Pushing up daisies

No, not dead yet! First time back on the bicycle in three weeks!! hurray! Nothing to brag about today, but it was important just to get out and ride a bit. I've finally busted through the crud and this disabilitating cough. Just a few lingering wheezes and chuffs now.

Still playing with the Russian lenses... today is the MC Volna-3 80mm F2.8 It will focus to infinity!! Hurray. OK, 80 mm on the NEX is really not a great landscape lense (more like a 125 mm on a full frame), but fun to play with and now I can zoom some of the cityscape in Milan or along the road. I brought it along today on the ride. The setup will barely fit in my little camera bag which I sling around my neck like a messenger bag. You never really see road cyclist carrying their camera around and adding an extra chilo with an old Russian lense is sort of counter productive to going faster. haha, all in the name of blip!

I couldn't figure out why the lense wouldn't focus to infinity on the ride like it did this morning at home... I found the reason when I got home - just need to manually flip the lever down after you stop the lense down to move the blades in on the aperture. Doah! I guess this kind of thing is useful on the old VERY manual Kiev 88 to get everything in focus with the available light before stopping the lense down and setting the exposure for the shot. Sort of a backward step for me, but now hopefully I will remember.

These daisies are by the field of rapeseed I have pictured several times back in April which is now void of flowers for a long time and nearly ready for harvest. I absolutely love the rendering on these old lenses and I am having fun to compose the shots and then to work through all the steps to take each picture. I tried to do a couple "quick" shots (bike passing by, little prop plane overhead) and I just wasn't quick enough. ha

Happy WE to everyone!