Some Shots with the Pre-AI Nikkor 55mm f1.2

I took my old 55mm f1.2 Nikkor out, mated to my Nikon F2SB body, loaded with HP5, to Washington, DC. Here's what resulted:

 

 

Tough to focus (manually), lots of misses, but hey, what's a f1.2 lens for if not shooting in the dark? Fun stuff.

 

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Exciting New Lenses from Zeiss - Milvus Line for DSLRs

 

Zeiss makes absolutely wonderful lenses. For Nikon camera bodies, the ZF lenses are all manual focus, and are unquestionably at the top of optical performance.

 

Not too long ago, they came out with the Otus 55mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.4 lenses for Nikon and Canon DSLRs. The Otus lenses are advertised as providing medium format image quality on the 35mm sensor size. They also cost at least $4,000. I'd love to try one.

 

Now, Zeiss has come out with the Milvus line. Announcing the full lineup all at once, there are Milvus models in the following focal lengths and maximum apertures: 21mm f2.8, 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 50mm f2 Macro, and 100mm f2.8 Macro. Again in manual focus, the Milvus lenses are more reasonably priced, listing for less than $2,000 each on preorder at Adorama. They should be shipping in October.

 

So, what's special about the Milvus lenses? They're designed specifically for the new high pixel count sensors, with low light scattering, precision manual focus across the full focus range, and weather resistance.

 

(Click Here) to read more about the Milvus lenses on Zeiss' website.

 

It's great that Zeiss keeps bringing us high quality optics for various camera systems. I love the variety they're offering.

 

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Freaky Dolls at The Gilded Flea

My friend Dwayne Brooke, guitarist and creative genius, owns a fun antique shop in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, called The Gilded Flea. (Click Here) to check them out.

 

I recently stopped in, while my Mom was in town. Of course, Mom found some treasures. But what intrigued me were these two uber-creepy dolls.

 

Cracked, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor Pre-AI 55mm f1.2 Lens

iso 400, f1.2, 1/60 sec.

 

Mom tells me the doll below has "sleep eyes." I'd say it looks more like out of body experience or possessed eyes, but that's just me.

 

Sleep Eyes, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor Pre-AI 55mm f1.2 Lens

iso 400, f1.2, 1/60 sec.

 

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Farm Cats

My Mom recently visited me, and we went to Antietam National Battlefield for some sightseeing. While we were there, we met these farm kitties.

 

Farm Cats, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor Pre-AI 55mm f1.2 Lens

iso 160, f4, 1/60sec

 

I love the cat looking out from under the barn at right.

 

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Mint Instant (Instax) TLR - Looks Fun

Image Source: https://mint-camera.com/TL70/preorder

I think this looks like fun - a twin lens reflex camera that shoots Fujifilm Instax film. Manual focus, real viewing and focusing through the flip-up hood, even a B setting for long exposures. And, using the Instax format, you've got a decent chance that film will be available for quite some time.

I love photo entrepreneurs. I love to support them. But, at $320, I just can't quite bring myself to do it in this case. If you can, just (Click Here) to go buy yours!

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Testing the Nikkor AiS 35mm f1.4 With Film

I recently bought two classic lenses from a friend, the 50mm f1.2 and 35mm f1.4 AiS manual focus lenses from Nikon. Both are in truly mint condition.

 

I used the 50 f1.2 while I was in Japan, and have posted some results (Click Here). It's a very special purpose lens, but the way it isolates subjects with the miniscule depth of field, and can shoot in near total darkness is impressive.

 

I have not used the 35 f1.4 much at all yet, and decided to put a roll of film through my Nikon FM2N using only that lens. I didn't have any particular subject in mind when I went out, but wanted to see how the lens would do. Here are a few shots from that roll.

 

 

All of these were shot on Ilford HP5+.

 

The final shot really shows how the 35 f1.4 can isolate a subject, while including a lot of context in the image. If I'd shot this with a longer lens (easier to get narrow depth of field), it would not have been obvious that the boy had friends with him, that he was using an Apple computer, or that he was in a library at all. Kind of fun.

