Today I have a few more exteriors from Fort William, including a (slightly out of focus) door for Leighton. I don't recall which lenses I used for the first two photos, but the door shot was taken with the 85 f/1.8 HC. You will notice that snow in Northern Ontario sticks around until well into the spring. In fact, one week prior to our early May visit, there had been a snow-and-ice storm that had closed the nearby main highway for a day.
Ballard wrote:
Colin, thanks for the IR info. Another camera body dedicated to IR is not in my immediate future, but it will certainly be on my wish list.
Curtis, I'm glad to see you enjoying the 135/3.5 more. You're last monochrome image with it is outstanding. Fast glass may be sexy, but I use the f/3.5 lens much more than the f/2.0. I just don't enjoy lugging the faster lens around.
Thanks Ken. From a weight perspective, I was moving from the 180 f/2.8 ED AI-s which weighs a bit less than the monster 135 f/2 AI-s, but it is a larger lens that adds its own challenges when shooting with tubes. And, I've learned over the years that an extension tube itself narrows the focal plane, so shooting wide open in those situations isn't my preferred choice, UNLESS I'm shooting with a slower lens. That said, some of what I shared yesterday was shot at f/5.6, which widens the focal plane a bit. I love bokeh play, but sometimes I want more detail to be in focus. I'm not thinking about Andy's focus stacking where he can shoot a hundred images to find PERFECT sharpness, but simply a bit more in focus...
I think I need to move to another lens, perhaps the 105, for a bit of variety. I think I'll step up to the PK-13 as well. Tubes are definitely fun to shoot with.
CGrindahl wrote:
Thanks Ken. From a weight perspective, I was moving from the 180 f/2.8 ED AI-s which weighs a bit less than the monster 135 f/2 AI-s, but it is a larger lens that adds its own challenges when shooting with tubes. And, I've learned over the years that an extension tube itself narrows the focal plane, so shooting wide open in those situations isn't my preferred choice, UNLESS I'm shooting with a slower lens. That said, some of what I shared yesterday was shot at f/5.6, which widens the focal plane a bit. I love bokeh play, but sometimes I want more detail to be in focus. I'm not thinking about Andy's focus stacking where he can shoot a hundred images to find PERFECT sharpness, but simply a bit more in focus...
I think I need to move to another lens, perhaps the 105, for a bit of variety. I think I'll step up to the PK-13 as well. Tubes are definitely fun to shoot with.
Wonderful set of images Colin... a textbook demonstration of what changing focal length can do. I'm a bit fan of the 24 f/2.8 N.C. so I love the panorama. What gorgeous country! IR handles it all beautifully. Well done.
Always nice to come to the thread on a Saturday afternoon and to find market photos from Leighton. Nice that your one manual focus Nikkor is the 50-135. That is a great range for doing street photography on an FX camera and clearly workable on your DX Fuji. But you need something wider to expand your horizons...
CGrindahl wrote:
Always nice to come to the thread on a Saturday afternoon and to find market photos from Leighton. Nice that your one manual focus Nikkor is the 50-135. That is a great range for doing street photography on an FX camera and clearly workable on your DX Fuji. But you need something wider to expand your horizons...
The possibilities are endless...
I think of the 50-135 as a poor mans 70-200 on a DX. I'll be sharing next week with my new 55 micro.
After that, I want the 28/2.8 AIS, but I'm not sure when that will be.
I think of the 80-200 f/4.5 AI as the poor man's 70-200 but that is probably because I'm shooting FX...
Funny thing about the 50-135 f/3.5 AI-s Leighton. In my recollection I was the first person who brought that lens to the thread but somehow it's become "Leighton's lens..." That is probably understandable given how much you love the lens and how fine the work is you produce with it. I was impressed when I first mounted it February, 2011, the eleventh manual focus lens I'd bought at the time, but I was into my buying frenzy that year so didn't stop to give that lens it's due. I picked up the 24 f/2.8 AI-s the same month and the 85 f/14 AI-s the following month. I was mesmerized by the 85 and give it a big play. But you became the advocate for the 50-135 and many of our friends followed.
And now you seem to be leading the usual suspects toward Fuji... You are incorrigible Leighton.
Here's a companion piece to the hood ornament I posted last evening. I've seen this car parked at this location for nine years. It is definitely the worse for wear...
leighton w wrote:
I think of the 50-135 as a poor mans 70-200 on a DX.
That is most certainly an apt comparison. Tokina actually manufactured a 50-135 f2,8 DX lens for precisely that reason. I'm not quite sure yet where I am with DX, but rethinking my lens kit a bit would be nescessary. Given that, my loyal 80-200 f4 Ai-S would finally get me to the 300mm equivalent I have been thinking about so much.
A little bit of statistic, Of the 10 000 files on my notebook at this moment, 2300 were made with the 55mm, so a fast 35mm will be something to look into. Another 1200 shots were made using the 80-200 f4 Ai-S. More even then the 20mm UD (900+) and the 16mm f3,5 (875).
I took delivery copy of the 80-200 f4 on May 31st last year. That's an average of nearly 100 exposures/month with the 80-200 f4 Ai-S
I'd like to put together an FX kit that is strictly for MF lenses and I'm looking for camera recommendations. Given that this is for MF only, I don't need the latest AF capabilities, crazy-high ISO (although decent would be nice), and super-high MPs. I'm leaning towards a used D700 as I like the layout, love the ergonomics, and have seen it used in this thread quite a bit with great success. I'd also consider the D600/10 but the ergos and build aren't as nice and the price is a little higher.
Background: I sold all of my Nikon gear except for my MF lenses 2 years ago when my son was born, went to Mirrorless for the size, but never fell in love with the system, so I'm moving back to Nikon. I have the D500 and a variety of nice zooms that I use to chase the kiddo around with and take bird pics. The D500 has, to me, perfect ergonomics, which is why I'm leaning towards the D700 as it's very similar.
The MF Nikon kit in my profile is up-to-date, but the rest is not as I get an error every time I try to update it.
So, two questions: 1) does anyone have an FX recommendation for a camera to be used with only manual focus lenses other than what I listed above, or a recommendation between the D700 and D600/10? 2) I'm also looking for a wide angle MF lens between 15-20mm. The 15mm f3.5 is in my budget if I can find one, but I'd love other suggestions as well.
All photos were taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M10 and Nikon Nikkor-S 35mm f/2.8 lens (70mm equivalent on full frame). This was my first attempt at using Nikon lenses on this particular camera, and I'm very pleased with the results.
Last 3 images from the recent road trip, I promise. This is the only remaining round barn, built by Pete French around 1880 and now on the US Nat’l Register of Historic Places. An interior circular stone-and-mud wall encloses the horse stable, and a covered area outside the wall was used as a winter exercise track.
These shots were taken seconds before a torrential cloudburst with high winds then hail. It was so dark that I shot the interior at ISO 3200, 1/5 sec. at f/8 hand held and braced against a post—so not really sharp.
25-50/4 AI-s on Df for all three. The first image is 2 shots stitched in PS, so the perspective looks much wider than with a 25mm lens. Not how I wanted to shoot it, but otherwise the fence ran through the middle of the frame.
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