Tony, Scott and Georg, thanks much for the comments.

Roland, nice tram shots and I really like the 85mm cityscape.

haldunk, nice flowers and bokeh.

Jim, "over the river" and the portrait with the 28mm 2.8 are super.

Reagan, great rust, wood and railroad tracks. The composition and contrasting colors of the "red arrow" is very nice.

Georg, terrific work on "love lock."

Tony, beautiful shots with Nikki and the PK-13, especially the ink knife. "Merge," "Disjointed" and "Charred" are very evocative shots. Nice job turning someone's mindless act into art.

Ronny, great horizontal flow of the fence, wires, snow and sky in the train shot.

Ray, congrats on the D600 and the beautiful garden shots.

Curtis, love the laughing Buddha and your first shot with the 24mm 2.8NC is a wonderful composition.

Ray in Ohio, lovely evening sun shots.

Jose, "House of Apollo" and "Venus x Hesperus" would make beautiful prints. Great work.

Peter, beautiful seascape.

Scott, I really like the composition of the wide open construction equipment shot.

Rafael, beautiful colors from Parque Chicano.

Mike, very nice sunset. Do you think the comet will show?

John, really nice ones from the rocky beach.

Leighton, excellent contrasts of the dark sky, bare trees, fence and snow. Really nice.

Samy, I really like the composition of harbor shots, especially the first one

Beautiful shots Samy. You gotta love the 85mm 1.4. It's so versatile!

Foggy14 wrote:
Tony, Scott and Georg, thanks much for the comments.

Roland, nice tram shots and I really like the 85mm cityscape.

haldunk, nice flowers and bokeh.

Jim, "over the river" and the portrait with the 28mm 2.8 are super.

Reagan, great rust, wood and railroad tracks. The composition and contrasting colors of the "red arrow" is very nice.

Georg, terrific work on "love lock."

Tony, beautiful shots with Nikki and the PK-13, especially the ink knife. "Merge," "Disjointed" and "Charred" are very evocative shots. Nice job turning someone's mindless act into art.

Ronny, great horizontal flow of the fence, wires, snow and sky in the train shot.

Ray, congrats on the D600 and the beautiful garden shots.

Curtis, love the laughing Buddha and your first shot with the 24mm 2.8NC is a wonderful composition.

Ray in Ohio, lovely evening sun shots.

Jose, "House of Apollo" and "Venus x Hesperus" would make beautiful prints. Great work.

Peter, beautiful seascape.

Scott, I really like the composition of the wide open construction equipment shot.

Rafael, beautiful colors from Parque Chicano.

Mike, very nice sunset. Do you think the comet will show?

John, really nice ones from the rocky beach.

Leighton, excellent contrasts of the dark sky, bare trees, fence and snow. Really nice.

Samy, I really like the composition of harbor shots, especially the first one

Thanks Jeff, but you really MUST visit more so you don't have such a long comment list.

asiostygius wrote:
CGrindahl wrote:
My latest lens arrived this afternoon, the 24 f/2.8 N.C. AI'd. Although it came without a front cap and had some adhesive at two locations on the focusing ring, the lens is in pristine condition WITH the AI conversion kit. I easily got rid of the adhesive with an alcohol swab and then took a few photos. Here's one closeup, wide open. This lens has Close Range Correction. (CRC)



From left to right... 105 f/2.5 P AI'd, 105 f/2.5 P.C. AI'd, 85 f/1.8 H AI'd, 55 f/1.2 S.C. AI'd, 50 f/1.4 S.C., 50 f/1.4 S AI'd, 50 f/2 H.C. AI'd, 28 f/3.5 H AI'd, and 24 f/2.8 N.C. AI'd

Curtis, congrats on the new lens, great debut shot!

What a beautiful scalloped lens collection.
From the limited experiences I have with my 35/2 O and Sonnar 105/2.5 P, I feel better focusing with scalloped rings than ruber ones.


I see the great enabler is back (not too oblique for you I hope Curtis).

Yes, there's the 35 f2 and the 20mm f3.5 UD missing. The 20 is a beautiful chunk of metal - Rafael's been showing it off lately. You've really bunkered down on that 50 - 55 mm range - I didn't realise you'd bought 4 of them.

well done!!

ben.

Few more from Federal Hill.

First the motorcyclista at the Visionary Art Museum, from an intimidating perspective. 85 1.4 AIS, 1/1600s, f/5.6, ISO 320

50mm f/1.4 Serial 744XXX S-Auto. Manufactured between 68-72. Has some sort of scratches on the front element.

