1262 - Fields Of Gold

You may have guessed as you read in the last post about the “first image of yesterday”: I was not photographing today, this is the second image of yesterday. Same trip, last golden light.

You may wonder though, why I made these images with the Nikon 50/1.8 and not with my currently preferred Tamron 17-50/2.8 VC. Well, the answer is simple: I dropped it and it’s broken. Not figuratively but in a real, hard sense.

I had the camera with the Tammy in my weekend lens bag, a Lowepro Slingshot 200. I was only at the supermarket, but you know me, I’m never without my camera. I didn’t bring more than the camera with the one mounted lens and the Nikon 50/1.8 (that’s always in the bag), thus the bag was not full. I can’t remember exactly, it happened when I put something in the car or took something out, the bag slid from my shoulder and fell to the ground. I didn’t even bother to check, the bag is padded and things like that happen from time to time, have happened to me before. Never had I any problem.

Until now that is. On our afternoon trip, when we were still in Villach but some kilometers from home, I wanted to take an image of a sunlit factory. It really looked good, but I got no focus confirmation. No problem, you know the routine, switch the camera off/on and … nothing.

Ahh! I must have set the camera from single shot AF mode (the only mode where it beeps for confirmation) to continuous AF mode or manual … nope, that was not it. I took the lens off, mounted it again … no way.

This was the moment when I began to worry. A close inspection revealed, that the lens was literally broken. Not the glass, no, but on one side of the lens, there’s a gap between the mount and the zoom ring. You can see the electronics inside.

Oh well, I’ll take it to the shop where I’ve bought it, let’s see what they can do and what a repair will cost. Of course this does not fall under warranty, but who knows, maybe it’s not as bad as it looks. At least when you press the front of the lens against the mount, it focuses again and seems to work normally. I don’t know, just expect me to use some of my other lenses for a while. It was about time anyway 🙂

The Song of the Day is “Fields Of Gold” by Sting, originally from his 1993 album “Ten Summoner’s Tales”. I have it on a collection of greatest hits, thus I’ve linked to that. YouTube has the song.


There are 2 comments

Flo   (2010-03-29)

Oh, Andreas, I'm so sorry to hear that your Tammy is ailing! I hope the good lens doctors can fix it up again - they might have to send it back to Tamron, tho. I traded in my Tamron 90mm macro, as the autofocus completely would not work. And also I didn't like the way it worked. I got a speedlight instead - SB-900, which I have use for more often than a macro lens. I like this image and the one with the road and railing and trees from your previous post. It seems like everywhere you go in Austria, there are beautiful scenic landscapes to shoot. The only problem for me would be - which way to I point the lens, and how much to crop out!

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andreas   (2010-03-29)

Thanks. It could be worse. Actually it was time to use something different anyway. Unfortunately I have the original box and the receipt in Carinthia. I should have taken them to Vienna yesterday, but it didn't even occur to me, that they could be in Carinthia at all. OK, next week I bring it to the store, it will take likely weeks until I get notice from Tamron, so as I see it, the new stabilized Sigma 17-50/2.8 may well be available before I get the Tammy back. I'm just saying 🙂

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