NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

I started my photography career in Jr. High and High School. I was the Yearbook photographer, had my own darkroom, a Nikon F, Nikkormat, a 28mm, 50mm, 105mm and my favorite, a 55 macro. I have been out of the loop for 25 years and am playing catch up in this new digital era. I bought a D3200 kit with two zoom lenses from Cameta Camera and am reading everything I can. The Lester A. Dines lens sounded perfect for me to get back into the macro part of my hobby and I found a beautiful one from a dentist for $315.65 after shipping on ebay. I think that was a good price, there are no nicks on the lens and the glass is perfect, as is the diaphram and mechanical part of the lens. The ringflash is a Dine NE-2D by Sunpack. I have not tried it out yet, but it is in the same, beautiful condition.
But.... I now have a Nikon N2000 camera body that I will never use. There is a slight amount of paint wear where the right thumb would hold the camera. Also a 1/4 inch long scratch on the removable bottom. Is there a market for this beast? I have no use for a film camera, she said it was in perfect working condition but I have not tested it. I would sell it for next to nothing ($15.00 for some cold ones!) plus shipping. Inbox me if you know of anyone who wants or needs this beast.

sandheinrichc Loc: Illinois

I am interested, how much are you wanting for the camera, I collect older film cameras for display in my studio.

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

I will take $15 for it. I bought it for the Lester A. Dines lens. She said the camera is in perfect working order and was going to keep it for family snapshots if she didn't sell it. I think the shipping from the USPS is just under $13 for the small box. I have a lens on the body right now, but there is no body cap for it. If you would first send a body cap, I would feel much safer mailing it to you! I also took the battery compartment off and there are a couple of white leak marks there that I have not tried to clean off. Let me know, I can send pics if you are interested!

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

This is the actual camera from the ebay ad. Sorry it is so small, but it should give you a first glimpse of the body.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Hi Norman... Fellow Lester Dine user here.... I've had mine for a number of years. I was given the lens, ring/point light & a Nikon N2000 camera by my Father in Law (a retired Dentist).... If you have any questions about using it, just ask.... With the DSLR you have, you can only shoot in manual mode. As for using the ring light, it won't communicate with the camera. I had to tape over all but the center contact to get it to work on my old Nikon D70s.... I have since gotten another Dine ring/point light with a "standard" foot (only the center contact)... I shoot lots of macro using the lens/light combo on either my D7100 or more so on my older D300... You can see some of my macros on the Flickr link below

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

Hi Scott! I love this new lens. I am not used to it yet, the reverse focus gets me every time. I shoot jewelry for a long time friend, she is looking forward to see what I can produce for her. My main concern in my shoots is my aperture, I need to shoot at F11 to F16 to get the proper depth for some of my subjects. The manual mode seems to be the best so far, I used mainly ambient, filtered sunlight shining on a variety of home made diffuser boxes in the past. They gave me a natural color and no shadows, but I did have to be careful with the slower shutter speeds and have had more than one shot with camera jiggle ruining it. Now that film waste is no longer an issue, I am having a great time! I do want to learn flash techniques, I used to use a master and two slaves for doing group shots which worked well, but have never used a flash for macro work. I am ready to experiment! Will the Dines work on the A mode of my D3200? I am a little lost here, haven't had much time to experiment yet.

Grandpa Bear Loc: Florida

Are there any ring flashes that work with Nikon D7000?
I don't really want one I need to fight with nor do I want to pay a ton of cash (over $100--I'm retired military enlisted).

I shoot gun photographs to advertise and for collector purposes. Its a new experience and I'm sure that a ring flash will make it easier than handling everything. I have a defusing

Grandpa Bear Loc: Florida

Norman,
Let me suggest you take a look at a light box for shooting jewelry. I shot over 200 pieces for my late wife's late aunt (that's a lot of lates) and it made it very simple. The kit is available from Adorama and is the Flashpoint VRDSB1616. I don't suggest that you use the tripod for your camera as it is a little flimsy for my taste, but the two lights and the rest of the kit is very good for small stuff. Oh, and the price is under $30.00. The legs for the lights are stored inside the vertical component. I use a small power strip to have everything on the same circuit. I use the battery replacement (AC) for my camera. When needed you can add your regular flash using a cable and holding it in your hand...

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Really, I collect older lenses and often just throw the camera bodies away that come in with the old lenses, just this last week I threw an old Nikon away that came in with a Nikkor-H Auto 50mm lens on it. The shutter release button on the camera was broken but it would have been perfect for display. I have several old Pentax bodies laying around that were just too good to trash and maybe a couple of Konica's... I would let them go for $15 including my shipping to your home... basically that covers shipping and shipping supplies.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Likely only work in manual mode on that camera.... I have more advanced bodies & I can use it in manual & aperture priority modes on my cameras.... I shoot a lot at F11- F16 with the flash at 1/4 power & ISO at 200... With shiny subjects, you can still get hot spots (specular highlights)... It may be better to get a cheap 6" X 8 " diffuser" on a speedlight. I have one that I use as well as the ring light for when I stack shots...

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

Manual mode is irritating, to say the least, but I am on a huge learning curve right now.... I know that I will find the sweet spot in the next day or two. Push this, turn that, now push this other fucking button and turn the fricken' doohickey again... :/ lol I am getting there, not ready to publish poorly exposed images of a quarter yet :)

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

Thank you, my friend! I guess I got used to making my own diffusion tables when I was a kid with my Nikon F and 55 macro. I don't have a lot of images to shoot in the macro world, and I have my first attempt at my current table set up already. Yes, I can only use it when the sun is out of the windows in my sun room and is coming in indirectly from the skylights and windows... but hey! It is working! But I am looking forward to using a flash in the future, probably several of them. Do people still use umbrellas to reflect the flash, it seems like everyone is using flashes with diffusers now. I need to catch up! :)

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Hmmm Once you get dialed in you will prefer manual especially if you are using a flash with your macro.... I only shoot manual no matter what lens I am using when shooting macro shots.

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

I have the Dines ring flash with the straight flash mounted above the ring flash, but I hear that I need to tape off some of the pins on it. I haven't tried it yet, but I will soon. I love that I can just delete the bad pics immediately on my camera. Digital is fun! I am no where near using a lightroom yet... But am getting there with just the camera and being able to see them on my computer. This lens may be even better than my old 55mm macro Nikkor.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

When I shoot macro I generally shoot from a set focal point, meaning that I focus the lens by positioning the camera, I always shoot manually, I take a couple of shots to make sure that my settings are correct and then just go out and shoot. I use manual flash settings as well.