• 07-20-2004, 05:47 AM
    Speed
    1 Attachment(s)
    To Quote Paul, "It's Crap"
    BUT, it's an action shot! This dragonfly was buzzing around the pond. He would hover for a split second, then hit the water, splash water onto the shore, and circle back to his hover point and do it again, and again, and again.

    My autofocus wasn't fast enough to catch him (I tried to prefocus at his hover point, but he was too fast), so I switched to manual focus and prefocused. I watched him make a couple of passes, then shot this. If you ever want a challenge, try shooting dragonflies in flight!

    Watch out Paul. Now all I need is a F5, a 400mm f2.8, and a Wimberly gimbal head and I'll be giving you a run for your money. Let's see: Wimberly - $565, F5 - $1930, 400mm f2.8 - $7700. On second thought, Paul probably isn't going to lose any sleep over it! :-O
  • 07-20-2004, 06:17 AM
    paulnj
    your prices are too high!

    BESIDES.... REPLACE F5 w/ D70, REPLACE 400 F2.8 w/ 300f2.8 AFSII(in COLOR grey) AND YOU now saved THOUSANDS in gear ....YET have a 450mm EQUIVELANT f2.8 LENS THAT FOCUSES AT 6.2 ft (I THINK) and weighs lots less :)

    OK..... angles bad, exposures TOO HIGH, USE F11 to wide sharp focus range

    OK.. penny asked me if the rain stopped.... YUP ...SUN IS FINALLY OUT!

    I will go TRY to show you what I am talking about..RIGHT NOW ;)



    with that set up you get GOOD CF legs(1348's) , a GOOD BALLHEAD(arca B1/ KIRK/ GIANT BALL.....) and a SIDEKICK :)
  • 07-20-2004, 07:09 AM
    Speed
    angles bad, exposures TOO HIGH
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by paulnj
    your prices are too high!

    BESIDES.... REPLACE F5 w/ D70, REPLACE 400 F2.8 w/ 300f2.8 AFSII(in COLOR grey) AND YOU now saved THOUSANDS in gear ....YET have a 450mm EQUIVELANT f2.8 LENS THAT FOCUSES AT 6.2 ft (I THINK) and weighs lots less :)

    OK..... angles bad, exposures TOO HIGH, USE F11 to wide sharp focus range

    OK.. penny asked me if the rain stopped.... YUP ...SUN IS FINALLY OUT!

    I will go TRY to show you what I am talking about..RIGHT NOW ;)



    with that set up you get GOOD CF legs(1348's) , a GOOD BALLHEAD(arca B1/ KIRK/ GIANT BALL.....) and a SIDEKICK :)


    You are correct! I should have laid down for the shot (I was kneeling), and the exposure - well, I was shooting in the middle of the day. Definitely should have used a smaller f stop - I was shooting at f8 - I should have used f11 or even f16.

    But I'm out there shooting, and learning. Shooting moving subjects is not easy. At least not for me! :-O

    BTW, I KNEW you would say D70 instead! :-)
    And you are right about the 300 f2.8 - I think they are less than half what a 400mm f2.8 costs! Now, if I just had a rich uncle...
  • 07-20-2004, 08:48 AM
    paulnj
    sorry BROTHA.. but I was TOOOOOOO TIRED and THE HUMIDITY is REDICULOUS!!

    I took SOME images, but NONE of DRAGONFLIES in FLIGHT.

    I will look at them tomorrow maybe?

    NEED sleep BADLY now :(