Derryveagh Mountains

I spend a most pleasant day there, though very hazy, and suboptimal for pictures, it was very nice to learn something new. I always wondered whether a 500mm lense can be used for landscapes in some ways.

I came to think....

A new lense is truly like a new instrument... approach it with respect and take your time, you need a lot of time to play it blindfold! Play on a Steinway that you never played before, and you will not feel at home, play it for 3 weeks, and it might become home.

500mm 1/160 @ f/7.1 shot from a boat

Splendid. Was this with the Olympus. Tell us about it!

So Georg, now visit Nathaniel's layered scene with one tree overlying distant mountains, here! One in New Zealand and the other in Ireland, both sharing the beauty of quiet unspoiled places we must protect.

Asher

Yes, Olympus E3 with the Zuiko Digital 180-500mm f/2.8

This one 500mm 1/125 @f/7.1

Probably a bit embarassin, but as I said, I feel a new lesne is like a new instrument, it takes time to play Ravel and get the harmonics/overtones "sing"!

Frankly, it is a little overwhelming, but I love every second of it! I am a bit like Nicolas in that respect, I frame before I shoot, and heck, trust me, with a monsterglas like this, on a moving boat, wind straight into your face, I start to get a feel for his amazing achievements in deed!

LOL, hope he does not read that!

P.S. I compress the files here to jpeg 20% quality, really low, for good reaons! I am in the midst of a major computer shift and still have to get used to add "metadata/IPTC?_Blah_copyrightshit_and stuff"

Asher Kelman said:

Splendid. Was this with the Olympus. Tell us about it!

Click to expand...

See, I have not the knoweldge and skills like Bart or Cem in that field, I am just a learning photographer using a box, and dare I say, my eyes and soul I was given, however, here is my 0.2 cents.

While the Zuiko Digital lenses are amongst the very best that you can get in the DSLR world across all other the brands in my opinion, Olympus has a problem, which they hopefully adress in one way or the other, and if you think what ressourceful compnay they are, I have hope they will.

Last not least, they are, again in my opinion, amongst the most innovative players in the field. Establishing a complete new standard, as if that alone is not bold enough, they come up with stuff like their anti dust system, life view, an LCD that can be used to compose your pics, meaning flip the screen 180 degrees horizontal and then turn it vertical, amazing! On top they designed body and lenses from the ground up digitally, talk about a monster act of R&D!

Then again, like with all systems these days in DSLR, you will have both, strong points and weak points.

In case of the latest Olympus flagship, and just to make it quick as I am really really tired, it is the sensor giving them a headache. Crop 2.0, densly packed, 4/3 is giving them a headache with respect to DN, digital noise. Mostly appearing in the blue channel, it is even possible at ISO 100, depending on the light conditions, regardless what Top Notch ZD lense is used.

However, it all is a balance act, and at the moment I do not have the needed tools for optimizing, in the case of the E3 it would be noiseware professional I suppose.



However, I really love those ZD lenses, they were the main reason I bought into Olympus in the first hand, and only recently Nikon emerged with a VERY good 24mm lense that can be taken into the same league as the ZD 7-14mm f/4.0. - To the best of my knowledge, no other DSLR player has a wide angle lense on offer in this quality for example, I stand to be corrected!-

Enough of that... LOL... I am not into all that deep enough, so take it with a grain, no, make that a shovel of salt, it is also not my interest in the first hand.

I am just a guy with a camera and a desire....

Nice shots, Georg. I especially like the one in post #4.

Georg Baumann said:

I always wondered whether a 500mm lense can be used for landscapes in some ways.

Click to expand...

500mm lenses makes great landscape lenses! I use long lenses for landscape photography, frequently. Let me know if you'd like to see an example of a 500mm landscape.

Mike Spinak said:

Let me know if you'd like to see an example of a 500mm landscape.

Click to expand...

Hey Mike,

Are you kidding? I used a 500mm alltogether for 3 hours now, OF COURSE I love to see, I am all new to this kind of landscape. I am shooting 28mm mostly since more than 3 years. Going to 500 is something like... well

from the little I know.... tele lenses " compress", would that be right to say?

However, from the few I shot so far....WAW!!!... how interesting this can turn out to be in deed!

