Lenses Wide Open

[dubaiphil]

OK - how about something a little different - let's see some shots taken with lenses wide open. Subject material can be anything, but quoting lens and f-stop should be a given:

I'll kick off:

Nikkor 85mm f1.4D @ f1.4

[Manfred M]

Yes, I like it.

Why would one buy a fast lens and not take advantage of the wide open performance? Tack sharp subject and a background that blurs away, now that's my kind of shot. Well done!

[Shadowman]

Yes, I like it.

Why would one buy a fast lens and not take advantage of the wide open performance? Tack sharp subject and a background that blurs away, now that's my kind of shot. Well done!

For me, buying a fast lens means I sometimes have to use it, especially for handheld night scenes. During daylight sometimes my standard lens, minimum aperture 5.6, I can't get the look I want; blurred or non-distracting background. I'm still working on using aperture wide open for portraits.

[Shadowman]

Phil,

Nice capture, hope to be able to add examples.

[dubaiphil]

For me, buying a fast lens means I sometimes have to use it, especially for handheld night scenes. During daylight sometimes my standard lens, minimum aperture 5.6, I can't get the look I want; blurred or non-distracting background. I'm still working on using aperture wide open for portraits.

I've been looking through and more often than not I'll stop down by 1/3rd to 1 stop from wide open - still, I have a few where I either needed max speed or wanted the effect to the max. Shots in this thread shouldn't be limited to shorter focal length primes though - anything wide open on a zoom or telephoto is fair game.

[dubaiphil]

Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8G @ 40mm and f2.8

[dubaiphil]

Pushing a relatively slow focusing prime to the max with two 'double taps' in quick succession - Nikkor 85mm f1.4D @ f1.4 sequence

[Inkanyezi]

I did a quick and dirty job with my Fujinon 55 mm f/1.8 wide open, where I tried to focus on the upper surface of two hard drives laid out on the table, while the sides of the hard drives and their lower part that rests on the surface are out of focus. Taken with Olympus OM-D E-M5 (µ4/3) and Fujinon 55/1.8 tilted 5 ° forward.

[William W]

#528271
"The Lamp Post Will Not Divide Us"
EOS 5D; EF135 F/2L USM
F/2 @ 1/100s @ ISO3200(H); Hand Held; Av Priority; Evaluative Metering; +1 E.C.
Image © AJ Group P/L (Aust)

[Shadowman]

I did a quick and dirty job with my Fujinon 55 mm f/1.8 wide open, where I tried to focus on the upper surface of two hard drives laid out on the table, while the sides of the hard drives and their lower part that rests on the surface are out of focus. Taken with Olympus OM-D E-M5 (µ4/3) and Fujinon 55/1.8 tilted 5 ° forward.

Nice.

[Shadowman]

#528271
"The Lamp Post Will Not Divide Us"
EOS 5D; EF135 F/2L USM
F/2 @ 1/100s @ ISO3200(H); Hand Held; Av Priority; Evaluative Metering; +1 E.C.
Image © AJ Group P/L (Aust)

Very nice.

[William W]

Thank you.

[Mike Buckley]

I couldn't use the shutter speed to convey a sense of speed because I was photographing a sculpture. So, purely on a whim and not knowing how well it would work, I used my largest aperture and framed the subject to imply that I should have been in fear of imminent death.

85mm lens on a camera with a 1.5 crop factor - f/1.8



"Airplane" by Roy Lichtenstein

[Thlayle]

Canon T2i with 'plastic fantastic', 50mm, f/1.8 at 1/4000 sec, ISO 1600

I stepped into the stall for this shot & didn't prep my settings and just shot quickly.

[tao2]

Yashica M5 + Yashinon f 2.8/45mm. + Ilford FP4 Plus




Sony A700 + Helios 44 (silver version) f2/58mm.




Sony A700 + Helios 44M-4 f2/58mm.






Hi Urban,

You show me your Fujinons and ah'll show ye mine...

[inkista]

5DMkII + adapted Oly Zuiko MC Auto-S 50mm f/1.2. Handheld (1/60s).

[ajohnw]

Shhhhhhhhhhh please. People tend to buy THAT make on older lenses. If not careful you will force the prices of the really good ones up.

John
-

[Inkanyezi]

Hi Urban,

You show me your Fujinons and ah'll show ye mine...

Sorry to say, the 55/1.8 is the only one I have. I haven't found any more of them around here, but I guess most of them are very good lenses. I would like to have a 24 mm, but so far I have been out of luck on that one. Once there was one for sale here, but I didn't have the money, so somebody else was more lucky.

[vaez]

nice capture and well done

[rpcrowe]

Jack the puppy...
Hand Held 70-200mm f/4L IS lens on Canon 7D... Focal length 200mm (320mm equivalent)... 1/60 second @ f/4... Bounced 420EX flash modified by Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro...

IMO, this lens can be shot wide open at maximum focal length with no loss of image quality... That ability along with the excellent IS capability goes a long way in making up for the relatively slow f/4 maximum aperture. The lens weighs and costs about half as much as the one stop wider 70-200mm f/2.8L IS ii lens...

It is my favorite dog and people portrait lens and one of my favorite all time lenses for general purpose shooting!