Woodland Photography Pt 1: Tamron AF 70-300mm

Early Spring is a great time to be out in the woods, especially on a sunny day – the trees may still be bare, but the forest floor is bursting with life… the under-story plants, shrubs and smaller trees rush through their flowering and leafing cycles quickly, to take advantage of the unrestricted sunlight – in a few weeks, once the trees leaf out, the canopy blocks off most of the light, and the small bushes go into the “quiet survival mode” until Fall when they get their chance in the sun again!

I’ve been out with the Sony Alpha 700 and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6. The choice of lens for woodland photography may seem surprising, but I find that the Tamron is very useful – the extended zoom range (the 70-300mm is equivalent to 105-450mm) on the Sony Alpha provides an useful stand-off distance so one can zoom in on an intresting flower or bud from a distance of at least 5 feet away without having to brave the underbrush and wicked looking brambles – the woods around here are chock full of wild raspberries and dog rose brambles. This also has the advantage of not blocking the light.

Besides, the Tamron 70-300mm is also a 1:3.9 macro, and since can focus down to 5 feet at the extended end of the zoom range, it does a great job. Moreover, I marvel at the fact that the Sony’s built in anti-shake allows me to handhold the 450mm equivalent lens. I would never have been able to do that with my manual Olympus bodies or even the auto focus Minolta 800si.

By the way, I purchased my Tamron lens about 8 years ago, back in June 2000 – I know they still make this lens, but I am not sure how the build quality has changed, or if it is still made made in Japan. I’ve always been very pleased with the Tamron, and even more so now…. with it’s super-zoom length of 450mm f/5.6 and equivalent when mounted on the Sony Alpha 700, it’s a formidable piece of optical engineering, and very cheap at the price. This is a true “cheap awesome lens”.

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Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm

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Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 and Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens. I used a Polarizer.

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

Flowering Dogwoods and Wild Mustard – Carroll County

Mid-April is the time for flowering dogwoods and vast expanses of wild mustard growing in the fields all over Carroll County… later in the year, these fields will be planted with Soya beans or Corn, but for now, they are just a golden mass of flowers, gently swaying in the slightest breeze. The dogwoods are something to look forward to, as they appear just as the Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias are fading, and they are much more durable blossoms. April is also the time of heavy rainfall here in Maryland, and delicate blossoms like the cherry don’t hold up well. Here are some of the pictures I took in Gaithersburg, and along Rte 27 north of Mount Airy, on the road to Westminster, MD. Mostly flowering dogwoods and fields of mustard blossoms – and a few redbuds.

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Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Redbud	Redbud
Redbud	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Pin Oak flower	Birch flower

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Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Redbud

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Thistle

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 and Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom lens. I used a Polarizer. Close-up of Pink dogwood photographed with a Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 lens with Tiffen 812 warming filter

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

Olympus mount Kitstar 200mm f/3.3 on Sony Alpha 700

The Kitstar 200mm is a lens that I acquired very cheaply on Ebay last year – it was an impulse purchase, really, since I knew very little about the lens other than it had a OM mount, and I was intrigued by its unusual maximum aperture. My intention was to compare it with my much smaller and lighter Olympus OM 200 f/4 prime lens, which I absolutely love. I had used this lens on a OM body last spring, and then put it away, meaning to get back to it sometime.

The Kitstar 200mm is a distinctive lens, easy to recognize. It’s all metal and the rubber covering of the focusing rings is reticulated, instead of being checkered as is usual. Kitstar was the in-house brand of Kit’s Camera and they had their lenses made on contract by various manufacturers, so its hard to tell who the original maker is. The lens is solidly built and comes with a built in hood.

I don’t know of any lens makers such as Sigma, Tokina or Tamron who made a f/3.3 200mm prime lens, so who knows? Maybe its a f/3.5 rebadged as f/3.3. Kits Cameras was bought by Ritz Camera, and is part of their family of stores. Since Ritz has it’s own in-house camera brand (Quantaray), the Kitstar lenses are no more.

On the Sony Alpha 700, the 200mm f/3.3 lens becomes equivalent to a 300mm f/3.3 lens – that is really fast for a 300mm, and considering the price I paid for it, about $25 or so, it is a bargain. The weight of the lens makes it tricky to handhold, compared with the Sony 18-200mm (also equivalent to 27-300mm, but much slower, since it only goes to f/6.3 at the 200mm focal length).

Anyway, I could easily mount the lens on the Sony Alpha 700 with the Bower-made Minolta AF to OM adapter and took the lens for a spin. Here are the results. The Alpha 700’s anti-shake capabilites makes hand-holding easier, but it was still a challenge to avoid blurring. The Kitstar 200mm (apparent 300mm lens) has nice bokeh.

