Doug - I use the membership upload, so will let others chime in but I did find this in the FAQ...
Upload your image to a web server and place the full URL link inside the message box along with your message (no tags necessary)
Ex: "http://www.website.com/image.jpg" --without the quotes
So if you can link to a Google Drive image as a URL link, it should work.
saph wrote:
Colin and Ken, that view of Longboat Key looks better than Baltimore in the winter. I was supposed to be a bit south of there in the summer but didn't make it. I had all kinds of plans to go to the Ding Darling wildlife refuge for a visit and spot roseate spoonbills.
Scott, nice views at the preserved shipbuilding shop. Wow, cool tools!
Chin, quite a view from the bridge there. Glad you got at least that pic.
Samy,
Lived on Sanibel for 25 years. Ding Darling is great, you'll see some spoonbills and more than likely numerous crocs too!
graytrekker wrote:
Thanks everyone for their input.
I guess one of the questions I had was focus at infinity (important to landscape) - is the 2 sharper at infinity as Bjorn states?
It's odd that the AI/AIS are cheaper than the pre-AI, especially if they do have better optics/better coatings (do love those scalloped focus rings, though).
I broke down and bought a late serial number 28/2.8 AI-S on evilbay to take on a trip since my 28/2 AI-S focusing helicoid is currently stuck. Perhaps a comparison is in order once I get it fixed. My long running impression of photos on this thread over the course of ~5 years was that the 28/2 was slightly stronger for landscapes at medium to far distances, and that the 28/2.8 was more magical in close to medium distances. I have plenty of photos shot on the 28/2 and it always performed very well at landscape distances with good flare resistance. I don't recommend backlit Christmas light scenes at f/2 though. Only a nervous mother could love that bokeh:
G
Yep, the contact blocks are not longer available.
When we met last September for Photokina I got the last one for my 50-135 and Dr. Lens put it in.
I still have 2 lenses to chip (25-50 and 200), but it’s not likely I can get those blocks (or for an outrageous price).
I only have a dandelion in the 55/1.2 and that was a hell of a job (he had a couple dying on the job ) a real contact block didn’t fit.
If you do some lurking on evilbay, you can still find Nikon Pronea S (Nikon's ill-fated APS film system) lenses which have the CPU lens blocks. I think they are reprogrammable. There's been a lot of water under the bridge though so if anyone is interested in going that route, it's worth taking the time to research that.
I still have chips from Bjorn for the 28/2, 50/1.2, and 105/2.5 I've yet to put them on since I never ended up needing them once I moved to a D700 so many years ago. I'll have to do some thinking on what to do though, as I reckon I might miss being able to turn the aperture ring on a Z body; there are always FE2/FM2's for that though I suppose.
I'm generally excited to see the favorable reviews of the Z6. I was planning to move towards a D810/D750 right before my original D700 took a plunge into a river but ultimately got another nice used D700 to minimize the cost of upgrading from a dead to working camera. The D850 had caught my fancy for a future upgrade since it has the film scanning functions which would allow me to sell my Pakon scanner, but I'm now hopeful that this will be able to eventually matriculate into the Z cameras since they will likely be the longterm upgrade path.
For landscape comparison, here's the lower section of Multnomah (oops I am mixing up places I visited in Oregon and called it tillamook...) falls shot on a D90 and my former 28/2 AI (which had first been with jhinkey) right as the sun was breaking out from clouds just above the top of the falls:
Yep, the contact blocks are not longer available.
When we met last September for Photokina I got the last one for my 50-135 and Dr. Lens put it in.
I still have 2 lenses to chip (25-50 and 200), but it’s not likely I can get those blocks (or for an outrageous price).
I only have a dandelion in the 55/1.2 and that was a hell of a job (he had a couple dying on the job ) a real contact block didn’t fit.
If you do some lurking on evilbay, you can still find Nikon Pronea S (Nikon's ill-fated APS film system) lenses which have the CPU lens blocks. I think they are reprogrammable. There's been a lot of water under the bridge though so if anyone is interested in going that route, it's worth taking the time to research that.
.....
Good idea Alan!
I looked into it, but I'm told they are not the same contactblocks.
If you want to get rid of those blocks let me know. I'll check then if they are usable for my lenses.
gbohannon wrote:
Wow! Nice grab! Especially the price!
Thanks George, yeah a pretty good price as just the body usually sells for around that price or higher never mind the proper Fuji grips and Gariz case.
I've ordered the Zhongyi focal reducer / speed booster too as the crop was the main thing I wasn't keen on when I had an XT1 previously. Just had to pay more for expedited shipping as it wouldn't arrive from China in time for my trip to India on Jan 3rd.
Anyone used one of those with Nikon Legacy glass ? Reviews seem favourable, nearly as good as the Metabones one for 1/3 of the price.
cadman342001 wrote:
Thanks George, yeah a pretty good price as just the body usually sells for around that price or higher never mind the proper Fuji grips and Gariz case.
