Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS

[sb photos]

12 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

And that's what I will be doing tomorrow, returning the bl****y thing for a refund. I've changed my mind about getting the 24-105 f4. 

 

I have a bigger bag, ReeRay. A Domke. I also have a half-fixed broken arm. And I feel that I spent enough years carrying a weighty kit. 

 

The right decision Ed. As the years mount up I constantly consider what I carry, the bags I use, and when I carry a laptop what is light and adequate. And all has to be within budget. Unfortunately when winter arrives and the days draw in I may have to start carrying my bigger bags, lenses and FF kit. Sometimes I think back to when I carried two OM1 bodies (film cameras) and a selection of small prime lenses, they were the days.

Edited July 26, 2023 by sb photos

[Ed Rooney]

 

Yes, I'll be moving on from this moment of madness, sb. I used primes back in the film era too. 

[John Mitchell]

10 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Yes, I'll be moving on from this moment of madness, sb. I used primes back in the film era too. 

 

Fortunately, moments of madness pass just like everything else. Sorry to hear that your arm hasn't healed completely. I recently had x-rays that show I have dislodged vertebrae in my lower back that are pressing on nerves causing weird pains in my left leg. I now have to have an MRI and am hoping cortisone injections will eventually fix things up. Until then I can't do a lot of walking, and I'll be sticking with my featherweight camera gear. 🪶

[Ed Rooney]

13 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

I recently had x-rays that show I have dislodged vertebrae in my lower back that are pressing on nerves causing weird pains in my left leg. I now have to have an MRI and am hoping cortisone injections will eventually fix things up. Until then I can't do a lot of walking, and I'll be sticking with my featherweight camera gear. 🪶

 

Let's hope that gets sorted out before it gets more painful, John. I have pains in my aches and aches in my pains but I'm amazed at how well I'm doing as a senior senior. 

[gvallee]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Let's hope that gets sorted out before it gets more painful, John. I have pains in my aches and aches in my pains but I'm amazed at how well I'm doing as a senior senior. 

 

Good on you Edo. You're a toughie.

 

[Rebecca Ore]

On 25/07/2023 at 22:31, John Mitchell said:

 

Interesting that yours also developed fungus. I guess the 55-210 isn't sealed very well. As I mentioned somewhere else, I bought a used replacement (later version), and it's much better in every way -- sharpness, contrast, OSS, and build quality -- than the old one. Try to get one of the newer versions if you're shopping around for a replacement. I'm wondering if my original was a fake of some kind. Be careful if you get the lens cleaned. Apparently it's easy to infect the camera body and other lenses if there are still spores. I decided to ditch mine. I've licensed a fair number of images captured with this lens.

 

Got the diagnosis on the lens today, and the verdict was it is unrepairable.   $3 US (100 C) for the diagnosis (the guy did open it up and Luis had some parts plus photos on his phone).    Showed Luis the cost of that lens at B&H, which he thought was high, then showed Luis what some of the alternatives cost.   I'll be more vigilant in recharging my dehumidifiers in the future,   New at B&H is $300, plus taxes and duties on this end, so a someday thing, but not immediately.

 

Camera gear here is not particularly common or easy to find legit, and anything needs to be kept with dehumidifiers.   On the infecting other lenses, I'm read opinions both ways.  But the lens wrap will go back to wrapping external hard drives, not other lenses, after it finishes hanging in the sun for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John Mitchell]

9 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Let's hope that gets sorted out before it gets more painful, John. I have pains in my aches and aches in my pains but I'm amazed at how well I'm doing as a senior senior. 

 

Some days are better / worse than others. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long for an MRI. The Canadian healthcare system is stretched almost to the breaking point. I guess that at 74 I'm still something of a junior senior. You do amazingly well. I'd say you are a super senior. Must be those resilient Irish genes. 🍀

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, Rebecca Ore said:

 

Got the diagnosis on the lens today, and the verdict was it is unrepairable.   $3 US (100 C) for the diagnosis (the guy did open it up and Luis had some parts plus photos on his phone).    Showed Luis the cost of that lens at B&H, which he thought was high, then showed Luis what some of the alternatives cost.   I'll be more vigilant in recharging my dehumidifiers in the future,   New at B&H is $300, plus taxes and duties on this end, so a someday thing, but not immediately.

 

Camera gear here is not particularly common or easy to find legit, and anything needs to be kept with dehumidifiers.   On the infecting other lenses, I'm read opinions both ways.  But the lens wrap will go back to wrapping external hard drives, not other lenses, after it finishes hanging in the sun for a while.

 

 

 

Camera technicians here also told me not to bother with repair, especially since it's an inexpensive lens. They also told me that they rarely see lens fungus in Vancouver. No doubt it's a much bigger problem in Nicaragua. Think I know what happened in my case. I had some fungus growing in the trunk of my car, and I probably stupidly left my camera bag sitting in the trunk for an hour or two one day. Fortunately, only the 55-210 got infected. I tried putting the lens in the sun (with no UV filter attached of course) for several days, but that didn't seem to help matters. Best of luck finding a replacement.

