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  #1  
Old 27th February 2014, 08:42 PM
gsingh gsingh is offline
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Default My First photographs

Hello all. I shot my first set of photographs and had them printed. Unfortunately most of them have turned out to be pretty bad so I'm a quite disappointed with the results.

I originally got a Minolta X-300 but it had to be returned because it was faulty. The guy didn't have another X-300 in good condition but he did have a Minolta 7000af. He said it had a manual focus option as well as automatic focus so I just bought that one. It came with a cobra flash and a zoom lens so I was pretty happy with the overall package.

On the actual lens it has several things written on it. It says 35mm to 105mm which I think must be the focal range. Next to that it says 1:35 but I'm not quite sure what this means. Perhaps someone could clarify this. Next to that it says (22) - 4.5 which, if I'm correct is the aperture range. There is also a circle with a line across it and next to it, it says 55mm. Does anyone know what this means?

The main thing I'm disappointed with is the aperture. I reduced it to the lowest number in order to get a really shallow depth of field but it didn't give the expected results. The background was a little blurry but not very much. Could this possibly because of the lens? I was using a 200 iso film by the way.
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Old 27th February 2014, 08:56 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Don't get too disappointed with your first results. The saying "Rome wasn't built in a day" springs to mind. I think you are right about the focal range and the 1:35 might be 1:3.5 which is the max aperture at the 35mm end of the focal range. Not sure about the (22) but the 45 or maybe 4.5 may be the max aperture at the 105 mm end of the range. Most zooms have an aperture range. Only the very expensive zooms can maintain the same aperture throughout the focal range.

I can't help on the circle with a line and 55mm.

Can you post a scan of the lens and the numbers? The issue with too much depth of field may be that your subject even at f3.5 was far enough away for most things to be in focus. At the 35mm end this zoom is wide angle. You might try to shoot a near subject at a longer focal length and see what happens.

It will help us help you if you can scan a couple of the prints you were dissatisfied with and tell us about distance aperture etc for that negative

Mike
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Old 27th February 2014, 09:03 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Circle/line 55mm will be the thread diameter for filters which screw into the front of the lens. It can also be used for a lens hood/shade.
Alex
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Old 27th February 2014, 09:15 PM
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skellum skellum is offline
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Hi gsingh.
How 'blurry' you can make the background depends on 3 things.
Aperture- the wider the better. And yes, 3.5 is the most wide open.
Focal length- the longer the better. So, 105 is the longest setting on your lens and will give the slimmest depth of field.
Closeness of subject- the closer the subject (and closer you focus) the blurrier the background.

So, imagine a head and shoulders portrait. Lens at 105mm, aperture at f3.5, focussed at about 5 feet, the person will be sharp and the background (as long as it isn't right beside the person) will be as fuzzy as possible. Like-
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gXTySI-3vf...0/PA060007.jpg



imagine a landscape- lens at 35mm, aperture F22, focussed at infinity, everything will be sharp. Like-

http://jdmoyer.files.wordpress.com/2...pg?w=500&h=332
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Old 27th February 2014, 10:49 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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It will be worthwhile and instructive for the OP to have a look at www.dofmaster.com Scroll down to 35mm and just put in aperture and distance of object and see what it produces. It will tell you a lot about Dof at various distances and apertures.

Frankly you cannot read too many books on these subjects. The more you read the better will your understanding of the technicalities will become.

Frankly "waste" film by taking pics of the same subject at the same distance at various apertures and then waste more by altering the focal length and do it again. This might appear wasteful and expensive but in the long run this kind of experimentation will pay dividends

Mike
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Old 27th February 2014, 11:49 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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The zoom lens you have has a good range of focal length for general use. I use a 28-105mm very often with my 35mm camera. In order to get the sharp subject/blurred background, however, you are going to need a lens with a big (fast) maximum aperture. I have had exactly the same disappointment as you when trying to do this. The problem, however, is that the bigger the maximum aperture, the more expensive the lens. With SLR cameras from the'60's to the '80's, you normally bought a 50mm standard lens. These usually had apertures of f2, f1.8 or f1.4. They were also quite reasonably priced compared to an 85mm f1.4, or similar. I don't know much about the Minolta cameras, but there may be a 50mm available that would suit your needs. You would need to make sure it was the right fitting for your camera, but a bit of online research should sort that out. I'm personally not a fan of the 50mm standard lens, but it is likely to be the most economical route to the effect you are looking for. They also tend to be of very high quality The other route to shallow depth of field is a medium (or large) format camera, but you're better getting to know your Minolta first. As already mentioned, use as much film as you can to learn. Plan what you want to do, practice and keep notes so that you can repeat your successful images.
Alex
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Old 1st March 2014, 02:52 PM
gsingh gsingh is offline
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I've taken a shot of the front of the lens for you to look at. The aperture has a range from 3.5 to 22 so I thought 3.5 would be a big enough aperture to get that blurry background effect.

