A pair of very simple shots that I made just to test and showcase the 50mm Rokkor lens on the Minolta SRT-202. I think they look fantastic. The leaves that are in focus seem tack sharp to me, while the backgrounds are pleasingly smooth. Shooting completely wide open, the top shot also shows a very narrow plane of focus, with some leaves on the foreground branch sharp, and others starting to drop into bokeh. 

On another topic, I was more focused on capturing fall color this year than I can ever remember doing in the past, and it also seemed to me that this year’s colors were extraordinary. What I cannot tell is whether my personal focus made me notice the colors more (ie, maybe they were not so exceptional this year) or whether the colors were exceptional and that led to my interest. Also, in my region, they lasted a good long time. I was able to capture beautiful colors over a span of at least 5-6 weeks, and I think I missed at least a week or two at the start of the season.

Finally, I want to mention that yesterday’s shot and both of today’s were taken on Kodak Ultramax 400, an inexpensive consumer grade color film, which I have been very pleased with.