Happy Birthday to me.....

3 days after Christmas I celebrated my birthday and when I opened a card sent by my sister Linda, it included a gift of some money.
I can't unfortunately reveal exactly just how much because as it happened (and I'm sure it was planned that way) it amounted to £1 for every year.
As that would give my real age away and I'm sure you'll all be thinkin' that I'm only a very young man? (removes tongue from cheek) you'll have to make do with the clue that it enabled me to purchase a lens that I've coveted for a while.
To be completely honest, it would have probably bought two, these little lenses can be picked-up second-hand for a very reasonable sum and are great value.

EL-Nikkor 50mm f2.8

Prior to purchase I'd read good things about this lens and also seen the results it can produce in the right hands from photos on the internet photography site 'flickr'.

And so for the next few days I'll be trialling it and experimenting with different ways of mounting it on the camera to get the best possible macro results.

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW ON BLACK
(RECOMMENDED FOR ALL OF THESE SHOTS)

Pisaura mirabilis

Commonly known as a Nursery Web Spider this was a real surprise find when I was out trying out the lens today. They can be some of the first spiders sighted but never seen one this early until this year.

A smaller mag. shot of the same spider

Entomobrya intermedia

 I found this springtail in the garden, actually it's probably the most common springtail I find. This is a crop from the original shot but I'm still quite pleased with the quality and crispness of the lens.

The beetle lava (at least that's what I think it is) pictured below was again taken with this cracking little lens and although I messed-up a bit with my lighting on this shot, it does demonstrate that it certainly has possibilities.

This critter was only around 80mm total length and so this full-frame shot is quite respectable for a first outing I feel.

A Beetle larva?

I need to experiment with the best way of mounting this lens to the camera, it's a microscope lens really and so needs to be used with adaptors and probably will only be used in reverse.

I'm quite happy with these first few try-out shots though and reckon it'll be a really nice addition to my kit-thanks sis!

Until then next time then.....