I had hoped to post some photos from the Fuji and also the new 800, however, lol, the shots I had weren't up to snuff. I took a few of my bar room, but the mirror glass was dirty, I cleaned the glass, and the glass was still dirty. Ughh the woes of hi res cameras!
The 800 is in good physical appearance but lacks a hood and soft lens cap. The trunk looks way worse than the photos and a quick test of the 800 on the Fuji forces me to try it on the D850 tomorrow to check it optically. Lots of vengetting on the Fuji with speed booster. Best to try it on a FX body to check it correctly! I found a guy that 3D prints lens hoods so I will work with him, it will also have cap, so pretty slick. Functional but not the real deal or even a clone.
The Speed Booster Ultra hasn't worked with a few lenses already, the 18 Ais and the 45P. The 135 H Auto produces dreamy images. The 55 Ai F/1.2 works greatas well! I have to say I am highly impressed with the XT-4! Fuji has come such a long ways and the IS is utterly amazing with these lenses. I will try the lenses that don't work on the regular metabones adapter, that seemed to work with everything but obviously there is the 1.5x factor.
So I have a nice Kaza Halfcase coming eventually, nice strap, nice soft touch release button to match, should be a sexy looking rigg when all completed.
Oh, the Nikon S3 was pretty minty indeed!
Picture's to come soon, just need to get a few more things figured out!
Thanks for the test Rafael. If they are all good enough for you they are good enough for me. If the 300mm MF NAS gets me you may have just saved me a bunch of money and a lot of looking.
I like the lines on the decaying boats, Steve.
Still not much fall color around here, so rust instead. 200mm f4 AI.
I guess my eye for CA just isn't that critical, what can I say!
Steve, liked both!
PBRay, love the rust, keep them coming!
Andy, loved the series! I am a fan of your work here! Seriously!
Ray was just a little before me, its incredible to see how close some of us become! RIP Ray, you definitely had fans!
Multiple sources claim that the 55mm f3.5 non ai, and ai lenses were manufactured with a "hard stop infinity focus". I now have three copies of the 55mm. The last of the non ai (factory ai'd) - the Nikkor P.C, a late AI, and a late f2.8 AIS - none of which have hard stop infinity focus. There is a red dot literally a frog's hair left of the hard scribed infinity focus/distance line on the barrel of all three lenses. Here is the thing - that red dot is the infinity focus point in the visible light spectrum. It is hard to believe that a thirty-second of an inch turn would effect focus so much, but it does. Finally, I can see the bite, or sharpness that Scott (mp356), and Ken (Ballard) get with their 55's when using the 55 as a landscape lens. If you own a 55 try backing off infinity just a tad centering the dot on the intersection of the infinity symbol. I have had other hard stop infinity focus Nikkors, and I just came to trust that they did not focus past infinity. These are 100% (1280 x 800 pixel) views out of the full rez 5DS R (8688 × 5792 pixel) with no sharpening or adjustments.
55mm f3.5 Nikkor P.C non AI (factory AI'd) - Hard Stop Infinity focus
The Red Dot
55mm f3.5 Nikkor P.C non AI (factory AI'd) - Red Dot Infinity focus
James Markus wrote:
Multiple sources claim that the 55mm f3.5 non ai, and ai lenses were manufactured with a "hard stop infinity focus". I now have three copies of the 55mm. The last of the non ai (factory ai'd) - the Nikkor P.C, a late AI, and a late f2.8 AIS - none of which have hard stop infinity focus. There is a red dot literally a frog's hair left of the hard scribed infinity focus/distance line on the barrel of all three lenses. Here is the thing - that red dot is the infinity focus point in the visible light spectrum. It is hard to believe that a thirty-second of an inch turn would effect focus so much, but it does. Finally, I can see the bite, or sharpness that Scott (mp356), and Ken (Ballard) get with their 55's when using the 55 as a landscape lens. If you own a 55 try backing off infinity just a tad centering the dot on the intersection of the infinity symbol. I have had other hard stop infinity focus Nikkors, and I just came to trust that they did not focus past infinity. These are 100% (1280 x 800 pixel) views out of the full rez 5DS R (8688 × 5792 pixel) with no sharpening or adjustments.
55mm f3.5 Nikkor P.C non AI (factory AI'd) - Red Dot Infinity focus http://www.photomatter.com/2021/RedDot-IR-Inifinity.jpg ...Show more →
But you're dealing with an adapter arent you? Thats where the problem lies normally, only two of several dozen adaptors I have bought have been the right thickness for accurate register. All others but one were too short so the lens focussed beyond infinity, as you are experiencing, and had to be shimmed to use scale focus, probaby impossible with a nikon f to canon dslr adapter. The dot was supposed to be IR infinity I think.
The adapter is also my number one guess at the culprit... second, each lens is differently assembled, and infinity can vary a little due to this. I have 3 copies of the 55/3.5, two pre-ai and one Ai. All are very slightly different, however they are all close enough to curate that I can't be bothered with it even on the D850. It's been a while to remember whether the infinity can be adjusted but I'm sure to some small degree it can be adjusted with a little disassembly.