 

So, I need to keep exploring this lens. More to come!

 

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More Men at Work - Nikon Df in Japan

Here's a guy working on the outside of a building in Ryogoku, Tokyo. Ryogoku is the home of Tokyo's sumo wrestling, and this business sells "chanko nabe," the hearty pork soup that is a mainstay of the sumo diet.

High Work #1, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS Lens

iso 1100, f8, 1/500 sec.

 

After taking this shot from steet level, I went up to the platform at the Ryogoku train station to capture this view from a higher perspective.

 

High Work #2, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS Lens

iso 1100, f8, 1/500 sec.

 

The Nikkor 50mm f1.2 lens functions very well as a normal lens when stopped down, though that's not normally how I'd use it. It's really purpose-built for extreme low light applications.

 

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Tokyo Nightlife, With the 50mm f1.2 AIS Lens

Tokyo Nightlife, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, 50mm f1.2 AIS Lens

 

Here's a little montage of images I made while walking one of the backstreets near Monzennakacho Station in Tokyo. The 50mm f 1.2 lens not only allowed me to capture the images in near complete darkness at reasonable shutter speeds, it also allowed me to use selective focus to narrow the viewer's attention to an individual's face. I shot each of these from outside the bar's window. All of the surrounding distractions blur into the foreground or background.

 

That said, manual focusing was quite difficult. Even with the very wide aperture and a Nikon 1.2x magnifier on the Df, I missed quite a few shots. Great fun, though!

 

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Master of Darkness - My New Lens

Image Source: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/mf/normal/50mmf_12/index.htm

 

I've just sprung for a new lens for my Nikon kit. It's the Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS manual focus from Nikon. They've been making it since 1981, and they still make it today.

 

I bought my very late production unit from my friend, Alain, for a great price. It's truly like new. It's also the fastest lens I own.

 

I'm hoping that it will be the perfect extreme low light lens for my Nikon Df. Given the Df's high iso capabilities, I should be able to do some incredible things with this combination.

 

I can already tell that it's tough to focus, though. The depth of field at f1.2 is just plain razor thin. But, that's the whole idea of a lens with an incredibly wide maximum aperture.

 

This lens will be going with me to Japan this spring. I can't wait to try it out in the Tokyo night time!

 

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Nikon Df With Lenses from all Nikon Ages - Many Great Example Images

As you may know, I've recently acquired a Nikon Df. I'm thoroughly enjoying shooting it with lots of different lenses, from old pre-AI to the latest models.

 

Nikon Df with Nikkor-P 105mm f2.5 (pre-AI) Lens

Image Source: http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/review/newproduct/20131127_625119.html

 

(Click Here) to see a post on a Japanese site with great sample images from a large selection of Nikkor lenses. The photo above is included there, and I think it's beautiful.

 

The funniest thing is how I found this site. There's a forum post on Rangefinder Forum referring to this page. One of the comments on the post says that these examples remind the writer of how soft the pre-AI 105mm lens was. Cracks me up. (Click Here) to read that comedy.

 

Just goes to show you that you must judge cameras and lenses for yourself. If something works for me, I couldn't care less whether the majority of people opining online agree with me.

 

I need more time to get out with my new Df! It's such a wonderful camera.

 

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First Post With Nikon Df - Marine Memorial (Iwo Jima)

Well, I think I like the Nikon Df. One day out with it and I'm amazed at its capabilities. Here's my first post with it, shot at the Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

 

Reaching for Freedom, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, 105mm f2.5 AIS Lens

iso 1100, f8, 1/250 sec.

 

The high iso capability of this camera is unbelievable. Normally, I would never dream of shooting at iso 1100 in broad daylight. In this case, I put the camera on Auto-ISO, set the shutter speed fast enough to ensure sharpness handholding the 105mm lens, and f-stop at 8 to get decent depth of field. The camera chose iso 1100, which in the old days would have meant a lot of digital noise. There is next to none in this picture, at least not enough to worry about, even if I were to print it large.

 

Great fun. I'm going to enjoy this new camera.

