And now, for the official blog entry about my latest lens – the Tamron 200-400mm F5.6 A-mount for Minolta/Sony. Light passes from the lens to a Tamron 1.4x teleconverter and a Kenko 2x teleconverter before entering my Minolta Dynax 7 and going up my right-angle viewfinder. Also added for extra effect is a Sony HVL-F56AM flash.
It collapses to a more subtle size, one-third its extended, hooded length.
400mm F11 1/125s ISO400. 400mm is the bare minimum for bird photography, or birding, in short.
400mm F5.6 1/500s ISO320. If you think about it, 400mm F5.6 is like a 200mm F2.8 with a 2x teleconverter.
1100mm F16 1/15s ISO1600. When you stack teleconverters, the camera refuses to autofocus at F16, but tries unsuccessfully to autofocus at F11. At F8 it can, but finds quite a struggle.
1100mm F16 1/40s ISO800. Chromatic aberration is obvious with this lens. Stopping down one stop solves it.
1100mm F16 1/40s ISO400. Guess what this is!
1100mm F16 1/3s ISO1600. Stairway from Kinokuniya bookstore to Page One, taken from the bottom of KLCC Park.
1100mm F16 1/30s ISO1600. An unsuspecting dude at the 2nd floor cafeteria in KLCC.
1100mm F16 1/8s ISO1600. I should come here in the day to catch people in the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge.
1100mm F16 1/2s ISO800. Guess what this is!
1100mm F22 1/125s ISO400. This might make it more obvious.
1100mm F16 1/160s ISO400. No? What about this? (Oh, if only somebody would shine a torchlight in his/her face as I took this picture.)
1100mm F16 1/125s ISO400. The moon, handheld!
100% crop.
And yes, Super SteadyShot on the Sony A100 works extra hard for extra long focal lengths. You can hear it compensating vigorously, and it works! I can get sharp shots at 1/125s 1100mm.
I got the lens second-hand, for real cheap; however, a new one wasn’t that expensive either. The tripod mount can be loosened and rotated around; I turn it about so my left hand can hold it like a camcorder, heh.
Ironic, then, that Canon and Nikon fans would brag that they have the most lenses… when I am the only guy I know who has the focal lengths from 8mm to 1100mm covered, on the Minolta/Sony A-mount. That’s a 137.5x zoom!
Albnok
push pull?
mee: Nah, it’s not exactly an article. I’ll write a proper one when I have the time.
Canon Freak: Yes, push-pull. It seems that every lens that reaches 400mm these days is a push-pull, too.
It is horribly solid and seems to ‘hold’ in place, with no zoom creep. It’s amazing that way.
Heh these were the shots you showed me on your cam, awesome stuff man.
There’s one of these for sale at the moment, Nikon mount.
That’s your best moon shot so far 😀
ShaolinTiger: Heh, thanks!
I have a feeling the Nikon one will have a tripod mounted on its tripod mount at all times. Not just any tripod, a heavy, heavy one. My light tripod hindered its usage more, with a tendency to creep upwards. Still makes a very cheap alternative (RM1400 first hand!) to a Nikkor 200-400mm F4 VR though. 😀
Silencers: Thanks man!
i insist you to thank me for the lens.. HUH! =P officially in ur blog! hahahaha =P