leighton w wrote:
MDoc9523 wrote:
Here are a couple of comparisons between Nikki and the 85mm 1.4 Unedited with Nikki being first





Thanks for these Ray, The bokeh is obviously better than the 1.8, but I was surprised to see more CA in the 1,4 version when you look at the leaf on the right side.

I love the white flowers in your last set.
Thank you Leighton. That's actually not CA it is a purple leaved plant

MDoc9523 wrote:
Thank you all for your well wishes on the passing of my mom.

Sorry for your loss Ray. One of the downsides of absence is that one misses out on what life brings to participants of this thread. I've missed a great deal, including most of your work with Nikki. I have been reviewing pages gone by and am not surprised to see you doing excellent work with our well traveled Nikkor friend.

My mom made it to 92 and her 90th birthday was a grand celebration as well. From what you've said it appears you mom was perhaps a bit easier person to hold close than was my rather prickly mom but regardless, losing a mother is always sad. I'm well aware how her passing means that my primary source for information about my family's past is gone. History now begins for me with a few faded memories of the time before my arrival 71 years ago. I guess we'll have to rely on the history we've created and been part of, especially that which lies ahead for all of us.

Blessings and love to you and your whole family Ray. Hopefully, I'll stick around long enough that our paths will cross once again on the thread.

The thing I'm enjoying the photos posted that were taken with Nikki, is the simple fact that even the oldest Nikkor lenses perform well with modern DSLR cameras. As I've added 40 year old lenses to my kit, some of which were produced without sophisticated lens coatings, I've discovered they do remarkably well. I have no objection to Nikon and other manufacturers making improvements to their products and marketing them that way, but sometimes the premium charged for only marginally better performance is wasted on those of us not making a living by selling our photos. I'm very content with my extensive, though modest collection of MF glass. I say modest in terms of what I paid for these lenses. I paid $600 for an 85 f/.4 AI-s in EX+ condition, saving myself a thousand dollars over what the G lens costs. That lens may be great, but I'm hardly suffering. And although I don't have a long history with Nikon lenses, my three years with them has me very much attached to the aperture ring. I can't imagine owning a lens without one...

CGrindahl wrote:
MDoc9523 wrote:
Thank you all for your well wishes on the passing of my mom.

Sorry for your loss Ray. One of the downsides of absence is that one misses out on what life brings to participants of this thread. I've missed a great deal, including most of your work with Nikki. I have been reviewing pages gone by and am not surprised to see you doing excellent work with our well traveled Nikkor friend.

My mom made it to 92 and her 90th birthday was a grand celebration as well. From what you've said it appears you mom was perhaps a bit easier person to hold close than was my rather prickly mom but regardless, losing a mother is always sad. I'm well aware how her passing means that my primary source for information about my family's past is gone. History now begins for me with a few faded memories of the time before my arrival 71 years ago. I guess we'll have to rely on the history we've created and been part of, especially that which lies ahead for all of us.

Blessings and love to you and your whole family Ray. Hopefully, I'll stick around long enough that our paths will cross once again on the thread.

Thank you Curtis. You always seem to have the words that are most helpful. My brother has an extensive family tree laid out and I believe that my mother could have told you all of their birthdays

Man Ray....do you have to rub in the good weather there...I'm freezing my A$$ off here.
Love these first two....

MDoc9523 wrote:
I'm sorry Leighton I just haven't had a chance to do a direct comparison. I can say for sure that as far as color, contrast, clarity and bokeh the 1.4 is a clear winner. Nikki has a nice bokeh but the 1.4 is butter Not to say that I have been displeased with Nikki. I think she performs quite well. Here are some photos from Bok Tower that I took today.

Laura, you a scooby doo fan?

NightOwl Cat wrote:
heading off to chicago this morning, seeing friends and one of my favorite bands play. Of course, it's snowing...

Sorry for your loss.

MDoc9523 wrote:
As many of you know I traveled to Ohio to visit my mother to celebrate her 90th birthday a couple of weeks ago. I had a wonderful day with her. She had not been doing very well but that day was like old times. I am so glad that I went because yesterday my sweet mother passed away. She has a lot of family waiting for her on the other side including my father who pass at the turning of the century. Her funeral will be on Tuesday, so my brothers and sister will be flying to attend. Thank you all for praying for her. She had a long and fruitful life and was one of the most giving person you would ever like to meet. RIP Ruth

CGrindahl wrote:
The thing I'm enjoying the photos posted that were taken with Nikki, is the simple fact that even the oldest Nikkor lenses perform well with modern DSLR cameras. As I've added 40 year old lenses to my kit, some of which were produced without sophisticated lens coatings, I've discovered they do remarkably well. I have no objection to Nikon and other manufacturers making improvements to their products and marketing them that way, but sometimes the premium charged for only marginally better performance is wasted on those of us not making a living by selling our photos. I'm very content with my extensive, though modest collection of MF glass. I say modest in terms of what I paid for these lenses. I paid $600 for an 85 f/.4 AI-s in EX+ condition, saving myself a thousand dollars over what the G lens costs. That lens may be great, but I'm hardly suffering. And although I don't have a long history with Nikon lenses, my three years with them has me very much attached to the aperture ring. I can't imagine owning a lens without one...

