Suggestions for photo ideas?

So, I've got this lens- a 1200mm Canon. It's a pretty piece of glass, but I
haven't come up with any ideas of what to use it for.

So far, I've got two nice shots: one is a beautiful picture of the moon
(nearly full) where the moon fills a major portion of the 35mm frame. The
other is a picture of a courthouse clock tower taken from 1/2 mile away. I
wasn't able to get the entire tower in frame, only the clock and part of the
cupola. I thought of shooting a sunset, but (a) the sun fills the width of
the frame and (b) I thought that might be dangerous, either to my sight or
the camera's shutter.

Sports pics are out, as the the lens must be tripod mounted (it's 3.5 feet
long), so following the action would be difficultt at best.

Basically, you cannot clearly see with the naked eye what the lens will see-
it's a 24 power magnification. The setup time and effort requires that a
stationary subject and some pre-planning.

I'm in a rural area; the nearest building over three stories tall is over
sixty miles away, so cityscapes are out. I'm also not a heights-friendly
person, so getting permission to climb a water tower, while possible, is a
none starter! I'm not an astronomy person, but I wouldn't mind learning if
someone could point me in the right direction.

Any suggestions for that award-winning shot?
(If you're in the Indiana area, are shooting with an FL or FD lens mount
Canon, and you want to borrow this lens, let me know- I've got two of them!)

K W Hart wrote:
So, I've got this lens- a 1200mm Canon. It's a pretty piece of glass, but I
haven't come up with any ideas of what to use it for.

So far, I've got two nice shots: one is a beautiful picture of the moon
(nearly full) where the moon fills a major portion of the 35mm frame. The
other is a picture of a courthouse clock tower taken from 1/2 mile away. I
wasn't able to get the entire tower in frame, only the clock and part of the
cupola. I thought of shooting a sunset, but (a) the sun fills the width of
the frame and (b) I thought that might be dangerous, either to my sight or
the camera's shutter.

Sports pics are out, as the the lens must be tripod mounted (it's 3.5 feet
long), so following the action would be difficultt at best.

Basically, you cannot clearly see with the naked eye what the lens will see-
it's a 24 power magnification. The setup time and effort requires that a
stationary subject and some pre-planning.

I'm in a rural area; the nearest building over three stories tall is over
sixty miles away, so cityscapes are out. I'm also not a heights-friendly
person, so getting permission to climb a water tower, while possible, is a
none starter! I'm not an astronomy person, but I wouldn't mind learning if
someone could point me in the right direction.

Any suggestions for that award-winning shot?
(If you're in the Indiana area, are shooting with an FL or FD lens mount
Canon, and you want to borrow this lens, let me know- I've got two of them!)


Wow! If I lived closer to you I'd borrow one of those lenses to use on my
Canon FD system, and use it for bird photography.
BTW: What's the max lens opening? Minimum focus distance?

Dick in Minnesota

"dickr2" wrote in message
...
K W Hart wrote:
So, I've got this lens- a 1200mm Canon. It's a pretty piece of glass, but
I haven't come up with any ideas of what to use it for.

So far, I've got two nice shots: one is a beautiful picture of the moon
(nearly full) where the moon fills a major portion of the 35mm frame. The
other is a picture of a courthouse clock tower taken from 1/2 mile away.
I wasn't able to get the entire tower in frame, only the clock and part
of the cupola. I thought of shooting a sunset, but (a) the sun fills the
width of the frame and (b) I thought that might be dangerous, either to
my sight or the camera's shutter.

Sports pics are out, as the the lens must be tripod mounted (it's 3.5
feet long), so following the action would be difficultt at best.

Basically, you cannot clearly see with the naked eye what the lens will
see- it's a 24 power magnification. The setup time and effort requires
that a stationary subject and some pre-planning.

I'm in a rural area; the nearest building over three stories tall is over
sixty miles away, so cityscapes are out. I'm also not a heights-friendly
person, so getting permission to climb a water tower, while possible, is
a none starter! I'm not an astronomy person, but I wouldn't mind learning
if someone could point me in the right direction.

Any suggestions for that award-winning shot?
(If you're in the Indiana area, are shooting with an FL or FD lens mount
Canon, and you want to borrow this lens, let me know- I've got two of
them!)
Wow! If I lived closer to you I'd borrow one of those lenses to use on my
Canon FD system, and use it for bird photography.
BTW: What's the max lens opening? Minimum focus distance?

