Photography question.

[Chris Playle]

I know a few of you out there have been or are professional/semi-professional photographers. A little help, if I may so bold to ask please.

 

In January I bought a Minolta Dynax 404Si. Since then I have been happily clicking away like a Japanese Tourist in London. Altering this setting, adjusting that setting and basically getting used to how the thing works and how to get some half decent pictures out of it. As time has gone on and I have read more books on exposure and composition to make a photo "work", so to speak, the pictures I have been taking have been getting better and better. Although I still can't figure out taking a photo of a landscape into the sun on an evening. I always seem to under expose the foreground and I get half a black picture with an overexposed sunset. Would introduction of a graduated filter resolve this?

 

Anyhow...I digress.

 

The camera came with a 28-80mm zoom lens and, recently, I have found that even at 80mm I cannot get close enough to wildlife and distant subjects to make a half decent picture (maybe I should wear lighter boots and loose a few pounds so I can get closer by being quiet.... ). Also, the film I have been using is cheap stuff (cheap enough to be making plenty of msitakes with).

 

So, with this in mind I have been counting the pennies and can rush to a 75-300mm zoom lens. Minolta do a 75-300mm zoom lens and I can pick one up for £140. This isn't too bad since a compatible lens from, say Tamron or alike will cost me about the same if not more.

 

Are Minolta Optics any good on the longer zoom lenses? The pics I have taken with the 28-80mm lens have come out better than I have expected recently now I am used to the settings on the camera and can use the Shutter Priority/Aperture Priority/Manual to quite good effect. However I am finding that I am limited with the 80mm zoom.

 

Also, I have been using ISO200 film recently which has been causing some graining on enlargements. I know I should be using a slower film for landscape and nature pictures to capture the detail, say ISO100 and slower. I have bought some Colour slide film (ISO50) to try and some Fuji Reala ISO100 film on the advice of the bloke at the camera shop. With the slower film speed and the fact I will be using the 75-300mm zoom lens, even with the wide appertures of F5.6 (perfect for experimenting and perfecting my use of Depth Of Field), a tripod is going to be an essential item. Has anyone used the Reala film and is it any good? Also, can you recommend a tripod for around the £50 mark?

 

So many questions. I hope you can help. My favourite time of year is comming up when the trees give every shade of green, orange and red you can imagine, birds are flocking to fly south, vibrant sunrises on frosty mornings and beautiful red sunsets. I want to capture mother nature "getting ready for winter" in as much colour and detail as possible.

 

Thanks in advance for any help offered.

 

Tight Lines and happy snapping.

 

Chris.

[Dan]

No help, but weve just bought a Minolta dynax too and would be interested to see the answers!

Dan

[poledark]

Chris, here is my pennorth.... Almost all modern lenses are good, Minolta stuff is excellent.

For Tele work get a tripod that has easy height adjustment and a quick attach/release, mine has a wedge shaped "shoe" which I leave on the camera and simply clip onto the tripod.

 

I also use an air release quite a lot, mine is actually two joined together, giving me a 40ft remote capability, super for birds unless they decide to sit on the camera!!

 

You may hear expert talk regarding the fact that you lose quality at the edges of the pic with a tele lens, ignore this, all pics can be cropped, I probably crop 90% of my pics, but I do use digital which makes it easy.

 

If you can get in close then you do not need to enlarge so much so you can use a faster film, and unless you are thinking real big prints (A3 or more) then 100ASA should be OK, even up to 400ASA will give you good repro up to 8x6.

 

But having said that, if you want large prints without grain then you will need the very best slow film, excellent lighting and a rock steady tripod, i.e. Studio conditions.

 

For what it is worth I would not be too concerned with grain size, image is what it is all about, if the image is good then you won't notice the grain.

 

Sunsets...you will be very lucky to get the best shot with a single exposure, bracket your exposures, and pick the best, also, if you have time, (sunsets wait for no man) preset the exposure to give you the detail in the dark areas i.e. trees and buildings silhouetted.

 

You may find your camera has a function to automatically bracket the exposures.

 

You have usually got to move quick with sunsets, I get some gorgeous sunsets and sunrises here and try to leave the camera handy to grab a shot or two, but very often I look out of the window, see the sunset and by the time I get the camera switched on and the front door open, I have missed the best.

 

This is a classic example of the image being the most important factor, better a reasonable shot than no shot at all.

 

Bird pics....get in close....the longest lens you can afford....good tripod.....air release so you can watch the bird without squinting thro the camera.

 

On the subject of bird pics, pick your spot and see how the bird/s behave. Kingfishers will nearly always use the same perches, they sometimes use the same one for quite a long time, but mostly they spend a couple of minutes at one spot then swoop off to the next favorit place. If you wait then the bird will come back, and you should have your camera set up and prefocussed on the twig that the bird will land on, you can remain hidden with your air release and should get a perfect shot.