[Rebecca Ore]

1 minute ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Camera technicians here also told me not to bother with repair, especially since it's an inexpensive lens. They also told me that they rarely see lens fungus in Vancouver. No doubt it's a much bigger problem in Nicaragua. Think I know what happened in my case. I had some fungus growing in the trunk of my car, and I probably stupidly left my camera bag sitting in the trunk for an hour or two one day. Fortunately, only the 55-210 got infected. I tried putting the lens in the sun (with no UV filter attached of course) for several days, but that didn't seem to help matters. Best of luck finding a replacement.

 

Down here, it wasn't that inexpensive a lens, and the tech who looked at it told Luis it was a nice lens, sigh.  I've mostly bought used from the US, or new in two cases.  My suspicions are it's the coating on that particular lens.  I'm high elevation relatively (1,000 meters above sea level, and putting lenses outside seems to have killed fungus in other lenses, including the Yashinon and the 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor (second version with the big rear optic).  The S/Z 55mm is fine; the macro 30mm is fine, the 35mm E-mount is fine.  The 24mm S/Z has two spots of fungus near the lens barrel in back.   If that grows, that's kinda a tragedy since it's my favorite lens on the a6000, and not cheap (Nicaraguan prices are higher than US prices and I bought it in the now defunct Sony Store).   I may see about getting an UV light since I don't have a secure place to put it in the sun, and it's been raining daily.

 

The Yashinon cost me around $3 US, and the 105mm Nikkor was a gift from my brother.  Even with some defects, the Yashinon and the Nikkor have been wicked sharp.  Neither has any element completely covered with fungus.  The 55-210 lens did, so yeah, that's why I suspect the coating.   Spot here or there is possibly from something organic getting into the lens and has appeared with the two manual focus adapted lenses to be self-limiting (both here since 2016 or so, no idea how long the Yashinon was in the second hand store here (now closed).

 

Another thing I've read is that newer coatings and adhesives are less prone to fungus.   Shrug.  I'll see. 

[John Mitchell]

36 minutes ago, Rebecca Ore said:

 

Down here, it wasn't that inexpensive a lens, and the tech who looked at it told Luis it was a nice lens, sigh.  I've mostly bought used from the US, or new in two cases.  My suspicions are it's the coating on that particular lens.  I'm high elevation relatively (1,000 meters above sea level, and putting lenses outside seems to have killed fungus in other lenses, including the Yashinon and the 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor (second version with the big rear optic).  The S/Z 55mm is fine; the macro 30mm is fine, the 35mm E-mount is fine.  The 24mm S/Z has two spots of fungus near the lens barrel in back.   If that grows, that's kinda a tragedy since it's my favorite lens on the a6000, and not cheap (Nicaraguan prices are higher than US prices and I bought it in the now defunct Sony Store).   I may see about getting an UV light since I don't have a secure place to put it in the sun, and it's been raining daily.

 

The Yashinon cost me around $3 US, and the 105mm Nikkor was a gift from my brother.  Even with some defects, the Yashinon and the Nikkor have been wicked sharp.  Neither has any element completely covered with fungus.  The 55-210 lens did, so yeah, that's why I suspect the coating.   Spot here or there is possibly from something organic getting into the lens and has appeared with the two manual focus adapted lenses to be self-limiting (both here since 2016 or so, no idea how long the Yashinon was in the second hand store here (now closed).

 

Another thing I've read is that newer coatings and adhesives are less prone to fungus.   Shrug.  I'll see. 

 

One of the front elements in mine was completely covered in strange looking fungus (i.e. not spots), so it certainly could be the coating. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to affect the optics much. So far so good with the replacement, touch wood. This situation makes buying a used 55-210 sight-unseen risky. I was lucky enough to find mine at a local camera store that carries a lot of good used equipment, so I could check it out for fungus beforehand.

[Rebecca Ore]

2 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

One of the front elements in mine was completely covered in strange looking fungus (i.e. not spots), so it certainly could be the coating. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to affect the optics much. So far so good with the replacement, touch wood. This situation makes buying a used 55-210 sight-unseen risky. I was lucky enough to find mine at a local camera store that carries a lot of good used equipment, so I could check it out for fungus beforehand.

 

Back of my front element, lots of hair-like fungus, not radiations from centers, so sounds like the same thing.   I've heard that what's lost tends to be contrast.  My guess is that used 55-210s will be either stolen or not worth getting here.   A tourist had an a6000 and that lens stolen at a Leon area beach about the time mine came in from B&H.   A nice old Nikkor AI or AIS telephoto might be a way to go, but nothing immediately. 

[John Mitchell]

6 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said:

 

Back of my front element, lots of hair-like fungus, not radiations from centers, so sounds like the same thing.   I've heard that what's lost tends to be contrast.  My guess is that used 55-210s will be either stolen or not worth getting here.   A tourist had an a6000 and that lens stolen at a Leon area beach about the time mine came in from B&H.   A nice old Nikkor AI or AIS telephoto might be a way to go, but nothing immediately. 

