davidtltc Wrote:
=======================================================
> Randall, Sharpness is what I am looking for and
> Kevin touched on some of what I was looking at for
> an answer. Everyone's in put is very important and
> appreciated greatly.
That is why I asked the specific question I asked. Different people have different tastes/needs, and you need to know their standards when you evaluate their advice.
In my particular case, we suffered some serious financial losses in the process of our moving from Massachusetts to Indiana this past year, so right now I'm feeling about as poor as our daughter who recently finished grad school and is trying to figure out how to pay off her student debts. So my advice will be tinged by a desire to avoid spending money if possible. I currently have an ancient Canon Rebel, but it does the job, so I won't be replacing it anytime soon, but that is just me; it does mean that I won't be going on any $$$$ charters in the near future.
I bought a Sigma 10mm-20mm lens for my camera because I've had problems taking pictures in museums. When Jerry Day posted some pictures from the recent Chama Steam excursion, he commented that a particular picture was the best he could do because he couldn't back up anymore. I commented that I had bought my wide-angle lens from someone who said "this is for times when you can't back up anymore", his response was that he always buys top-of-the-line Nikon lenses because they are the only ones sharp enough for him. He has his standards, and I have my standards.
My wife is a bird watcher, so we tend to alternate local nature walks and train trips. Because of this, I wanted more telephoto than my 18mm-270mm delivers, so I was able to purchase a slightly-used Kenko 2X tele-converter on eBay. I was warned that I would have to hand-focus using the two together, because not enough light would get to the camera, but I was OK with that because I often have to hand-focus anyway as my camera sometimes focuses on a branch instead of on the bird on an adjacent branch. This is an older tele-converter, and as the EXIF data shows, it doesn't report itself to the camera. Since the camera doesn't know that the tele-converter is there, it doesn't know that it can't focus. A couple of weeks ago, we rode behind #110 at the local Little River Railroad, and I used the tele-converter to take a picture of the Builder's Plate; much to my surprise and delight, the camera focused just fine on it! So far I've taken only two pictures using the tele-converter, the other one being a butterfly where the camera wanted to focus on a weed between me and the butterfly, so I don't know how this combination will work in general, but there is a lesson in here somewhere.
I believe that lesson is listen to all the advice you can get, evaluate it based on their standards, and then act upon it using your standards/needs ... and don't let any of us tell you that you are wrong or stupid ... and keep having a student's approach the rest of your life - keep learning!
