First of all it was dead calm. Even the tiniest movement would have caused the snow to come down. That's the biggest problem. One night we have a heavy snowfall. I look out in the morning. "Oh Boy its like fairyland!" I say, getting out the cameras. But by the time the sun is a diameter above the horizon - 10:45 - the wind has come up. The snow is blown from the thin branches and that's that. The pines and spruce are a little better than birch, they have dense clumps of needles that hold the snow a bit longer. And second ... the exposures were 1/250 and 1/500. I couldn't go faster because I didn't have any fast film and since I was testing lenses adding grain would not have made it easier to analyse the results. An external shutter would eliminate the mirror and shutter contributions, but requires absolutely static conditions and a lot of care and attention; and patience; and much insulation about the body too because when it still, its pretty cold. Perhaps I have to test this lens in the house, or wait for the summer.
Don Dr E D F Williams http://personal.inet.fi/cool/don.williams Author's Web Site and Photo Gallery Updated: March 30, 2002 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Soames Wetmore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 8:51 PM Subject: Lens sharpness vs. camera shake > I'm not trying to be a wise guy here, but aren't the tree tops moving a fair > bit even on still days? What were your shutter speeds? (And sorry if > you've already addressed this point - I'm a bit behind on reading the > digests.) > > > > >[...] > >Getting sharp images with long lenses is an exacting task, much more > >difficult than meets the eye. Forgive the weak pun. I've been taking >shots > >of tree tops recently with a Sigma Apo 400/5.6. They are not >particularly > >sharp although I used the highest shutter speed I could. >Its hard to > >decide if the images are fuzzy because: the lens is not so >good wide open, > >the shutter and mirror vibrated the camera on the >tripod, the lens is not > >so good anyway, or the camera was not properly >focussed. > >[...] > >Don Williams > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 3 months FREE*. > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&S U= > http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_eliminatevi ruses_3mf >
