It was clear enough in Melbourne, just a little cloud near the horizon.
First up I tried the SMCT 500/4.5 and 1.7AF TC which filled about half
the frame vertically. I took quite a few shots to establish whether I
needed to stop down at all and then popped inside to download. The
results were fairly poor, as if it wasn't quite focused correctly. I had
turned the AF off, but suspected that the TC wasn't quite right.
I then ditched the TC and used the self timer to try and reduce
vibration. Those results were much better so I decided to give the TC
another go. This time I used the 500 wide open and left the AF on. The
TC would hunt to the close end of its range then back to infinity and
lock on. The results this time around were much better. 
I tended to underexpose and probably should have just used my spotmeter
to get the right exposure. Anyway once I had set the white point and
grey point in photoshop I was very happy with the result. I'll have to
get an 8x10 done to see what it looks like "for real" but as a stock
shot for later inclusion it is more than good enough.

FWIW, I was shooting from my driveway (compacted gravel) using a
Berlebach tripod and a Manfrotto 029 head, so vibration from non-camera
sources should have been at a minimum.     

Paul Ewins
Melbourne, Australia


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