In a Fit of Madness!

Long ago, in a land a little bit far way......there lived a jolly elf......AND HIS NAME WAS NOT SANTA CLAUS!!! Although he looked like St. Nick. Actually, his name was Milton Adams, the year was 1978, the "land" was Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas. It just seems like it was a long time ago!

It was long enough though that Vegas were still to be seen on the roads. I was driving a silver '74 "Kamback" like the one in the picture, because my brother had killed the white '71 "hatchback" the previous year. It was the summer before my senior year of high school, and our yearbook sponsor wanted to send her photographers to a one week camp/workshop at TTU. It was the geek kids' dream scenario; an excuse to go anywhere and everywhere carrying cameras, somebody else pays for film, processing and oh....did I forget to mention it was during the week of Band Camp!?! So yeah....a campus literally overrun with teenage girls away from home....... It was a tough job, but my best friend Eric and I figured we were up to the task.

What we did all day was to run around shooting pictures of anything and everything, then we'd develop them and discuss the results. I used my Canon A1 with motor drive and Eric had his mom's Nikon F. We thought we were pretty well equipped for a couple of high school kids! However, our gear was nothing compartively speaking. Our instructor, the aforementioned Milton was a staff photographer for the Lubbock Avalanche Journal newspaper. And his preferred equipment was one or more Nikon F2s, with motor drives and frequently a 500mm Nikkor "mirror" lens mounted. To say that he and his gear had an impact on us is putting it mildly. Although Milton had the disposition and physique of Buddha, but he had a sharp mind, whit and was a patient teacher. For our part, we tried to soak up as much knowledge as possible. One thing though that stuck in my mind was that big mirror lens!  I had never seen a one "in the flesh" much less the legendary (and rather large), Nikkor. I thought that people only ever used them on a tripod. He not only used it, but used it handheld!!! The effect when mounted on a motor-driven F2 was substantial!

I wasn't able to justify buying one of my own for a long time. Anyone who's ever attempted to use one can tell you that they are a bit of a specialty item and an acquired taste as well. Plus the Nikkors (like most any Nikkor) was completely out of my financial range, on top of which I wasn't shooting Nikons then. However, I did covet some of the offerings from the major independent manufacturers, such as the Tamron SP Adaptall II, the Tokina, but especially the Perkin-Elmer made Vivitar Series I 600mm or 800mm "Solid Cats". Unfortunately, even they were all north of $400. Then in the early 90's while I was using Pentaxes, the Koreans got into the game and started selling the pretty decent Samyang for less than $200. I bought one, but rarely had occasion to use it so it went into a trade for a pair of Spica TC-50 speakers. 

Then last week, some thirty five years on from Photography Camp and Milton, I finally bought into a Nikon mount mirror lens. This time it's a mint condition Tokina complete with fitted case, filters, caps and the original hood. This model is very small and light (as 500mm mirrors go). It should be a great match for my D300 with the battery grip attached. I expect it to arrive some time later this week, so I'm a little bit excited!