Curtis, Leighton, Scott, John - thank you for the feedback. Sometimes with all the equipment changes, fast lenses and new cameras one feels a little left behind and it takes an effort to remind oneself that a picture is a story not pixels!

Oosty wrote:
Following my own advice to Kevin! Sometimes one runs out of inspiration even living in a beautiful place like Knysna so I went to a local nursery and asked permission to take some pictures - all with the 105 2.5 ai - some with the equivalent tube to a PN -11 which I have now acquired and eagerly await!

Thanks
Great shot Peter ,Jose ,Leighton ,Georg ,Chin and Samy



Nikkor 135mm f/2 Ai-s by Ronny Olsson, on Flickr

Ronny, my friend... ok that's a good looking dog but we WANT more pics of young swedish women....

Oosty wrote:
Curtis, Leighton, Scott, John - thank you for the feedback. Sometimes with all the equipment changes, fast lenses and new cameras one feels a little left behind and it takes an effort to remind oneself that a picture is a story not pixels!

Very well said Peter and surely one of the primary reasons for the success of this thread. Granted, we always need to find inspiration, especially after many years of shooting. Old venues become stale and we need to look with fresh eyes. Sometimes a different lens helps, sometimes tubes or extenders or reversing rings help. Even a different camera can inspire us to take a fresh look. Great low light performance may motivate us to explore night shooting. It all is part of the adventure.

I've felt in the past that when things are getting stale, moving closer to my subject helps and nothing does that better for me that extension tubes. As with your shot of the typewriter keys, it is possible to find wonderful material when looking close.

Lieutenant Z wrote:
Ronny, my friend... ok that's a good looking dog but we WANT more pics of young swedish women....
have to wait a few months Z, it's soon spring

Lieutenant Z wrote:
Ronny, my friend... ok that's a good looking dog but we WANT more pics of young swedish women....


+1 Swedish and French Women


Reagan

400mm f5.6 ais + 1.4 tc-a + 20mm tube...isn't really a good test of this combo. Flat light, misty rain, dark, shooting through glass, hand held, and iso 3200...so, I know I can do better...

Somehow I missed that yesterday. Now I can't read German though, I suppose they don't have an version translated to English for those across the pond

And cool new acquisition. Seems like now you can capture those ruins with the 28PC as well as the fisheye

Samy

georgms 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

Shooting through glass hmm.. was that critter sitting patiently outside your window while you attached the TC and the 20mm tube Actually very good considering that's in poor light and through glass.

James Markus wrote:
400mm f5.6 ais + 1.4 tc-a + 20mm tube...isn't really a good test of this combo. Flat light, misty rain, dark, shooting through glass, hand held, and iso 3200...so, I know I can do better...

Curtis is on the money. Mihai, us poor guys have no clue how to be the boss

CGrindahl wrote:
Mishu01 wrote:
Oosty wrote:
Very nice Leighton. Only one cardinal error though - you're proving that Barbara does all the work while you mess about with a camera all day

And at the end of the day she's posting in the blog calling him BOSS! I have three DSLRs and two SLRs and my wife does not treat me this way!


What you don't see Mihai, is the twinkle in Barbara's eye and the tongue in her cheek as she types that...

I believe it is common wisdom that women's most effective ploy is to have men BELIEVE they are in charge...

We all know that is seldom the situation...

Peter, each one of those was a delightful picture.

Oosty wrote:
Following my own advice to Kevin! Sometimes one runs out of inspiration even living in a beautiful place like Knysna so I went to a local nursery and asked permission to take some pictures - all with the 105 2.5 ai - some with the equivalent tube to a PN -11 which I have now acquired and eagerly await!

Leighton, those lamb pictures with Barbara are precious.

Hi folks. Recently i upgraded my D300 to D700. Love the results i'm getting with AI 50mm f1.8. I want to add some AI/AIS lenses to my lineup. Currently on our market is this: 55mm f2.8 Micro (140$), 35mm f2.8 (150$), AI 20mm f4 (270$), AIS 24mm f2.8 (330$), AIS 24mm f2 (380$) and AIS 85mm f2 (guy says it's new - 260$). I love shooting wide and wide open, but i'm looking for most bang for my bucks. Any advice? Thanks!

saph wrote:
Peter, each one of those was a delightful picture.