I've ordered the Zhongyi focal reducer / speed booster too as the crop was the main thing I wasn't keen on when I had an XT1 previously. Just had to pay more for expedited shipping as it wouldn't arrive from China in time for my trip to India on Jan 3rd.
Anyone used one of those with Nikon Legacy glass ? Reviews seem favourable, nearly as good as the Metabones one for 1/3 of the price.
Andy, I have a Zhongyi focal reducer in M42 screw mount that I used on my Fuji. Used it with a Helios 58/2 and a Pentax Asahi SMC Takumar 28mm/3.5.
Of course with the characteristics of the Helios it is hard to judge optical quality but with the super sharp Takumar it worked really well.
Overall I was happy with it. It did focus past infinity so I adjusted the optical element so that focus matched the distances on the lens body. A pet peeve of mine
Quality wise I feel it was on par with the Metabones Speedbooster Ultra I used with the F mount glass.
cadman342001 wrote:
Thanks George, yeah a pretty good price as just the body usually sells for around that price or higher never mind the proper Fuji grips and Gariz case.
I've ordered the Zhongyi focal reducer / speed booster too as the crop was the main thing I wasn't keen on when I had an XT1 previously. Just had to pay more for expedited shipping as it wouldn't arrive from China in time for my trip to India on Jan 3rd.
Anyone used one of those with Nikon Legacy glass ? Reviews seem favourable, nearly as good as the Metabones one for 1/3 of the price.
I use a Zhongyi focal reducer all the time with Nikon lenses on a Fuji X-T2. It works great and I love it. It's never given me any problems. It's been well worth the price.
That's great to hear and confirms the reviews I managed to find on the net.
All I need now are a couple of extra batteries and I'm set. Is the Wasabi brand still the go or are there cheaper alternatives now that don't swell up and get stuck in the body ?
Here's another shot from my previous XT1 excursion
10 second exposure ! ISO200
Focal length listed in EXIF is 21mm for some reason.
Using the Zhongyi FR what focal lengths do you specify - presumably either the original FL or perhaps the FL x 1.15 to match the crop factor of the FR? I suspect that's probably not necessary
cadman342001 wrote:
That's great to hear and confirms the reviews I managed to find on the net.
All I need now are a couple of extra batteries and I'm set. Is the Wasabi brand still the go or are there cheaper alternatives now that don't swell up and get stuck in the body ?
Here's another shot from my previous XT1 excursion
10 second exposure ! ISO200
Focal length listed in EXIF is 21mm for some reason.
Using the Zhongyi FR what focal lengths do you specify - presumably either the original FL or perhaps the FL x 1.15 to match the crop factor of the FR? I suspect that's probably not necessary
Usually the show is predictable, but back in May 1952, one guy well known in Mt. Whitney circles saw an atmospheric A-bomb blast at Yucca Flat from this very spot (full story here).
cadman342001 wrote:
Using the Zhongyi FR what focal lengths do you specify - presumably either the original FL or perhaps the FL x 1.15 to match the crop factor of the FR? I suspect that's probably not necessary
Andy
Andy on the X-T1 it probably doesn't matter which FL you enter. All depends on what you want registered in your EXIF.
On the X-Pro2 I entered the actual FL for the lens on the focal reducer since a lot of times I used the frame lines that overlay in the optical viewfinder and they were dependent on what you had entered in the camera. I wanted it to be accurate for the field of view of the lens. EVF didn't matter. You just saw what the sensor saw.
cadman342001 wrote:
Thanks George, yeah a pretty good price as just the body usually sells for around that price or higher never mind the proper Fuji grips and Gariz case.
I've ordered the Zhongyi focal reducer / speed booster too as the crop was the main thing I wasn't keen on when I had an XT1 previously. Just had to pay more for expedited shipping as it wouldn't arrive from China in time for my trip to India on Jan 3rd.
Anyone used one of those with Nikon Legacy glass ? Reviews seem favourable, nearly as good as the Metabones one for 1/3 of the price.
Andy...Show more →
I have one, has an ED element in it. Seems nice. A bit soft out by the edges, but still usable.
cadman342001 wrote:
Thanks George, yeah a pretty good price as just the body usually sells for around that price or higher never mind the proper Fuji grips and Gariz case.
I've ordered the Zhongyi focal reducer / speed booster too as the crop was the main thing I wasn't keen on when I had an XT1 previously. Just had to pay more for expedited shipping as it wouldn't arrive from China in time for my trip to India on Jan 3rd.
Anyone used one of those with Nikon Legacy glass ? Reviews seem favourable, nearly as good as the Metabones one for 1/3 of the price.
I've been using use the Zhongyi Nikon-to-Fuji focal reducer for the majority of my X-T2 photos since I bought the camera, and it does a fine job as far as I can tell. Here are a few from earlier this fall by the Cowichan River. They were shot with the 2.8cm f/3.5 H (first and fourth images), 50 f/1.4 SC (second), and the 85 f/1.8 HC mounted on the X-T2 with the Zhongyi reducer.
) a real contact block didn’t fit.
