Paul Stenquist wrote:
You can pick up a K or M 200/4 for next to nothing, and either is almost certainly superior to the F70-210 in sharpness and resolution. You'll gain a full stop wide open, which is quite a difference at that focal length.
Paul
On Jan 4, 2005, at 11:00 PM, frank theriault wrote:
On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 07:03:24 +0200, Boris Liberman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Markus, I have to agree with you. Which leads me to my current question that I keep pondering all the time (within limits of reason :) ).
By now, I use my F 70-210 zoom at 210 mm (long end) which makes it roughly 315 mm on my *istD to make these shots. It is then 315/5.6 lens. It seems that even at this focal length, f/5.6 yields considerable DOF that somewhat spoils my backgrounds... What to do? For now, I wouldn't want to come closer to my "prey" :).
Of course, I agree that I should be more aware of the background, but sometimes, like the case of that boy and model train, I still wanted to make that shot...
Any suggestions would be gladly appreciated.
Thanks.
Well, Boris, I'm no expert, and I'm pretty bad with backgrounds, too, but that won't stop me from commenting <g>.
First, looking at your street gallery, the backgrounds aren't that bad, IMHO. Contemplation and Thou Shalt Not Pass are the only ones that I find objectionable. The others are fine to me.
Sometimes, you can only change angles, but that's hard to do with a long lens. Or, in the case of Contemplation, wait for the offending person to move out of the frame - of course by then maybe you've lost your "moment". So, you shoot, and hope for the best. If the moment is strong enough, it outweighs the "bad stuff". If it doesn't work, don't show the photo. Maybe editing is part of the solution too.
I think that maybe using shorter lenses for much of your "street" work (I know many here don't like that term, but I don't know what else to call it) might be a good start. Makes it much easier to move around to get the background right.
cheers, frank
-- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
--
I can understand why mankind hasn't given up war. During a war you get to drive tanks through the sides of buildings and shoot foreigners - two things that are usually frowned on during peacetime.
--P.J. O'Rourke
