D610 + Nikkor 85mm f/2 ai + male/male 52mm ring + reversed Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 ai-s + tripod + led lamp.
The 85mm was wide open and the best image was the one with 20mm at f/11.
This combo delivers a 85/20 = 4.25x magnification on a full frame sensor. The image is circular (above, unedited, straight from the camera), so a 1x1 crop was made (below, 16/24 = 67%).
A question: I am thinking of buying the nikon 28mm f/1.4 lens for my D850. However, it is expensive and I want to try out the 28mm FL for a while to make sure I like it before taking the plunge. I like using MF lenses, so I'm wondering whether any 28mm MF lenses render similarly to the f/1.4 lens. Any suggestions?
leighton w wrote:
Howdy folks. I've been really busy this week, so haven't had much time to engage. Here are a few from this morning with the 55/1.2 again.
D610 + Nikkor 85mm f/2 ai + male/male 52mm ring + reversed Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 ai-s + tripod + led lamp.
The 85mm was wide open and the best image was the one with 20mm at f/11.
This combo delivers a 85/20 = 4.25x magnification on a full frame sensor. The image is circular (above, unedited, straight from the camera), so a 1x1 crop was made (below, 16/24 = 67%).
Have you tried stopping down to f/2 on the 85? I think you can get even better results. I liked putting my 24mm in front of the 80-200/4.5 for some crazy magnification.
kwoodard wrote:
Have you tried stopping down to f/2 on the 85? I think you can get even better results. I liked putting my 24mm in front of the 80-200/4.5 for some crazy magnification.
The 105mm 4.0 bellows screwed with no reversing in front of a 105mm 4.0 macro is the best optical quality of all.
kings_freak wrote:
Hey all. Any recommendations on where to get a lens reconditioned? I have some great lenses but they are "dry" for lack of a better term. They just need to be gone through and re-lubed.
Tony,
Here are two that I have used for either CLA or lens repair. Very satisfied with both. Both will give quotes before service so you know what you are in for. For Camera Service Company, I was easily able to talk to the technician over the phone and the customer service was extremely friendly.
Authorized Photo Service
8125 River Drive, Suite 100
Morton Grove, IL 60053
Phone: 847-966-4091
Camera Service Company
4391 West Atlanta Rd SE
Smyrna, GA 30080-6511
Phone: 770-432-4257
bobbelbob wrote:
Love the tones in this. I've been looking for a good ND-filter. I bought one a while ago. But it was for filming...didn't work very well. Which ND-filter are you using?
pbraymond wrote:
Just beautiful Martin. The pattern, symmetry, perfectly formed drops of water.
What lenses do you want serviced. It's actually not too difficult to do yourself. The hardest part was was getting the grease and the proper JIS drivers, but in the USA I imagine that to be much easier to get than here in Namibia where half the time stuff gets lost in the post. If you're inclined find some beater lenses on a flea market or elsewhere, and just tinker around and try repair them... practicing taking helicoids apart and back together. I taught myself how to do this last year with very few mistakes. I started with a 55mm f/3.5 Micro and I've done about 6 of these to date, so this lens has become so easy to do. Most lenses are easy, and I've done the Air 85mm f/1.4 too, which is considered hard. Most important here is making good notes and marking parts on the lens.
kings_freak wrote:
Hey all. Any recommendations on where to get a lens reconditioned? I have some great lenses but they are "dry" for lack of a better term. They just need to be gone through and re-lubed.
The 300mm is OK at medium to close distances. Sharp enough with a nice OOF rendering if the light isn't too harsh... there are many aberrations, but it can make for some nice blur. Perhaps not a bad portrait lens, if focusing weren't so tricky.
For landscapes or distance shots, the sharpness is mediocre at best, at least on my lens. Plenty lateral CA, and contrast is flat and dull off centre. The centre also doesn't really sharpen up much, although contrast becomes quite nice.
To ship this lens to the USA will probably cost more or close to that of a used copy of eBay, BHPhoto, etc. So if you're ever in Namibia...
Mathieu18 wrote:
I had a 300mm H some time ago, and got some good shots out of it, but had to NAIL focus which wasn't easy. Just a bit off and it looked like a dog. Dunno. If you tire of it, I've been thinking about grabbing one to add to my NAI collection!
Great IR shots! Makes me want an IR camera again. I miss shooting IR film
DeltaSigma wrote:
The thousand year old Corfe Castle, Dorset. Maintained under the auspices of the National Trust.
D7100 IR & 50/2 H
Doug, while I'm more inclined to go long exposure, I really like how you've captured the waterfalls! Great texture there...
graytrekker wrote:
PS - I am not a big fan of super "milky" waterfall shots. I know many people like that style, and its just a personal preference on my part - no disrespect intended towards those who do. 1/15 s was about as long an exposure I could do here in this light with what I had without blowing out the highlights. When I look at the water in these images, (especially when enlarged), it almost looks like molten plastic to me. I think its the lighting
Durdle Door from atop and a long exposure from the beach.
The sun disappeared whilst we were on the beach and I was shooting with the 50/2.
The light reappeared after we got to the top again.
graytrekker wrote:
Colin - I like the composition in the second one. The curve of the beach takes one's eyes all the way around the scene and through the arch and out!
Thanks Doug - early start today or is this the norm?
Thanks for the info George and Colin. Perhaps it's gonna be my next investment. (Have not bought any lenses in a while so I guess I could go for a ND-kit without feeling guilty... )
For some time now, I have been interested in knowing the differences of these two variants in both the 24mm and 28mm manual lenses. I have posted queries on both this forum and DPR. However, I didn't get any really definitive responses. After all, few people have all 4. Yes, there is a smattering of posts out there (like Bjorn Roslett). He is often the "go to" person as he has developed an incredibly extensive data base on Nikon lenses. However, it is sometimes unclear on his site just which version of the lens he is commenting one, and there is always the possibility of sample variation. Certainly my tests here can't get around that, either. Recently, through the kind and generous loan of 3 of these lenses from Jack (MontanaKid), I was able to do a little head-to-head comparisons (I have the 24m f2 AI-S lens).
Here's my disclaimer: My methods were not all that scientific. I did not shoot any brick walls or test charts. I just put them on my camera and took some photos "out in the wild". Since my interest with these lenses are landscape, that is what I shot - not close-up/product photo type of work. I tried to include some elements both near and at infinity, as the scene allowed, and hopefully some points in between. They are a mix of both AI and AI-S, so there is a variable for which I could not control. I only have the cameras I have - one being the Nikon Df and the other, Sony A7RII. That represents (by today's standards) a lower resolution sensor and a high one. To use the Sony, I needed to use an adapter (Fotasy NIK-NEX), which also adds another variable, and possibly error at infinity. However, I thought I would want to see if things showed up with the high res sensor that I might not see with the Df (I don't have a D850). I blew the focus on one lens one day on the Sony and had to repeat it with a different scene. Finally, I cannot comment how the findings from these AI/AI-S lenses extrapolate to the pre-AI versions, either coated or not.
I obviously can't post all the photos I took, but will try and show some "representative" images/crops. If there is enough interest in this, I can see about posting the RAW files somewhere. Please be patient - I'll do these one set at a time (first the 24s, then the 28s), and I am gone for some of next week - so the second installment may be delayed.
Spoiler: I was impressed with the quality of all 4 of these lenses. I could not verify some of the "weaknesses" often cited about these lenses - they are all great pieces of glass, but, in general, I felt the 28s very sharper than the 24s.
Lastly, here are some resources that most people here know about, but in case there are newer members who have not found these sites, here they are:
