melueth Loc: Central Florida

At this stage of my fledgling foray into photography, i really can't afford to invest in top notch lenses, but wanted something with a little more reach than anything else i have. I found an older Vivitar (series 28, which i think was made back in the mid 80's by Komine) and tried it out yesterday at Viera Wetlands. Some CA, but i really think some of that might be due to my inexperience with the lens. Overall, i'm not terribly disappointed. These were all taken on a tripod, manual focus naturally, apertures between 8-11, with ISO as low as possible. The osprey is a horrible picture in all, but was a complete surprise to me. I was shooting the gator on the bank when i saw this thing flapping wildly above him. I tried to focus in on the bird, took some shots, and saw his catch only after i got it on my computer. Pretty cool - but i will definitely work more on my focus peaking with this setup! To be fair, he really was a good distance further than the gator, so maybe it's just out of the reach of this lens . . . ?

I can't seem to make the osprey downloadable for viewing, but that's probably a good thing!

Any feedback is welcome.

Marylea

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Elliern Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

Really nice hooded mergansers. looks like you are making the most if the gear you have. Good job.

I hope to get by the Viera Wetlands on our next trip to Fl.

melueth Loc: Central Florida

Thanks so much! This was my first trip there, and i live in FL . . . no good excuse! We had a really nice time; amazing place, but really BUSY all around it with new development going on. Construction everywhere right up until you enter the park.

ML

Straight Shooter Loc: Newfoundland, Canada

Nice shots. Shooting from as low an angle as possible helps a lot with pictures like these, but how low you can get depends of course on the setting.

melueth Loc: Central Florida

Thanks Mike. I was in reeds and weeds for some of my shots that day, but alas, my fear of gators prevailed on others!

ML

agillot

nice shots , sharp , i also use old lenses from the film era , hand focus . at time you are better off using higher iso to use a higher speed , try hand held shots of flying birds .

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Well, the quality is there but I wonder since I am not familiar with the Vivitar 400mm. how such a small camera balances with the big gun. I guess a tripod is a necessity.
The pictures look very good to me.
My Olympus Pen EP-5 has a feature called "electronic tele-converter" that when activated duplicates the focal length of the lens in use. I have found it very convenient because I do not loose pixels in the conversion and small and light lenses like my 40-150 Zuiko at 150mm becomes a 600mm. Quality wise I could not complain and I can still use the lens with AF in any shooting mode.
Your images, except for the osprey, are excellent.

Carolina Wings Loc: Flew from North Carolina to Pennsylvania

I would be quite 😊 happy with that series!

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Very good series Marylea.

sailorsmom Loc: Souderton, PA

These are very nice shots, Marylea! Well done!

melueth Loc: Central Florida

Thanks agillot! I'm developing a small arsenal of these older lenses; they really teach me a lot. I'm not so good at hand-held shots with this lens, no matter how fast i make that shutter speed; this 400mm is a pretty good sized lens and i just can't seem to hold it steady off a tripod.

melueth Loc: Central Florida

Thank you!

melueth Loc: Central Florida

Thank you!

melueth Loc: Central Florida

Thanks Carolina! Really appreciate you looking!

melueth Loc: Central Florida

Thanks very much, camerapapi! This lens really does require a tripod or very strong person (of which i am not!). On the Sony, there's a feature called Clear Image Zoom, and i should have used it. I shoot in RAW all the time, and have to flip to JPEG and change image size to get the camera set for CIZ, so i usually tend to forget about it. But i should have at least tried it on the osprey - i know the pic stinks! It was just the surprise of seeing him with the fish that i was posting about. Thanks so much for looking!