[Brightcolours]

I have this really beautiful little lens which is also a pig to use handheld, the Ultra Micro Nikkor 55mm f2. Fixed focus, so you have to move the camera to focus, and you have to focus stopped down too because turning the focus ring after focussing will make you lose focus again.



I do like the results this little lens can give though... sharp, contrasty and a very nice bokeh character both in fore- and background.





The above focus "problem", together with the very small DOF you get with it focusing close by, makes for very few handheld "keepers" though. Which has driven me to add focus confirmation and trap focus to it by salvaging the lens contacts and electronics board of a useless Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD macro super.



With a little care, it works better than I expected, both with the central AF point and with the other AF points of my EOS 450D. The lens has an f2 to f8 range, in half stops. AF confirmation works from f2 to f5.6 in all conditions, and at f6.7 when light is bright and contrast is big. At f8 the sensor is totally blind.



This image I made yesterday (two images stitched), actually using trap focus on the ladybird with the "top left" AF point at I think f5.6:





Attached a few photos of the funny contraption I glued and soldered together from an M39 plate for an enlarger, a Canon body cap and salvaged Sigma parts:

[davidmanze]

Hi Brightcolours,

Looks like you've done a good job there! it's certainly nailed the focus. I like to see people making mods and using their savvy to forward their photography. Anyone with a pocket full of money can buy top gear,but it's the guys who do it on a shoe string that impress me. Terrific bokeh. Well done!



Dave's clichés

[Brightcolours]

[quote name='dave's clichés' timestamp='1335352620' post='17748']

Hi Brightcolours,

Looks like you've done a good job there! it's certainly nailed the focus. I like to see people making mods and using their savvy to forward their photography. Anyone with a pocket full of money can buy top gear,but it's the guys who do it on a shoe string that impress me. Terrific bokeh. Well done!



Dave's clichés

[/quote]

Thanks Dave! It actually was quite fun to mix and match this adapter together. It is very rainy here, so I can't go and play with it some more at the moment.

[Bjohansen]

Very nice image. I don't realise why someone had voted this down, so I gave you a thumbs up to even it out.

[Brightcolours]

[quote name='Bjohansen' timestamp='1335435209' post='17782']

Very nice image. I don't realise why someone had voted this down, so I gave you a thumbs up to even it out.

[/quote]

Thanks Bjohansen, nice to read you like the photo. Just like on every forum there are some trolls, there just happen to be some that like to do that to just about any post I make... Such is forum life <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Regretfully it remains rainy, so I have not been able to play with it more... Maybe tomorrow the weather will clear up.