Peter, nice examples of the TC14A and the 300/4.5.

Monty, very cool portrait of Higgs and nice Train Art.

John, sorry to hear about the decentered copy (135/3.5) and the poor weather at sea level.

Ben, very nice take on the photogarphers-tolerating model ;-)

Chuong, very nice light on the Bonsai!

Peter, I like your 20mm-shots a lot. Looks like good fun ;-)

leighton w wrote:

John - So the 3.5 version is going back? I guess it's hard to judge between the three when it seems off.



Yep, the f/3.5 version is going back to the ebay seller I bought it from. They have a 14 day return policy. There were other cheaper auctions for this lens, but most of them did not have a return policy. I've never had to return something I've bought from ebay before, so we'll see how this goes.

Shame really, as the lens is in fantastic shape otherwise. I could send it to APS or some place to have it re-centered, but I'm sure that would cost me well over $100.

I don't usually buy lenses off of ebay as I like to be able to try them out in person before purchasing, but I could not find a f/3.5 version available locally for the last few months.

John

Snaps of snow in Garland, Texas last week using a 50 mm f1.2 AIS

Snow in Texas? My worldview wobbles ;-)
Very nice pictures, Sam, I especially like the fairy-tale-like second shot.

jhinkey wrote:
leighton w wrote:

John - So the 3.5 version is going back? I guess it's hard to judge between the three when it seems off.



Yep, the f/3.5 version is going back to the ebay seller I bought it from. They have a 14 day return policy. There were other cheaper auctions for this lens, but most of them did not have a return policy. I've never had to return something I've bought from ebay before, so we'll see how this goes.

Shame really, as the lens is in fantastic shape otherwise. I could send it to APS or some place to have it re-centered, but I'm sure that would cost me well over $100.

I don't usually buy lenses off of ebay as I like to be able to try them out in person before purchasing, but I could not find a f/3.5 version available locally for the last few months.

John


Smart move on your part John. I once bought a lens without a return policy on eBay and regretted it. Took a loss when I resold it due to the condition which was not properly described in the eBay listing. Since then I have always purchased only if there is a return policy. Had to use it once as a lens arrived with oil on the aperture blades that the seller had missed. He took it back without any issues. Good luck on your return and search for another 135 3.5.

Thank you Leighton, Philippe, Ben, Chuong, Georg, and Peter for the winter cornfield image. It did "warm up" to 27F that day.

Philippe, like Ben said, love the tourist shots of Paris. It can be hard to get motivated to shoot something that iconic that is close by. For me that subject is Niagara Falls. Great shots of the city though. The Eiffel Tower shot is wonderful.

Chuong, nice detail images from your home.

Peter, that bread looks tasty.

Leighton, the lamb mother image is very cute. I can just imagine you all gathered around the woodstove on a cold night.

Monty, welcome back. Higgs is looking cute as ever.

Ben, that girl in the window looks a bit "plastic". Maybe a bit too much makeup. Nice picture.

Hey John, KEH has three available, depending on what grade you want it in....

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK06000083500N?r=FE

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK06000083750Q?r=FE

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK060000837500?r=FE


jhinkey wrote:
leighton w wrote:

John - So the 3.5 version is going back? I guess it's hard to judge between the three when it seems off.



Yep, the f/3.5 version is going back to the ebay seller I bought it from. They have a 14 day return policy. There were other cheaper auctions for this lens, but most of them did not have a return policy. I've never had to return something I've bought from ebay before, so we'll see how this goes.

Shame really, as the lens is in fantastic shape otherwise. I could send it to APS or some place to have it re-centered, but I'm sure that would cost me well over $100.

I don't usually buy lenses off of ebay as I like to be able to try them out in person before purchasing, but I could not find a f/3.5 version available locally for the last few months.

John

Hi Higgs! Hi Monty, glad you came back to play

montym wrote:
Guess Who?

Got pulled away suddenly for a few weeks, don't know where I left off but will try to go through all the pages I missed.

Didn't have too much opportunity, but did manage to take a few shots that I will try to process and upload in the next few days.

Samy

24 PC E :

NightOwl Cat wrote:
Hey John, KEH has three available, depending on what grade you want it in....

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK06000083500N?r=FE

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK06000083750Q?r=FE

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK060000837500?r=FE


jhinkey wrote:
leighton w wrote:

John - So the 3.5 version is going back? I guess it's hard to judge between the three when it seems off.



Yep, the f/3.5 version is going back to the ebay seller I bought it from. They have a 14 day return policy. There were other cheaper auctions for this lens, but most of them did not have a return policy. I've never had to return something I've bought from ebay before, so we'll see how this goes.

Shame really, as the lens is in fantastic shape otherwise. I could send it to APS or some place to have it re-centered, but I'm sure that would cost me well over $100.

I don't usually buy lenses off of ebay as I like to be able to try them out in person before purchasing, but I could not find a f/3.5 version available locally for the last few months.

