A decent manual focus/manual lens

[DonSchap]

Hey,

If you are looking for a decent portrait lens that can provide a superior-looking image, and are not interested in spending $1300 for a SONY/Zeiss lens ... try looking at Cameta Camera for the Rokinon MF 85mm f/1.4. Click on camera image for link.

Folks, for $255 ... you can turn out something like this ...

f/5.6 - 1/60 sec - Manual Focus - WB=Flash - HVL-F20AM Bounce - Dist: 1 meter

Hey, it may not be the best looking dog in the world, but he thinks he looks pretty sharp.

[OldClicker]

I tried it, but can't get the shot to look anything like that. No matter what settings I try, he still looks like a beagle. - TF

[Anbesol]

You can photoshop him into a rottweiler.

Don, that is one heck of a good idea. Looks like great color and very nice focus transition from that lens, you must tell what f-stop that was shot at (next time include the exif!:nono. He does look damn sharp, perfectly with the exception of the tip of his nose and tongue - was this an f/2.5-3.2?

[DonSchap]

Ambesol ... you take me aback. I would have thought you would understand that compromises have to be made to get that deliciously overblown bokeh. That image was at f/5.6 ... and the bokeh looks great. The distance is where the problem comes from as the DOF is kind of shallow at 1-meter. Had I been at 2-meters ... I would have gotten his entire head. I went for the eyes.

Here is another example of huge bokeh at f/1.8 with the 135mm. you want to talk about shallow DOF ... this was at 2-meters. The tree was 3-meters behind the dog.

Then this bokeh experiment I ran, yesterday.


How about a zooming Christmas tree?

[Anbesol]

Ah Don, of course I understand the narrow dof situation - I was merely being the perfectionist nit-picky guy I am, it is a terrific shot.

That dog looks plain evil in that 1.8 shot, you must fix those eyes!

Very clever use of zoom on the zooming christmas, what shutter? Did you use a tripod?

[DonSchap]

Tripod is mandatory to have any control of the zoom.

The zoomed Christmas tree is a merge of two images:

• An OOF f/2.8 bokeh
• an in focus zoom action

I layered them in Photoshop and use the transparency function to allow both to be seen and merged.

[DonSchap]

One of the nicer presents my camera received this year ... the SONY 135mm f/2.8 [T 4.5] STF (Smooth Transition Focus)

[OldClicker]

Must see photos from this lens. - TF

[Anbesol]

"One of" and "Presents" in that sentence really stand out...