The 55/3.5 is like my Zeiss Makro-Planar 100/2. The focus throw is too short for precise normal-distance focusing, so the tiniest of focus ring movement can change focus by quite a bit. And that these lenses are so ridiculously high resolving, this can really translate badly with cameras like a D850.
Also, some camera generations are different. Focus point on all D850 cameras I've tried is slightly different to my D810 and other cameras of that era. The flange distance behaves as if it's a tiny amount shorter, which changes the infinity focus to focus slightly behind infinity at the hard stop, which happens to be spot on with my D810.
The Z6ii with FTZ is even more so. However, not quite as much as what you're seeing.
From this summer. Foggy morning in the Adirondack region with 105. The scene reminded me of 'Apocalyps Now', well, sort of. Missing helicopters, and it is not burning red sun
Luka
Stokesey wrote:
Anyway today I went back to the Isle of Mull
D810 + 25-50mm f4 Ai-s and the 180mm f2.8 for the pony trekkers
Great day till I got back and smacked the car door in to the wall when the wind caught it ....
Steve
Packing Nikon
Steve,
Those are really beautiful shots. The leaning decaying boats, like a loving couple, and the Pony riders in front of a beautiful water and mountain range. Very well seen.
akul wrote:
From this summer. Foggy morning in the Adirondack region with 105. The scene reminded me of 'Apocalyps Now', well, sort of. Missing helicopters, and it is not burning red sun
Luka
Really really nice Luka. Fog is a gift to photographers. Your landscapes of late are a far cry from the streets of NYC.
Another B&W postcard from Rome.
Piazza Navona & Church of S. Agnese in Agone.
The building on the left is Palazzo Pamphilj. It was built between 1644 and 1650. Since 1920, the palace has housed the Brazilian Embassy in Italy.
rafaelcasd wrote:
I think you are right, the 300mm edif is a tad sharper than the others in this set, but in a natural way. The focus plane is slightly different and that maybe the reason one or the other is better, just don't know. Maybe at 50Mp with great technique these differences become very noticeable, for my photography any one of them would do.
The EDIF has such a low resistance when focusing that it seems to be on ball bearings, I do not like that because it is hard to keep it at the same focus setting, the lightest touch moves it. The more traditional focusing action of the others makes them better for me.
Jose's EDIF does not seem as good as mine, but his ED K may be better than mine. 'Sample variation'!
I will venture to say that at $90 for a H, $300 for EDIF, $500 for ED K/ai, and $500 for the 50-300mm ED, the winner is the H!
Or maybe if you divide the $500 of the 50-300mm into 50-85-105-135-180-200 and 300mm focal lengths, at $500/7 focal lengths = $71, the 50-300mm is the winner. Of course the 300mm ED K/ai is so rare it is the collector's winner, so forget the EDIF being a little better, it matters not. ...Show more →
Definetively copy variation plays a role here: my ED non-IF is visibly better (sharpness, CA) than both my EDIF and H 4.5 models (not made a comparison yet with the 50-300/4.5).
Rafael, if you have the time or patience do a test for something with a flat plane and very contrasty to see at same time sharpness and CA.
My 300 f4.5 ED IF s/n 237328 was made right towards the end of the production run of 28835 copies of this lens and has always been pretty good although I tend to use AF zooms for any wildlife etc.
This image was shot at f8 on my Z5 and there is just a touch of c/a on the left hand bloom although I had a lot on the D200 - maybe I'm able to focus better using focus peaking.
leighton w wrote:
Really really nice Luka. Fog is a gift to photographers. Your landscapes of late are a far cry from the streets of NYC.
Thank you Leighton! I still don’t miss NYC, especially now with fall color all around. This was the time of the year I was always going crazy to find any time to get out of the city when I lived there.
Another B&W postcard from Rome.
Piazza Navona & Church of S. Agnese in Agone.
The building on the left is Palazzo Pamphilj. It was built between 1644 and 1650. Since 1920, the palace has housed the Brazilian Embassy in Italy.
Thank you Gerry, and Martin! My N>EF adapter is an AF confirmation version, but the beep is occurring so close to the hard stop that I thought it was confirming that hard stop. I will check out the performance on my D800, and I suspect it would then be accurate hard focus infinity lenses. Since all three were off by the same amount, I would assume my adapter (same one used on all three lenses) is the culprit. I had always thought the red dot was infinity for Infra-Red (which is why "IR" is on the labeled photo), but searching online the only confirmation of that is with KR. I was a bit blindsided by the cult status this lowly lens has gathered. Oddly, the oldest version of the 55mm seems the sharpest for infinity.
Jim
gyoung143 wrote:
But you're dealing with an adapter arent you? Thats where the problem lies normally, only two of several dozen adaptors I have bought have been the right thickness for accurate register. All others but one were too short so the lens focussed beyond infinity, as you are experiencing, and had to be shimmed to use scale focus, probaby impossible with a nikon f to canon dslr adapter. The dot was supposed to be IR infinity I think.