Dick in Minnesota

f/11, 135 feet. Focus scale is marked out to 1000 feet. Focus travel is
about two inches, sufficient to throw the lens off-balance on the tripod.
I assume that for birding, you would focus on a nest and wait for some
action to take place there. Obviously, you couldn't follow a bird in flight.
Is there a time of year when birds are in their nest a lot? I'm guessing
spring.(Excuse my stupidity re birds!)

"K W Hart" wrote in message
...

"dickr2" wrote in message
...
K W Hart wrote:
So, I've got this lens- a 1200mm Canon. It's a pretty piece of glass,
but I haven't come up with any ideas of what to use it for.

So far, I've got two nice shots: one is a beautiful picture of the moon
(nearly full) where the moon fills a major portion of the 35mm frame.
The other is a picture of a courthouse clock tower taken from 1/2 mile
away. I wasn't able to get the entire tower in frame, only the clock and
part of the cupola. I thought of shooting a sunset, but (a) the sun
fills the width of the frame and (b) I thought that might be dangerous,
either to my sight or the camera's shutter.

Sports pics are out, as the the lens must be tripod mounted (it's 3.5
feet long), so following the action would be difficultt at best.

Basically, you cannot clearly see with the naked eye what the lens will
see- it's a 24 power magnification. The setup time and effort requires
that a stationary subject and some pre-planning.

I'm in a rural area; the nearest building over three stories tall is
over sixty miles away, so cityscapes are out. I'm also not a
heights-friendly person, so getting permission to climb a water tower,
while possible, is a none starter! I'm not an astronomy person, but I
wouldn't mind learning if someone could point me in the right direction.

Any suggestions for that award-winning shot?
(If you're in the Indiana area, are shooting with an FL or FD lens mount
Canon, and you want to borrow this lens, let me know- I've got two of
them!)
Wow! If I lived closer to you I'd borrow one of those lenses to use on my
Canon FD system, and use it for bird photography.
BTW: What's the max lens opening? Minimum focus distance?

Dick in Minnesota

f/11, 135 feet. Focus scale is marked out to 1000 feet. Focus travel is
about two inches, sufficient to throw the lens off-balance on the tripod.
I assume that for birding, you would focus on a nest and wait for some
action to take place there. Obviously, you couldn't follow a bird in
flight. Is there a time of year when birds are in their nest a lot? I'm
guessing spring.(Excuse my stupidity re birds!)
Spring is the best time for nesting activity. But, you can also catch them
by watching them a while. Find a place where you can set up out of sight or
not too obtrusively - with that lens, you should have room. A bird will
frequently return to a favorite perch. Find one of those spots where they
return to and focus on that and wait. Early morning and late afternoon are
the best times for bird activity.

Tim Conway wrote:

snip
I assume that for birding, you would focus on a nest and wait for some
action to take place there. Obviously, you couldn't follow a bird in
flight. Is there a time of year when birds are in their nest a lot?
I'm guessing spring.(Excuse my stupidity re birds!)

Spring is the best time for nesting activity. But, you can also catch
them by watching them a while. Find a place where you can set up out of
sight or not too obtrusively - with that lens, you should have room. A
bird will frequently return to a favorite perch. Find one of those
spots where they return to and focus on that and wait. Early morning
and late afternoon are the best times for bird activity.

That's what I was thinking. To focus on an Eagle or Osprey nest might be
ideal.

On Sat, 18 Sep 2010 21:30:13 -0400, "K W Hart" wrote:
: So, I've got this lens- a 1200mm Canon. It's a pretty piece of glass, but I
: haven't come up with any ideas of what to use it for.
:
: So far, I've got two nice shots: one is a beautiful picture of the moon
: (nearly full) where the moon fills a major portion of the 35mm frame. The
: other is a picture of a courthouse clock tower taken from 1/2 mile away. I
: wasn't able to get the entire tower in frame, only the clock and part of the
: cupola. I thought of shooting a sunset, but (a) the sun fills the width of
: the frame and (b) I thought that might be dangerous, either to my sight or
: the camera's shutter.
:
: Sports pics are out, as the the lens must be tripod mounted (it's 3.5 feet
: long), so following the action would be difficultt at best.
:
: Basically, you cannot clearly see with the naked eye what the lens will see-
: it's a 24 power magnification. The setup time and effort requires that a
: stationary subject and some pre-planning.
:
: I'm in a rural area; the nearest building over three stories tall is over
: sixty miles away, so cityscapes are out. I'm also not a heights-friendly
: person, so getting permission to climb a water tower, while possible, is a
: none starter! I'm not an astronomy person, but I wouldn't mind learning if
: someone could point me in the right direction.
:
: Any suggestions for that award-winning shot?
: (If you're in the Indiana area, are shooting with an FL or FD lens mount
: Canon, and you want to borrow this lens, let me know- I've got two of them!)

