Last year, I found a Kenko KFM-2100 on eBay for incredibly cheap—if you know how ridiculously expensive spotmeters are—and immediately bought it. It works very well, except that it seemed to drain batteries in much less time than the expected 100 hours of continuous use. Today was my day off, so I sat down to tackle the problem.

The battery contacts were blackened, possibly a remnant of battery leak corrosion that had not been successfully cleaned. Luckily, this could easily be solved by re-tinning them. After my attempt to take apart the meter was blocked by too many too tiny ribbon cables, I decided to tin the contacts without removing the battery compartment. I had to proceed carefully to avoid burning the plastic case with the hot tip of the soldering iron, but the repair appeared to be good, confirmed by the absence of the ‘bc’ battery check symbol when the meter is switched on.

For a more thorough test, I set up some LED lights and took pictures of various household items, using the Kenko for metering. The same battery that was previously reported as low was still working after the few hours of the session. I could now say that the repair was a success.

I then developed the film in the bathroom, P needing the kitchen to prepare dinner, and I agitated the tank in a figure-eight motion, which I had just read about—two changes to my process. The new agitation method is now my favourite, as it saves me from fiddling with the tank lid and from dealing with leaks. Developing in the bathroom was also more convenient, because I had the entire bathtub as a work area and did not have to worry about spillages.

Anyway, here are the pictures that I like from today’s development.

This weekend we are staying indoors as P continues to recover from the pain in her lower back, which had her immobilised for most of the week. She was well enough to help me fix spikes on our garden fence, which we hope will deter pigeons and neighbourhood cats—and the occasional foxes—from climbing over and making a mess.

Earlier this morning, I was of a mind to pop out to Mytchett Lake for a couple of pictures, but I lost the drive after that bit of DIY. This mood is reflective of how I have been feeling despite recent improvements in the weather.

Instead, I sat in my alcove office, dismantled the Nikon Coolscan V ED, and gave it some much needed TLC. After I put it back together, I fitted new rubber feet to the bottom, as the original feet had worn out thin.

I picked a set of negatives from 2009 to test the scanner and found these pictures reminding me of when Woolworths stores were closing across the UK.

***

Nikon UK got in touch with me and offered a re-repair of the Nikon D850. This is after I remarked in their customer satisfaction survey about the washers/shims intruding onto the viewfinder area. I was reluctant to accept, explaining to them that I wasn’t prepared to have the camera sent to Europe for another month. But they promised that I would benefit from a priority repair in their UK workshop, which would take at most 10 days. I took the offer and will be posting the camera to them in the coming week. I have to say that so far Nikon’s customer service has been very good.

From a ten-year-old negative newly scanned on a Nikon Coolscan V ED, a picture of a fruit vendor at the now-defunct Farnborough Sunday Car Boot.

Yesterday and today, P and I finally hiked a new trail in Minley. It’s less than a ten-minute drive away from home, yet we put off going there for more than a year. It’s also now my favourite of all the trails near us. The terrain is quite diverse, changing from pine woodland to heathland to open fields.

Minley Manor can be seen from the trail. It has quite an interesting history: built by former colonist bankers, acquired by MoD, then presently owned by Chinese investors who operate it as a hotel, wedding venue, and Chinese cultural centre.

Hello, Spring. It looks like the good weather will persist throughout the weekend and into next week.

Today, P and I climbed up Caesar’s Camp. As usual, the view from the top made the climb worth it. We were also lucky to see the cows that roam around the area. But I did not take any pictures because I had to stay quiet so as not to spoil the videos that P was filming on her phone. By the time she finished, they were on their way down the hill through a bushy gully.

I took some test pictures with the D850 and made the same pictures with my Nikon FM2. I reckon the dappled sunlight will come out better on the black-and-white film.

I went walking for three hours, and all I shot was this lousy picture.

Yesterday, P and I hiked 15 km around Claycart Bottom and Long Valley, and today another 15 km along Basingstoke Canal and Mytchett. Physically rewarding, but photographically unfulfilling.

Nikon’s back, tell a friend.

Eminem! Got it? Never mind—

I received my D850 back on Thursday via UPS, about a month after it was posted to Nikon.