Oosty wrote:
Following my own advice to Kevin! Sometimes one runs out of inspiration even living in a beautiful place like Knysna so I went to a local nursery and asked permission to take some pictures - all with the 105 2.5 ai - some with the equivalent tube to a PN -11 which I have now acquired and eagerly await!

Leighton, those lamb pictures with Barbara are precious.


Thanks Samy!

MaxteRR wrote:
Hi folks. Recently i upgraded my D300 to D700. Love the results i'm getting with AI 50mm f1.8. I want to add some AI/AIS lenses to my lineup. Currently on our market is this: 55mm f2.8 Micro (140$), 35mm f2.8 (150$), AI 20mm f4 (270$), AIS 24mm f2.8 (330$), AIS 24mm f2 (380$) and AIS 85mm f2 (guy says it's new - 260$). I love shooting wide and wide open, but i'm looking for most bang for my bucks. Any advice? Thanks!

Welcome Boris. I can help you a little, but I'm not sure about the prices in your part of the world. The 55mm f2.8 is a great lens and that seems like a fairly reasonable price if it's in excellent condition. The 20mm f/4 seems to be in the ball park as well. The rest seem a little high in my opinion. I'm judging these by the prices I can expect to pay on ebay here in the states. Good luck, and join us by posting some pics from your lovely country.

Yes, he was. In fact it was a two way watch...he watched me, and I watched him.
saph wrote:
Shooting through glass hmm.. was that critter sitting patiently outside your window while you attached the TC and the 20mm tube Actually very good considering that's in poor light and through glass.

James Markus wrote:
400mm f5.6 ais + 1.4 tc-a + 20mm tube...isn't really a good test of this combo. Flat light, misty rain, dark, shooting through glass, hand held, and iso 3200...so, I know I can do better...

MaxteRR wrote:
Hi folks. Recently i upgraded my D300 to D700. Love the results i'm getting with AI 50mm f1.8. I want to add some AI/AIS lenses to my lineup. Currently on our market is this: 55mm f2.8 Micro (140$), 35mm f2.8 (150$), AI 20mm f4 (270$), AIS 24mm f2.8 (330$), AIS 24mm f2 (380$) and AIS 85mm f2 (guy says it's new - 260$). I love shooting wide and wide open, but i'm looking for most bang for my bucks. Any advice? Thanks!

Hi Boris, welcome!
I would skip the offers from your market. If you love shooting wide and wide open (yeah!) the 28/2 (or 35/1.4) seem to be a nice match for your current set-up. I have both and lov'em.
The 28/2 (mated to a D700) was one of my most used lenses for newspaper-work.
The legendary 105/2.5 would also be a good addition to your current kit.
And regarding most bang for the buck: I've had good luck with buying lenses in user-conditions. A tiny scratch on the front-lens will effect the price much more than the resulting pictures.

saph wrote:
Somehow I missed that yesterday. Now I can't read German though, I suppose they don't have an version translated to English for those across the pond

And cool new acquisition. Seems like now you can capture those ruins with the 28PC as well as the fisheye

Samy

georgms 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


Sorry, as far as I know this brochure is only available in German. I pass one ruin every other day, and think everytime how I should shoot this one - it's tricky, but it will be done ;-)

James, very cute test-subject for the 400/5.6+TC+tube-combo. The result is really nice - especially considering the conditions.

Ronny, great shot of your buddie!

Jose, thank you for your kind words! I took the seagull-shot for its colors and the in my opinion beautiful rendering of the small fishing boat in the background.
The 16/3.5 is indeed in a beautiful condition. Shipping from New York to my hometown in north-east Germany was pretty fast too: ordered on thursday afternoon the lens showed up early Monday. So I'm happy with my decision to order a lens from outside of the European Union.

Peter, I'll join the chorus: I love the typewriter-keys too! Nicely spotted and captured!

Leighton, very PJ-like picture of your wife and the lamb ("grab a 24mm and get close") - good job!

saph wrote:

James Markus wrote:
400mm f5.6 ais + 1.4 tc-a + 20mm tube...isn't really a good test of this combo. Flat light, misty rain, dark, shooting through glass, hand held, and iso 3200...so, I know I can do better...