A New Toy for Macro Photography

Good bye, macro extension rings! I'm glad that I don't really need those rather clumsy tools for macro photography any longer: I had used extension rings on my Topcon RE-2, in a early experimental / exploratory phase — I just scanned my photo collection, and I don't think I have used the "automatic" extension rings on my Nikon F3 more than half a dozen times, even though these were with (mechanical) aperture control / transmission and therefore substantially easier to use than the "dumb" ones that I had with my Topcon RE-2.

My new toy for macro photography is the AF-S Micro-Nikkor 105 mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR, offering reproduction ratios up to 1:1; I haven't made extensive use of this lens yet — but I have used to take photos of small stuff that I sold on on-line auctions; then I saw this interesting insect on the outside of my office window: I took these pictures through the window glass (should clean my windows!), i.e., you are looking at this insect from underneath:

Insect, macro shot
Nikon D300, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
ISO 800, F/9, 1/320, 105mm (157mm equiv.)

Insect, macro shot
Nikon D300, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
ISO 800, F/9, 1/320, 105mm (157mm equiv.)

Insect, macro shot
Nikon D300, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
ISO 800, F/22, 1/40, 105mm (157mm equiv.)

I love the bokeh in these shots!

My Early Attempts at (More) Serious Photography

Back in 1974, I added a set of (non-automatic) extension rings to my Topcon RE-2 SLR and my only lens at that time, a 58 mm f/1.8 RE Auto-Topcor — and started to explore macro photography. Most of the time I did b&w photography using Kodak Panatomic-X, Plus-X Pan, or Tri-X Pan film that I typically developed myself. I never had the equipment to create paper copies, though, so these films were resting in their sleeves for 35 years. I have now digitized many of these pictures, so for the first time I can have a proper look at my "artworks"! I wasn't good at bookkeeping in those years, so don't ask me about technical details like aperture, exposure time, even film type. Shame on me!
About the shot above: I like the "steely" look of these buds on a cherry tree in our garden, the "analog grain" that is impossible to obtain with a DSLR (there's software that can add "film grain" to digital photos, but I doubt you'll get the same result) — OK, if you look closely you may see that I used "digital de-dusting" ...