Orchid flower head

[dunksargent]

Orchid flower head… ambient light backlit on kitchen window sill. Ancient Minolta RF 500mm f8 reflex (mirror) lens fitted with 76mm extension tubes … subject distance 3.2m … Sony A7SII ISO 3200 effective f11 (half life size) 1/640sec. The sides of the image frame are cropped - but actual flower is 'as photograohed' i.e. top and bottom of frame not cropped. Experiment to ascertain viability of using manual focus reflex mirror lens with extension tubes 'in the field' for photographing insects at relatively long distance. Higher magnifications are possible using additional extension tubes or bellows. The Minolta lens has a very short built-in lens hood which is inefficient … thus added a DIY push-on hood made from a 12cm tall plastic flower pot lined with matt black self adhesive velour. The Minolta RF 500/8 reflex lens dates from 1977 and is one of the better mirror lens designs … Minolta having previously (1973) designed and manufactured 800mm and 1600mm reflex optics. The RF 500mm evolved into the Minolta 500mm f8 AF which is still in production as the Sony AF 500/8 mirror lens. In 1979 the Minolta RF 500/8 lens was 'badge engineered' into the Leitz (Leica) MR-Telyt-R 500/8 for use on the Leica R3 SLR camera … which itself was a modified modified Minolta XE-1 SLR. At that time Leica and Minolta were in partnership … Leica trying to compete in the SLR market against e.g. Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Topcon (amongst others)





This experiment will be continued 'in the field'

Best wishes

dunk in Peterborough UK

[Olympusman]

Very nice. Our orchids are in full bloom, so I have to put everything aside to shoot them.

Mike