The problem with the viewfinder focus not matching auto-focus is gone. Whilst they had it, Nikon Europe called me to report that they could not find any fault. I explained what was wrong with the camera but remained anxious that they would return it without doing any repair. Fortunately, they managed to identify the problem and corrected it by adding three shims of 0.05 mm to the focusing screen.

It is now easier for me to focus on a subject through the viewfinder, which is essential when doing macro photography. My thorough checks show that everything is working. Except for one little nit: a sliver of the gold shim is visible in the viewfinder. It causes no harm other than to my obsessive compulsion, so I will have to get used to it.

Like other Nikon users have reported, the camera came back from the repair shop in immaculate condition. I had inadvertently left an SD card inside; that was returned to me. I also received some sort of Nikon-branded cloth in the box. It got me scratching my head, trying to figure out what it was. I thought it was a cloth to wrap the camera, but P thinks it is the mat they put the camera on whilst working on it. I am still curious why it was sent to me, though.

Today is a cold day, and P and I are still not 100% recovered from the flu of a few weeks ago. So we did not go out on a hike, as much as I wanted to try the D850 in the field. But I spent a couple of hours doing some flash photography.

***

We did not go out also because P was excited about trying out a recipe in her new fancy air-fryer. In truth, we had lame excuses not to go out today.

I’ve been ill with the flu since Friday evening, with the usual inconveniences: body ache, alternating shivering cold and fever, sleepless nights and weird dreams.

Hiking was out of the question, and even sitting at the computer felt tiring. Instead, I spent the weekend on the couch, napping and binging on photography videos on Xiao Hong Shu.

We’ll be having dinner shortly, and I still don’t feel great. Tomorrow might be a remote work day.

***

I keep receiving codes on my Facebook app, as if someone was trying to access my account.

As I walked away after taking this picture, I had a doubt, “Did I set the focus in this scene?” Clearly, I didn’t.

***

I took the Nikon D850 out with us today. Back at home, I returned it into its original box,  wrapped the box in leftover Christmas giftwrap paper, put the lot in a large parcel bag, and affixed the pre-paid postage label. That was it, the camera was ready for collection. The repair time will be around 25 days according to Nikon.

***

On this cold Sunday morning walk, we covered about 6 km in about 2 hours. P did not fancy a long hike, because she wanted some rest before the dreaded Monday and the weather was miserable. Luckily, much of the ice had still not melted, which enabled us to walk over frozen ground that would have been otherwise too muddy.

Perhaps, I was just as miserable as the weather. Twice people stopped and started conversations with me. Both times as I was setting up the above shot. “Spot anything interesting?” “Pardon?” I asked back. “Did you see an interesting bird?” he asked again. Instead of giving a simple answer, my mind started analysing the situation, thinking about why I would be taking the picture of a bird with a short lens on a camera fixed on a tripod? “Oh, no. It’s just the trees.” The man trod off.

About five minutes later, an old lady stopped and asked if I was shooting anything interesting. “Oh, no it’s just trees. No rare birds or anything of the sort, ” I said, once again gesturing at the trees. She said, “I know, I saw you had a short lens. Have a nice day.” Obviously, she knew her stuff and could have made an interesting conversation partner. Instead, I blew it off by being brief and effacing.

Later, P told me that I was borderline rude for virtually telling these two people to bog off. In her words, I was as bad as the shopkeeper who sold me the camera and whom I had called unfriendly. It wasn’t really my intention, I just avoid lengthy conversations about photography with strangers lest I bore them. I have to admit, though, that people stopping and asking questions about what I am photographing should have been give-away of their genuine interest. Knowing this, I felt, well, miserable for the rest of the walk, despite P’s attempt to comfort me.

***

Back to the D850, it is an amazing camera. Here are two more pictures that I took today.

We went for a walk in the cold today, covering 10 km in Long Valley. The temperature hovered around zero degrees Celcius, so much of the overnight ice remained, which made it fun for us to slide on the many frozen puddles along the way.

My one-month-old Nikon D850 has a misaligned focusing screen, which means that the AF works but the viewfinder shows a blurry image. I requested a warranty repair from Nikon, and it’s due to be collected by courier on Tuesday. I thought I’d take a few pictures with it before it’s sent off. The D850 is a really great camera, it’s a shame that my specimen has this fault.