50mm f/1.4 Serial 286XXXX. Manufactured 74-76. Seems to be in good shape, would like to get this one converted.


I have a question that you all may know. I have the above two lenses. The older one is beautiful, but the front and rear elements have seen better days. The other one is OK, but the glass is great. Does anyone know if I can take the elements from the newer lens and put them into the older lens, make a hybrid of sorts?

(This is a serious question, I don't like how the newer lens feels, its very gritty and the element moves around a lot)

Jose, that image of the "House with the large fountain" is mesmerizing, I spent a good amount of time looking at it.

Leighton, sweet snowscape. That last shot of snow didn't stick here.

Mike in AK, that sunset during the wait for the comet is very neat!

Roland, nice shot at the train tracks. And wow, lots of snow shots. The 400 5.6 is a great walkaround birding tele. And you could get the 500 also for when you can set up a tripod etc.

John, very nice shots with film and the 135 f2. Hope you can connect up with that 500 F4P.

Ray, just terrific start with the D600 and flowers! Just saw your 16fish pics too, nice!

Ray (OH), very nice sky colors and sunstar in the barn shot.

Rafael, the graffiti is super nice under that bridge. Nice colors captured!

Peter I really like that Gericke's Point image.

Tony, superb work with Nikki. Like a couple people have said those doll shots are creepy, but very well captured scenes of the remnants of the vandalism.

Curtis, very nice first capture with the 24 2.8N.

Reagan, I liked that middle picture from your set of the old fire truck.

Just saw the discussion on isolating flowers. Kevin, one technique I stumbled into is if a bright flower is against a darker background, just exposing correctly for the flower will result often in a black background.

Georg, love the isolation of the lock with the 55 1.2!

James, nice high key portrait with the 28 2.8.

Oh goodness, now we have a craze on this thread, Jose wants a kit full of scallops

Samy

Kevin, I think I remember seeing pictures from Ray (FL) and Ron with various stages of lens transplants. I think people actually buy some of the older lenses when they are looking for parts.


kwoodard wrote:
50mm f/1.4 Serial 744XXX S-Auto. Manufactured between 68-72. Has some sort of scratches on the front element.

50mm f/1.4 Serial 286XXXX. Manufactured 74-76. Seems to be in good shape, would like to get this one converted.


I have a question that you all may know. I have the above two lenses. The older one is beautiful, but the front and rear elements have seen better days. The other one is OK, but the glass is great. Does anyone know if I can take the elements from the newer lens and put them into the older lens, make a hybrid of sorts?

(This is a serious question, I don't like how the newer lens feels, its very gritty and the element moves around a lot)

saph wrote:
Quick visit to Federal Hill area of Baltimore, which boasts a panoramic view of the city's Inner Harbor.





A small memorial on the Federal Hill Park, with the 5.8cm 1.4S, 1/5000s, wide open, ISO 160.

^

Uh oh

Maybe I should have stuck to scenery and bokeh shots Here's one just having fun with the 85 1.4 AIS.

leighton w wrote:Thanks Jeff, but you really MUST visit more so you don't have such a long comment list.

Thanks Leighton! I'll try to do that.

Here are a couple of long exposures to share:

Jeff that second shot is simply wonderful!

kwoodard wrote:
50mm f/1.4 Serial 744XXX S-Auto. Manufactured between 68-72. Has some sort of scratches on the front element.

50mm f/1.4 Serial 286XXXX. Manufactured 74-76. Seems to be in good shape, would like to get this one converted.


I have a question that you all may know. I have the above two lenses. The older one is beautiful, but the front and rear elements have seen better days. The other one is OK, but the glass is great. Does anyone know if I can take the elements from the newer lens and put them into the older lens, make a hybrid of sorts?

(This is a serious question, I don't like how the newer lens feels, its very gritty and the element moves around a lot)
Not for the faint of heart Kevin. I switched the insides of two 35mm 2.8K but the lens elements were self contained with all of the elements together so it was just a matter of taking one out and replacing it in the other. When you get to individual elements it gets rather tricky! I really didn't have anything to lose on mine because their cost was so low. Ron would know better that I

Thanks Ray! I've shot that rock a lot (usually with a wider lens) but with mixed results. I was happier with the tighter framing using the 105mm and I've always loved the color rendition of that lens.

MDoc9523 wrote:
Jeff that second shot is simply wonderful!

+1

MDoc9523 wrote:
kwoodard wrote:
50mm f/1.4 Serial 744XXX S-Auto. Manufactured between 68-72. Has some sort of scratches on the front element.