 

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Paal Audestad - 36 Images With His Old Leica M4

Image Source: http://blog.leica-camera.com/photographers/guest-blog-posts/36-pictures-on-the-roll-with-paal-audestad/

 

Norwegian music and performance photographer Paal Audestad recently got his Leica M4 repaired after many years on the shelf. He took 36 images with it, thoughtfully, without even a light meter to help. And got 36 great images.

 

You must (Click Here) and see them all on the Leica Camera Blog. I'm quite impressed.

 

The post gives some insight into "slow photography" with film, versus blasting away with digital. It doesn't discount either approach. Funny, though, I don't think of an M4 as slow by any means. My Mamiya Universal, or 4x5 Speed Graphic? Now that's slow.

 

The funniest part of the story is how Audestad once lost his M4 during a night of partying. Where did he finally find it? In the refrigerator. Hilarious.

 

Audestad says he'll keep this little project with his M4 going as long as he can, he says perhaps until the M4 breaks again. That could/should be a very long time, Paal.

 

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Combining Systems - Micro 4/3 (Lumix GX7) and Nikkor Super Telephoto 500mm f4 AiP Lens

Just for fun, I decided to take out my enormously heavy Nikkor AiP 500mm f4 lens, and mount my Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 body to it, for some bird photography. That's right, the body mounts to the lens in my mind, as it's tiny in size compared to the big telephoto.

 

I put the combination on my even heavier Gitzo tripod with Manfrotto gimbal mount, and commenced to photographing wading birds at my local nature walk. I set the GX7's in-body image stabilizer to 500mm, but left it on. You would usually turn it off when using a tripod.

 

Here's an example shot of a great blue heron.

 

Portrait of a GBH, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Nikkor AiP 500mm f4 Lens (Manual Focus)

iso 1600, f8, 1/1000 sec.

 

With an equivalent field of view to a 1000mm lens on full-frame 35mm, it's obviously a challenge to manually focus this big lens, and hold it steady enough to get a decent shot, even at 1/1000 second exposure. The manual focus magnifier and focus peaking helped immensely, especially the magnifier. The peaking seems to be a little too forgiving, overestimating the depth of field at this long focal length.

 

This bird actually was a little too close for me to get the shot I wanted, not your normal situation in bird photography.

 

Even at iso 1600, the noise levels are quite reasonable with the GX7.

 

So, rather than worry about carrying a tele-converter to get just a little more reach from my 500mm lens, I can just carry the GX7 body! It probably weighs less than a converter, and you don't lose an f-stop of light gathering. Pretty cool.

 

Now that I know it technically works okay, I need to go back and see if I can get some more interesting images with this combination.

 

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Korean War Memorial Reflecting Pool - Leica M9, 90mm Elmarit f2.8

 

Korean War Memorial Reflecting Pool, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Elmarit 90mm f2.8 v.1 Lens

iso 160, f4.8, 1/500 sec.

 

 

I went into DC with my friends Alain and Charlie today, to do a little shooting at the National Mall. It was a gorgeous day. While I find the national monuments a bit challenging to shoot, mainly because they've all been done so much, I do like this image. I think the combination of the curved lines, reflections, and people interacting with the environment are just enough to make it a decent composition.

 

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Great Egret - Super Telephoto on Micro 4/3

Yesterday, I posted an image of a green heron, shot with my GX7 and modern Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 OIS lens.

 

Just for fun, I decided to try shooting at the same place with my very old (Nikon Pre-AI mount) Sigma 400mm f5.6 lens, adapted to fit the GX7. Here's a great egret shot with that combination.

 

 

Great Egret, Ardea alba, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Sigma 400mm f5.6 Manual Focus Lens (Pre-AI Nikon mount)

iso 1600, f11, 1/1000 sec.

 

Not bad for an old lens, huh? By the way, this is the lens that I won at the Film Photography Project's Walking Workshop in May. (Click Here) to read more about that.

