably well. Sharpness is good, and the lens produces pleasing and creamy bokeh. Overall, it’s not so shabby for a twenty-something-year old lens, especially considering the price.
By the way, if you are looking for information about Tamron’s Adaptall lenses, the Adaptall-2.org website got you covered.
Photo of the Day: Scilla siberica
Scilla siberica from the Aarhus University botanical garden. Taken with Nikon D90, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D, and Raynox DCR-250. Processed in digiKam. Shutter speed: 1/160 sec. Aperture: f/9 ISO: 800
Scilla siberica
The photo is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Photo of the Day: Asclepias Curassavica
Tavira castle (or what’s left of it) has a nice little garden with a handful of interesting plants, including Asclepias curassavica. Taken with Nikon D90 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D. Processed in digiKam. Shutter speed: 1/80 sec. Aperture: f/5 ISO: 640
Asclepias Curassavica
The photo is published on Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asclepias_Curassavica_%28Macro%29.jpeg
Photo of the Day: Plumeria
Found these beauties on Praça Dr. Pradinha in Tavira, Portugal. Taken with Nikon D90 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D. Processed in digiKam. Shutter speed: 1/640 sec. Aperture: f/5 ISO: 200
Plumeria Flowers
The photo is published on Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plumeria.jpeg
Photo of the Day: Starlets
It has been a while since I used my favorite Nikon D90 and Raynox DCR-250 combo. The bad weather loosened its grip last week, and we finally had a few decent summer days perfect for shooting flowers and plants in the Aarhus University botanical garden. The signage in the outdoor areas of the botanical garden leaves a lot to be desired, so I couldn’t find out the name of these amazing tiny flowers.
.jpeg "Starlets")
Starlets
The photo is published on Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starlets_(Macro).jpeg
Photo of the Day: Saxifraga arendsii
So far, we’ve had three (sic!) sunny and relatively warm days this spring, and I spent two of them in our local botanical garden armed with my Nikon D90 and the lightweight budget macro combo.
Despite the unusually rough (even by Danish standards) spring, there were a handful of blooming flowers, including Saxifraga arendsii. These are not the most spectacular flowers in the botanical garden, but they are pretty in their own unassuming way.
I processed the photo in digiKam using a few techniques described in the digiKam Recipes ebook. The photo is published on Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saxifraga_Arendsii.jpeg
Photo of the Day: Alpine violets
I took this photo using my Nikon D90 and a Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor lens
.jpg "Alpine Violets")
Basic EXIF info:
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter speed: 1/640s
ISO: 400
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alpine_Violets_Shallow_DOF_(Closeup).jpg
Photo of the Day: Eschscholzia californica
The California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is a perennial and annual plant, native to the United States, and the official state flower of California.
.jpg "Eschscholzia californica")
It can grow 5-60 cm tall, with alternately branching glaucous blue-green foliage. The leaves are ternately divided into round, lobed segments. The flowers are solitary on long stems, silky-textured, with four petals, each petal 2-6 cm long and broad; their color ranges from yellow to orange, and flowering is from February to September. The petals close at night or in cold, windy weather and open again the following morning, although they may remain closed in cloudy weather. The fruit is a slender dehiscent capsule 3-9 cm long, which splits in two to release the numerous small black or dark brown seeds. It is perennial in mild parts of its native range, and annual in colder climates; growth is best in full sun and sandy, well-drained, poor soil.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Poppy
Full-size version and further info: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eschscholzia_californica_(Shallow_DOF).jpg
Trip to Berlin
I’m writing this on the train heading home from Berlin — the coolest city in Europe, if you ask me. Visiting Berlin is always something I look forward to: my mom lives there, and there is always something interesting going on in the city.
This time, it was the Festival of Lights — an annual event when many landmarks and buildings are lit using all kinds of creative lighting. This was also the first time I decided to do some serious photographing — now that I’m the proud owner of a Nikon D60 DSLR. As you would expect from a first-timer, I made a few beginner’s mistakes. The most grave one was the decision to pack a Velbon CX Mini instead of a “full-size” tripod. Since D60 lacks the live preview feature, I literally had to crawl on all fours when composing a shot. On the positive side, I found the Nikkor 18-55mm VR kit lens extremely versatile, so much so that I decided to postpone purchasing additional lenses for the time being. To be honest, I don’t think that my night photo walks yielded any decent photos, but it was a valuable learning experience.
The next item on my todo list was a visit to Berlin’s botanic garden. I’ve been there before with the missus, but I had only my point-and-shoot with me, and one of the most interesting pavilions was closed for renovation. This time, I spent almost four hours shooting flowers, but I did have a few problems in the process. Firstly, as soon as I walked into a green house with tropical plants, the lens became covered with condensation, and I had to wait 15-20 minutes before I could use my camera. So here is my question: Is there any way to avoid or mitigate condensation? The botanic garden has an excellent collection of cacti. Unfortunately, the most interesting ones were behind the glass, and I’d like to hear your tips and tricks on shooting through the glass. Despite all these annoyances, I managed to take over two hundred photos. I used RawTherapee to transfer photos to my laptop and quickly review them.
Speaking of the laptop, I planned to take a netbook on my trip, but it turned out that RawTherapee (or any of my favorite photo applications) was pretty unusable on the small screen. So I had to pack my HP production laptop. When going through my photos from the botanic garden, I realized that I made another mistake: I didn’t write down the names of the flowers I photographed. Now all of them go by names like “pretty flower”, “yellow flower”, “flower that looks like a star”, and so on. So next time, I have to remember to write down the name of each plant I photograph, or — even better — take a picture of the sign with info about the plant.
All in all, the trip was a success. Despite a couple of rookie mistakes, I’m heading home with an SD card chock-full of photos and a few valuable lessons. I’ll be slowly posting photos from my trip to Berlin on my Flickr page, so stay tuned.