Georg Baumann said:

from the little I know.... tele lenses " compress", would that be right to say?

Click to expand...

Well, that's a little bit tricky to answer. In reality, all focal lengths render perspective the same, and it is the different ways that they are used that make them appear to render perspective differently. (If that is not clear, if you would like me to expand upon that, then let me know.)

For practical purposes, you might as well think of extreme telephoto lenses as "compressing" the view.

Georg Baumann said:

Hey Mike,

Are you kidding? I used a 500mm alltogether for 3 hours now, OF COURSE I love to see, I am all new to this kind of landscape. I am shooting 28mm mostly since more than 3 years. Going to 500 is something like... well

Click to expand...

OK, here's an example of a 500mm landscape shot:

View East of Tioga Pass, Before Dawn

© Mike Spinak

Hmmm... My other 500 mm focal length telephoto landscape shots are not online (there are only a few, anyway), but I have many other landscapes online that were made with other extreme telephoto lenses, if you'd like to see some more examples of telephoto landscapes (even though they were taken at other focal lengths, from 200 mm to 1,200 mm). Let me know.

HECK Mike.... THAT is nice!

I am getting a 2x xtender to up the ante to 1000mm

As for perspective, in my little book is a re occurring entry that tells me to explore the relation of the human vision and photography.

No idea where that was taken, but I've seen very early mornings in similiar light conditions in the smokey mountains.... magic!

OK, I am hooked, only problem is, that lense is part of an endorsement, hence a loan... I tell you, I hate the idea to send it back!!!!!!

Asher Kelman said:

One in New Zealand and the other in Ireland, both sharing the beauty of quiet unspoiled places we must protect.

Click to expand...

The more I shoot, the stronger I feel exactly that Asher! The place I visited built a 2 million euro extension to the existing "heritage center", really nice with adjacent theater and seating for ~400 people. I was talking to the manager yesterday and I hope to be able to organise an exhibition of my own and Carols work there in September this year ideally, fingers crossed.

LOL, I am just of the phone with them, and it is a done deal, we exhibit there and let them have 25% of each sale for the protection and support of this unique post glacial landscape. YEAH BABY!

Congrats!

I see you're within your "donation" day… ;-)

Georg Baumann said:

I am a bit like Nicolas in that respect, I frame before I shoot, and heck, trust me, with a monsterglas like this, on a moving boat, wind straight into your face, I start to get a feel for his amazing achievements in deed!

LOL, hope he does not read that!

Click to expand...

LoL! too late!

I like the 2 first ones, can't make a decision on the one of the 2 I prefer…
1st is more dynamic thus appealing…
2nd is graphically better framed…

I came to think....

A new lense is truly like a new instrument... approach it with respect and take your time, you need a lot of time to play it blindfold! Play on a Steinway that you never played before, and you will not feel at home, play it for 3 weeks, and it might become home.

Click to expand...

I agree with this statement…
Now, get in the same area but with a 12mm (not a fisheye)…

Nicolas Claris said:

...I like the 2 first ones, can't make a decision on the one of the 2 I prefer…
1st is more dynamic thus appealing…
2nd is graphically better framed…
…

Click to expand...

Hi Bear,

I also agree with Nicolas, but I have a slight preference for the 2nd image. Also, I like the 3rd one as well. Well, what the heck, I like them all ;-).

Re. the exhibition; go get them "bear" (LOL)

Cheers,

Mike Spinak said:

...Hmmm... My other 500 mm focal length telephoto landscape shots are not online (there are only a few, anyway), but I have many other landscapes online that were made with other extreme telephoto lenses, if you'd like to see some more examples of telephoto landscapes (even though they were taken at other focal lengths, from 200 mm to 1,200 mm). Let me know.

Click to expand...

Mike,

This is a fantastic picture. You really got me hooked, now you have got to reel me in (LOL). Start sharing those picture, pretty please?

Thanks, Georg. Thanks, Cem.

Cem_Usakligil said:

You really got me hooked, now you have got to reel me in (LOL). Start sharing those picture, pretty please?

Click to expand...

Ok, but I'm going to show them in new threads, so as not to pollute Georg's thread.

Beautiful!