12-08-10 – Optimus Prime

While it’s true that it’s not a prime, if all 3 shots were done the same way at the same focal length, that still qualifies, though, yes? I would think that’s the same as what us non-prime owners are doing – shooting 3 at the same focal length.

It certainly isn’t what I had in mind, but I guess it’s within the letter of the theme, put like that.

But it’s also in front of a zoom lens that slides around between 42 and 46mm. That’s not exactly set at a single focal length as the theme requires.

It’s probably close enough – a lot of lenses will actually change focal length more than that just focusing from one end of the range to the other….

to further complicate the rules: what about lens reversal macro as one of the photos? (i.e., 2 shot normally, 1 with the same lens but reversed

Simply reverse mounting a lens alone doesn’t change the focal length, just the extension (but reverse mounting one lens in front of another lens is a different story).

[still undecided if i want to post 3 from the nifty-fifty or 3 from the 10mm…..]

They don’t all have to be from the same lens.

i usually get better results from using just one lens.
and for the second comment: i’m confused. i thought the contest was all 3 shots at the same focal length. the two lenses i’m referring to are the 50mm and the 10-20mm (but all shots at 10mm). i’m also confused because i’m drinking too much samba tonight.

Of all the themes to generate this much discussion on what’s allowable or not allowable within the description wording, I would never have pegged this one to be that theme. The only thing I could reasonably disqualify at this point would be a zoom-during-exposure. Smoke ’em if ya got ’em.

Respectfully, I disagree. Theme description:

Go shooting with a single prime lens (or set your zoom to a single focal length and don’t change it).

Theme suggestion kudos to sleeping!

Not everyone has a prime lens, hence the caveat.

The clarifications asked have been:

1) Do all pictures need to be from the same ‘prime’ lens?, to which this was the reply:

That wasn’t my intention, but please see this note from the original thread:

Well, I didn’t want to suggest a bunch of rules that would wind up being completely unenforceable, but the idea was to encourage people to go out and shoot with only a single focal length available to them, not “images that happened to be shot with a prime lens”, if that makes sense.

and further clarified with:

The way I understand it, they don’t all have to be taken with the same prime, only that they are taken at a time when you are shooting only with that prime.
Is this correct?

That’s right.

Sleeping added further on Dec. 7th that the shots don’t all have to be with the same lens. Personally, I think that defeats the purpose of the contest, but that’s not my call. Tastes like chicken, as they say.

2) Cropping. I think the net response is cropping would defeat the purpose, and the final call is to limit this to no more than 5-10% of the frame. I’m choosing not to crop at all, as I’m in ‘that’ camp of thought.

3) My issue, which is basically that my lens, when pushed back for ease of shooting with the Darlot, falls into a ‘zone’ of focal length that I cannot precisely control. I don’t have a ‘set to xx mm’ option. If I did, I’d surely have used it.

My solution was to take multiple shots using the same process and find the ones that registered as the same focal length. Use of the Darlot, though simply held against the camera lens, isn’t any different than screwing on a wide-field or telephoto adapter lens made for a lens–I just have to hold it in place. A 28 mm with a 2x ‘wide angle’ lens is the equivalent of a 14m, for one who doesn’t have one.

My contention is it’s still shooting (or attempting to) at one focal length. My caveat is I had to take more shots than I would have (had I been able to just ‘tune’ my camera to a particular focal length and it stayed there), then pick among them the ones that registered as the same. This is my life without the money to go out and buy all the prime lenses that I’d like to own.

I’d wager I’m not alone in this quandry, though my Darlot is a unique twist.

There’s been plenty of discussion, but only about these few subjects. Ultimately, policing any contest is an imperfect science. And making theme descriptions that are cut and dry to begin with is no less a perfect undertaking. I think that’s just part of the process, and justification to having schnee‘s forum to begin with.

Of all the themes to generate this much discussion on what’s allowable or not allowable within the description wording, I would never have pegged this one to be that theme. The only thing I could reasonably disqualify at this point would be a zoom-during-exposure. Smoke ’em if ya got ’em.

I agree with the first part and give a rueful little grin to the second part. We’re a bunch of dorks (myself included). 🙂

I still don’t know exactly what I’m going to post. In the spirit of fair play, I’ll lean heavily toward un-cropped entries.

That said (here comes more dorkiness) I contend that a minor crop to exclude something that should have been excluded by moving closer to the subject is more off-theme than a crop based on composition. Hardly anything I post is at a 2:3 ratio. I like square crops and I like skinny (like 1:2) crops. I don’t have a square sensor. If I do decide on a funky crop I’ll at least keep one entire dimension of the original.

Just finished the last of mine. I’m using this week to practice new lighting techniques.

I used a gobo, bounce card and snoot in various combinations on all my shots and last week I couldn’t have told you what those were. 🙂 (Spent a little time on the strobist website recently.)

ravnostic
Your Darlot might be your “ghetto-rig macro” as you put it, but you get some damned fine results with it.
In particular, I really liked the second picture (flowers) you posted (which I am guessing you took with the Darlot).

Thanks LL (and, too, NBD, from earlier). Lots of fine things have come from the ghetto–Elvis comes to mind (no, wait, that was just a song…)

There are difficulties with using the lens to be sure, but I’ve been very pleased with the results, and I’ve gotten a LOT better at steady hands behind the camera because of it (since it has to be held by hand to the camera’s ‘real’ lens, tripoding just isn’t viable). Besides this week’s entries, 5 of my top 20 ranked photos also employed it. If I were offered a real macro lens in trade for the Darlot, I’d refuse it. There are some properties to that old glass that I don’t think I’d be willing to part with.