Nickers

Can I take this opportunity to write a small ode on the delights of manual focus with a focusing ring? Nothing would induce my old camera to get this shot right; nothing would induce the new one's auto focus to grasp the important bit. But new camera with input from this old-model user resulted in clear spur cutters - aka "nickers". Lovely. It also demonstrates how far off level with the body the sliding section on that #50 is. Oh and the nickers are too long of course, but aren't they always? In fact don't get me started on them, or the #50...

For a self-proclaimed pro-combi person, it's hard to admit there's any variety of said plane one doesn't like. But I don't like the #50s. I don't like the fence rods threaded into the body; you can't replace them with a shorter set, neither can you can't off-set the length to the non-fence side to balance the bally thing up. I don't like the sliding section that should make lining up said section with the edge of the cutter easy, but in practice leaves the edge of the cutter with zero clearance and therefore that much harder to use. I don't like the spacing between the fence rods whch is barely wide enough for my hand to get between and bring pressure to bear on the fence, so must be impossible for many other users. And the fence. Ack. The fence has no wooden face and no provision for fitting one. What imbecile thought that was a good idea? All told I think they're the worst of all possible worlds and yet some people seem to like 'em. But me, I've gone as far as I can bear with this one and will turn with relief to a different model for the next shots.