An unexpectedly handy lens

(BTW, for those wanting to see Mark’s blog after UK’s win over Villanova, just go one more blog down!)
I really haven’t met anyone else who owns this odd focal length manual focus Nikkor lens: a 28mm to 50mm f3.5 zoom.

I bought it new in the old film days (well, really, sometime in the late 1980s) for studio work.  But now, on my digital cameras, I call it my "poor man’s macro," and it has become unexpectedly handy.  It will focus to 1/4 life size, and with a No. 2 Nikkor closeup lens, it REALLY gets close.  Because of the 1.5 magnification of digital Nikons, it’s the equivalent of a 75mm macro.

I can’t even find one on ebay, but I’d say a manual focus oldie like this could be had for under $100, and a used No. 2 for around $15.  So when I go hiking on assignment, I always carry this lens for flower photos.  I have to put the shutter and f-stop on manual, since no data is transmitted to the camera. The photo below shows an early stage of a buckeye (as in "Ohio" buckeye) that I shot on assignment in the Mary E. Wharton Nature Sanctuary at Floracliff in Fayette County, open by appointment, 859-351-7770.

Look in the Herald-Leader Inside/Out section on Mar. 24 for our story on this little known sanctuary.

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