A picture is worth ... quite a bit, it seems

[DonSchap]

Yes, Don's camera with a new passenger ...

so... yes, Virginia, you can add this one to the gear list ...
Got a two-year, anti-drop on it, too. It weighs more than you think, believe me (35 ounces! That's more than the Tokina 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6).

Respectability is pricey.

These two images straight from the A700, with resize and sRGB convert.



CROP

You can probably tell the DOF on this a little too shallow (man, what a problem, huh?) I was focused on his wingside .. and his face was just far enough out of the focal plane to look a tad bit fuzzy. I actually need to close it down to 2.5 or 2.8 (chuckle) ... How many lenses can you say that about?


White-crested Touraco, from Central Africa

I think I have Nick-prime-itus! My, my ... won't CW be surprised? Gotta start sometime, I guess. I suspect this is going to be pretty "hot glass" in the coming year. 85mm's look kind of teeny on Full Frames.

[DonSchap]

Another thing about this lens, which I found amazing, because I have fought it like ... forever ... is purple fringe. I took an image of a giraffe, last year, using a Canon EOS 20D with the TAMRON SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di-II LD ... and wound up with some nasty purple fringe when I shot against the bright sky. It was less than other lenses, but still really a problem for the high contrast.

Well .. same situation using the SONY 135mm f/1.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar, today:

Oh brother ... it is going to be real hard going back. Yikes!

Q: How do you eliminate purple fringing?

A: Use really excellent glass!

I hate to admit it, but I think I just got religion and it is going to be a really expensive ride out from here. Thanks CW ... Yeah, the 135mm f/1.8 is "killer!"

[DonSchap]

Frank,

I took this bird shot ... thinking of your recent entries. He was so cool looking, I had to share him.

[DonSchap]

Here's a DOF shot @ f/1.8 and MFD (2.5 feet)

EXIF: 135mm @ f/1.8 - 1/15 sec - ISO-400 - WB: Fluorescent-2 - D-R+ - Handheld

Pretty telling, huh?

[sparkie1263]

Nice shot Don. Was that at the zoo. I have been trying to get to the zoo all summer. I think it is too hot now. May wait till the fall.
Frank

[DonSchap]

Yep ... Brookfield Zoo, about 20 miles south of me. In the Penguin exhibit. They have rooms where the birds fly free ... and you had better duck or get a free haircut.

[Beowulff]

Here's a DOF shot @ f/1.8 and MFD (2.5 feet).....

Man, that is one thin slice!

[Xoote]

nice pictures

[DonSchap]

Man, I gotta tell ya ... despite the Zeiss 135mm f/1.8's incredible capability and clarity ... this bad boy is HEAVY ... with a capital HEV. I mean your hand actually has serious inertia toting this thing around.

Anyone remember the tidbit of advice I gave about putting staples through your camera strap (securing those loose ends, to keep them from slipping through)? If you use a lens like this, you had better do it.



You truly appreciate how lightweight the TAMRON lenses are, after a day with this one. Wow.

I actually feel guilty about having this good a lens and not being paid to use it. LOL I tell you, it's weird.

I know, I'll just share another image of the White-crested Touraco:

I have to snap this guy in flight ... you simply would not believe the breath-taking colors. Just strikingly beautiful.

[DonSchap]

A little more about the lens. It doesn't do well with a 2x T/C slapped on it. Admittedly, it is a tamron T/C ... but, the IQ is hideously soft. Well, it's a good thing to know before you try shooting shots with it, only to get home and find them ... all a mess.

Just gotta go naked, I guess. I still need to try serious polarized-stuff, but initial test shots ...

I can see right thru it ...

Here's a misadjusted or no CP shot:


.
.
Then, the correct use of a CP shot:



Those nasty old distracting glare and reflections, in the truck's paint, just seem to vanish ... even the dog seems to know it.