|
John Hill
|
 |
« on: June 18, 2006, 02:39:49 PM » |
|
 We have all read the stories about the KGB and the various Eastern Bloc secret police forces using this camera but I am more interested in wildlife photography. Does anyone have any experience of such things and are they a great advantage over hand held? OK, not as steady as a tripod but do they really provide useful stability? I am considering making a wooden stock to mount my K1000 or *istDS with 500mm F8 mirror lens and maybe a 2X teleconverter depending on experience. Thanks for any comments. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
If you are not having fun you are not doing it right!
|
|
|
|
mdcarma
|
|
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2006, 02:53:28 PM » |
|
Spy use was just a rumor. The camera was actually built for birders. Nowhere near covert. The gear heads at the car show last year loved it, and it is a hoot to shoot. Main limits seem to be the shutter speeds, or the lack thereof, of the Zenit ES (S has an additional bottom shutter release to sync with the gun stock), 1/500, 250, 125, 60, 30, B. The focus for the Tair is the big knob on the forestock, very natural feel. http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=510345 |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
John Hill
|
|
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2006, 03:00:21 PM » |
|
Thanks, I anticipate some challenge to arrange the focus but with my junk collection I can probably devise something.
I am really interested in opinions on the general principle of using a gun stock. No I am not concerned that anyone around here would think it is a gun and shoot me and nor am I really worried about the bulk of such a thing.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
If you are not having fun you are not doing it right!
|
|
|
|
mdcarma
|
|
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2006, 03:09:45 PM » |
|
I found the shoulder stock very steady, A bit steadier and quicker to track than a monopod. I don't do a lot of nature shooting, but thought this combo would be good for 300mm action shots at a racetrack. Easy to pan and comfortable to use.
Also, the trigger release is a handy feature, with the PhotoSniper you can keep your hands on the stock all the time.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Glenn Thoreson
|
|
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2006, 03:59:48 PM » |
|
I have one of those sniper kits, almost. I don't have the camera. Though it's standard M42 stuff, if you don't have the special camera built for it, it's really hard to use. No cable release, aperture is hard to use, etc. I have made a couple of stocks. They're very easy to make. A jig saw, a drill and a piece of 3/4 inch plywood puts you in business. A good way to spend an hour or so. BTW, that Tair 33 lens ain't all that bad, if you can put up with the cockeyed controls.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Glenn from Wyoming
"I reject your reallity and substitute my own"
( Adam Savage )
|
|
|
|
John Hill
|
|
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2006, 04:33:46 PM » |
|
Thanks Glenn, I think I have read enough to encourage me to make a stock. There should be enough bits in my junk pile to solve the shutter and even focus controls. Aperture will not be an issue with a mirror lens!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
If you are not having fun you are not doing it right!
|
|
|
|
LarryD
|
|
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2006, 04:53:32 AM » |
|
Mike
I now remember why I love a woman in real fur.
She would even look sexy if that was an AK-47.
Larry
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Film photography and the Soviet Union are not dead. Just downsized.
|
|
|
|
Mike Kovacs
|
|
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2006, 05:11:08 AM » |
|
I don't know about now, but that kind of fur trimmed coat was very fashionable in Prague about 6-7 years ago.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
LarryD
|
|
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2006, 06:20:01 AM » |
|
First time I ever saw a real Cold War woman of that type almost got me in real trouble... Yes fur was involved. :twisted:
Larry
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Film photography and the Soviet Union are not dead. Just downsized.
|
|
|
|
David Bedell
|
|
« Reply #10 on: June 19, 2006, 10:37:36 AM » |
|
Wow -- not sure I'd like to be seen in public carrying around something that looks like a bazooka. ;-)
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Kovacs
|
|
« Reply #11 on: June 19, 2006, 11:53:55 AM » |
|
Ever seen the 180/2.8 Olympia Sonnar in Contax mount with the wooden rifle stock? (highly collectable) Photographers had their rifle stock cameras confiscated by the German authorities in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
bruce
|
|
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2006, 06:12:58 AM » |
|
I have one. The lens is actually very good, but heavy. I think the barrel must be made out of cast sewer pipe. It is the longest rig I can handhold.
The lens is odd construction, it is pre-set aperture with a spring loaded gizmo that relaeses the apeture before you take the shot. The spring on mine is stout, and makes quite a thunk when it releases.
The camera is the standard zenit. On mine the meter stopped working about as soon as I unpacked it, but to honest, I expected that. It makes for a very handholdable long lens rig. I have used it a lot at zoos, and when I am in places where I want to be able to get wildlife shots quicker than I can set up the tripod.
I have had it in the back of my mind for some time that if you were to rig up some sort of mono pod on the front of the thing, you may have a great handhold long lens rig, bested only by use of a tripod or image stabilization.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Kovacs
|
|
« Reply #13 on: June 20, 2006, 06:36:16 AM » |
|
Gee Bruce, all you need is an Anya everready case to go with it :twisted:
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
bruce
|
|
« Reply #14 on: June 20, 2006, 07:10:19 AM » |
|
My wife bought me the sniper as a birthday present several years ago, and wife's being what they are, she didn't spring for the Anya version.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