 

I know that most of you can't click and zoom on this image, due to the way I post from flickr. Here's a ~100% crop from the image above:

 

You can see that he's just caught a minnow. While the results from this 30-40 year old lens don't match the modern Lumix 100-300mm zoom, they're pretty good, in my opinion. This is an extremely low-cost 800mm equivalent field of view combination for someone who has the patience to shoot nature with a manual focus lens. The GX7's manual focus magnifier really helps out, but is obviously only useful for static subjects. The Nikon-to-Micro 4/3 adapter is also very inexpensive, and available on Amazon (please buy yours from the link below and support my blog!).

 

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Konica 50mm f1.7 Hexanon as a Portrait Lens

My uncle Bob gave me a very nice gift recently, his Konica TC-1 camera, Tokina zoom, and 50mm Hexanon AR 50mm f1.7 lens. I have not cleaned the camera up yet, but did immediately pick up a "Fotasy" adapter for Konica Hexanon lenses on Micro 4/3 cameras. This morning, I mounted up the 50 Hexanon on my Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 Micro 4/3 body. Here's how it looks:

Konica 50mm Hexanon f1.7 on GX7

 

The Fotasy adapter made movement of the aperture ring on the Hexanon a little tight, but it's loosening up with exercise. I bought mine on Amazon, and the price is quite reasonable (see link to purchase yours on Amazon below).

 

With the Micro 4/3 sensor, the Hexanon provides an equivalent field of view to a 100mm lens on full frame 35mm format. A nice, fast portrait lens. Here's a shot of my daughter by window light, at f2.8.

 

My Favorite Model, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Konica Hexanon 50mm f1.7 Lens

iso 400, f2.8, 1/50 sec.

 

I have always loved Konica lenses. This one is no exception. I'm quite pleased with the color and sharpness of this image.

 

Thanks, Uncle Bob!

 

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More Fisheye Images - Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

I've always thought of a fisheye lens as a novelty. I never really owned one, other than a toy fisheye film camera, and I only used that once or twice. Over the holidays, I found the Bower 7.5mm f3.5 fisheye lens for Micro 4/3 for an amazing low price, and bought it.

 

I decided to take it with me on my trip to New Mexico. Another place where Micro 4/3 compactness shines. I don't think I'd ever carry a lens like this with a full-sized DSLR kit. The probability of use : weight ratio would be too low.

 

Anyway, I used it. The shot below is the only interesting one I could make at sunset over the city. Instead of a beautiful desert sunset, on this evening the clouds were rolling in, and the color just wasn't there. So, I pointed the fishey upward, got right to the base of the tree, and shot this.

Upward Reach, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Bower 7.5mm f3.5 Fisheye Lens

iso 200, 1/125 sec., f-stop unrecorded

 

The Bower lens is also marketed under other names. I believe it's identical to one sold under the Samyang and Rokinon name. It's a manual focus lens, but with the depth of field you get with a 7.5mm lens on Micro 4/3 sensors, that really isn't a drawback at all. At far less than half the cost of a Panasonic fisheye lens, I think it's a reasonable compromise.

 

Here's a shot I made outside a church in New Mexico:

 

Sacred Tree, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Bower 7.5mm f3.5 Fisheye Lens

iso 200, 1/800 sec., f-stop unrecorded

Here again, the fisheye perspective allowed me to make a somewhat interesting image, even in midday sun. The distortion of the lens works with the tree branch arching overhead, with its crucifixes hanging down. Mother Mary makes a nice off-center focal point.

 

So, this lens has my vote. I enjoyed using it on the GX7 quite a lot.

 

Click on my Amazon link below to buy yours, and support this blog!

 

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Metabones Speed Booster Adapter - Will This Attract Me to the Lumix DMC-GX7 More?

I have read about the amazing new adapters from a company called Metabones a few times, but didn't pay much attention. What's amazing about them? Not that they simply adapt various SLR lenses (including Nikkors) to Micro 4/3; I've had an adapter for that for a while now. Two things make this adapter different:

 

1. The adapter reduces the crop factor from 2x to about 1.4x on Micro 4/3, meaning that my Nikkor 20mm f2.8 SLR lens will have an equivalent crop to a 28mm lens on the GX7. That's useful.
2. The adapter makes the lens the equivalent of 1 full stop faster! So, that same 20mm f2.8 lens becomes an equivalent 28mm f2 lens on Micro 4/3.

