The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: needlework

Canon EOS 30D + Sigma M42 80-200mm f4.5 - 5.6 zoom lens. Neither of these costs much now. The lens goes for pennies, sometimes literally, on eBay.

Originally this photo was in colour and looked uncertain. Conversion to black and white made it more confident. I took this photograph with a Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 AI lens on a Nikon D700. The Micro-Nikkor was manufactured circa 1978, give or take a year either way. I bought it for £65 in 2011. I don't know how many previous owners it had had, but it has survived many of my periodic lens culls because it is such fun to use. The camera settings were 800 ISO, 1/160th, and f/4 in aperture priority. Although shot as a JPG I nonetheless used Lightroom to convert and boost here and there, plus cropping to 8 x 10" format. Image no. 27,316 on this D700.

The new dress, as yet uncompleted, was shot as a JPG, at 1/320th and f/4 with ISO set at 800, using a Nikon D700, with a Nikkor-H Auto 85mm f/1.8 lens. For many years I searched sporadically for a Nikkor-H 85mm f/1.8 lens which had been factory-adapted to the new Nikon AI system introduced in 1977. The company never offered the lens in the AI range because they had a more compact f/2 lens ready to go. Opinions vary over which was the better lens, but there is strong affection for the original. At long last I found one for sale; cosmetically beaten up but still functional, as you might expect of a Nikkor lens of the 1964-77 period.

Nikon D2Xs and Tamron 35mm f/1.8. Unusual for a prime lens, this one has Vibration Compensation (VC) technology which provides up to three stops of of image stabilisation. Handy on practically any camera that it is compatible with, it is particularly valuable with the D2Xs where ISO beyond 400 can degrade images. The lens will also focus a good deal closer than its competition. The sewing tin was photographed with the camera at 200 ISO, f/2 and 1/100th.

Nikon D2Xs and Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens.

The lady of this house enjoys reading, makes her own clothes, and is particular over her laundry.

I have discovered that the Fuji X-E1 struggles with accurate recording of blue colours. I don't recall this was always a fault. Maybe my X-E1 is too old. In addition, I am reminded of why the Nikkor-H 50mm f/2 lens (used to take this picture) enjoys such a good reputation even long after it has gone out of production.

Fujifilm X-E1 and Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm M42 screw-thread standard lens.

Lens: M42 Chinon 55mm f1.4. Made by Tomioka. Camera: Fujifilm X-E1.

And now for some photographs revealing what goes on in Limbo Hall. Nikon D700 and Nikkor-S.C 50mm f/1.4 lens (with a factory AI conversion).

Nikon D700 + AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens.

Manual dexterity extends also to photography. For this picture I used an Auto Chinon 55mm f/1.7 lens on a Canon EOS 30D camera. Focussing is via the twiddle method, and a bit hit-and-miss. Yet it feels as though I am more involved in the process of making a photographic record.

Nikon D2Xs and AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens.

Nikon D2Xs and Nikkor AF-D f/1.4 50mm lens.

Nikon D2Xs + AF-D 50mm Nikkor f/1.4 lens. 800 ISO; f/4.5; 1/100th.

Photographed using the Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8 D lens.