Digital photography 2

The last time I talked about the digital camera system in February, I just mentioned the bit that controls how the pictures are made and the two lenses that cover a wide range of focal lengths that cover taking pictures of mountains to birds to the odd cycling event
This said given some of my interests such as nature there are a few more specialized lenses that do help and it's those I'm talking about this week.
One thing to bear in mind is consumer cameras rather than the Pro models used by magazines and newspapers use a bigger full frame sensor to take the image off the lens compared with that of the smaller DX ones which means the focal length of any lens is effectively increased by a factor of 1.5 (a half again) on a regular model for amateurs like mine.
On a traditional film camera system a lens many of us typically has a focal length of 50mm that shows things very much as we'd see them with one eye shut and typically they gather more light in than most zoom lenses.
This isn't just good for taking pictures in dull conditions but what gives it that light gathering ability - its wide aperture-  also enables you to keep me of what is either side of your subject out of focus which can be more aesthetically pleasing.
It also comes with a hood to keep excess sun off the lens that can impair image quality.

This Nikon lens with an actual focal length of 35mm, thanks to the sensor becomes in effect a 52mm "standard" lens which makes it useful for taking pictures of meadowland where individual blades of grass can be given greater prominence.
As well, being a fixed focal length lens means it has less elements for the light to travel through which shows in better contrast and resolution.

Another type of lens that is useful is a Macro lens which isn't as confusingly some zoom lens call themselves the same because a true Macro lens gives at least 1:2 or half life sized reproduction and not the typical quarter life sized many telezooms offer.

This is a true Macro lens made by the independent lens manufacturer, Tamron in Japan that actually gives you life sized (1:1) reproductions which unlike the earlier version for Nikon cameras, has a built in motor for autofocus on more recent Nikon digital cameras that don't have a built in motor in the camera itself to do this.
Like the other lens this also is more efficient at light gathering having a maximum aperture of F2.8  which with its 90mm focal length increased to 135mm on my camera and very close focusing enables you to both get in close and blur the background of individual flowers or capture very small details.
It has a switchable focus range restricter to limit the area it focus on between 0.29 though 0.40 cm for close up work or 0.46 through infinity for quicker focusing where you can use it as faster medium telephoto lens compared with about F4.5 on the 70-300mm telezoom.
That traditionally is what we bought for our cameras and why I had the 135mm F2.8 one for  my Minolta X500 and XD7 film cameras.
You can use it to photograph tree branches, leaves and also for portraiture too.

These two lenses build on from the twin zooms allowing you more control over what you photograph and higher image quality which make for a simple lens system that covers all my needs.

135mm F 2.8

How many variations on theme is something one could ask when it comes to telephoto lenses and even telezooms but the honest answer has to include something like "when each has it's own strength" that is of use in the field.

 

Take this, a example of the ever popular during Minolta's manual focus hayday classic 135 mm lens where I have a mid 70's MC series example in F 3.5 and the later post 1982 type III MD F3.5 with it's minimum aperture lock for the X700 introduced that year.

 This shot of the rear of the lens shows the big difference of this Type II MD F 2.8, that wider aperture that can make focusing a tad easier in gloomy conditions although it comes with 100 gram extra weight. It uses thicker glass that aids the optical quality compared to the last type III version of 1982/3.

 

 The all important Japan Industries quality mark is on - a sign of quality - that aided your confidence way back then and note the focal length is marked clearly in orange. 

The rear showing the automatic diaphragm pin which is sprung enabling  focusing at the widest aperture for rapid picture taking with the camera shutting it to the set value by the camera during exposure.

The meter coupling and minimum aperture pin for the XD5/7 and X700 shutter priority and program modes respectively can be seen.

This lens is one I've always coveted not least having used F2.8 designs before and I'm looking forward to using it soon.

200mm

200mm f4 Rokkor MD. 55mm Filter thread No: 1223272

I bought this in 2000 used as I found the optical quality is pretty good and find it useful for detail shots of scenes.
It is a good example of the post 1981 version with the minimum aperture lock for the X700's program mode and is a bit lighter than previous versions.