Spider Man

I am on a old mid-range zoom kick recently. I don't know how I missed these affordable lenses before, but I have just discovered these useful lenses, and acquired a couple.

One is the 35-70mm f2.8, non-D version. An old professional mid range zoom, that's been replaced by 28-70, then by the 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens. After doing my research on the web, I found a bargain rated copy at KEH for about $260, that's not bad for a pro graded lens, not bad at all. The design is old, and it is using the push-pull style zoom, but it didn't creep on me like my older 70-210mm lens. Boy, is it sharp! It has very fast focus, and with good light, I can hand hold to capture very detailed images. It also offered a 1:4 macro function, which, since always wanted a macro lens, but never made an investment into such a lens, I was sort of interested in venture into it a little more. I was thinking about buying an 85mm f1.8 for dedicated portait lens, now I don't have a need for that.

That's when I discovered the Nikon 28-105mm f3.5-f4.5 lens, it is another mid-range zoom, which I believe was a kit lens for the F100 when it was released, and it offers 1:2 macro function. At around $150 a pop on KEH for a bargain rated lens, I grabbed a copy without any hesitation. On a D80, it gives me 42mm-157mm range, which is actually very nice range for a walk about lens. I am not sure how KEH rates their lenses, but with this bargain rating, I can't find anything wrong with it. As long as glass elements are not scratched, I am happy.

The macro is available from 50-105mm range only, and I am just having a ball with this lens. It is not the sharpest lens, but I am having fun with it, I think that's what a hobby is about, right? Having fun...

Busy Bees

We planted 2 bushes last year, which has tiny blue flowers that seems to be a big hit with bees of all kinds. At any one time, there are about 5-8 bees nosing around the flowers on each bush.

Extreme Close-up

I have read about using the reverse lens setup to get really nice macro captures. I finally broke down and bought a reverse ring from Ebay. The way it works is to attach a lens to your camera body, then attach this reverse ring to the lens, just like a filter, then attach the secondary lens to the ring, reversed, as it is front-element to front-element configuration. Of course, your lens thread must match, I am using 49mm to 49mm reverse ring. The second trick is that the outer lens must be wider than the lens mounted on the body, otherwise, you picture will end up with a tunnel effect. I am using two 50mm lenses.

Sample 1, uncropped. This little grasshopper is less than a centimeter long, so I am getting pretty good close-up on this thing.

Cropped - but from another image I took. Very shallow depth-of-field.

Here's what the setup looks like. I am still playing with this setup, so lots to learn.

Delicate yet determined.

Took these pictures last October, inside Wupatki National Monument, by a cinder hill. It is dry, and rocky, I don't know how they sustain themselves.

To quote Dr. Malcolm - "No, I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way."