[alex66]

A K-x picking up tommorow, mz60 with 28-200 Pentax lens and before lock down a 100-300 Tokina in a charity shop, in for less than £50.

[Jonathan Mac]

Soligor C/D MC Macro 90mm f2.5 arrived from Berlin yesterday:







sold in 'excellent' condition - I'd venture that this lens has never been used, it's so clean and unmarked....

That looks very similar to my Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 macro, though yours has an "A" setting:


Pentax ME with Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 macro by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


Pentax ME with Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 macro by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

Not the best performer in the world, it's pretty soft until at least f/4.

[pepperberry farm]

That looks very similar to my Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 macro, though yours has an "A" setting:


Pentax ME with Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 macro by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


Pentax ME with Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 macro by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

Not the best performer in the world, it's pretty soft until at least f/4.

they should probably be identical - both manufactured by Komine; I have the 55mm version, too...

odd thing about the 'A' setting - I've never seen a lens with the 'A' setting that doesn't have a button or a lock to keep the 'A' position...

this lens does not have such a contraption, meaning the aperture ring turns easily, whether in the 'A' position or not...

[D1N0]

I have the Panagor version. Focussing takes forever. It's focus throw is 990 degrees

[pepperberry farm]

I have the Panagor version. Focussing takes forever. It's focus throw is 990 degrees

that I will agree with - it's like a ship's wheel to get from infinity to macro....

[Marcus Rowland]

Another huge job lot of weird accessories and photo junk:

8 working exposure meters, two of them Westons which need the glass gluing in place, and another five dead meters
Three box cameras, all working well
Three bulb flashes and 15 flash bulbs
Thee quarter-plate glass plate holders in a leatherette case
Another weird macro photography gizmo for Contax / Kiev, identical to the one I had a few weeks ago, but adding a focusing screen gizmo
A couple of film splicers
A big Contax electronic flash that's working well
A Metz 202 with no battery or charger

This came to £38 including delivery, and hopefully will make a modest profit. But I could REALLY use more good lenses, and my luck there hasn't been good lately.

[Fluegel]

I like job lots for the surprises you can get both positive and negative.
It does not always work out the way I planned it.

The highly experienced repair man that services a lot of my Hasselblad gear needs parts for his repairs that are NLA.
I find two cameras one looking pretty bad the other one looks better. Both are for sale as parts or repair cameras.
I suggest the following to the repairman:
I will make an offer for substantially less than the asking price for both cameras.
We split the costs. I can sell the viewfinder to cover my part of the deal if the camera meant for me is bad.
He can also sell the viewfinder on his camera, the parts will cost him nothing.
My offer is accepted, both cameras are shipped to the repairman.

It turned out the one meant for me is a really nice camera it only needs a couple of small parts to make a perfect camera.
My friend the repairman is upset . He thinks it is not a good deal. No matter what I say he only sees that I got the better camera.

I stop this argument and say. "Forget about the deal, put both cameras back in the box. I will keep both"
Now he wakes up and says but I need the parts. "That is a little late my friend, you should have thought of that before you complained about a bad deal.
We know each other over 35 years. Of course he will get the parts he needs. My business depends on the quality of his work. That is second to none.

Just bought another job lot of bodies and lenses. This time those items will be shipped to me. I do not like to end up in another argument.

[jspi]

I run into occasions where my Sigma 17-50mm isn't wide enough so I bought the DA* 11-18mm. That'll likely sit next to the DA* 24-70mm as my carry around lenses unless I have the intention of shooting wildlife, macro, etc. It came in yesterday and I took a couple test photos but still need to go through them. Looks fine on the camera's screen...

Then my personal laptop started booting into BIOS randomly (doesn't see the system drive - exit BIOS and it runs mostly fine). Since this stuff is my career, I know it comes down to a few things. Poor connection, failing NVMe drive, or failing main board. I was planning to use it for another 6 months (or more) and would limp along except it's what allows me to work from home (saving about $50/week in gas). So a 17.3" Sager laptop arrives tomorrow. 10th gen i7, RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, and 500GB Western Digital Black NVMe drive. Once I raid parts from my existing system, it'll end up with 32GB RAM, a second NVMe drive (1TB), and a 2TB SSD.

And the A/C in the truck started leaking. At least that was a relatively cheap fix. Empty the system, replace the shrader valves (core?), and refill. A/C fix for $7.32 in parts + labor + freon so that was about as cheap as it could possibly be.

11 year old Stihl FS45 trimmer completely failed. Engine runs great but the bearings & output shaft is trashed. The failure melted part of the head so that needs to be replaced too. Parts & labor was $30 less than buying a similar Stihl trimmer (on sale) so we added a little to that and got an even better one (also on sale). The shop was nice and waived the $35 diag fee since we bought a new trimmer.


They say things come in threes so hopefully we're done for a while. I like new stuff but I'm good for a while.

[D1N0]

Found this in a thrift shop:


Just for the lens

Strangely enough it had a Kindermann lens also a well known projector manufacturer in Germany. Originally there is a Zeiss Ikon Talon 1:2,8/85 MC in it.

[gatorguy]

Received my FA*85 1.4 today, and in nearly impeccable condition. I'm VERY happy.

I've always done better dealing with fellow forum members. Now to get out and shoot. Had to cancel another portrait shoot for Saturday sadly so the next photo session isn't scheduled until July.

[kadajawi]

Sigma 30mm 1.4 Contemporary for MFT.

It arrived with the focusing motor clicking but not doing much at all. After driving with it to work and back it now works as intended. Odd. Not sure if I'm happy about it springing alive.

It is rather big and heavy for a MFT lens, but oh well. Haven't had a chance to shoot properly with it yet.

[Fluegel]

I have the Panagor version. Focussing takes forever. It's focus throw is 990 degrees

Sort of a wind up focus control I imagine, 990 degrees........

[Lord Lucan]

Sunpak Auto 4205G Hammerhead

Sorry about the lousy picture quality - I only had an old P&S to use.

The flash unit is the new bit, not the K-1. I believe this is also marketed as the 544, and is very similar to the G4500 or 555, but this has a GN of 42 rather than 45.
This was only £10 on Ebay (+ £3.50 postage) and I feel like a thief. It looks hardly ever used.

Swivel and tilt head, and auto power levels over a range of four stops in 1/3 stop intervals. Manual power is from full down to 1/64 in 1/3 stop intervals.
No TTL or P-TTL of course, just a basic sync cord connection and that suits me. I believe you could get dedicated modules for this and other Sunpak hammerheads that fitted in the camera hot shoe. Takes six AA batteries and I measured the trigger voltage at only 7v. It is a monster, but it suits the size of the K-1. When I get my head round it more I shall post a review.

[Cerebum]

I just won a "new but never used" KP grip for £124 including shipping .......... Boom!

[Benz3ne]

I just won a "new but never used" KP grip for £124 including shipping .......... Boom!

Deal of the century. Wow.