A few from today's walkabout to test my new lens.

sid · 29 Mar 2008 at 14:06

It was crappy overcast day unfortunately :_(

Always difficult to focus on swans cos they are white. Not a bad crop I think,

I'm not sure if the B/W works but the colour one has too much detail to spot the birdy. unfortunately f5.6 is the best i can do with this lens

Happy with this one as theres a good amount of detail

A random monument, it was so dull that B/W looks better imho.

Blue sky would have done wonders here with this willow.

Hmm should have framed these tbh..

sid

Tooks · 29 Mar 2008 at 14:40

What lens is it? Or did I miss something?!

sid · 29 Mar 2008 at 15:12

Tooks said:
What lens is it? Or did I miss something?!

Hi,

Its a EF-S 17-85mm IS USM on a canon 400D

tbh it only makes much bigger difference when shooting under low light and low shutter speeds.

sid

rlm · 29 Mar 2008 at 15:42

Ahh, Ferry Meadows! Some nice shots you have there. Like the Robin one.

monkeyspank · 29 Mar 2008 at 17:46

That robin is really friendly

I managed these with a nifty fifty, I hope to do better

sid · 29 Mar 2008 at 17:50

lol how do you know its ferry meadows?

And is that the same robin? I think I saw a blue tit there as well but 85mm isn't enough to get close.

Also not overly impressed with the focus performance of the lens. Most of the shots were off i'm afraid.

Do people use single point AF? the center one or all the available ones?

Perhaps I need to go back to basics again

sid

Irish_Tom · 29 Mar 2008 at 17:52

Holy massive pics Batman!

I'm on a 1920x1200 screen and these don't fit. Any chance you could resize them to 800px on the long side?

Ta

sid they are some cracking images - what a sharp lens. You must be well chuffed - or not judging by that last post. :eek:

Panzer

monkeyspank · 29 Mar 2008 at 17:59

sid said:
lol how do you know its ferry meadows?

And is that the same robin? I think I saw a blue tit there as well but 85mm isn't enough to get close.

Also not overly impressed with the focus performance of the lens. Most of the shots were off i'm afraid.

Do people use single point AF? the center one or all the available ones?

Perhaps I need to go back to basics again

sid

It's the same place. Probably the same robin, I know him well
2nd shot is cropped a lot and out of focus. I was focusing on the glove and tried to move forward a touch. Not enough, obviously. I'm still learning

Don't blame the lens

I knew it was ferry meadows when I saw the cut log.

Aod · 29 Mar 2008 at 18:01

monkeyspank, blimey, those are incredible!

monkeyspank · 29 Mar 2008 at 18:13

sid said:
lol how do you know its ferry meadows?

And is that the same robin? I think I saw a blue tit there as well but 85mm isn't enough to get close.

Also not overly impressed with the focus performance of the lens. Most of the shots were off i'm afraid.

Do people use single point AF? the center one or all the available ones?

Perhaps I need to go back to basics again

sid

I was using centre point AF, but obviously it's a bit hard with flying birds. I'll do better next time.
If you go down there again, take some small pieces of cheese for the robin

Aod said:
monkeyspank, blimey, those are incredible!

All credit to the robin

sid · 29 Mar 2008 at 18:15

Panzerbjorn said:
Holy massive pics Batman!

I'm on a 1920x1200 screen and these don't fit. Any chance you could resize them to 800px on the long side?

Ta

sid they are some cracking images - what a sharp lens. You must be well chuffed - or not judging by that last post.

Panzer

I think I'm feeling put off by looking at those fancy photos posted here taken using equipment which is clearly out of my price range.

I perhaps need to lower my expectations here.

sid

monkeyspank · 29 Mar 2008 at 18:17

Dude, that lens cost me £58 including a hood. It's a 50mm f/1.8
If thats what you were talking about

sid · 29 Mar 2008 at 18:26

monkeyspank said:
Dude, that lens cost me £58 including a hood. It's a 50mm f/1.8
If thats what you were talking about

hehe of course the nifty fifty is cheap

I was alluding to the guy (V_SPEC i think) who posted those ridiculously sharp shots of the eagles.

sid

Tooks · 29 Mar 2008 at 21:42

Ah, I know that log!!

(disclaimer; this pic was never meant for publication, so no critique please!!!)

It's a small world sometimes!!

Anyway sid, we all dream of exotic kit, but that series last year or so 'a digital picture of britain' where they gave professional photographers an SLR, a compact and a mobile phone camera and asked them to do their best, showed that the results achieved are primarily in the hands of the photographer.

Mind you, I'm sure I'd be better with a 600mm F2.8 bolted to my camera.... Wouldn't I?!!

sid · 30 Mar 2008 at 11:46

I'm scared how many people know that one log and robin now...seriously...lol

rlm · 1 Apr 2008 at 00:26

I recognized that it was Ferry Meadows from the sculpture picture. I live about 2 mins away.

sid · 1 Apr 2008 at 12:42

Theres a lot of people from around peterborough here aren't there.

I'm off to London though soon as I was only back for holidays.

sid

AndyBorzi · 1 Apr 2008 at 15:07

sid said:
Theres a lot of people from around peterborough here aren't there.

I'm off to London though soon as I was only back for holidays.

sid

Heh, don't often post here anymore, but yes, there are a few!

Where does the Robin hang about? I wouldn't mind trying to get a pic myself.

sid · 1 Apr 2008 at 15:33

AndyBorzi said:
Heh, don't often post here anymore, but yes, there are a few!

Where does the Robin hang about? I wouldn't mind trying to get a pic myself.

If you walk down from the path next to golf course, you'll come across the fallen log. I accesssed it from the road which runs along the golf course and the police station.

sid

AndyBorzi · 1 Apr 2008 at 19:36

There's a police station down that road? (Oundle Road IIRC) :lol: Didn't know that!

I know where you mean though. Thanks. The weather this weekend is looking rather naff though :rolleyes: