A Series Of Fortunate Incidents: My Skopar arrived yesterday afternoon, and this morning, I would return to the Houseboat Communities of Sausalito to try it out.
The sun was already up, and there were some scattered clouds that drifted in and out of the sunlight's path. This affected how the shadows would be rendered.
Poof! Purchasing the Skopar had the desired effect. The design of the lens discouraged precise focusing and forced me to depend on the preset clicks at 1, 1.5, and 3 meter distances. For the most part, I left the lens set to 3 meters, and left the aperture to F 8.0. This gave me a theoretical "sharp focus zone" from 4 feet to infinity.
It Worked! For whatever reason, this technique, often called Zone Focusing, worked perfectly with the Skopar. To add jimmies* to the cupcake, using the Focus Peaking function displays the zones of highest contrast (sharpest focus) in red. By just glancing in the EVF, you knew that if the zones of interest were so highlighted, you had some assurances that those areas would be in focus.
Walking quietly in the floating community, I met a kitty and a doggy, and enjoyed some momentary relief from my tinnitus. Nearly a dozen photos made it to the final cut, but I culled several for brevity. I don't often make that many images on a single outing, but the time of day, the varied qualities of the morning light, and the surprising performance of the lens contributed to a wonderful outing on the bay.
Needless to say, the Skopar succeeded in getting me out of the city "rut" and helping me produce some fun images in a relatively short period of time. Happy camper, I am!
*"Jimmies" is a term used widely in Pittsburgh, Boston, and in parts of the Midwest. They are called "sprinkles" everywhere else.
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