RustyRus wrote:
I love Vintage Glass- New to the Nikon world for MF-
I love old school Leica lenses (50/35) and would like to venture into some older Nikon glass.
Anything this group could mention to look at? Would pair with a Z8/Z6iii. Love looking through these images
If you're specifically looking for 50/35, I can't really help as that's in my "focal length dead zone" (they don't really work with my brain), but otherwise I can recommend:
24/2.8 for "ultra-wide"
28/2 for wide-angle/landscape
28/2.8 for wide-angle/closeup
75~150/3.5 for a compact portrait zoom
85/1.4 for a light-cannon
105/2.5 for portrait/landscape
105/1.8 for an even faster 105 and built like a tank
I like the AiS over the Ai versions (generally a bit lighter, and shorter focus-throw, along with a built-in hood for the 105/2.5), but "that's just my opinion, man!".
RustyRus wrote:
I love Vintage Glass- New to the Nikon world for MF-
I love old school Leica lenses (50/35) and would like to venture into some older Nikon glass.
Anything this group could mention to look at? Would pair with a Z8/Z6iii. Love looking through these images
In the ~50mm length I have the 55/1.2 SC and 55/2.8 micro. Both are great at what they do but a lens that is always in my camera bag is a 50/2 H or a 50/2 HC (with newer coatings). Both punch way above their price points.
You are going to get multiple replies. Simple solution - try all of them...........
leighton w wrote:
Welcome to the thread. There are SO many good Nikon MF lenses to choose from.
Some of my favorites (because I own these) would be:
28mm f2.8 AIS
55mm f1.2 SC
55mm f 2.8 Macro
85mm f1.8 HC
And last but not least, the 50-135mm f3.5 AIS.
Will be looking forward to see what others have to say.
I recommend all the lenses mentioned here. As said, there are so many Nikkor legacy lenses with its rich history. You may like to take a look of some development background for some of them told by Nikon, https://imaging.nikon.com/imaging/information/story/
With the Z mount bodies, you may be able to use some of older Nikkor S-mount lenses now. For 35mm, my favorite is the W-Nikkor 35/1.8 S mount lens, on-par with the Leica 35/1.4 pre-ASPH steel ring. The W-Nikkor 35/2.5 S-mount lens is also a tiny excellent performer! For 50mm, there are both Sonnar version and Planar version of 50/1.4 - both are excellent but with different characters. I also like the Nikkor 50/2 S-mount, a Sonnar formula lens very much. I recently got a W-Nikkor 28/3.5, a very tiny but optically very good wide angle lens. There are good choices and I really enjoy using these legacy lenses on both Nikon rangefinder bodies, S2/S3/SP, for film and Z bodies for digital.
RustyRus wrote:
I love Vintage Glass- New to the Nikon world for MF-
I love old school Leica lenses (50/35) and would like to venture into some older Nikon glass.
Anything this group could mention to look at? Would pair with a Z8/Z6iii. Love looking through these images
Oh man, you’re opening a Pandora’s Box, especially asking this board!
Primes in the 35-50 range:
35’s you basically have the f/1.4 which is lower contrast and more dreamy wide open but can work well. The f/2 lenses will usually be a bit sharper and cleaner. I like any of these, the closest to love is the AIS 35/1.4 but it’s not always all sunshine and rainbows.
50’s probably depend what you’re after. The fast 50’s have interesting rendering but tend to have a more dreamy look wide open though they get very sharp stopped down. In the right circumstance they provide great results. The 50 f/2 is sharp and compact. The 55 micros are great with the f/2.8 being ‘better’ but the f/3.5 still being a good offering. The AIS or Series E 50/1.8 is a great pancake.
Otherwise:
20mm f/3.5 (Non UD for me)
28mm f/2.8
35mm f/1.4
Series E 50mm f/1.8
85mm f/1.8
105mm f/2.5
180mm f/2.8 ED
Also good and inexpensive:
135mm f/2.8
Series E 75-150 f/3.5
Series E 100mm f/2.8
28mm f/3.5
Great but Pricey:
85mm f/1.4
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ocean2059 wrote:
Thank you for your kind comments. Congratulations on the Df! I really like the sensor on the Df. Which 35mm lens did you get in the same box?
Thanks and agree. It was the Non AI (but AI Converted 35mm ‘O’ which I’ve owned before but it’s been a bit. Always liked the 35mm f/2’s and it was a good price in better shape than I expected.
AdaptedLenses wrote:
Oh man, you’re opening a Pandora’s Box, especially asking this board!
Primes in the 35-50 range:
35’s you basically have the f/1.4 which is lower contrast and more dreamy wide open but can work well. The f/2 lenses will usually be a bit sharper and cleaner. I like any of these, the closest to love is the AIS 35/1.4 but it’s not always all sunshine and rainbows.
50’s probably depend what you’re after. The fast 50’s have interesting rendering but tend to have a more dreamy look wide open though they get very sharp stopped down. In the right circumstance they provide great results. The 50 f/2 is sharp and compact. The 55 micros are great with the f/2.8 being ‘better’ but the f/3.5 still being a good offering. The AIS or Series E 50/1.8 is a great pancake.
Otherwise:
20mm f/3.5 (Non UD for me)
28mm f/2.8
35mm f/1.4
Series E 50mm f/1.8
85mm f/1.8
105mm f/2.5
180mm f/2.8 ED
Also good and inexpensive:
135mm f/2.8
Series E 75-150 f/3.5
Series E 100mm f/2.8
28mm f/3.5
Can't disagree with that list! Though I have seen the price of the MF 85/1.4 drop quite a bit, so not sure it counts as "pricey" anymore: Seems to be available for about half of what I paid for my used copy 10 years ago! This is one of the lenses that I have ended up with both the AiS and AF-D versions, and find it hard to consider parting with the MF versions as they are such fine pieces of mechanical art. Alas, on the Z-series, the screw-drive AF-D lenses have no real advantage (aside from the electrical contacts enabling some features), but on my Df they are great!
Colin, I missed the meteors but did catch the aurora the other night. Did you get that there ? I'm thinking you may be too far south ?
I did catch it here at the campsite in Mt.Cook and even put my head torch in the camp kitchen to light the windows. Probably won't get round to processing it for a while yet (I'm on a 10 day trip around the north and west coast of the south island) but watch this space.
Welcome Rusty Rus, I don't really shoot anything between 28 and 85mm (especially now I'm shooting with the Fuji GFx50S with the nikkor PC 28mm f3.5 90% of the time) but there are many excellent nikkors as others have said, the 55/1.2 being very popular, more for it's rendering than it's sharpness wide open. I'm sure Rafael will add his $0.02 soon.
While I'm on here's another shot of the lake, this time no jetty but plenty of waves and moody clouds !
