Some impressions of the Zeiss Touit 32/1.8

Morning in De Rijp 1
(Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 1.8/32, f4, 1/750s, 32mm, ISO 100)
also on flickr

Just got my first serious lens for the a6000 the other day: the Zeiss Touit 32mm F1.8 (or 1.8/32 as Zeiss calls it).  A fast prime? Well according to Lightroom Analytics, I shoot a majority of my better pictures around 35mm anyway. I got lucky and found a completely new copy on Markplaats (Dutch eBay) for the price of second hand one. That, for me anyway, fixes one of the biggest cons many reviewers agree upon (here, here and here): the price level.

Unsurprisingly, I couldn't resist taking it out the moment I had my greedy little hands on it. So I went to the picturesque town of De Rijp, not too far from where I reside. Here are some of my first impressions.

TL;DR The lens is well built and balanced, superb image quality, acceptable autofocus (hurry up with that firmware update Zeiss), slightly softer wide open, but razer sharp otherwise; shoot at f2.4+. Also: lovely unboxing experience ;-)

200mm macro thing

Itsy Bitsy
(Sony a6000, Auto Chinon 200mm + extension tubes, f8, 1/500s, 200mm, ISO 1600)
also on flickr

200mm is not necessarily the most obvious choice of focal length for macro photography. Why is that? You can probably google the anwser, but isn't it more fun to try?! In theory it sounds really nice to have a macro lens with a long focal length as it allows you to have some distance between you and your subject. Especially useful with bugs and the sorts.

So why does one see so little macro lenses with a focal length larger than about 100mm? It turns out, there's a very good reason for that. Even if the spider picture above is pretty nice.

Lazy

Lazy Cat
(Sony a6000, E 55-210, f8, 1/250s, 135mm, ISO 1600)

It has been awhile since I've last blogged here. Between studies, work and life, I haven't made the time to write more here. So it's time to pick up the camera once more (with feeling)!

Noticing that I left the old Pentax K5 at home more than I figured I would, I got myself new equipment. My current weapon of choice is the new Sony a6000. That's right: mirrorless, I have gone. Smaller with at least the same punch and plenty of options with manual focus glass. Also: PC and smartphone tethered shooting.

Today I tried it out for the first time. I'll write my initial impressions down at the end of the week, but for now there are two more pictures after the break.

The Moon again... stacked!

Moon - 2013-08-18
(Pentax K-5, MC MTO-11CA 1000mm f10, 10 shots stacked with Registax )

My first attempt at getting some extra detail into my shot of the moon by stacking multiple images using Registax. I'd say it went pretty well!

How well you ask?

Our sun

Sun - 2013-08-21
(Pentax K-5, MC MTO-11CA, 1/1600s, 1000mm, ISO 800)

Sun - 2013-08-21 (Close Up)
(Pentax K-5, MC MTO-11CA, 1/1600s, 1000mm, ISO 800)

Just a quicky: here's my first proper solar image using Baader's AstroSolar to make a solar filter for the MTO.

Note the sunspots. It works rather neatly, eh?

In case you are wondering: I used the orange contrast filter as a housing for the filter film. Look at the setup below.

Gratuitous moon shots

Just playing with the MTO-11CA. Here my initial impressions and two moon shots I took over the last days.

My first impressions are that it's sharp for a mirror lens! It is enormous.. both physical and in reach. Focus ring is rather tight, but that's great for precise focusing. It also helps keeping the focus where it is.

Also, I'm gonna need a better tripod...

Moon - 2013-08-18
(Pentax K-5, MC MTO-11CA, 1/1600s, 1000mm, ISO 1600)

Moon - 2013-08-20
(Pentax K-5, MC MTO-11CA, 1/400s, 1000mm, ISO 400)

A Russentonne!

It took a little bit of searching, but now I finally have my "Russentonne". The MTO-11CA. A Maksutov-Cassegrain mirror lens with a focal length of 1000mm!

If you look at the pictures of the lens by itself, it doesn't look that big. It has the normal proportions of a barrel.

Until you realize that it takes 116 mm (that's 4 inches for you imperial boys and girls) filters...

It. is. big!