Now, I figured this had to be some kind of gimmick. The only explanation I've seen is that it's sort of the opposite of a tele-converter (which reduces f-stop rather than increasing it). But now, I've seen it enough to look closer. For example, here's a shot from SOUNDIMAGEPLUS, using a Nikon 50mm f1.4 on the GX7 with the Metabones adapter.

Image Source: http://soundimageplus.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-superfast-alternative-panasonic-gx7.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FpcppU+%28Soundimageplus%29

 

(Click Here) to read the post on SOUNDIMAGEPLUS and see several sample images.

 

I've read several reviews of this component, and am pretty convinced it's for real, and high quality. I may just have to give it a try.

 

(Click Here) to read more about the adapter on dpreview.com.

 

These things aren't cheap at about $430. Also, there are a few things I don't understand at this point. For some reason, the Nikon to Micro 4/3 Speed Booster adapter is listed as being for "G" series lenses. I don't know if they are fully compatible with non-G lenses (those Nikkor lenses that have an aperture ring). I also don't know if they allow for open aperture metering. I guess I'd like to test one before purchasing.

 

In any case, it's on my mind now, and I'd like to try it.

 

If anyone has answers to how these work with non-G lenses (and even non-AI manual focus lenses), please comment and let me know!

 

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New Micro 4/3 Lenses from Kowa

Image Source: http://www.kowa-prominar.ne.jp/special/wide_lens/index.htm

It looks like Kowa, a Japanese camera maker we haven't heard from in many years in the USA, is going to produce three new lenses for Micro 4/3. The will include an 8.5mm f2.8 ultrawide angle, 12mm f1.8 wide, and 25mm f1.8 normal lens. I don't know anything about them, but they appear to be manual focus, and also appear to have aperture rings, something you can't necessarily expect these days.

You can see them on the company's Japanese site if you (Click Here).

Welcome to Micro 4/3, Kowa!

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Brian Sweeney Writes About the Nikon Df - and Buys One!

Nikon Df

Image Source: http://www.the.me/nikon-df-hands-on-the-closest-slr-to-a-leica-minus-rangefinder/

 

Brian Sweeney is a Leica and Nikon photographer whose name is pretty well-known on the photography forums. I've written in the past about Brian's work with vintage lenses, namely the Zeiss Sonnar, on Leica rangefinders.

 

(Click Here) to read my previous post.

 

It seems that Brian was won over by the new Nikon Df DSLR, which is modeled after Nikon film SLRs of the past, sports an ideal (in my opinion) sensor size and resolution for low noise and high quality image performance, and even allows us luddites to use our oldest pre-Ai Nikon lenses.

 

(Click Here) to read the Brian's post on THEME.

 

Brian believes that the Df is for Nikon what the M-E (M9) and M Monochrom are for Leica - real, practical digital answers to their excellent film cameras of the past.

 

Brian takes us through the evolution of his perfect kit (for personal work that is; Brian has used digital for professional work since 1993) in three major steps:

 

1. Originally, his chosen camera bodies were a Nikon F2AS (SLR) and Nikon SP (rangefinder).
2. Then, the Leica M9 replaced the SP for him.
3. Now, Brian's chosen kit is a Nikon Df (SLR), Leica M9 (rangefinder, for color work) and Leica M Monochrom (rangefinder, for black and white work).

In his post on THEME, Brian shares an image shot with the Df at an incredible iso setting of 20,000. Of course, it's impossible to evaluate how that image would look printed, but on the screen it sure looks fine. Not even nearly possible with the venerable film cameras.

 

Having Brian buy into the Df is an influential factor for me. Until now, he's been unconvinced by any potential digital replacement for his F2. That's a long time waiting. There must be something to this Df thing.

 

I still am in love with my Nikon F2. I'm still in love with my Leica film cameras, even though I own and enjoy the digital Leica M9. My current problem is one of too much gear and not enough time to shoot. But, I did get to handle a Df at McClanahan's Camera in Warrenton, Virginia recently. I cannot say that the camera hasn't been on my mind ever since...

 

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