A day with not a lot to recommend it.
I spent most of the afternoon setting up my Benbo tripod. It’s a really awkward device to use, but its one saving grace is its adaptability. It’s quite heavy for its size but that’s sometimes a benefit for stability. Anyway, I got it set up the way I wanted it and got a few photos, only to discover that the lens was set to manual focus which means that everything was blurred.
After lunch I started again, but the light just wasn’t as good then and although I did get the shot in focus, I wasn’t really satisfied with it so I tried again. That was when I heard a scratching noise from the camera when I pressed the shutter, and a screech. Something in the camera or the lens was making the noise. Either I’d a tiny bit of grit in the lens or in the camera itself. I checked both my cameras with ‘good’ lens and they were fine. The noise was coming from the 24-105mm lens, the one I use every day.
I did a bit of reading and it might be repairable, but first I tried a suggestion from one photographer online who suggested turning the camera off and racking the lens back and forward about seventy times to release whatever was making the noise. It did seem to help, but not fully. I also tried warming the lens barrel as this might soften the lubricants in the lens barrel and allow it to be released. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to get a quote for a repair.
PoD was one of the last photos taken with the dodgy lens.
Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex for what will probably be a long blether, given the above. Then I intend to get back to Cumbersheugh for the vampires to take some of my blood.