[popo]

I just got back from a short break visiting friends far away. Their free time was limited so I wasn't expecting to get any photos in so just grabbed the 5D2 and Sigma 50 Art on the way out. We had one full day available so after much looking around found a wildlife park not too far away. It was a small one, but already I was regretting only having a fixed 50. Normally I'd have at least a 300mm zoom on APS-C. This was going to be interesting.

One error I keep making with shorter focal length lenses is not checking the shutter speed. Also the 5D2 doesn't do manual auto-ISO. So from experience, I know if I fix only shutter, the aperture will tend to go wide open and nothing will be ni focus. If I fix aperture, the shutter will be so long everything will be motion blurred. Fixing both in manual means I'd need to constantly adjust exposure. So how do I get around the? I tried P mode for the first time ever, and jacked up fixed ISO a tad.

I have to say I was rubbish at checking and setting the balance between A and S in P mode, but with the higher ISO at least I could have both semi-automatic shutter/aperture that meant DoF wasn't wafer thin, nor was everything an exercise in motion.

Only reviewed on back of camera so far, I think I got some ok shots out of it. Guess I should look at it properly.

Oh, I'm rubbish at shooting blind too. Assorted pigs and chickens ran wild, so to get to their level I just held the camera low down, pointed roughly in their direction and... missed I had managed it before but with much wider angle lenses. I can't "see" 50mm yet, even after using only that lens for the day.

[Brightcolours]

Setting the aperture to F8 and the ISO to something suitable (ISO 800?), and setting all AF points active with the low blind shots with the pigs and chickens should have given more keepers? The camera will mostly pick the front most subject then, and that works well in such situations.

 

The C!/2 settings on the mode dial can come in handy here, you can quickly switch between very different settings combinations.

I find it hard to adjust to different FOV's too, so I can very well understand that you do not see 50mm yet.

[JJ_SO]

Oh, I'm rubbish at shooting blind too. Assorted pigs and chickens ran wild, so to get to their level I just held the camera low down, pointed roughly in their direction and... missed I had managed it before but with much wider angle lenses. I can't "see" 50mm yet, even after using only that lens for the day.

 

Have you ever tried to hold a torch against the viewfinder and check it's projection in a dark room? It's even possible to focus a lens, if you switched on a grid on the matte screen. But it's really hard to shoot blind. It helps a little to hold the lens instead try the normal camera grip. I find it easier to direct a tube.

[popo]

Attached are a small selection.

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The pig was a bit close but I still had to crop to help composition, and if I could go back in time I would have stopped down more.

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The butterfly was close to MFD and the nearest I got to macro on the day. Cropped.

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Goat wasn't cropped, my only play at f/1.4 to see how boekhlicious I can go. Camera picked focus on body so head is slightly out of focus already.

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And have a meerkat, because I can (cropped).


In most of these places you're separated, so I'm used to using long focal lengths from a distance, not a relatively short focal length close up. Even then, I'm used to zooms.

[JJ_SO]

I like the pictures. Pig and butterfly especially. I'm not agreeing to "relatively short focal length" - in numbers that might be a huge difference, I just tend to be disappointed by "so much mm more and then still not close enough". You didn't shoot each of them "blind", did you?

[popo]

Only the pig shot. The others I could still see through the viewfinder. For relatively small web pics (the forum software reduced them even smaller) you don't notice the crop much, but if I had the focal length it would help at bigger sizes.

Also I only recently built a new PC and have lost my Photoshop CD... so this is maybe my first time doing everything though DxO only.

[Brightcolours]

Do you still have the serial/registration number? If so, you can download PS from Adobe and register it after installation.

Cute lil piggie, and nice photo with the butterfly.

[Rover]

That looks good popo!

For the situations like these, I had the Canon 24-85 lens on hand, but early this year I gave it as a gift to a friend that has moved to full frame and had no suitable standard lens. I might try again someday.

[popo]

To clarify I have Photoshop Elements 9, and from memory the serial number is on the case that comes with it. So it is all or nothing. I am half debating just buying the latest version of Elements instead since it doesn't cost much. I never had the "full" Photoshop and likely never will on the subscription model.

[Brightcolours]

Yeah I don't like that subscription model either.