Nature (or the 50mm vintage lens in action)

After a hard day's work last week (and a brief pause from the rainy weather), I was finally able to go to Østensjøvannet in the eastern suberbs of Oslo to finally test my new (old) vintage Pentax-A 50mm macro lens. I was wondering how quick I would be able to focus and take photographs with this lens, as it has been quite a while since I last used a MF lens (thank goodness this is still an A lens, meaning the camera can still control the aperture automatically).

Østensjøvannet is a bird sanctuary, and during the summer this place is teeming with fauna from all corners of the world, migrating towards Europe when the Southern Hemisphere goes into its winter period. They stay here all throughout the summer and leave again when the temperatures begin to drop late in the fall months. Quite a spectacular place actually, if you don't mind stepping on bird droppings wherever you go. Or worse, being chased by an angry Canadian Goose!

Done properly the lens can take very good scene photos, but in a place like these a wider angle would have been more appropriate. But still I was able to take this nice shot of two big birds (I don't know what kind they are, help!) watching a flock of opportunistic seagulls fly by.

Not a bad shot! As usual I shot in RAW and post processed to make the birds stand out a bit. The image was actually slightly overexposed. And very green! Knowing myself I would have turned this picture to black and white in the bat of an eyelash (I don't really like very green scenes too much, just my personal dis-preference). But there is so much life in this photograph, so much action, that going black and white would simply be injustice to these nice creatures basking in the bleak sunshine and enjoying the water. I could have opted to step up the shutter speed a little bit more, and freeze the seagulls entirely, making a "cleaner" photograph. I like motion blur, A LOT, but in this photograph it would have been much better without, but that is just my two cents.

But this is where the lens REALLY shines. It's a macro lens, and it takes amazing macro shots! Had I know that these vintage lenses were this good, I would have spent a bit more money and bought the same version with a larger focal length, like a 100mm or 200mm. Then I would be able to take pictures of bugs. The motive is really sharp, and since I shot at f2.8 I was able to blur the background enough to give a nice effect. Thankfully the lens also has good bokeh. This lens is so sharp, you can even see the fine fine silky spider threads dangling on the flowers. I should take more photographs like these!

Now I know I made a good investment in buying this lens. Now if only the skies would cooperate and give me nice beautiful sunny weather so I can spend more time outdoors taking pictures!