Recently the auto focus on my camera lenses seemed to stop working. Well, it had been an intermittent problem until it seemed that it had stopped working at all. And, it was on more than one lens which should have been a clue that it was the camera and not the lens. Fortunately, in my area there is the Camera Shop which is a great little full-service camera store. Yes, bricks, mortar and people who you can put your camera into their hands and have them take a look at it. I was envisioning sending another camera back to Nikon for repairs and waiting for the return. Wondering too whether I was going to need to get a loaner. As a Nikon professional services member I can get loaner equipment and my repairs are done faster. Luckily the manager, Jason, noticed that the silver ring on the camera that fits up against the lens was loose. A couple of screws,were tightened, I always find loose screws, and just like that, the auto focus started working again. I mention this issue as a heads up for you Nikon users. I am not sure if this same thing could happen with other brands. But this is an easy fix on Nikon cameras if you know to look for it.
My next gear topic is a new little lens that never ceases to amaze me. This is my 25mm Laowa Ultra Macro lens.
With this lens, I can capture many new macro subjects. The lens has a bit of a learning curve. It does not have auto focus and you have to view and frame the image on the view screen. Hint: I use the focus peaking feature on the Nikon D850 to help with focus and realize that the focus plane is very small. And you need a lot of light to be able to see the subject. Hint: I use a litra mini-light which is very bright. Mostly I have been using it for jumping spiders. This lens reveals a fascinating world of these tiny spiders. And really I have only just begun to experiment with this new "toy". But experimenting is one of the exciting things about the world of digital photography.
