Ephemerals past and hiccup in my process

Oh boy this post is late!! Early spring wildflowers are long gone and we’re into high summer flowers now. I’m still shooting, but am just a lazy blogger. Here are some of my favorites from the yard.

None of these were shot with my beloved Olympus 90mm legacy macro because it totally siezed up on me – the aperture ring stuck at 5.6. It went for repair, but unfortunately its days are numbered. Instead I used my system Lumix lenses – 12-35 mm f2.8, 35-100 f2.8 and some other old Olympus lenses – the 35mm f2 and the 135mm f2.8.

Because it’s mechanical, there is a physical linkage that stops down the lens. The ring that spins to set the aperture has little grooves in it and those are being worn down by using the lens. They’ve been filed to be more distinct and it works now, but not for long. It’s so old and odd that there are no parts. Unfortunately using my other lenses doesn’t get me what I want much at all. None are macro lenses and none have the reach or magnification I want.

So eventually I’ll have to replace it and I’ll be sad because it’s such a great lens. So sharp and bright. Heavy as hell, but I’m used to it. Not sure what I’ll end up with, but the leading candidate is the Panasonic 45mm f2.8 macro made by Leica. It’s close to the old lens, a tad less bright, but the magnification and angle of view are the same.

I will use it for as long as I can though. The old workhorse will have to go to pasture though. What an expensive paperweight!