Flower Friday

Nikon D90, 55mm micro lens, f/16 (best recollection), 1/100s, ISO 200. 

Have I mentioned that this is an old lens? It's more than 30 years old. It doesn't auto focus (no matter the camera) and the light meter in my camera also won't work with it. That means that I have to make a guess when taking my first picture. After that first guess, I can then look at the picture on the back of my camera and refine the settings to make the correct exposure. However, the Sunny f/16 rule helps me get very close on my first shot.

Why would I do this, you ask? Why would I want a lens that doesn't even utilize all the fancy-pants capabilities of my expensive camera? Because it's a macro lens, I say. That means that I can get very close to something and still have it in focus. This particular lens happens to project an image into my camera that is the same size as the object being projected. That means that an M&M shot close up with this lens would be recorded at life size--which is great when I get it on the computer because now I can print it far larger than life size with perfect resolution. I could print this image as a 24"x36" poster and have it looking very good. With a non-macro lens, I would have to crop to bring my flowers up so close, and that means that I would lose resolution and enlargement size. 

I got this manual lens because it's a few hundred dollar less expensive than the alternatives. Plus, it's a great exercise in understanding what happens to make a good exposure...