I have to be sick - or healed from GAS

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rolsen
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 1:21 am
Location: Finland

I have to be sick - or healed from GAS

Post by rolsen »

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.
- Rane

ChrisR
Site Admin
Posts: 8668
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:58 am
Location: Near London, UK

Post by ChrisR »

Well done Rane.

What's it called when you aren't sure how many you have but you hit the button anyway in case you think of a plausible reason later?
Chris R

rolsen
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 1:21 am
Location: Finland

Post by rolsen »

Stockpiling :?:
- Rane

iconoclastica
Posts: 486
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:34 pm
Location: Wageningen, Gelderland

Post by iconoclastica »

Last Thursday, the ring that I inherited from my father when he stopped photographing, what I never knew what it was for, that had sat in my unknown-parts box for some thirty years, turned out exactly the M42 reverse ring that I needed for my new Raynox.

I LIKE stockpiling!!
--- felix filicis ---

rolsen
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 1:21 am
Location: Finland

Post by rolsen »

Adapters...aaah, they don't count in GAS, do they 8-[ IMO, you simply cannot have too many of them, 'cause you never know...
- Rane

Lou Jost
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Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Post by Lou Jost »

Good job! The Lomo and the DiMage lenses have also reduced my GAS.

ray_parkhurst
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Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

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.

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Post by Beatsy »

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.
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. :D

rolsen
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 1:21 am
Location: Finland

Post by rolsen »

Beatsy wrote:
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.
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. :D
Very well written (whole post), Ray.

Beatsy, my situation is often just like that :D
- Rane

rolsen
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 1:21 am
Location: Finland

Post by rolsen »

Well, that poor lens was still without a loving home and I had a weak moment while being sick :oops:

I just bought it because someone had to, it wasn't just me, it's our hobby in stake - and vintage gear saving operation!

I'm bad even lying to myself...
- Rane

ChrisR
Site Admin
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Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:58 am
Location: Near London, UK

Post by ChrisR »

Thank you, for your personal sacrifice for the team :-({|= .
Chris R

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