[Aaron28]

You have already figured out how to use the DA 15's minimum focus distance of 7 inches (not a misprint) while keeping your feet out of the frame, for landscapes just remember to keep the sun in the frame (it is virtually impossible to get flare) and use small apertures (f7.1 or slower).

hahaha!! good point! and motivation! I would hafta close it down some versus wide open!

[pepperberry farm]

an SMC A 20/2.8

[Jonathan Mac]

Latest and (hopefully) last is a Minolta XD7. She looked very shabby when I bought her from eBay mainly for the older MC lens she was wearing. leatherette had disintegrated (common problems with early models XDs), shutter speed indicator in viewfinders non working (lying eBayer) and the air piston that slows the mirror down was clogged so she would stutter when taking a pic (common problem with XDs) and naturally all the light seals and mirror damper were perished and she was absolutely filthy- though her finish, ap[art from the leatherette was near mint - all that crud on her had probably protected the unique black finish these had.

On the upside I only paid £23 and got a near mint Rokkor MC1.7 which was the whole point of the buy anyway but I thought I would see what could be done to salvage the camera as the electronics were all running. The MC lens was nicked to allow me to get a full original Minolta SRT101.

So she had a new set of leatherette, replaced the non original film rewind spool, replaced all the seals and mirror bumper, thorough external clean and then she was sent off tom favourite camera tech to have the VF shutter speed indicator fixed, the air piston cleaning and an internal clean including the focus screen and a check that her speeds were running correctly. Voila- for an investment of maybe £80 plus the £23 to get her I now have a near mint beautiful black Minolta XD7 (2nd production batch) - serviced and ready to rock and roll.

Here she is with the correct kit lens she would have been sold with.

Very pretty.

I am currently assessing what to do with my post-christmas funds: there's a 43mm Limited for sale locally but a bit pricey and silver rather than black... or a Fujinon 50/2 or 60/2.4 macro for my X-T20... or something else entirely. Decisions, decisions.

[gaweidert]

The good news is that I got a new 24" Samsung monitor to hook up to my laptop. The bad news is that I need it because the screen on my laptop got flexed and is no longer working. I am going to have to send it in to get the screen replaced so I will be deaquisitioning some money.

[gatorguy]

The good news is that I got a new 24" Samsung monitor to hook up to my laptop. The bad news is that I need it because the screen on my laptop got flexed and is no longer working. I am going to have to send it in to get the screen replaced so I will be deaquisitioning some money.

Try Laptopscreen.com. I've used them twice and 100% satisfied. Prices are relatively low and it's a job you can do yourself. IIRC they even have a really cheap set of pry-tools and screwdrivers for purchase which I would recommend. It's a quick thing to do.

[timb64]

Try Laptopscreen.com. I've used them twice and 100% satisfied. Prices are relatively low and it's a job you can do yourself. IIRC they even have a really cheap set of pry-tools and screwdrivers for purchase which I would recommend. It's a quick thing to do.

It’s great info like that which makes being part of the PF community such a pleasure

[Marcus Rowland]

Picked up another 200/3.5 for M42 in Cash Converters' sale. Really nice condition Photax Paragon, cost £9.99 which is a little on the high side but ought to make a little profit. Also found a battery cap for the P30 I got on Saturday, which turns out to work well. The cap comes from a dead P50 I've had in my spares box for ages.

Then I had a VERY silly series of accidents...

I'm going to be getting a lot of stuff ready to list on eBay tomorrow, so I did some preliminary work this evening - found lens caps etc. for everything that didn't have them, cleaned off labels, etc. etc. so that I can take pictures of the stuff and take test shots while it's light tomorrow.

Then I wanted to take a closer look at one of the lenses and moved a small lamp. And the cable caught two of the bigger lenses, which fell a couple of feet, fortunately onto carpet. One was fine apart from denting the rim of its filter. The other, the 200mm lens I got today, landed with a bit of a thud, and I could hear something rattling when I picked it up. And discovered that the filter was broken - not just cracked, but shattered into hundreds of tiny fragments. This gave me a bit of a problem, since I was pretty sure I'd scratch the front element if I tried to brush it off.

One can of compressed air later most of the glass was safely blown into a dustbin bag, but I could see a few tiny sparkles from bits I'd missed. I decided to try to wash it off with a little lens cleaning fluid. Got the bottle and gave it a little squeeze... and the inner cap with a sponge blew off across the room (still haven't found it) while most of the bottle spilled into the front of the lens.

Ten minutes later I got this cleaned up and dried, and so far as I can tell it's now free of glass splinters and undamaged. I'm down two skylight filters, 55mm and 62mm, and my hair would be turning grey if it wasn't already, but on the whole it could have been a lot worse. The lens I was actually about to handle when this all went down was the 50mm Nikkor I got on Sunday...

[gatorguy]

Picked up another 200/3.5 for M42 in Cash Converters' sale. Really nice condition Photax Paragon, cost £9.99 which is a little on the high side but ought to make a little profit. Also found a battery cap for the P30 I got on Saturday, which turns out to work well. The cap comes from a dead P50 I've had in my spares box for ages.

Then I had a VERY silly series of accidents...

I'm going to be getting a lot of stuff ready to list on eBay tomorrow, so I did some preliminary work this evening - found lens caps etc. for everything that didn't have them, cleaned off labels, etc. etc. so that I can take pictures of the stuff and take test shots while it's light tomorrow.

