One of the most challenging tests of a lens is it's ability to handle a significant crop without having the resolution fall apart. So, I went to the reptile house, a fairly dimly-lit place with the the animals behind glass - so not, in itself, an inspiring environment to shoot in. Still, the skinks and geckoes can be rather beautiful if one can get an up-close image.
I have taken some previously with some super tele zooms: such as the Sigma 60-600s, RF 100-500 and even RF 200-800. This time, I was bringing the RF 24-240 super zoom lens to check it out, and see if I could not only get one of the tiny creatures in focus (given the DoF would be razor thin), but whether it could be cropped in effectively.
I concentrated on some of the more colourful characters and here are the results. The first shot is a bit of a bonus as some tiny crickets had been let loose in the enclosures for the geckoes and skinks to feed on.
Shot RAW+JPG, cropped and lens corrected in PS and massively downsized. Shot single point centre BB focus, and single point centre metering, hand-held, no fancy layers etc., so I hope a reasonable representation of the lens' performance.
The original JPG image as shot.
Same image cropped.
The Elegant (AKA Auckland) Green Gecko is barely 4" (100mm) from nose to tail, but it has wonderful colouration.
Not a bad lens, I reckon...