 

Dont disregard the value of taking pics from your car, most wildlife will take little notice of you in your comfortable seat!

 

Happy snapping,

 

Den

 

PS Nick in t'north posted something a while back showing the effect with different zoom lenses, a search may help, although I am sure Nick will want to join in this topic

[matthew]

Hope this is of some help. For some great Autumn and Winter shots invest in a polarizing lens...brilliant blue skies and amazing leaf colour. Have you thought about a macro lens for the wildlife that doesn't run away?

[Chris Playle]

Den,

 

Many thanks for the reply.

 

I have been looking at a cable release for my camera. The remote shutter release is electronic on this camera and a cable only 5M long runs to around £50 !!! Thankfully, due to the power of the information superhighway, I have the pinout details for the socket and will be making my own in the long winter nights.

 

I have been thinking a bit about the sunset problem and what you said about silhouettes using buildings and trees. I thought about using parts of the trees and available appendages of buildings to block out the suns disc and so limit the amount of direct sunlight in the exposure.

 

I too know the phrase "sunsets wait for no man". Only the night before last there was a perfect example of luminescence in the bottom layer of cloud cover after the sun had just set. One largish cloud in an otherwise clear sky. It looked like it was on fire! I was out in the car on a single track road. I stopped at the best place I could find (no off-road parking was available) for the picture, framed it, set the exposure and then some bloke in a white transit was behind me beeping and waiting for me to move. I missed the shot and no less than three minutes later when I had found a suitable passing place and returned to the place I was before, the clouds weren't lit by the sunset anymore. C'est la vie, so they say.

 

Indeed my camera does have an exposure bracketing function. Unfortunately, that is in the "ADVANCED" section of the manual and I'm only nicely getting to grips with the "NODDY" and "THINKS HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING" sections . However, since it seams I need to be bracketing the exposures by one or two stops, I'll be looking into this in more detail. Maybe I'll get lucky and manage a decent shot one day !!!

 

On the subject of photographing birds, thankfully I live quite close to two RSPB Designated sanctuaries, the Humber Estury and Bempton Cliffs near Bridlington. Both these see quite a few walkers and they are either on mud flats of cliffs, birds aren't THAT bothered about you getting close. Although I have tried photographing them with the 80mm lens I really need the 300mm to be able to get in closer without having to either climb down a cliff or walk out nearer and be up to my backside in mud.

 

I will look out for a tripod with the quick release foot you mentioned. I have quite a passion for photographing lightning and this will prove it's value when I have to put the camera and tripod in the car when the next storm comes.

 

Once again. Many thanks Den. A few pearls of wisdom that have got the old grey cells working.

 

Tight Lines.

 

Chris.

[Chris Playle]

Hi Mathew and welcome to anglers net,

 

I have a UV filter already on the front of the 28-80mm lens and I'll be getting one for the 75-300mm lens also. I got the UV filter the same day I got the camera. Not only does it improve the images but it's alot less to replace a filter than a lens should I be a bit careless and allow something sharp near the front of the lens. I also got a Circular Polarising Filter for the 28-80mm. The UV filter is never off the lens I already have and I'll certainly be getting UV and polarising filters for the new lens.

 

I haven't concidered a MACRO lens as yet as I'll probably also need a ring flash to go with it.

 

After the new lens my priorities are a gadget bag/carry case for the camera and lenses and tripod. But, good old Santa is on his way soon and, maybe, the missus has bought me enough undies during the year....or maybe not...All I can do is hint....

 

Tight Lines.

 

Chris.

[loonyl]

Dunno how much of a hobby you want to make it,

but an option is to get your own dark room and developing/fixing chemicals. Also filters/colour combos can be applied to the negatives while they're developing to give whatever effect you want.

It's prob more expensive than sending to TruPrint etc, but it gives more scope and more tinerking possibilites.

Liam

[davidP]

75-300 is about the best value telephoto for a lot of brands - anything more entails significant money. I have the Canon version and it's very good for everyday use. If you can stretch a little further I notice that Jessops are selling a Sigma 28-300 as a web-clearance item for £250 which seems pretty good value and will save a lot of lens changing.

Over the years I've settled on 3 lenses - 20-35, 28-105 & 75-300. These cover practically everything although you do find yourself switching lenses a little too often sometimes (hence the highlighing of the 28-300 above). I must confess though that I went a little mad last year and bought a 170-500 Sigma lens. It's a bit of an elephant gun at nearly 15 inches on full magnification but it's a supurb piece of kit and has taken a lot of good photos (although you do curse it's weight sometimes at the end of the day).