Then I wanted to take a closer look at one of the lenses and moved a small lamp. And the cable caught two of the bigger lenses, which fell a couple of feet, fortunately onto carpet. One was fine apart from denting the rim of its filter. The other, the 200mm lens I got today, landed with a bit of a thud, and I could hear something rattling when I picked it up. And discovered that the filter was broken - not just cracked, but shattered into hundreds of tiny fragments. This gave me a bit of a problem, since I was pretty sure I'd scratch the front element if I tried to brush it off.

One can of compressed air later most of the glass was safely blown into a dustbin bag, but I could see a few tiny sparkles from bits I'd missed. I decided to try to wash it off with a little lens cleaning fluid. Got the bottle and gave it a little squeeze... and the inner cap with a sponge blew off across the room (still haven't found it) while most of the bottle spilled into the front of the lens.

Ten minutes later I got this cleaned up and dried, and so far as I can tell it's now free of glass splinters and undamaged. I'm down two skylight filters, 55mm and 62mm, and my hair would be turning grey if it wasn't already, but on the whole it could have been a lot worse. The lens I was actually about to handle when this all went down was the 50mm Nikkor I got on Sunday...

Geez I thought my day was starting a bit iffy, so thank you very much for the report on yours. Now I feel blessed and what a wonderful day it is.

[lesmore49]

To use that modern phrase...'I finally pulled the trigger ' on a new Pentax HD FA 24-70 F 2.8 lens and a B+W 82 mm Clear F-Pro filter. It was a relatively good deal (Boxing week deal) on both, and this is a lens I've wanted for quite awhile. It came in today.

I've tried it and it works very well. So far I'm pleased with it and have a feeling it will become my new, regular lens.

A lovely piece of equipment for my K1.

[monochrome]

To use that modern phrase...'I finally pulled the trigger ' on a new Pentax HD FA 24-70 F 2.8 lens and a B+W 82 mm Clear F-Pro filter. It was a relatively good deal (Boxing week deal) on both, and this is a lens I've wanted for quite awhile. It came in today.

I've tried it and it works very well. So far I'm pleased with it and have a feeling it will become my new, regular lens.

A lovely piece of equipment for my K1.

I think you will find it is a fabulous lens.

[clickclick]

A lovely piece of equipment for my K1.

It balances quite nicely. Really like this combination. Think you'll enjoy it.

[D1N0]

From the Ukraine (got lucky on VAT and Handling costs) a Super-Takumar-Zoom 70-150mm 1:4.5








Compared to my smallest 70-150mm lens (Vivitar)

[Benz3ne]

Care-package has dropped! Bought this from a lovely lady through Facebook (risky, I know) but this risk was justified in my mind should everything be okay. Couple of little niggles, but well worth my outlay in my opinion!



















For those who might struggle to see what's there it comprises of:
2x ME Super (look a bit rough 'n' ready but everything feels tight, not much corrosion anywhere, looks as though they've both had new mirror seals, but not body seals (which I will change). Shutters fire, winders work as anticipated. Need to try with batteries shortly but looks good so far!
Kiron 28mm f/2. Sounds as though the spring for the 'A' setting button has come loose, and there's a little corrosion to the 'A' button itself. No worries, once it's in place I won't need to tinker with it anyway, at least on my K-70. Exceptionally clean looking. Can hear something tinkling around when moving this lens, which is probably the spring for the pin! Focus is smooth, however.
Bell and Howell 70-220mm and 2x TC. TC looks good, zoom unfortunately has a fair amount of lens separation so will be donated elsewhere. TC looks in good working order.
SMC-M 50mm f/1.7. Unfortunately a reasonable amount of fungus in there at a glance, albeit light. I'll look to dismantle and repair this one and, all going well, may extend to try and salvage the A pin on the Kiron. Feels nice though, everything is smooth.
Bell and Howell flash. Curious to try this more than anything, has some colour filters and a 'wide angle adapter' so will probably give it a whirl.
Cokin 58mm (I think) adapter and a couple of filters. Not sure what the clear one is about just yet so I'll do some digging. The 'blue' one could perhaps be an ND? Not sure, outside my knowledge-set!
Weston Master V light meter. Interested to try this out, probably won't keep but you never know!
Couple of other odds-and-sods, including a blower brush, rubber lens hood, Kodak 'film pod', few cases total (one older looking Pentax leather with a nice looking purple velvet interior).
Manuals for practically everything here, less the lenses!

---------- Post added 01-14-20 at 05:52 AM ----------

2x ME Super (look a bit rough 'n' ready but everything feels tight, not much corrosion anywhere, looks as though they've both had new mirror seals, but not body seals (which I will change). Shutters fire, winders work as anticipated. Need to try with batteries shortly but looks good so far!

Batteries inserted. Cameras sprung into life. Meters appear to work without issue, manual mode also works. Happy chappy.

[bdery]

Two bags that will get thoroughly reviewed. I'm liking them very much so far!

[lesmore49]

I think you will find it is a fabulous lens.

In the very short time (about 24 hours) I've had it, I'm finding that it is as you say...a fabulous lens. Right now I've haven't taken it outside...on and off snowing and blowing snow...and predictions are that temps will be plunging into the very cold (possibly-30 range) in the next day or two......and I'm not as gung ho about going out in this weather as I used to be.

But I have been taking a lot of pics in available light indoors...wife is making soup, etc...so I'm doing some culinary shots and I'm impressed with how well this lens does indoors in available light...love that constant F 2.8 on a zoom.

I'm impressed with the overall quality of this lens and the images it can produce.

My K1 and this lens appear to be a good combo. Now if only I was at the same level.