Nikon EM (compact plastic early auto mode from the 80's)

"Bruce" wrote in message ...
On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:12:54 -0400, "David Ruether"
wrote:
"Bruce" wrote in message ...
On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:55:11 -0400, "David Ruether"
wrote:

I once compared the Nikkor 28-70mm f3.5-4.5 at f5.6 with the
Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AIS, the Nikkor 28mm f1.4 AF, and the Nikkor
28mm f4 PC shooting trees and city-scape with the same back-lit
framing, taken aimed toward a hazy-bright sky. For various reasons,
I would have expected the f2.8 to have "won" for sharpness and
brilliance, but the "winners" were the 28-70mm zoom and the 28mm
PC(!). I was surprised...

In other comparisons with multiple samples, the Nikkor 28mm f2 at
f5.6 was a tad sharper overall than the MF 28mm f2.8, but at wider
stops the results moved toward reversal...

The 28mm PC lenses have long been known as the best 28mm Nikkors and
among the best performing 28mm lenses of any brand. The pre-set
aperture is a pain in the a**, though.

I found it rather easy/intuitive on the F3 body, which was the only
one that didn't require the lens to be centered (with an "E" screen)
for metering unless an extreme shift was made with vertical framing.
Just select the most reasonable shutter speed for conditions, place in
the large VF circle a good representative distribution of subject tones,
and then center the meter with the diaphragm (without setting the
preset mechanism). Easy! ;-)

but I have since replaced it with the excellent 24-85mm f3.5-4.5
(although at that point, I stopped shooting much of anything...)

You can't have it all, unless you buy Leica glass. And I don't think
even Leica could make a perfect zoom lens.

The 80-200mm f2.8 comes close to being a perfect zoom, and by
reputation, so do the 35/28/24-70mm f2.8s (but I have not tried
these). The 17-35mm f2.8 is one heck of a lens, and by reputation
and photos I've seen, the Nikkor 14-24mm is an "impossibly" good
zoom...;-) If it weren't for the prices/sizes/weights of these, one really
could replace many non-zooms in their ranges.
--DR