Charliemouse

2024 Bhutan 1oz Silver Lunar Dragon (Singapore Mint) Another dragon for the flight.

2024 Perth Mint 1oz Silver Kookaburra Finally added this year's to the collection. Now complete (until next year). First of a fresh haul from Silver Trader.

Bad habit. 🤣

I learned photography with a Canon AE-1, back in medieval times. A motor drive would have been a dream. 😁

Do consider third party lenses, such as Sigma and Tamron. They are significantly better value and sometimes even exceed Canon for image quality and features.

Just to back that up, I looked at several 28-70s on MPB, and they all said "some moisture inside", which I suspect is really the glue issue I described. It's a common problem sadly, that only appears about 10-15 years after the lens was made.

MPB is the best known in UK. e.g. Used Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II USM | MPB If you do decide to replace it, I honestly wouldn't recommend getting the same lens, as it will probably just have the same problem in a few years time (if not sooner).

Yeah, it's a good lens, and was a great lens when it came out. You can get that exact model second hand for around £400 I noticed. But the equivalent to that as a modern Canon lens is something like £2000. If you want to replace it with something similar, let me know and I can recommend third party lenses that will be a lot cheaper.

Hi. Sorry, it's been a busy day. I probably have bad news for you. Firstly, you should get it checked by a proper camera shop anyway. But be prepared. Possible causes of hazing: The 28-70 didn't have proper weather sealing, so it might be moisture trapped inside the lens. Doesn't sound like that though, by your description of how it has been stored. The oil on the helicoid could have evaporated and deposited on the inside of the lens. Seems unlikely, but would still require dismantling and an expensive clean. (Most likely) Unfortunately, the 28-70 has a notorious problem. There is a compound element inside (two separate pieces of glass glued together to form a single 'lens'). The glue they used denatures over time, and becomes hazy. Basically, if the latter has happened, and I suspect that is exactly the case, it is probably not financially viable to repair the lens, as the work required and/or spare parts, would be very expensive. Best case, it's going to be £200-300 service. Worst case, it's written off after £50-100 investigation. Sorry.

When will the RM make something this good again? I present the glorious 1997 Gold £2

The small ones are just as good, honestly. Even the 1/20oz is sharp.

Great pics. Better than 95% of what I see online. Sharp. Fills the frame. Good colour. Tripod is so important! Sounds like the most boring thing in the world (probably is), but getting the right pod just makes everything else work.

Wipe clean. Very practical.

Shhh! You want to start a war?

Agreed! It's a nice design. The RAM web site appears to be in a very broken state. I guess we wait before they turn up here.

Not received today on the TIR thread? Chris!!!! 🤣 Wen flip?

Agreed. It's a belter. But a slightly unfair comparison being a much larger coin. I do have the set, so will look at a smaller one.

Here are wider images of the maple and roo for context.

Here's a couple: 2014 1oz Reverse Proof Maple 2014 1/4oz Proof Kangaroo

Difficult to be precise. The closest this lens focuses is about 12mm, which gives a stated magnification of 700x. I take these figures with a bit of a pinch of salt though, and it obviously depends what monitor you view it on. A more useful measure is what distance the image covers on the subject. The image of George's head is about 1.5mm x 1mm.

Here's a couple of Gillicks. First year and last year. Sadly, only bullion. 1958 Bullion Full Sovereign 1968 Bullion Full Sovereign Amazingly, I think there is more definition in these faces than in the 2015 proof above. Of course the finish is not as good with bullion, but it makes you wonder.

Which do you mean? The previous two were Perth and Canada. They are the only proof coins I have with the Pistrucci design, to compare George's head like with like. I am happy to photograph anything I've got with the microscope, but I don't have proofs going further back than the 1980's.

It's always the leprechauns. 🤣

I have no idea. Hopefully someone with more coin minting knowledge can answer. In the meantime, here are some more pics. Including some missing 'frosting'. For scale, those digits are approximately 1.5mm tall. That makes the 'striations' about 50 microns wide.

1999 Perth Mint Bi-Metallic Sovereign 2018 RCM $200 110th Anniversary .99999 This is just weird. Appears to be made with an entirely difference process.