Woohoo! IV (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Nikon)

Can one person have the same lucky break twice??

My first Woohoo, some time ago, was when I acquired a near-mint FM3a (Black)
from work for a bargaintastic £100, which I sold shortly after to make quick
£££s to fund more important things. Well, this time it's the same camera,
but chrome... for the same price, and the same great condition!

So all my Leica/Contax wonderings are evaporating- if it was good enough for
me before, it's good enough now. All I need to do is decide which lenses to
get... I have a hankerin' for some fine f1.4 glass....

--
Martin Francis http://www.sixbysix.co.uk
"Go not to Usenet for counsel, for it will say both no, and yes, and
no, and yes...."

Martin Francis wrote:

Can one person have the same lucky break twice??

My first Woohoo, some time ago, was when I acquired a near-mint FM3a (Black)
from work for a bargaintastic £100, which I sold shortly after to make quick
£££s to fund more important things. Well, this time it's the same camera,
but chrome... for the same price, and the same great condition!

So all my Leica/Contax wonderings are evaporating- if it was good enough for
me before, it's good enough now. All I need to do is decide which lenses to
get... I have a hankerin' for some fine f1.4 glass....

If you get another FM3A, there are a few good f1.4 choices in older Nikon
manual focus lenses. The 35 mm f1.4 AIS is quite nice, yet a little tough to
find used at a good price. If you find a clean example, that is one of the
nicest lenses for available light use.

The 85 mm f1.4 AIS is another excellent choice, though it is a heavy lens with
a 72 mm filter mount. I find the 85 mm f2.0 much more compact, and nearly as
good at anything other than really close range, or shots needing that extra
stop open.

With the 50 mm f1.4, I went through four AIS versions before finding one I
liked. This might be sample variation, quality control, or just bad luck. I
have read about many people complaining about the 50 mm f1.4, but I think once
you find a good example, it is a nice lens. My favourite of the Nikon 50 mm
choices is the slightly older 50 mm f2.0 AI long barrel design, which has very
nice defocus rendition.

Then there are exotic choices in the f1.2 realm from Nikon. Only the 58 mm f1.2
Nocturnal, which is somewhat rare and expensive, is really an excellent lens.
The 50 mm f1.2 actually performs worse than almost any 50 mm f1.4, with more
light falloff towards the edges of the image plane. The prior 55 mm f1.2 Ai is
okay, but not much of a change from a 50 mm f1.4 AIS in illumination.

Enjoy your search.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com

Martin Francis wrote:

Can one person have the same lucky break twice??

My first Woohoo, some time ago, was when I acquired a near-mint FM3a (Black)
from work for a bargaintastic £100, which I sold shortly after to make quick
£££s to fund more important things. Well, this time it's the same camera,
but chrome... for the same price, and the same great condition!

So all my Leica/Contax wonderings are evaporating- if it was good enough for
me before, it's good enough now. All I need to do is decide which lenses to
get... I have a hankerin' for some fine f1.4 glass....

If you get another FM3A, there are a few good f1.4 choices in older Nikon
manual focus lenses. The 35 mm f1.4 AIS is quite nice, yet a little tough to
find used at a good price. If you find a clean example, that is one of the
nicest lenses for available light use.

The 85 mm f1.4 AIS is another excellent choice, though it is a heavy lens with
a 72 mm filter mount. I find the 85 mm f2.0 much more compact, and nearly as
good at anything other than really close range, or shots needing that extra
stop open.

With the 50 mm f1.4, I went through four AIS versions before finding one I
liked. This might be sample variation, quality control, or just bad luck. I
have read about many people complaining about the 50 mm f1.4, but I think once
you find a good example, it is a nice lens. My favourite of the Nikon 50 mm
choices is the slightly older 50 mm f2.0 AI long barrel design, which has very
nice defocus rendition.

Then there are exotic choices in the f1.2 realm from Nikon. Only the 58 mm f1.2
Nocturnal, which is somewhat rare and expensive, is really an excellent lens.
The 50 mm f1.2 actually performs worse than almost any 50 mm f1.4, with more
light falloff towards the edges of the image plane. The prior 55 mm f1.2 Ai is
okay, but not much of a change from a 50 mm f1.4 AIS in illumination.

Enjoy your search.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com

"Gordon Moat" wrote in message
...
If you get another FM3A, there are a few good f1.4 choices in older Nikon
manual focus lenses. The 35 mm f1.4 AIS is quite nice, yet a little tough
to
find used at a good price. If you find a clean example, that is one of the
nicest lenses for available light use.

The 85 mm f1.4 AIS is another excellent choice, though it is a heavy lens
with
a 72 mm filter mount. I find the 85 mm f2.0 much more compact, and nearly
as
good at anything other than really close range, or shots needing that
extra
stop open.