 

Yes, lots of hair-like fungus. Maybe / hopefully Sony improved the coating on newer versions. I found that the minimal loss of contrast could be corrected in post-processing but stopped using the lens because I didn't want to take the chance of spores getting into the camera body. The camera store where I buy most of my used equipment runs police checks on all the stuff they sell to check if they're stolen. Not a bad idea.

[Rebecca Ore]

11 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Yes, lots of hair-like fungus. Maybe / hopefully Sony improved the coating on newer versions. I found that the minimal loss of contrast could be corrected in post-processing but stopped using the lens because I didn't want to take the chance of spores getting into the camera body. The camera store where I buy most of my used equipment runs police checks on all the stuff they sell to check if they're stolen. Not a bad idea.

 

No camera store in all of Nicaragua. A camera store in Miami has a website that says it's near the airport.  One can bring in a camera duty free, so richer folks get a cheap round trip to Miami and spend their money there.  For a very expensive camera, the flight to Miami is less than duty and sales tax here.  Cameras for sale here are in general electronics stores like Radio Shack and almost always the entry level version.   The Sony Store in Managua did have a wider selection of bodies and lenses.

[John Mitchell]

38 minutes ago, Rebecca Ore said:

 

No camera store in all of Nicaragua. A camera store in Miami has a website that says it's near the airport.  One can bring in a camera duty free, so richer folks get a cheap round trip to Miami and spend their money there.  For a very expensive camera, the flight to Miami is less than duty and sales tax here.  Cameras for sale here are in general electronics stores like Radio Shack and almost always the entry level version.   The Sony Store in Managua did have a wider selection of bodies and lenses.

 

There are still traditional camera stores here, but not nearly as many as there used to be. They are something of an endangered species. Both Radio Shack, where I bought my first computer centuries ago, and Sony Stores are long gone now. It seems that the wealthy in Latin America all have one foot at home and the other in Miami.

[Rebecca Ore]

3 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

There are still traditional camera stores here, but not nearly as many as there used to be. They are something of an endangered species. Both Radio Shack, where I bought my first computer centuries ago, and Sony Stores are long gone now. It seems that the wealthy in Latin America all have one foot at home and the other in Miami.

 

I bought my a6000 from a Charlotte, NC, camera store when I was back in the US for a funeral.   Radio Shack is still here, and expanded in Jinotega from a kiosk to a store front around three or four years ago.   I looked at an external SSD there -- one TB for $150 US, had an adapter for a more contemporary version of USB, but could also run on older USB connections.  

 

Yeah, the wealthy in Latin America shop in Miami and invest outside their countries.   The knock-on effect of sanctioning Ortega is that we now have an Ortega-owned pharmacy in Jinotega.   The Pellas family also has invested in Nicaragua, and has not tried to run one of its own for President, and tends to do some useful things beside running the credit card machinery, selling cars and alcoholic beverages, and producing sugar.  Some of the Opposition want the Pellas family to be sanctioned for not giving them aid and comfort in 2018.  They roll with the political winners, regardless of party, apparently.

 

Carlos Slim in Mexico figured out how to become a billionaire selling cell phone service and internet at an amazing range of price points.  Claro que si.

 

Someone once described Jinotega as 1880s Montana with internet.  People still use oxen for traction animals; the Belorussian tractor dealership in town closed (still have one in Managua).  Nothing of the deepest past remains, so it's not like Mexico City which is that weird mix of deep past and a future that's coming fast plus a present haunted by both.   In the campo, some people still speak Spanish/Nahuatl creole, but nobody on the Pacific side speaks a pure indigenous language.  But potters still make comals and eared bean pots.   I don't know where the concrete sinks came from, but those, too, are still used for laundry.  Luis washes dog bedding and the towel he uses to clean the floor in mine.  I have a pottery comal (see below).  My plant containers are red clay pots, some purpose made for plants, some originally made as bean pots that I drilled drainage holes into.   I've seen one video of a adolescent girl grinding corn dough for tortillas on a metate.   The real metates were made of volcanic rock.   The ones I've seen in a local craft shop were made of concrete, not recommended for real use, just a decoration.

 

I need to reline it with calcium chloride (cal) for a more non-stick coating for flat breads, but it's fine as is for toasting jicaro seeds and cinnamon sticks for a jicaro/cinnamon tea.

 

 

I've never seen any Nicaraguan wearing traje.  Used clothes from the US is less time-consuming.  Last back strap weaving used for daily wear was in the 1930s into the 1940s.   But beans sometimes get cooked in a clay pot on a wood fire in an outside kitchen with a clay or concrete stove.   The original crock pot/slow cooker.  And torillas still get cooked in comals or on iron flattops over wood fires.  

Edited July 28, 2023 by Rebecca Ore
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