I have some sad news, friends… A terrible accident that has brought great disruption to the D7000 family.
Yesterday, I tested out reversing the 24mm f/2.8 ai on the 75-150, and stacking that assembly on the 104mm extension tube set. (FYI: This combo achieves 10:1 reproduction. Yes, 10:1, and reasonably sharp, if rather difficult to handle, for less than $350: GoGo.)
At some point during this test, I did something—I’m not sure what as yet—that caused the focus to stick at the close-focusing distance, and now it will not budge. The zoom still works fine, but the focus is no more.
I am rather saddened by this loss, even though I maybe took 10 pictures with the lens mounted in the traditional manner.
Luckily, the 75-150 works fine in Zombie mode… And I have two 52mm reverse ring, so one of them can just live on the 75-150… And since there’s one lens on the camera all the time, I have an extra rear cap, so GoGo.
It’s still sad though.
Anyways… this week will be 75-150 remembrance week here on my 365 project. I hope you like beautiful bokeh, saturated color, and tack-sharp centers!
D7000. 75-150mm f/3.5 Zomb-E Series. ISO800, 1/160th (AP mode), f/3.5.
Addendum: I was going to buy another one straight away, but picked up a Vivitar 70-210 Series 1, first version (made by Kiron, and purportedly a pretty honking decent lens), for $35, and it should be a winner for the tiny bit of telephoto stuff that I do at present. I will be watching ebay and keh and the various big camera stores for another 75-150, even though I won’t use it much. I want a fully working one for my collection, and they’re relatively cheap, though not as cheap as the vivitar… Ok ok, and I also picked up a Tokina AT-X 35-200mm f/3.5-4.5 that might make an interesting walk-around, if a bit longish on the short end. I’m hopeful, despite not being able to find much in the way of reviews…
I hate my love for gear, and despise my constant drive to acquire more, but love that I’m happy to satisfy these (mostly) with 30 year old manual lenses.
