Hey Rafael, if you ever want to trade 80-200mm's, I am your man.

Jose - Thanks for the comments on the 85mm, truly they are all great lenses, IMHO it is more important to get a good sample than the differences between them. The 1.4 wins for Bokeh.

Ray, beautiful Bok Garden Photos with Nikki.

Dean - Excellent 180mm perspective

Tony - Great Studio portraits

Kevin - love this:

"Caught this out of the corner of my eye, had to shoot it."


DSC_6448 by Kevin.Woodard, on Flickr

Lovely Rapunzel Chuong

Kevin - I will save the 80-200mm 2.8 for trading with you, how about a 6mm 2.8 in exchange?

Been trying to get the sunset, but the abundant clouds are low and don't blossom. So I started with a blossoming tree and the 85mm 2.0 at 2.0. Eucalyptus are amazing, they do not seem to need water and water cannot be found in their sap. Note the lens rendering enhanced by Nik

Nikon Nikkor 80mm 2.0 ais D800 Flowering Black Eucalyptus by Rafael CA, on Flickr

Then hiked to the top and missed a good sunset again, this with the best landscape lens of all - 50-300mm 4.5 ED


Nikon Nikkor 50-300mm D800 Sunset 2 by Rafael CA, on Flickr


Nikon Nikkor 50-300mm D800 Sunset by Rafael CA, on Flickr

Thank you all
Scott: Yes it is old fort.. was used by the military in the past

A winter storm brought out the kite surfers. Cheers, Jeff.

djjohnr13 wrote:

Fallen Tree at Sunrise - Briones
85mm f/2.0 AIS

Beautiful

philipj wrote:

Speaking of, here's a shot with the 105mm f/1.8 AI-s at f/4, through the window of an art gallery on Queen St West in Toronto.



Very nice, Philip

Kevin - you're getting the 80-200 to talk now - love the holly and the (palm ?) frond

raboof wrote:
I took a few shots today at a local greenhouse. 135mm f2.0



Both are lovely

wapsijims wrote:

There isn't too else but the eagles to shoot in January in Iowa (no snow even). We did have a little freezing rain so I ran out and took these with my 105 Ai.

Jim



Welcome Jim - nice first posts here.

CGrindahl wrote:
djjohnr13 wrote:

My dear friends baby is about four months old, so I understand what you're going through. Congratulations on your baby. Here is a photo I've posted before of Ansel, my friend's boy held by my god-daughter... shot with the 85 f/1.8 H AI'd.



Well worth another look, Curtis

Jose - that "out of focus" tail on the Tanager is sharper than most of my "perfectly focused" images with any lens!

Foggy14 wrote:
A winter storm brought out the kite surfers. Cheers, Jeff.


Great shots! We'll have to call you Seamaster soon

Great shots Jeff! Each shot has its own charm but I think the first and second tickle my fancy for different reasons. Obviously, the colors in the first are spectacular and the shapes of the second work beautifully. I like the three kites across the width of the third, but my eye is distracted a bit by the horizon that tilts toward San Francisco... I don't think there was a major quake today...

The 180 SPARKLES! Nicely done.

Rafael, the sunset shots are gorgeous. We're having a bit of nice weather of late, but certainly nothing as sweet as you experience down south. The flowers in the trees make me smile. But it IS bedtime, so off I go.

wapsijims wrote:
Samy,

Thanks. I shoot a little of everything, flowers, landscape, wildlife, birds, mostly sitting except for the eagles at Lock and Dam 14 on the Mississippi (near where I live). Sometimes I shoot wildlife out of a blind and on a tripod/monopod. I was looking at a 600 f5.6 AiS. I currently use an 80-400 or 300 f4 AFS, but want something longer I don't have to mortgage the house for....

There isn't too else but the eagles to shoot in January in Iowa (no snow even). We did have a little freezing rain so I ran out and took these with my 105 Ai.

thanks again for the quick response.

Jim

Chuong - Looks like "Rapunzel" is enjoying herself!

rafaelcasd wrote:
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.

The bummer is they are actually going up in price and the rarer ones are getting harder to find, I should have bought that 6mm 2.8 for $20k.......

I would have thought you'd already owned this one.

CGrindahl wrote:
Great shots Jeff! Each shot has its own charm but I think the first and second tickle my fancy for different reasons. Obviously, the colors in the first are spectacular and the shapes of the second work beautifully. I like the three kites across the width of the third, but my eye is distracted a bit by the horizon that tilts toward San Francisco... I don't think there was a major quake today...

The 180 SPARKLES! Nicely done.

+1

Sorry to hear this, Ray. Just got back yesterday from my trip and trying to catch up on 16 pages, which probably isn't going to happen. Lots to get done today as far as schoolwork. Photos from the weekend will have to sit on the hard drive till whenever...

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

Same ice here already this morning but won't get time to try for neat pics like this one by Jim.

Some nice kite flying shots by Jeff top of the page. Winter storm means a bit different here than in Northern Ca

Rafael, very nice scenics as usual.

leighton w wrote:
wapsijims wrote:

Just a quick update - will come back later:

two recent acquisitions: the Ai'd Fisheye-Nikkor showed up early today and I finally got the brochure about the local Heinkel-history

Georg, the lens looks to be in great shape! Have fun, looking forward to see what you do with it.

Leighton
Sent you a PM

Reagan

Reagan wrote:
Leighton
Sent you a PM

Reagan

Right back at you!

kwoodard wrote:
Thanks Leighton, appreciate your words. Lately I have been so disappointed with my photography that I actually considered selling everything and getting like a V1 and just doing snapshots. I sat down and looked at the work of a few of you that I truly admire and tried to figure out how you do it, what make a similar shot of mine not look as good, etc. This is the early results of that.

Any other critiques from the rest of you, send them my way. I want to learn and get better. My biggest thing I need and want to learn is black and white post work.

Kevin, do not give up! Your pictures are very pleasant and there is not a competition overhere. We share the joy of making pictures using the gear we have... I'm rarely happy with my results but I am very excited every time when I have the chance to take pictures. I'm sure that after years you'll look back at your pictures with a great satisfaction. For B&W work I think the best way is to play with a plugin like Silver Efex or like Topaz... Keep shooting my friend!

CGrindahl wrote:

Here is a photo I've posted before of Ansel, my friend's boy held by my god-daughter... shot with the 85 f/1.8 H AI'd.



Curtis, I love your pictures but this one is magic. Not only the IQ but everything in it makes it very special. Truly breathtaking!

Wow Jeff, the first one is amazing; colours, comp and the action. I'm super envious that you get to be near the ocean so often!

Kevin: Of the b&w shots I loved the back lit leaves the best. I find processing b&w shots very ... soothing and somewhat emotive; perhaps it's one less factor, the loud colours that usually find their way into my photos. Oddly, when I was in my b&w phase, I saw every scene through the varying tones ala the zone system. After a bit I learnt to develop my own style and was more aggressive with dodging and burning; manipulating the scene.
If you'd like, I could send you this mag I bought awhile back (just checked the shelf it's there!). That helped me a lot when I was starting out. Don't give up, the constant work and experimentation will bring you there, trust me, 10,000 hrs of practice and all that jazz Drop me a PM.

Oh and what was that Milton Bradley game with red and white counters?