Mans! The Forums Is the Dead!

[Nick]

wowitsdead.

[Brad]

Melissa and Luke bought me an awesome new macro lens. I will post some test pics soon...

[Nick]

Cool, what sort?

[Brad]

It's a 100mm 2.8f macro lens. It's pretty big and heavy, but it has really fast and quiet USM auto-focus and can get pretty darn close. Also the barrel doesn't extend/collapse when focusing and it has a full-time manual focus adjustment ring thing. So you can adjust the focus precisely without switching out of auto-focus.

So far, I like it. But I haven't had much chance to use it. You need pretty good light to take really close macro shots, and I ran out of time yesterday. I'd like to see what happens if I put the clip on macro thing on the front of it. Maybe I can take a picture of an ant's eyeball or something...

[zourtney]

Cool. We should go test it out. What's everyone doing Monday? We should do stuff, because I'm otherwise boringful.

Ok, stupid question (with the wrong terminology, most likely)...the 100mm part is going to give you a fairly narrow sight picture, I get that. But how is the focal distance? I mean, can you, for example, focus on a subject 10 feet away (with or without a narrow depth of field)? Or are you effectively so near-sighted that you can focus on anything far away?

I guess I don't understand the difference between a "macro" lens and a "fixed zoom" lens.

[Nick]

:-) From some dude on betterphoto.com/forms/ :

"A telephoto lens technically is one that is designed such that its actual length is less than its optical focal length. More generally, it refers to long focal length lenses that give a narrow angle of view and "bring distant objects closer."
A macro lens is one that focuses very close so that it can project a 1/2 life-size or larger image onto the film or sensor."

Yeah, its all about focal length. And projecting an image of a far-off thing or a close-up thing. I can't draw pictures here so thats the best I can do. Not that I really understand it well enough. They did cover it for 20min in physics once though...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_photography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephoto_lens

I think a major difference is concave VS convex lenses making enlargements rather then reductions... but I am mostly just guessing. It would be nice if the wiki had a lens arrangement diagram for the macro like they do the telephoto.

And here is a page I once read a while ago. I think its relevant but don't have time to read it again.
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm

[zourtney]

Good reading, especially the last link. Lots of stuff I know, some I didn't. The "macro" page is a great reminder of how dumb I am And as far as glass/optics theory is cornerned, I'm even dumber...

From Wikipedia:

To avoid this [lighting] problem, many photographers use telephoto macro lenses, typically with focal lengths from about 100 to 200 mm. These are popular as they permit sufficient distance for lighting between the camera and the subject.

So, I guess much of what I was asking is, "is it a telephoto macro lens?"

[Brad]

Yeah, my lens is both a telephoto and a macro lens. It is also a 1:1, meaning that it projects a full lifesize image onto the sensor at the minimum focus distance of 1'.

[Nick]

The forums live again?

From death comes undeath! Cursed to wander this world in ghastly confusion. Knowing not when sleep comes again! Arise, Server, ARISE!

[zourtney]

And here the forums lie, dead again.

[Nick]

But cow how long!?

[zourtney]

If a proper response requires quantification in some sort of bovine units, I will need guidance. Otherwise: 7.

[Nick]

Hehehehe HAHAHAH! That made me laugh.

Oh, so are the dangers of making quick replies on phones that think they know what I am trying to type. Most time it actually does know what it is I was trying to say, just not that time.

A more accurate recount:
"But for how long?

I think it got cow from how and I deleted the wrong word and then retyped how... but I am not sure.
Actually, that doesn't make sense. That would put them in the other order. So the answer is: I just can't type. Especially on a phone.

[zourtney]

ok, I thought maybe I missed something or you were being well...Nickish. What do you say to a cow-how swamp-dive?

Edited because I can't type either

[Nick]

Swamp-dive cow-now!

We should do something some night this week. Take some bikes out someplace and have a ride perhaps. Also, you should come over some time so we can show you the animal routine. We will feed you fire-side sausages if you like