I was looking for other photos Andy had shared on FM and came across a question he asked on Nikon Cafe about retail prices from the era when our favorite lenses were available in the camera shops around the world. It happened that Roland Vink whom we all know and love because he created photosynthesis.co.nz which is our bible, had a list from 1984 that he posted... Let's see if this link works.
As an aside... while glancing through Nikon Cafe for other evidence of Andy's work I discovered they TOO have a Nikon Manual Focus Glass thread. I had to check it out... only to discover that I STARTED IT...
They are not quite as prolific as the usual suspects who show up here, however. They are on their 3rd "part" of the thread... the first with 100 pages, the second with 176 and the third now with 10 pages. I recall when I put my mind to it that I was seeking access to the gear for sale listings and was up against their 300 post threshold. I figured I might as well make those posts focus on what I love... so it ended up Nikon manual focus lenses. Of course, when I finally gained access to the listings they were pretty abysmal... all that work for nothing... though it was there I encountered some hearty souls who attempted to send a lens around the world. The effort soon collapsed, but I liked the idea so much I brought it to this thread and we did ourselves and the 85 f/1.8 H.C. AI-s proud... Thanks Ben!
I sold my Df a year ago and life just wasn't the same ever since. I rarely picked up the D810 (the camera I replaced it with) and just lost interest in photography. Well, I sold the D810 today and picked up another Df! (a black one this time) I miss the good ol days when I just played with the Df and MFNG's and life was good. I like how the Df and MFNG's just encouraged me to tinker... I really missed that. Thankfully I still have my MFNG's, so I'm really excited to use them again on the Df.
I sold my Df a year ago and life just wasn't the same ever since. I rarely picked up the D810 (the camera I replaced it with) and just lost interest in photography. Well, I sold the D810 today and picked up another Df! (a black one this time) I miss the good ol days when I just played with the Df and MFNG's and life was good. I like how the Df and MFNG's just encouraged me to tinker... I really missed that. Thankfully I still have my MFNG's, so I'm really excited to use them again on the Df....Show more →
Very interesting Curtis! Thanks for sharing I cant believe for example that the 25-50 f/4.0 was more expensive than the 180mm f/2.8 ED...
CGrindahl wrote:
I was looking for other photos Andy had shared on FM and came across a question he asked on Nikon Cafe about retail prices from the era when our favorite lenses were available in the camera shops around the world. It happened that Roland Vink whom we all know and love because he created photosynthesis.co.nz which is our bible, had a list from 1984 that he posted... Let's see if this link works.
Took a little walk last night. It was freezing -6 degrees celsius and very windy. But it felt great to take a walk, not much people out Today it´s snowing like crazy. There must be an ice age coming in..
I brought the 55/3.5 ai and the 35mm f/2.0 ais.
55/3.5 Malmö by Kristian Hagelin, on Flickr
I sold my Df a year ago and life just wasn't the same ever since. I rarely picked up the D810 (the camera I replaced it with) and just lost interest in photography. Well, I sold the D810 today and picked up another Df! (a black one this time) I miss the good ol days when I just played with the Df and MFNG's and life was good. I like how the Df and MFNG's just encouraged me to tinker... I really missed that. Thankfully I still have my MFNG's, so I'm really excited to use them again on the Df....Show more →
This is a story often told and surely one of the reasons this thread has had such a long life. I dreamt last night that I'd been given a D850 with some fine AF lens. Perhaps it was viewing a thread on FM where a fellow was asking what AF lens he needed to take photos of dogs running toward him. Being a bit of a pot stirrer I posted Ronny's recent photo of his dog jumping over a fallen tree limb with his 180 f/2.8 AI-s. In my dream I was shooting AF at everything that moved. It was quite thrilling though I was frustrated because I didn't know how to make adjustments on the lens as we all do with our manual focus friends.
Thankfully, you kept your kit of lenses, though you could always do what Chris did after selling his ENTIRE kit of MF lenses... build a new one... But that is a path only a few very diligent shoppers would wish to pursue. Keep the lenses for the simple reason they will ALWAYS give you a satisfying shooting experience. We have a good thing going here and yes, the Df is a wonderful camera with which to play. Mine will never be sold... much like my D700 which I pressed into service last week when I realized I'd forgotten to bring an SD card for my Df. So I shot the D700 with an early 50 f/1.8 AF lens, I definitely missed the 55 f/1.2 S.C. AI but I survived...
bobbelbob wrote:
Very interesting Curtis! Thanks for sharing I cant believe for example that the 25-50 f/4.0 was more expensive than the 180mm f/2.8 ED...
Now for the fun of it, calculate the present value of those lens prices. I did it some time ago for the 80-200 and calculated it would be worth about $2,200 today. I found a calculator online and entered the price of the 80-200 f/2.8 and today that price would be $6,452! Amazing the value we find when we go shopping today. It is a rare lens from yesteryear that is not a mind boggling steal today. Yes, the longest, widest and fastest tend to hold their prices, but otherwise there are BARGAINS our there, like a 55 f/3.5 for sixty dollars!
CGrindahl wrote:
Now for the fun of it, calculate the present value of those lens prices. I did it some time ago for the 80-200 and calculated it would be worth about $2,200 today. I found a calculator online and entered the price of the 80-200 f/2.8 and today that price would be $6,452! Amazing the value we find when we go shopping today. It is a rare lens from yesteryear that is not a mind boggling steal today. Yes, the longest, widest and fastest tend to hold their prices, but otherwise there are BARGAINS our there, like a 55 f/3.5 for sixty dollars!