I'm going to look at the comments already posted and do a bit more research into the aperture and lens relationship. Although it has been previously mentioned that a 50mm lens would be more appropriate but can't my existing lens "become" a 50mm lens by adjusting the focal length?

**update**

I've been looking around and I found a 50mm lens which has a f/1.7 to f/ 22 aperture range. I do find this type of range a bit odd because I shot test photo's from the lowest aperture to the lowest aperture the difference in depth of field wasn't all that much. The ideal lens for me would be one with a large aperture such as 1.4 or 1.7 to 22 but also one with a good range focal length like 28mm to 200mm. I'm trying to look for one like that.
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  #8  
Old 1st March 2014, 06:37 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Hi. You're zoom is typical of zooms of that focal range. They are good lenses, but tend not to have large maximum apertures. You might find a 35-70mm f2.8 with constant aperture through the range, but it would be expensive and the focal length range is less. Another thing to remember is that big maximum apertures mean big glass. This makes the lenses noticeably heavier. The cheapest option is the 50mm f1.7, but its usefulness depends on what you want to photograph. You're right that your zoom can be set to 50mm, but the aperture at best will be between f3.5 and 4.5. That is a big difference from f1.7. Remember what Skellum said earlier about factors affecting depth of field. These are very important principles that will help you understand what to expect when you set your aperture and choose the focus distance for a shot. With your next film, set your zoom to 35mm and f3.5, then focus on the closest subject you can. If the background is a good bit further away, it should blur. Try this without film. You should be able to see the extent of the effect in the viewfinder.
Alex.
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Old 1st March 2014, 06:58 PM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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Let me ask the original poster a question or two.

Please tell me:

1. With zoom set at 105mm and aperture at F4.5 and subject distance at 6ft what is the depth of field?

2. With zoom set at 105mm and aperture at F4.5 and subject distance at 10ft what is the depth of field?

3. With zoom set at 105mm and aperture at F4.5 and subject distance at 20ft what is the depth of field?

4. With zoom set at 35mm and aperture at F4.5 and subject distance at 6ft what is the depth of field?

5. With zoom set at 35mm and aperture at F4.5 and subject distance at 10ft what is the depth of field?

6. With zoom set at 35mm and aperture at F4.5 and subject distance at 20ft what is the depth of field?

Go research that, there are web sites which do it, I'll even tell you one.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

come back with answers. You might learn something.

AND

how blurry the background is, is alrgely dependant on how far behind the subject it is. It is NOT soley a function of the aperture.
Your lens is perfectly capable of making blurrry backgrounds but only if the operator knows its capabilities and limits how to use them.
All lenses have different capabilities. NO lens will automatically make blurry backgrounds just because you use a wide aperture. The other variables have to be right too.

first attempt at something, you get it wrong and you blame the equipment.

p.s. depth of field calculations use fairly arbitrary and now out of date assumptions about print size and resolution. And just because something is not within the depth of field doesn't mean it will look very blurry. It means it won't conform to the arbitrary assumptions about print size and resolution. It may even look sharp enough for many purposes.

Last edited by Argentum; 1st March 2014 at 07:08 PM.
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  #10  
Old 1st March 2014, 07:27 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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If your camera had a DoF preview lever then play about with this. The lever gives you a rough idea of DoF at whatever depth if field you have set on the camera for the shot.

A 50mm lens is the standard lens that most camera when they were sold new came with. It has a field of view closest to the eye so shots with it roughly equate to what the naked eye sees.

If you want very blurry backgrounds try shooting something at nearly the minimum focusing distance using the 1.7. I guarantee that other than what you were focusing on most if not all the rest will be considerably out of focus.

However at your stage of photography I'd not get fixated on blurry backgrounds. There are a lot of shots where most things should be in focus.

Mike
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