50mm f/1.4 Serial 286XXXX. Manufactured 74-76. Seems to be in good shape, would like to get this one converted.


I have a question that you all may know. I have the above two lenses. The older one is beautiful, but the front and rear elements have seen better days. The other one is OK, but the glass is great. Does anyone know if I can take the elements from the newer lens and put them into the older lens, make a hybrid of sorts?

(This is a serious question, I don't like how the newer lens feels, its very gritty and the element moves around a lot)
Not for the faint of heart Kevin. I switched the insides of two 35mm 2.8K but the lens elements were self contained with all of the elements together so it was just a matter of taking one out and replacing it in the other. When you get to individual elements it gets rather tricky! I really didn't have anything to lose on mine because their cost was so low. Ron would know better that I

My lenses were free so I have nothing to lose. Neither one of them has been AI'ed either so I am looking into that too. I would love to get one of them working and have it AI'ed so I can use it. The 35mm needs to be converted as well, I am debating it hard. The lens is perfect and I would hate to have it machined and have its value lost.

bruni wrote:
asiostygius wrote:
CGrindahl wrote:
My latest lens arrived this afternoon, the 24 f/2.8 N.C. AI'd. Although it came without a front cap and had some adhesive at two locations on the focusing ring, the lens is in pristine condition WITH the AI conversion kit. I easily got rid of the adhesive with an alcohol swab and then took a few photos. Here's one closeup, wide open. This lens has Close Range Correction. (CRC)



From left to right... 105 f/2.5 P AI'd, 105 f/2.5 P.C. AI'd, 85 f/1.8 H AI'd, 55 f/1.2 S.C. AI'd, 50 f/1.4 S.C., 50 f/1.4 S AI'd, 50 f/2 H.C. AI'd, 28 f/3.5 H AI'd, and 24 f/2.8 N.C. AI'd

Curtis, congrats on the new lens, great debut shot!

What a beautiful scalloped lens collection.
From the limited experiences I have with my 35/2 O and Sonnar 105/2.5 P, I feel better focusing with scalloped rings than ruber ones.


I see the great enabler is back (not too oblique for you I hope Curtis).

Yes, there's the 35 f2 and the 20mm f3.5 UD missing. The 20 is a beautiful chunk of metal - Rafael's been showing it off lately. You've really bunkered down on that 50 - 55 mm range - I didn't realise you'd bought 4 of them.

well done!!

ben.

Thats seriously WOW!

Wonder how all of these perform. While this thread shows that old Nikkors are more than just usable today, it would be nice to have something like Dyxum and their lens database (lens - description - rationg - sample photos).

Mescalamba wrote:
bruni wrote:
asiostygius wrote:
CGrindahl wrote:
My latest lens arrived this afternoon, the 24 f/2.8 N.C. AI'd. Although it came without a front cap and had some adhesive at two locations on the focusing ring, the lens is in pristine condition WITH the AI conversion kit. I easily got rid of the adhesive with an alcohol swab and then took a few photos. Here's one closeup, wide open. This lens has Close Range Correction. (CRC)



From left to right... 105 f/2.5 P AI'd, 105 f/2.5 P.C. AI'd, 85 f/1.8 H AI'd, 55 f/1.2 S.C. AI'd, 50 f/1.4 S.C., 50 f/1.4 S AI'd, 50 f/2 H.C. AI'd, 28 f/3.5 H AI'd, and 24 f/2.8 N.C. AI'd

Curtis, congrats on the new lens, great debut shot!

What a beautiful scalloped lens collection.
From the limited experiences I have with my 35/2 O and Sonnar 105/2.5 P, I feel better focusing with scalloped rings than ruber ones.


I see the great enabler is back (not too oblique for you I hope Curtis).

Yes, there's the 35 f2 and the 20mm f3.5 UD missing. The 20 is a beautiful chunk of metal - Rafael's been showing it off lately. You've really bunkered down on that 50 - 55 mm range - I didn't realise you'd bought 4 of them.

well done!!

ben.

Thats seriously WOW!

Wonder how all of these perform. While this thread shows that old Nikkors are more than just usable today, it would be nice to have something like Dyxum and their lens database (lens - description - rationg - sample photos).


Yeah, that would be helpful. I spent a week going though this entire thread essentially "shopping" for the lenses I want for my kit. Pretty sure that Curtis has posted images from nearly all of those lenses at one time or another.

Great shots Jose Rafael Samy Ray and Jeff
Curtis : and I think I'm Lens addicted Nice collection there