dark cat - minolta rf 500mm f/8 rokkor-x


Some days ago I bought a used Minolta RF 500mm f/8 Rokkor lens. Rokkor-X in the North American market. Thanks to Markus Spring for the info about the sale btw :-). There was neither the time nor the weather (mostly cloudy) to test the lens appropriately (like with tripod and remote control and mirror flip-up and reference lenses and 5 extra kilograms of gear ... yaddayadaayadaa ... okay I am lazy sometimes ...) I simply took it for an after work walk today.



Interesting things happened. Like the photo above which I like quite a lot. It's too dark. Yes. It almost seems post processed. But it's out of the camera and besides the resizing nothing happened to it. Handheld in shutter priority at 1/500 and ISO 400. I really like the "donut" background (more visible in the original file).


Above a 1:1 crop of the original file. Not that bad for the 18th photo I ever took with that lens (no one really wants to see most of the other 47 I took - it's not easy to focus handheld and when the light is really bad). Photo no. 13 is posted on the real blog tonight. Interesting effect there, too.
I like the lens very much. It's fun to do different things - or things different - and to learn again how to get things under control. Or not ;-) More to come ... perhaps.

Comments

Markus said…
Und ich dachte schon Puma im Kohlenkeller ;)
August 15, 2013 at 12:23 AM
Martina said…
Lach.
Ist auch ein interessanter Test, welcher Monitor wie eingestellt ist (wann man mehrere hat zum Anschaun). Bisher war von "Ah, ist doch okay" bis zu "Geht gar nicht" schon alles dabei.
August 15, 2013 at 9:44 AM
James Weekes said…
Those were hand held?!?! Wow are you steady. I assume the hanging CD is the referred to picture on the other blog. You don't need no stinking tripod. I never have understood people who test a lens on a tripod with heavy beanbags, on a windless day, pronounce it a winner and return to their handheld ways.Achhhhh!
August 15, 2013 at 9:49 PM
Martina said…
Yes, the CD is one of my wonderful and sharp photos ;-). Most of them work well online - forget about printing them in poster format, grin.
I'll definitely print this cat. In a small format. Was really funny today to look at it on different monitors. Sometimes there was only a black rectangle.

I am thinking about a monopod - you remember, you once told me I should use one ... walking stick and stuff.

And: sometimes I really like to do this technical stuff - picking up all the lenses, gear, ... using THE BOYFRIEND as a sherpa .... but I have to be in the mood ... if not: forget it.
August 15, 2013 at 10:37 PM
Taken For Granted said…
I can see your images on my monitor (MacBook Pro), but they are very dark. Raise ISO, open lens three stops, slow shutter speed? Don't know. Always good to test new equipment in controlled settings just to see if everything works as it should. Have heard the Rokkor lens is a good one.
August 16, 2013 at 12:35 AM
Martina said…
Aaah, there are only so many things you can do with this kind of lens. I am quite optimistic that with normal sunlight during the day I will master the monster! :-)
August 16, 2013 at 6:46 PM
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