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Kitstar 200mm	Kitstar 200mm
Kitstar 200mm	Kitstar 200mm
Kitstar 200mm	Kitstar 200mm
Kitstar 200mm	Kitstar 200mm
Kitstar 200mm	Kitstar 200mm

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Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Kitstar 200mm

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 camera body and Kitstar 200mm f/3.3 OM Mount lens- I used a Bower Minolta AF-OM adapter and 72mm Polarizer (67-72mm step-up ring)

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

Christman Park, Gaithersburg, MD – Sony 18-200mm and Yashica Yashinon DX 50mm f/1.4

Christman Park is located on West Deer Park Road in Gaithersburg, MD set in a residential neighborhood, surrounded by a couple of large apartment complexes. Deer Park Road connects MD 355 (Frederick Road) to Muddy Branch Road and it’s a quiet and very serene. There’s a small pond, a few benches and a stand of fine old trees. The Park honors a young officer killed in action during the Vietnam war, and there is a plaque with a citation for his bravery under fire and his heroic action against heavy odds. I was at the park a couple of months ago when it was still cold and frozen and haven’t been able to get around to posting these pictures until now.

I used the Sony A700 with the Sony 18-200 lens, but I also had an old M42 screw mount 50mm f/1.4 lens from the Yashica TL Super that I wanted to test.

These are the pictures taken with the Sony 18-200 lens.

Christman Park	Christman Park
Christman Park	Christman Park

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Christman Park

Christman Park

Christman Park

Christman Park

Christman Park

Christman Park

Christman Park

Christman Park

Photographed with a Sony A700 DSLR and a Sony 18-200mm f/3.5 –f/6.3 lens

The Yashinon 50mm f/1.4 is a fine old lens, and I mounted it on the Sony A700 using a Minolta AF-M42 adapter. The adapter doesn’t push the pin at the back of the lens down, so the lens doesn’t stop down on the A700. I was shooting wide open – at f/1.4. On a bright and sunny afternoon, it requires a shutter speeds of 1/5000 second just to be able to get the shot. I’ll have to figure out some way to keep the stop down pin pushed in – perhaps some super glue or maybe some mastic gum. The wide open aperture meant a shallow depth of field with some interesting bokeh. Here are the pictures.

Christman Park	Christman Park
Christman Park	Christman Park
Christman Park	Christman Park
Christman Park	Christman Park
Christman Park	Christman Park

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Christman Park

Christman Park

Christman Park

Photographed with a Sony A700 DSLR and a Yashica Yashinon 50mm f/1.4 M42 Screw mount lens. I used a Minolta AF-M42 adapter.

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

More Landscape Photography: Meyer Farm in Carroll County, MD

These were taken on Bachman’s Valley Road – the old Meyer Farmhouse. The owners are in the process of restoring the buildings as much as possible, but it’s going to take a long time. The Farm is over a 100 years old, and all the barns and outbuildings are in fairly good condition, but the exterior could use some preservative and paint. I took these pictures on the way back from Union Mills. The light was tricky, overcast, but with patches of sun shining through.

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Meyer’s Farm

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Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Meyer’s Farm

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700, Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

More on D.O. Industries

Here’s some additional history on DO Industries – apparently they go back even further than I thought. The original company was founded by Ernst Gundlach, who used to work for Bausch and Lomb. After parting ways with the B and L in 1878 (unwillingly, it seems), he partnered with Lewis Sexton and opened a Optical goods business.

For a while, Sexton ran the business while Gundlach left to work as an Optician in Hartford Connecticut. Sexton was joined by JC Reich and J. Zellweger. On Sexton’s death in 1884, Gundlach returned to the company he had founded, and reorganized it. After about 11 years, Ernst Gundlach left the company again, and formed a rival company called the Gundlach Photo-Optical Company, which was finally acquired by Wollensak in 1905.

The original Gundlach Optical Company continued to operate in Rochester, first acquiring Milburn Korona cameras and then in 1902 they acquired the Manhattan Optical Company and renamed themselves the Gundlach-Manhattan Optical Company. In 1926, they were renamed as the Gundlach Manufacturing company. In 1928, they were taken over by a John Seebold, and were renamed “Seebold Invisible Camera Company” (no idea what they were making).

After taking a beating during the Great Depression, they moved to Fairport in 1935. They survived until 1954, when they were acquired by Burke and James of Chicago and reorganized as the Dynamic Optics Inc, with Mr. David Goldstein as president. Dynamic Optics ceased operations in 1972 and were reorganized as D.O Industries. The rest of the company’s history can be found on the Navitar website.

References:
A History of the Rochester, NY Camera and Lens Companies
Gundlach is also referenced in the famous Lens Collectors Vade Mecum by Wilkinson and Glanfield.

My original post discussed the use of the D.O Industries 135mm Enlarging lens as an excellent bellows lens for Macrophotography with the Sony Alpha 700

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.