Opteka HD2

[tonebytone]

Yesterday the Opteka HD2 High Definition Super Wide Panoramic Professional Series 0.35X lens attachment arrived. I'd ordered it from Amazon.com who had it sent from 47th Street Photo in Brooklyn, NY.

This attachment has at its rear a macro attachment that can be used separately - which I just did. Discovering to my great surprise that it's focus distance when mounted on a 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens is less than an inch! Which great magnification makes hand holding very frustrating, since this 50mm lens doesn't have VR or IS or whatever Nikon calls their steadying feature.

Out of 4 shots I had only one that's "acceptable" and it's marginal at that. I stopped down to f/10, ISO 800, shutter speed 1/60 (I think). The length of the twig that shows in the image is one inch!



The semi-fish-eye attachment must be used when it's screwed into the macro attachment! So I'll be going to my favorite photo store to get a step-down ring so I can use the semi-fish-eye by itself. When it's used with the macro attachment, the image is very wide angle with the top and bottom edges curved slightly. But if I want the full semi-fish-eye effect, I need to get the macro attachment off of it.

This lens is made in Japan. It allows autofocus, etc. It seems to be sharp, if only I can hold it steady or put it on a tripod.

[Becky]

Flo, I have a problem similar with the 100 mm/2.8 that I have. I just can't seem to hold it steady enough to get a focus that satisfies me. With that said though, I do like the lens. Hopefully you can find a good working arrangement with this one for you. The image you posted makes me think you can.
Becky

[MurryG]

But when I shoot macros of flowers it seems there is always just enough breeze keeping the tripod from helping me. So what I do (and maybe some form of this might help you ladies?) is manually focus towards the front of the object (in my case flower) and move back and forth (sway with the movement caused by the breeze) and shot a burst of 4-5 shots and I usually get one in focus but not always. I chimp a little and if no go I try again. My percent of getting keepers this way is better than with a tripod even if I do burn more battery and memory card. With a completely stationary object I use a tripod but still focus manually.

[tonebytone]

Thanks, Becky and Murry. Yes, I know to shoot several in a burst - but since this is a new way of working for me, quite often I haven't remembered to do this. For his Lensbaby shots, Craig said he shoots bursts, too. One of them usually is the focus he wants. And he does also suggest doing burst shooting for slightly breezy situations. Maybe my conservative habits are still lagging behind in the world of film, lol.

[Becky]

Flo, LOL at conservative film habits. Mitch would tell you that is one thing I have passed out of. We will go out and I will shoot and shoot and shoot. I may have come home with a 4 to 1 ratio for what he shot. One thing though, I have learned to discard which seems to be a difficulty for many digital shooters.
Becky

[MurryG]

I also agree that (D)iscard is important for (D)igital shooters. I think the reason it is hard to delete those bad shots is I've had a few bad ones work really great when used as part of a composite. But I really lose interest when I go to a web site that has the same basic image repeated over and over becasue someone couldn't choose the best version Oh well, to each his own but I know I don't miss that wet stinky darkroom or paying for film and processing I don't mind shooting too much and having the choice to weed out later. Flo keep us posted about your adventures with this new lens!!

[tonebytone]

Yes, I'll keep you posted about my new toy.

Craig said never toss anything! Because you never know when a so-so image will work to combine with another good one. Well, if Craig wants to pay for back-up external hard drives, on-line storage, etc for me - I'll gladly save everything I shoot - lol.

When my other laptop quit, I had all those image files transferred to the new one - took over 5 hours. And then I noticed that I had well over 10,000 image files! Well, says I, this is ridiculous! So I went through the hard drive and tossed like crazy. Then I went through a 2nd time and backed up what I did want to save but didn't want cluttering my hard drive. Now I'm down to 5600+ and still have problems remembering individual images - whether I have one that'll work with another and so forth. And how the heck am I going to remember the ones I took off, if I can't see them?

I just remembered - when I sat at the kitchen table and shot an image toward the sink - with this Opteka lens attachment, I could include one cabinet to the left of the sink, the two windows over the sink, and the 2 cabinets to the right - plus from floor to ceiling.

But with the 50mm unencumbered lens, I can't even get the 2 windows wholly in the image and there's no top and bottom of the windows, either. So this is quite a wide angle. Yes, the top and bottom of the image are curved slightly - the beginnings of "fish-eye." Instructions say 0.35 - so I guess for a 50mm lens this means around 17mm. But then there's the 1.5 conversion factor with this size sensor. 25mm, in the final analysis.

[tonebytone]

With just the macro lens attached to my 50mm, I shot several closeups. I had to go to manual focus and just move in and out, as the light level was too low for autofocus. Also, I used the pop-up flash at 0.0 EV (both camera and flash).

ISO 800
F/16
1/60 shutter speed

And the big "eye" at the tip of a peacock feather:



This is a fancy feather with separated spines:



Lens was about an inch away from the objects. These images are straight off the card - no post processing.

[tonebytone]

I got wise here - I put the shell on a small upturned clear glass inside a white bowl.

[tonebytone]

Tip of medicine dropper - again in the while bowl:



Tips of a kitchen brush - not in the white bowl.