I agree with you whole-heartily. The other benefit being that these lenses don't seem to be coming down in price which makes them a good investment.

While waiting for the weather and lights to cooperate.

From March 2011

Nikon D700 - Noct-Nikkor 58mm ƒ/1.2 - ISO 1600 - .8 sec - ƒ/1.2

leighton w wrote:
CGrindahl wrote:
The thing I'm enjoying the photos posted that were taken with Nikki, is the simple fact that even the oldest Nikkor lenses perform well with modern DSLR cameras. As I've added 40 year old lenses to my kit, some of which were produced without sophisticated lens coatings, I've discovered they do remarkably well. I have no objection to Nikon and other manufacturers making improvements to their products and marketing them that way, but sometimes the premium charged for only marginally better performance is wasted on those of us not making a living by selling our photos. I'm very content with my extensive, though modest collection of MF glass. I say modest in terms of what I paid for these lenses. I paid $600 for an 85 f/.4 AI-s in EX+ condition, saving myself a thousand dollars over what the G lens costs. That lens may be great, but I'm hardly suffering. And although I don't have a long history with Nikon lenses, my three years with them has me very much attached to the aperture ring. I can't imagine owning a lens without one...

I agree with you whole-heartily. The other benefit being that these lenses don't seem to be coming down in price which makes them a good investment.

+1 Leighton. I've sold a few MF lenses for less than I bought them for, but perhaps I paid too much . . .
Most of my other MF lenses are at least holding value and seem to be increasing in value. They also seem to be much more scarce than a couple of years ago - perhaps as more and more people get an FX DSLR they've grabbed up more and more MF gems . . .

John

mike-in-ak wrote:
While waiting for the weather and lights to cooperate.

From March 2011

Nikon D700 - Noct-Nikkor 58mm ƒ/1.2 - ISO 1600 - .8 sec - ƒ/1.2



I'd like to see this one in a larger size!

MDoc9523 wrote:
As many of you know I traveled to Ohio to visit my mother to celebrate her 90th birthday a couple of weeks ago. I had a wonderful day with her. She had not been doing very well but that day was like old times. I am so glad that I went because yesterday my sweet mother passed away. She has a lot of family waiting for her on the other side including my father who pass at the turning of the century. Her funeral will be on Tuesday, so my brothers and sister will be flying to attend. Thank you all for praying for her. She had a long and fruitful life and was one of the most giving person you would ever like to meet. RIP Ruth

Ray, as I said a week or so ago, I'm glad you were able to have that time with your mom on her birthday and that your last memory of her is a happy one. My condolences on your loss.

Regards

Peter

Ray, very sorry to hear the news. Glad you could spend that recent time with her. Time with the people close to you is the most precious.

Samy


MDoc9523 wrote:
As many of you know I traveled to Ohio to visit my mother to celebrate her 90th birthday a couple of weeks ago. I had a wonderful day with her. She had not been doing very well but that day was like old times. I am so glad that I went because yesterday my sweet mother passed away. She has a lot of family waiting for her on the other side including my father who pass at the turning of the century. Her funeral will be on Tuesday, so my brothers and sister will be flying to attend. Thank you all for praying for her. She had a long and fruitful life and was one of the most giving person you would ever like to meet. RIP Ruth

Thank you all so much for your regards. It is so nice to have so many friends to lean on!

asiostygius wrote:
Leighton, another thing to consider is if you are prone to take nightscapes with a lot of lights - note the difference in the number of rays of light coming from light souces:

6 blades of the 85/1.8K ai'd:


Cityscape with Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 K ai'd at early night by labecoaves, on Flickr

Early night cityscape test with the old Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 K ai'd D3 + tripod, ISO 200, f/8, 25s.



Jose, nice cityscapes. I like the six pointed stars. Your earlier images of the flowers have wonderful background bokeh.
Scott

MDoc9523 wrote:
Here are some more shots with Nikki at the Bok Tower and Gardens. It looks like Zenfolio is up and running again.





Ray, this one is very nice.

leighton w wrote:
kwoodard wrote:
Couple of shots from a week ago...finally got around to posting them. You folks (along with the MF kit I now have) are really forcing me to get things right in camera before doing anything in post. These three have less than 5 minutes of post work done on them. The two abstracts are converted to B/W using channel mixer in PS6. Hope to give SEP a try this weekend.

Please, C&C the heck out of these. I feel I had hit a plateau with my photography and had lost the fire I once had. Not sure what changed in my head, but I am thinking slower and harder about my shots before I take them. I miss a lot, but my keeper rate is going up by many levels. Heck, even how I do things in post is evolving. Whole new world for me...

First two are with the 80-200mm f/4.5, ISO800


DSC_6184web by Kevin.Woodard, on Flickr


DSC_6257web by Kevin.Woodard, on Flickr


I really like these two Kevin. Great use of shadows in the first one.


+1. Both very nice Kevin. The first has nice sharp lines and geometry.

Thank you James and Scott

My condolences to you and your family Ray.

Ray

Thank you Ray. The regards from this thread means a lot.