I'm pretty sure that GAS is strong among us, the forum users. Today I found a mint condition Canon 35mm f2.8 Macro Photo Lens, aka the bellows macro lens. It was in original package with FD-RMS -adapter and the plastic casing plus it was on sale in my own country which is rare. Price was 250€, I put it in the shopping cart and then something weird happened. I emptied the cart.
I know it would have been a nice to have lens, providing less CA than the MPE-65 and also being sharper. But then I thought, I have the Lomo 3,7x and it pretty much fills my needs. Its field is not flat, but stacking hasn't been a problem to me.
It is weird feeling to be comfortable with the gear, it does not happen very often. I put the link to our local forum to alert fellow macro shooters.
I have to be sick - or healed from GAS
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- iconoclastica
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I've been on a quest for a long while, nearly 10 years now. My goal has been to produce a single image of a Lincoln Cent which can be zoomed-in to see all variety details clearly such that the one image can replace the many high-magnification images taken now to show only specific details. I am closer now to this goal than I ever have been, but the path has been long and slow, and has diverged a few times. I started with trying to find the best lens to produce single photos, and when I published those photos on coin forums, I got many requests to build systems so that others could do similar. This secondary path has been a great learning experience, as it gave me an opportunity to explore the mechanics of the setups, with each new one being superior to the last. It also was a big driver for GAS, since not only did I have my original quest to fulfill, but now I was buying equipment to integrate into systems for others.
At this point, I have enough lenses on-hand to consider my system-building acquisition efforts to be finished. Some may ask which lenses I use for these systems. In order of most popular...75mm El-Nikkor...75mm Apo Rodagon D (both fixed and variable aperture)...75mm Tominon MP3...80mm f4 Rodagon...86mm Tominon E36C...89mm Printing-Ektar. It's quite a list! But that part of my GAS is "over" now. I know it's true because I no longer have eBay searches for lenses for commisioned systems!
My original quest may also be nearing completion. Long ago I spoke with Rik about it, and he suggested I buy a Nikon D800 (they were fairly new at the time) and use it with my 105mm Printing-Nikkor at ~1.1:1 to produce essentially the best single image possible of a Lincoln Cent. It was a great suggestion, but I never bought the D800. My concern was that the quality at 100% was not good enough to see all the details I wanted to document in those single Cent images. This was due to both the camera (bayer sensor) and the insufficient magnification. I was new to higher magnifications at that time, and although I already owned the 95PN, it sat on the shelf unused except for occasional 0.5:1 testing. I muddled around for years with pixel shifting, super-resolution, back to pixel shifting, back to super-resolution, and ultimately giving in to panorama stitching with the 95PN (again, at Rik's urging). I'm still not quite satisfied with the results, as 2x is still not quite enough magnification. I believe stitching is the way to go, and I believe I have the lens to make it happen in the RayFact 3.5x, but I have not yet decided on sensor-pan or subject-pan methods. This will be hopefully my last major decision, and if so, then GAS may be nearing its end for me. Of course if history is any indicator, a new phase with new goals may pop up and dominate my next 10 years...
edited to add: I suppose there may be a moral to the story above. My GAS was driven by both an overall goal, and by the commissioned systems. These are good reasons IMO for GAS. I would recommend to every gear head to explore the why of their purchases, and make sure they are helping you to meet your specific goals. If not, then pass on that purchase like the OP did.
At this point, I have enough lenses on-hand to consider my system-building acquisition efforts to be finished. Some may ask which lenses I use for these systems. In order of most popular...75mm El-Nikkor...75mm Apo Rodagon D (both fixed and variable aperture)...75mm Tominon MP3...80mm f4 Rodagon...86mm Tominon E36C...89mm Printing-Ektar. It's quite a list! But that part of my GAS is "over" now. I know it's true because I no longer have eBay searches for lenses for commisioned systems!
My original quest may also be nearing completion. Long ago I spoke with Rik about it, and he suggested I buy a Nikon D800 (they were fairly new at the time) and use it with my 105mm Printing-Nikkor at ~1.1:1 to produce essentially the best single image possible of a Lincoln Cent. It was a great suggestion, but I never bought the D800. My concern was that the quality at 100% was not good enough to see all the details I wanted to document in those single Cent images. This was due to both the camera (bayer sensor) and the insufficient magnification. I was new to higher magnifications at that time, and although I already owned the 95PN, it sat on the shelf unused except for occasional 0.5:1 testing. I muddled around for years with pixel shifting, super-resolution, back to pixel shifting, back to super-resolution, and ultimately giving in to panorama stitching with the 95PN (again, at Rik's urging). I'm still not quite satisfied with the results, as 2x is still not quite enough magnification. I believe stitching is the way to go, and I believe I have the lens to make it happen in the RayFact 3.5x, but I have not yet decided on sensor-pan or subject-pan methods. This will be hopefully my last major decision, and if so, then GAS may be nearing its end for me. Of course if history is any indicator, a new phase with new goals may pop up and dominate my next 10 years...
edited to add: I suppose there may be a moral to the story above. My GAS was driven by both an overall goal, and by the commissioned systems. These are good reasons IMO for GAS. I would recommend to every gear head to explore the why of their purchases, and make sure they are helping you to meet your specific goals. If not, then pass on that purchase like the OP did.
Ahh, but! My goal is often to get equipment first so I can explore what I can do with it afterwards. The fun is in the journey and the striving, not the destination (for me). That's my excuse anyway. Guilt-free G.A.S.ray_parkhurst wrote: edited to add: I suppose there may be a moral to the story above. My GAS was driven by both an overall goal, and by the commissioned systems. These are good reasons IMO for GAS. I would recommend to every gear head to explore the why of their purchases, and make sure they are helping you to meet your specific goals. If not, then pass on that purchase like the OP did.
Very well written (whole post), Ray.Beatsy wrote:Ahh, but! My goal is often to get equipment first so I can explore what I can do with it afterwards. The fun is in the journey and the striving, not the destination (for me). That's my excuse anyway. Guilt-free G.A.S.ray_parkhurst wrote: edited to add: I suppose there may be a moral to the story above. My GAS was driven by both an overall goal, and by the commissioned systems. These are good reasons IMO for GAS. I would recommend to every gear head to explore the why of their purchases, and make sure they are helping you to meet your specific goals. If not, then pass on that purchase like the OP did.
Beatsy, my situation is often just like that
- Rane