Magnificent.

I sympathise with deteriorating eyesight. I am struggling with a cataract in my right eye presently. It isn't bad enough to warrant action yet but it is highly intrusive. I have feared for my photography and I worry about the huge collection of kit that has accumulated over the years. I don't need any more but I wish yours safe rehoming and to you, a successful readjustment. You have given us a lot of pleasure for which our thanks are due.

Thank you for those kind words. I am happy that you enjoyed the pictures and more so that people in times past have created and provided these lovely sights for everyone's pleasure.

The interesting bit is, "the camera shop I took it to." Most often we see complaints about the official repairers (John Pye auctions) taking an eternity and not replying to messages - I don't doubt they are under staffed and over worked. It is still worrying. So tell us more.

Thank you to those who produced a wonderful crop of spring loveliness in last week's competition. If you didn't see them do have a look - there are some really nice ones! I too went out there to see what I could find and I went to the family seat of the 1st Baron, Lord Iliffe whose home at Allesley Hall, Coventry was donated to the city for the enjoyment of its residents. It includes Allesley Park which is sensitively managed as both parkland and wildlife reserve.

The drive to the house is what one might expect. Half a mile of die straight roadway bounded by a double row of mature trees on each side and which is massively planted with spring bulbs. Unfortunately many of these trees were elms which were decimated by Dutch Elm Disease in the late 1970s. The surviving beeches and sweet chestnuts tower above the replacements. I can recall wondering if I would ever see these mature? Well, 50 years on, here is one side of the drive today.









Crocuses are so very often photographed en-masse due to the magnificence of their impact. They do have impact by themselves, however.









And it isn't all bulbs - this hedging plant is rarely seen today but 'flowering currant' was commonplace when I was a youngster.



Which brings us to blossoming trees of which there are a lot. I will make a separate collection of these quite soon. The delay is because not all of them are flowering yet but when they do .... !
Here is an early plum tree to be going on with.



These were taken with a K1 and most with the wonderful Takumar 55mm f1.8 which can be as sharp as you wish or awash with bokeh. This particular one exhibits every sign of a great lens - it is worn, dented and battered from constant use but its glass is pristine!

Crisp, precise and excellent.

OWW wow wobble, cleans spectacles, trips over .... droooo ooool !

Corr! They are good!

I came across an old, folding Balda camera that was, to say the best, clapped out. The shutter was jammed and the back refused to stay shut. The glass was good and once cleaned, it sparkled and despite being jammed, the shutter had jammed open! The iris assembly was working perfectly from f3.5 - f32. OK. Ditch the body, keep the shutter and lens, dismantle it and clean the glass. It now sports a new M42 mount and is ready to go on any DSLR.



Its serial number suggests that it was made in the latter part of 1936. The shutter appears to be from 1935. Focus is currently via the front cell, which is mounted on a helicoid, giving distances from 1 meter to infinity. I have ordered a Chinese helicoid to take the place of the present 20mm extension tube which, in conjunction with the front cell focusing, should provide an additional macro capability down to a few cms! I will report the results when it arrives.

For now, I took it out on a K1 when it produced some surprising results both at long range ....



.... and closer in.
Here is the original, full frame shot and a crop from it, showing a pigeon on the opposite side of the brook gathering nesting materials.






I will say at once that these are not "straight from the camera" images. They have been processed, but no more than anyone else might do, such as exposure levels and moderate sharpening. For some reason, first attempts came out way over exposed - no idea why. I settled on -1EV which corrected the issue. Another oddity, given that the glass is not coated, is that it does not require a lens hood. Shading the lens with one's hand, for example, made no difference. Neither was it necessary to correct any sort of chrominance.

I have not had the pleasure of an ancient Xenar before but if this is what a 35mm can do .... ?

I have been sitting here for five minutes wondering how to respond to that - and I am no further forward now. It's just nice to know that you are doing something right. Thank you.