John


Thanks Laura - I've been checking KEH for the past 3 weeks and I've not seen one 135/3.5 all that time (they seemed to have cleared out their MF Nikkors before the Holidays) and now there are 3!

I'll check it out.

I hate to see a fine lens like this have optical issues that you know came from the factory since there is no external marks on the lens that would indicate that it had been dropped or jarred in any appreciable way. It also looks like it's never been taken apart either..

John

georgms wrote:
Snow in Texas? My worldview wobbles ;-)
Very nice pictures, Sam, I especially like the fairy-tale-like second shot.
+1 Nice images.

This morning it was 28F at 500 ft. elevation and 50 F at 2,500 ft elevation. We were freezing at the start of the run and overheating at the top.

Yesterday, at Paradise on Mt. Rainier it was reported to be over 60 F at 5,500 ft while down here in Seattle it was in the high 30's. Too bad I can't make it out to the mountains as the weather was spectacular from the reports.

This morning's sunrise was spectacular, but I had no camera with me.

John

Hi all, been busy with the customer in town and my kid transferring college. So far so Good. will catch up to everyones postings later in the week. Wanted to share my personal observations on the 20mm 1:3.5 UD that I own. I have used the lens on film with good success, here is a sample of a scanned slide, likely at 1:11.

Quail Botanical Nikon F nikkor 20mm f3.5 UD 4 by Rafael CA, on Flickr

Never been able to mount it on the D3, the ai tab hits the lip of the aperture ring and I have never found an ai lens or a ring selling for reasonable prices. I have read that some non-ai aperture rings are fat and some are thin, some of my non ai lens like the 5.8cm have a very fat aperture ring, my 20mm UD does not, I tried to mount it on the D800 and the aperture ring slid very nicely under the ai tab, no interference at all, the aperture ring on the lens and camera still rotate freely on both. I did have to remove the aperture shoe, very easy to do. Also, need to use exposure compensation if you close the lens down, like F/8.0 will require +2 Exposure compensation as the ai tab is not coupled.

Here is the lens mounted on the D800, my copy has perfect glass, no dust at all.


nikon nikkor 20mm ud D800 side

nikon nikkor 20mm ud D800 front by Rafael CA, on Flickr
by Rafael CA, on Flickr


Here a couple of samples the first at full aperture, the second at f/8. These are full resolution at flickr.

nikon nikkor 20mm ud D800at f3.5 test by Rafael CA, on Flickr

nikon nikkor 20mm 1:3.5 ud D800 at f8 test by Rafael CA, on Flickr

Now against the sun at f/8 and f/3.5


nikon nikkor 20mm ud D800at f8 sun in frame by Rafael CA, on Flickr

nikon nikkor 20mm ud D800 full aperture sun in frame by Rafael CA, on Flickr


Note the interesting rainbow rays at full aperture, only lens I own that does this.

My observation is that this lens is very usable at 3.5 on the D800, center is very sharp and gracefully softens towards the corners, probably mostly due to curvature of field as the edge sharpness is strongly dependent on distance, at middle apertures the center only gets a tiny bit sharper and the edges and corners get progressibly better, the corners never do get totally sharp but the edges do. Contrast is fine. The HN-9 shade vignettes a little mounted on a filter.

At 3.5 the 20mm performs significantly better than my 18mm 3.5 ais, but at 8.0 the 18mm is a lot better across the frame, both are equally shap in the center.

Again these are personal comments on one sample of each.

Just a note - one lens I tried out the other day and came away fairly impressed was the 40/2.8 AI-P.

Wide open on my D800 the central 2/3rds of the frame was very sharp (with a bit of reduced contrast) with the sharp area increasing with each stop closing down. At f/5.6 everything looked great except perhaps the very very very extreme corners (and I mean extreme) and at f/8 it was looking great all over. Enough to satisfy the D800 sensor. It was a cloudy day when I tested it, so I don't know about flare/ghosting, but perhaps another day.

They wanted too much for it, but boy was it small and light. I can see why the black versions go for so much as this tiny silver lens on my D800 looked a bit weird!
If you want something small, light, pretty sharp and don't need faster than f/2.8 this may be a lens to look into.

John

Leighton, stunning early morning pictures with your 28-50/3.5;

Georg, lovely B & W pano of your home town under snow;

Philippe, loved the coffe bill and the Arc de Triomphe as a background;

Scott, beautifull "OOF sunrise";

Ron, congrats on your new and mighty 200-400mm f/4; looking forward to see your captures with this lens;

Peter, great set from the market; loved the pigeon too with 300/4.5 + TC14B;

Welcome back Monty, loved "the particle" portrait;

Sam, spetacular snow shots, like dthe most the second one;

Rafael, thanks for sharing your impression of the "sexy" 20mm f/3.5 UD with the D800, by the way with great images.

jhinkey wrote:
Just a note - one lens I tried out the other day and came away fairly impressed was the 40/2.8 AI-P.

