On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 11:46:49 -0500, Roger had this to say:

I was finally able to acquire one of these lenses after reading a lot of
favorable user reports. The one aspect of the Nikkor lens system that I've
always regretted is the lack of a compact "normal" lens with good out of
focus characteristics. For the past 4 decades, I've used a 50mm Summicron
on a Leica M3/M6. I've grown used to the look of the background areas of
the Leica, but now my camera usage is almost entirely 35mm (still film)
SLR.

The first couple of test frames with the 45mm AIP lens hint that this is
going to be a very enjoyable lens to use. The "old" mechanical touch is
there, it is a very compact lens and it's function on my F100 gives me
full viewfinder access to all the exposure information.

The picture results, although taken of unremarkable subjects under
purposely very unfavorable conditions have been impressive. I tried it in
the "woods" with very flat lighting looking especially for how the shadow
detail was held. Another few frames were taken in the same location as the
sun was just breaking through the clouds increasing the contrast range and
again the shadows held very well. I'll need to scan the negatives to make
sure because the highlights were a bit "blown out" by the processor but
the range seems to be very good.

The detail is excellent and I haven't seen a hint of flare yet. A couple
of frames of brightly colored automobiles in a mid-day sunlighted parking
lot reveals the ability to handle specular reflections and color
saturation.

I'll be using the lens over the next three weeks as I take an extended
business trip to US/Europe/Asia and may have more results to report in
about a month or so.

Regards,
Roger

Thanks for the review, Roger. Very nice to hear from people who can
*usefully* share their experiences with equipment on the group.

--
DD™
"And that's all I got to say about that" ~ FG