My Minolta 500mm f/8 reflecting lens is an engineering marvel, an insanely long lens in a relatively small and light package. It does have drawbacks though, with a small aperture meaning it is unable to let in a lot of light, something that would be quite handy with such a telephoto lens. In the morning light of a dull Manchester day, this means cranking up the ISO and still having to hold tight to prevent blurry photos. Still, these pictures are far better than I would have managed with a regular zoom lens.

I’ve seen this jay around in our garden quite a bit, this morning he was quite happy to forage in the gutter and garden while I ran around finding and fitting the lens.

Sony A500 + Minolta AF 500mm Reflex @ f/8, ~1/125 s, ISO 1600
Shot through a glass window, contrast adjusted using Windows Live Photo Gallery(!)