A few days ago I mentioned that I had two more Minolta lenses on the way. They were a 28mm f/2.5 and a 135mm f/2.8. Both of these transactions had issues.

The 28mm lens arrived with fungus on an interior lens element despite an eBay description of "no fungus." Since it was in otherwise good condition, I brought it to Camera Works to have it dealt with. That will take a week or so.

I had to contact the eBay seller of the 135mm lens, a camera "store" in Dearborn, Michigan, after not hearing anything for five days after paying. The response I received was:

"I have a problem; it appears that I am out of stock on this exact lens. We recently had an accidental re-listing of multiple items that sold through our storefront which this is victim to." 

I checked out the seller's feedback on eBay and it seems this is not a rare occurrence. But supposedly a refund is in the works. A reminder that these are cheap lenses. Less than $50.

Now that I have an R series body with image stabilization, I've been thinking about the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L lens. It is an older design, from 2006, but it is still being sold new by Canon. Used copies are not rare. It is a fraction of the cost of the RF version It's also not nearly as good. It has a classic quality like the much older Minolta lenses but has autofocus and weather sealing, among other things. I may decide to rent one.

While I'm thinking about it, I took my MD 50mm f/1.7 lens to Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve this morning. I haven't been using this lens much, preferring instead to test out the slightly older MC lenses. Here are some images from this morning:

[Update 6/15: I decided against renting and instead went ahead and picked one up from Camera Exchange in Waterford, Michigan along with the necessary adapter. It should be in hand in a couple of days. And while the lens dates from 2006, this copy was manufactured in May, 2016. So, the experiment with the Minolta lenses for everyday use ends. I bought five lenses, some hoods and two adapters with a total cost of about $400. I will keep them for occasional use when I want to play with something different.]

Vischer Ferry Nature PreserveCanon EOS R6, Minolta MC ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7. Vischer Ferry Nature PreserveCanon EOS R6, Minolta MC ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7. Vischer Ferry Nature PreserveCanon EOS R6, Minolta MC ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7. Vischer Ferry Nature PreserveCanon EOS R6, Minolta MC ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7. Vischer Ferry Nature PreserveCanon EOS R6, Minolta MC ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7. Vischer Ferry Nature PreserveCanon EOS R6, Minolta MC ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7. Vischer Ferry Nature PreserveCanon EOS R6, Minolta MC ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7.