the many faces of nino

first two images taken using super-takumar 135mm f3.5, while the rest are with smc takumar 55mm f1.8 (the fourth image is with the addition of an el-cheapo vivitar 2x teleconverter, hence the bad chromatic abberations). all taken with the lens wide-open. it is interesting to note the differences in characteristics between these 2 lenses.

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not sure about the flower's name. blindly googling for "bunch of white flowers with green tips" didn't yield any positive id. oh well... these were taken last year during the penang floral fest 2008 end of november.

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not in the mood to step out from the house today, but the camera is going to start sporting spider webs soon, so... random photos from simply pointing the lens out from the window; blue background is from a vehicle parked nearby. the early morning sun always cast interesting glows on random things.

from the few times using the super-takumar 200mm f4, i must say that i don't quite like the colors from this lens - they look washed out and lacking contrast (the 2 photos here have been quick-tweaked in Picasa). the lens also has a greater tendency to overexpose badly compared to the other takumars that i have - so much that i have to switch to manual mode because the EV compensation is not even enough. i'm not sure... am i doing something wrong?

wither among greens

a (blurry) red cherry

taken using a combination of smc takumar 55mm f1.8 and vivitar 2x-8 teleconverter. the cheapo vivitar teleconverter (it came with the 55mm takumar) produces loads of chromatic abberations, yet i still regularly use it for close-ups as it's definitely more convenient to use rather than fumbling with various extension tubes; plus it keeps infinity focus too. it essentially turns the 55mm f1.8 into 110mm f3.5 (2-stop reduction) equivalent while keeping the 55mm's 45cm min focus distance.

thinking back, the kit lens - with IS and 25cm min focus distance - will probably produce sharper photos in the same condition; but hey, the takumars are more fun to use...

the other side of daisies