I promised to get the camera out so....

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:10 am

heres some results
I have a cone from a Douglas Fir(my daughter likes these things) and it has some intresting shapes and forms.

First a couple of my succulens up close. I couldnt find my tripod but luckily the sun was out. Even so I'm hand holding 1/15 sec to get some DOF-luckily also my cam has image stabiliser that works!

Panasonic FZ7 with +4 close up lens

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:12 am

and here is that fir cone.
First shot using the built in flash for extra oomph. Surprising how well that flash works actually as its up on the penta prism and is very close to the subject-would never normally dream of using such a set up with the canon film camera but it works here!

Lens also zoomed in some.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:58 pm

Nice to see you back Larry. Was wondering what happened to you. Nice shots here. I see your finally jumping into Digital. IS is great for the 12x zoom and macro.

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:50 pm

Thanks Doug. Unfortunately the minimum aperture is f8 so i don't have a lot of DOF. Also i can't use this cam with my scope,the entry pupil,i.e. the lens,is too big. All i get is a tunnel with a bright spot in the centre.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:00 pm

It sounds a lot like my Canon Powershot S1 IS. It only had F/8 and was not very good on my scope also. According to a post not to long ago, The gang was discussing how the F/8 on these smaller sensored cameras translates to a F/20 or so on a larger format camera. So don`t give up on the F/8. I took some good shots at F/8 (at least in IMO

)

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:20 pm

Oh thats encouraging Doug. All i need now is a 52-49mm adaptor so i can use the macro adaptor off of my Vivitar macro lens for better quality(you'll notice a fair bit of chromatic aberration in these shots because the close up lens I'm currently using is pushing it a bit)

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:25 pm

Fun images. I like Douglas Fir cones -- those three-pronged bracts are distinctive.

About the flash, I'm thinking that it's working so well precisely because it is so close to the subject. It'll act like a bigger light source that way, casting softer shadows.

About the f/stop...

The DMC-FZ7 has a tiny sensor -- only 5.76 mm x 4.29 mm according to dpreview -- so f/8 on it is like f/45 on 35 mm film (8*(24/4.29)=44.8 ).

If the aperture were any smaller, the images would get fuzzy from diffraction -- you wouldn't like it!

That's why the manufacturers make 'em the way they do.

So, that camera will give you about as much DOF as any camera will. What it won't give you is as little DOF. You won't be able to get nearly so nice fuzzy backgrounds as with your 35mm EOS.

BTW, strictly speaking you've exceeded the 3 images-per-day limit in this one post. I know, they're tiny and they're on another server, but it's a lot simpler if we just enforce the posting guidelines as written. In the future please combine smaller images as suggested, so as to stay at 3 or less per forum per day.

--Rik

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:51 am

Oh sorry Rik,I thought it was 4 images for some season:$

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:44 am

What is the cactus? Not much to see, but from the thinness of the ribs it looks like a Stenocactus (Echinofossulocactus) rather than a Ferocactus?

DaveW

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:12 am

Hi Dave,its Ferocactus hystrix,as confirmed by the folks on the BCSS site.

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:29 am

Interesting, as from the thin ribs in the picture it is hard to tell the scale. However looking it up I can see it now:-

http://www.f-lohmueller.de/cactus/Ferocactus/gf_fc1.htm

DaveW

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:38 am

Its languishing in the living room now as the new greenhouse got trashed(again,lightning does strike twice!) and i decided i liked this one and would like to see it mature.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:30 am

Cyclops wrote:Oh sorry Rik,I thought it was 4 images for some reason

You're probably thinking of Favorite Locations. It allows 4, but it's the only one; all the others are limit 3.

Hey, I'm curious about the Douglas Fir. It just sank into my head that you're in England, but Pseudotsuga menziesii is native to my area (North America, Pacific Northwest). You folks import these things for "exotic" plantings?

--Rik

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:56 am

Larry - Good to see you posting again

.

Rik - One of my favourite cones too - for the same reason - those cute little 3 pronged bracts. As to the origin of the name Douglas-fir, well I read about it a few years ago when I first tried to identify a Douglas-fir cone. The name Douglas-fir was given in recognition of a 19thC Scottish botanist named David Douglas (he introduced the tree into Europe).

Douglas-fir is fairly common in many of the country parks and woodlands that I go dog walking in (Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire and Northamptonshire) and is possibly quite widespread in the UK.

Bruce

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:39 am

Hi Rik, yes we have many fine Redwoods and Wellingtonias in the town. See my tree blog for a pic of a large one
http://darlotrees.blogspot.com/