Cheapos: Good Bad Ugly

[ROCKMORE]

What you can really expect in the hundred dollar +- range

Starting with the Bower 500mm f8 @ 75 feet 50th sec. f22 Cinestyle 0,-4,-2, 0 1080p, Graded +49 contrast.
All posts welcome.

Vote/

Good
Bad
Ugly: my vote

 

[stefanhuberfilms]

where is the focus supposed to be? looks really soft and unsharp to me... my vote: ugly

 

[ROCKMORE]

Yes, it is as focused as possible on the bottles in one shot and the grass in the other at f8 then then stopped down to f22 shot on a heavy tripod . Unfortunately it's the best this $100 lens has to offer. "Ugly"

 

[GrahamH]

Dude, my 500mm f8 Five Star ($19 plus shipping from KEH) is much sharper than that at both apertures. So definitely "ugly"!

 

[Donald Ong]

Nice thread.

I would give the 500mm a bad, considering the price and focal length. Also, its a mirror lens, is it not?

 

[David G. Smith]

I would go with "Bad".... I would like to see what a face looks like with the lens before giving an "Ugly" vote or not. Ya wanna see ugly?... I got a 200mm Nikkor "Q" lens for $35.... and it is pretty ugly.

 

[stefanhuberfilms]

Ya wanna see ugly?

i wanna see ugly!

 

[David G. Smith]

i wanna see ugly!

Ha, ha, ha!!! I will dig that lens out and see if I can get some pics to post.

 

[ROCKMORE]

Dude, my 500mm f8 Five Star is much sharper than that at both apertures.

A challenge. OK buddy, show us what you got.

Here are a few test shots I did last month when I dug the Bower out of the closet after 10 years in storage.

Vote "ugly"

 

[GrahamH]

@Rockmore - I went our to the backyard with my 4 bottles today, and interestingly I didn't do any better than your original two frames. The problem being not so much the lens as the noticeable atmospheric shimmer from the hot air rising (I could see the pixels jumping from frame to frame).

I'm not sure what conditions you were shooting under, but it's about 88F here in Tennessee today - I will try again in the morning when it's cooler!

Edit: by the way I'm shooting with a GH2, so I guess I'm needing a 50% greater shooting distance to get the same FoV.

 

[stefanhuberfilms]

@rockmore.. the new shot looks actually a lot better... but this is a still, is it?

 

[ROCKMORE]

@rockmore.. the new shot looks actually a lot better... but this is a still, is it?

Yes, that was a high rez still, the bottle and grass shot was a frame grab from 1080p 25fps

 

[ROCKMORE]

I'm not sure what conditions you were shooting under, but it's about 88F here in Tennessee today -

Yeah, I shot that at high noon on the equator, about 87 with high humidity. In the playback I noticed heat waves. I also think the lens stopped to f22/32 may suffer from diffraction as well. Also this is focused near the minimum focus distance which may not be as good as infinity.
I don't remember this lens looking so crappy when I bought it 15 years ago, and then I was shooting film stills with it. Maybe there is still hope for this cheapo.

BTW my beer bottles are close to quart size.

 

[thehadgi]

I just bought some nikkor primes from the 80's for like 30 bucks each... will have to update here when they come in

 

[GrahamH]

Here's a shot taken this morning while the air was still cool: 1920x1080 frame grab from my GH2 (1/50th, f/11, ISO400). Definitely sharper than when I tried in the midday sun, so my guess is heat haze affected the OPs original images also.

I'm not sure if this site resizes images, so here is a link to the original if needed: http://wildlifehealth.tennessee.edu/video/bottles_1080.jpg



Edit: yep, DVXUser has resized my original down to this 1000x563 version....

 

[ROCKMORE]

I shot this moon test last night. The exposures are from f32 to f8 on a tripod at 250 sec. so I wouldn't get any shake from the mirror. The moon is exactly the size it appeared on my aps-c sensor. Still not so good, your bottle shots look much better.

 

[ROCKMORE]

I shot these over again this morning. The temp in in the mid 70s and the sun is not direct on the objects yet. I shot still frames because I'm only interested in the lens performance.

Shot in Neutral -4,-2,-2,0 with some contrast added in photoshop. 250th sec and all these are at about f11.
Camera was about 35 feet away then I moved into the minimum for the closer shots at about 20 feet.

Who would have thought I'd need a 2 stop or 4 stop ND to shoot at a 50th sec in video to make an f8 lens usable in full sunlight. I guess I can shoot some field test next.

Not perfect, but definitely moved out of the "ugly" category.

 

[ROCKMORE]

Here are center crops on the 2 shots at minimum focus distance.

 

[stefanhuberfilms]

so you changed my opinion tooooo.... wait.... usable, if i may come up with a new category lol? would you suggest it for shooting in winter then?

 

[Victor Nhat Nguyen]

when would you guys need a 500 f8 lens? btw, have you do a bokeh test? I heard this lens have very nasty Donut bokeh.