Haul it to the zoo and see if you can get a picture of a white elephant. The
lens may even turn out to be the elephant's brother. (I'm assuming, without
any actual evidence, that the term "white elephant" has the same meaning in
the rest of the English-speaking world as it does in the U.S.)

There must be an interesting backstory regarding how and why you managed to
acquire two(!) of those beasts. My best guess is that you're a bankruptcy
liquidator. ;^)

Bob

"Robert Coe" wrote in message
...
snip
Haul it to the zoo and see if you can get a picture of a white elephant.
The
lens may even turn out to be the elephant's brother. (I'm assuming,
without
any actual evidence, that the term "white elephant" has the same meaning
in
the rest of the English-speaking world as it does in the U.S.)

There must be an interesting backstory regarding how and why you managed
to
acquire two(!) of those beasts. My best guess is that you're a bankruptcy
liquidator. ;^)

Bob

Actually, I collect the Canon FX camera and Canon-brand lenses for it.
Currently my collection has over 350 Canon FX (and co-branded
Bell&Howel/Canon FX) bodies, and over 500 Canon FL-mount lenses. Over half
of the lenses of course are the f/1.8 50mm 'normal' lens. I have examples of
every lens in the origianl lineup except the 300mm Flourite.

The 1200mm lens is part of a system of four: 400mm, 600mm, 800mm, and
1200mm. The system consists of a focusing unit with aperature and a 'head
end' that determines the focal length. The system was sold separately: you
bought the focusing unit and the head end you wanted. It's fairly rare to
have the entire system now, 40+ years later.

I'm guessing that 'white elephant' status will kick in for my heirs! (Except
for my nephew who is a very talented photographer- but he'll have to learn
how film works!)

K W Hart wrote:
So, I've got this lens- a 1200mm Canon. It's a pretty piece of glass, but I
haven't come up with any ideas of what to use it for.

So far, I've got two nice shots: one is a beautiful picture of the moon
(nearly full) where the moon fills a major portion of the 35mm frame. The
other is a picture of a courthouse clock tower taken from 1/2 mile away. I
wasn't able to get the entire tower in frame, only the clock and part of the
cupola. I thought of shooting a sunset, but (a) the sun fills the width of
the frame and (b) I thought that might be dangerous, either to my sight or
the camera's shutter.

Sports pics are out, as the the lens must be tripod mounted (it's 3.5 feet
long), so following the action would be difficultt at best.

Basically, you cannot clearly see with the naked eye what the lens will see-
it's a 24 power magnification. The setup time and effort requires that a
stationary subject and some pre-planning.

I'm in a rural area; the nearest building over three stories tall is over
sixty miles away, so cityscapes are out. I'm also not a heights-friendly
person, so getting permission to climb a water tower, while possible, is a
none starter! I'm not an astronomy person, but I wouldn't mind learning if
someone could point me in the right direction.

Any suggestions for that award-winning shot?
(If you're in the Indiana area, are shooting with an FL or FD lens mount
Canon, and you want to borrow this lens, let me know- I've got two of them!)

Have you got any lakes or rivers to look across & spot wildlife or wind
surfers, etc... looking down a beach is an interesting perspective, or
fishermen stacked up along a stream.

What kind of tripod are you using? A gimbal head is ideal but I use a
500mm f/4.5 with teleconverters on a big old manfrotto with a massive
pan/tilt video head that has big rubber grips for tightening so it can
be adjusted for reasonable dampened panning to follow hang gliders, for
example... original owner shot surfers in LA.

Silhouetted hills and overlapping tree lines way off in the distance
look cool at these focal lengths if you have any sort of hills or even
river bluffs. The haze can be good or bad, wind & heat waves are bad so
early morning is the best bet.

On Sat, 18 Sep 2010 21:30:13 -0400, "K W Hart" wrote:

|
|Any suggestions for that award-winning shot?
|(If you're in the Indiana area, are shooting with an FL or FD lens mount
|Canon, and you want to borrow this lens, let me know- I've got two of them!)

Maybe get into human rights, political, and focus secret meetings,
human rights rallies with all bullying, and beat all the Paparazi nuts for
interest shots.

Photographing unlawful gatherings and incidents, can get you too
rich! I'd do that if I had a 1200mm lens that can beat the eye-in-the-sky.

I get pretty close with 2x converter maximum of 600mm.

Bob

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