Wide open on my D800 the central 2/3rds of the frame was very sharp (with a bit of reduced contrast) with the sharp area increasing with each stop closing down. At f/5.6 everything looked great except perhaps the very very very extreme corners (and I mean extreme) and at f/8 it was looking great all over. Enough to satisfy the D800 sensor. It was a cloudy day when I tested it, so I don't know about flare/ghosting, but perhaps another day.

They wanted too much for it, but boy was it small and light. I can see why the black versions go for so much as this tiny silver lens on my D800 looked a bit weird!
If you want something small, light, pretty sharp and don't need faster than f/2.8 this may be a lens to look into.

John

John, I believe you meant 45/2.8 AI-P... if so I fully agree with what you said. This lens is one of my favourite piece of glass. If I remember right it involves a very simple Tessar design. I am happy with it on D600/D800 but this particular lens was really shinning on D7000, both on IQ and on the way it balances on the body. Unfortunately I have the same silver version that came with my FM3A but I can live with that

James Markus wrote:
Lots of wonderful photos! Anyone have any experience with the Nikon TC-14a? Bjørn Rørslett gave it a craptacular rating. I have one on loan at the moment - and from what I have read they are intended for use on 200mm (some say 300mm) or shorter lenses. Uwe Steinmueller seems to have gotten decent results on a 80-400 vr.


James, this TC is the only which will fit in 200mm or smaller Nikkor focal lenghts. I have some samples shots:


Cetoniinae Flower Scarab (genus Gymnetis) with "77mm f/5" Micro Nikkor by labecoaves, on Flickr

Cetoniinae Flower Scarab (genus Gymnetis) with "77mm f/5" Micro Nikkor
D7000 + TC14A + Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 AI (=77mm f/5) + SB800 flash with diffuser + tripod. ~10% crop. ISO 320, f/11 at 1/60s.




Sayaca Tanager x banana 60% crop by labecoaves, on Flickr

Sayaca Tanager x banana 60% crop
Sayaca Tanager (Thraupis sayaca) around 3 m of distance. D7000 + TC14A + Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 ais (= 252mm f/4); hand held, ISO 320, f/5.6 & 1/500s. The image is a ~ 60% crop.
Late afternoon.



And some "not recommended" setups, that is, with longer than 200mm lenses:


_DTR1662dpreview by labecoaves, on Flickr

Candid shot of a couple, D300 + 800mm f/5.6 ais + TC14A = 1120mmf/8
ISO640, no crop, couple at ~ 120m.
I know, I know, TC14B is the correct TC according to Nikon, but this "wrong" TC14A works!




DTR1605 Adult Sayaca Tanager at 20m by labecoaves, on Flickr

Adult Sayaca Tanager at 20m
D300 + Nikkor 800mm f/5.6 + TC14A = 1120mm f/8 + tripod. 35% crop. The "wrong" TC works again.

With these longer than 200mm lenses in FX there is vignetting, but on a DX crop I think there is no concern.
Unfortunately I have no expriences with the TC14B to compare, but regarding to the TC14EII, this is sharper at borders and have less or no CA.

jhinkey wrote:
Just a note - one lens I tried out the other day and came away fairly impressed was the 40/2.8 AI-P.

Wide open on my D800 the central 2/3rds of the frame was very sharp (with a bit of reduced contrast) with the sharp area increasing with each stop closing down. At f/5.6 everything looked great except perhaps the very very very extreme corners (and I mean extreme) and at f/8 it was looking great all over. Enough to satisfy the D800 sensor. It was a cloudy day when I tested it, so I don't know about flare/ghosting, but perhaps another day.

They wanted too much for it, but boy was it small and light. I can see why the black versions go for so much as this tiny silver lens on my D800 looked a bit weird!
If you want something small, light, pretty sharp and don't need faster than f/2.8 this may be a lens to look into.

John
John, I posted this before, this lens performs about the same as you described. Not as easy to find but classier and cheaper. This is the C version.

Nikon Nikkor GN 45mm 2.8 C non ai HN4 D800 by Rafael CA, on Flickr

Nikkor Nikon 45mm GN C 2.8 non ai D800 at 11 by Rafael CA, on Flickr

Nikkor Nikon 45mm GN C 2.8 non ai D800 crop 2 at 11 by Rafael CA, on Flickr

Nikkor Nikon 45mm GN C 2.8 non ai D800 crop at 2.8 by Rafael CA, on Flickr

rafaelcasd wrote:

John, I posted this before, this lens performs about the same as you described. Not as easy to find but classier and cheaper. This is the C version.


Did you AI convert yours or was it a factory conversion?

Do you use it much?

- John

My first post using Nikki took me to the University of Florida teaching garden here in Plant City, Florida. It is located right next door to the complex where I live. Over the past couple of years this beautiful garden has provided countless photo opportunities. I enjoy the garden tremendously as it provides a quiet place of solace. Each year as students pass through the university the garden expands. Their work, along with the professors who labor here are truly creating a masterpiece. Nikki seems to love flowers