With the 50 mm f1.4, I went through four AIS versions before finding one I
liked. This might be sample variation, quality control, or just bad luck.
I
have read about many people complaining about the 50 mm f1.4, but I think
once
you find a good example, it is a nice lens. My favourite of the Nikon 50
mm
choices is the slightly older 50 mm f2.0 AI long barrel design, which has
very
nice defocus rendition.

Then there are exotic choices in the f1.2 realm from Nikon. Only the 58 mm
f1.2
Nocturnal, which is somewhat rare and expensive, is really an excellent
lens.
The 50 mm f1.2 actually performs worse than almost any 50 mm f1.4, with
more
light falloff towards the edges of the image plane. The prior 55 mm f1.2
Ai is
okay, but not much of a change from a 50 mm f1.4 AIS in illumination.

Enjoy your search.

Ta, Gordon. I've my heart set on the 85/1.4, a 180/2.8 AF (maybe not yet)
and i'm 90% convinced I want a 45/2.8 (I used to have the old-style long
barrel 50/1.8 which was optically identical to the old 50/2, and hence
fantastic- if I find one, i'll get one too). Wides are the issue- I want the
35/1.4, but I admit the 35/2 I used to have was a nice lens. If I could
afford it i'd sacrifice a couple of stops and get the 20-35/2.8...

--
Martin Francis http://www.sixbysix.co.uk
"Go not to Usenet for counsel, for it will say both no, and yes, and
no, and yes...."

"Gordon Moat" wrote in message
...
If you get another FM3A, there are a few good f1.4 choices in older Nikon
manual focus lenses. The 35 mm f1.4 AIS is quite nice, yet a little tough
to
find used at a good price. If you find a clean example, that is one of the
nicest lenses for available light use.

The 85 mm f1.4 AIS is another excellent choice, though it is a heavy lens
with
a 72 mm filter mount. I find the 85 mm f2.0 much more compact, and nearly
as
good at anything other than really close range, or shots needing that
extra
stop open.

With the 50 mm f1.4, I went through four AIS versions before finding one I
liked. This might be sample variation, quality control, or just bad luck.
I
have read about many people complaining about the 50 mm f1.4, but I think
once
you find a good example, it is a nice lens. My favourite of the Nikon 50
mm
choices is the slightly older 50 mm f2.0 AI long barrel design, which has
very
nice defocus rendition.

Then there are exotic choices in the f1.2 realm from Nikon. Only the 58 mm
f1.2
Nocturnal, which is somewhat rare and expensive, is really an excellent
lens.
The 50 mm f1.2 actually performs worse than almost any 50 mm f1.4, with
more
light falloff towards the edges of the image plane. The prior 55 mm f1.2
Ai is
okay, but not much of a change from a 50 mm f1.4 AIS in illumination.

Enjoy your search.

Ta, Gordon. I've my heart set on the 85/1.4, a 180/2.8 AF (maybe not yet)
and i'm 90% convinced I want a 45/2.8 (I used to have the old-style long
barrel 50/1.8 which was optically identical to the old 50/2, and hence
fantastic- if I find one, i'll get one too). Wides are the issue- I want the
35/1.4, but I admit the 35/2 I used to have was a nice lens. If I could
afford it i'd sacrifice a couple of stops and get the 20-35/2.8...

--
Martin Francis http://www.sixbysix.co.uk
"Go not to Usenet for counsel, for it will say both no, and yes, and
no, and yes...."

Martin Francis wrote:
Can one person have the same lucky break twice??

My first Woohoo, some time ago, was when I acquired a near-mint FM3a (Black)
from work for a bargaintastic £100, which I sold shortly after to make quick
£££s to fund more important things. Well, this time it's the same camera,
but chrome... for the same price, and the same great condition!

So all my Leica/Contax wonderings are evaporating- if it was good enough for
me before, it's good enough now. All I need to do is decide which lenses to
get... I have a hankerin' for some fine f1.4 glass....


Steady lad. (and I just got back from the woods and the colors and the E100VS
behind a Carl Zeiss 150 f/4 on a 500CM... too bad I don't own the damned thing...)

Cheers,
Alan



--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Martin Francis wrote:
Can one person have the same lucky break twice??

My first Woohoo, some time ago, was when I acquired a near-mint FM3a (Black)
from work for a bargaintastic £100, which I sold shortly after to make quick
£££s to fund more important things. Well, this time it's the same camera,
but chrome... for the same price, and the same great condition!

So all my Leica/Contax wonderings are evaporating- if it was good enough for
me before, it's good enough now. All I need to do is decide which lenses to
get... I have a hankerin' for some fine f1.4 glass....


Steady lad. (and I just got back from the woods and the colors and the E100VS
behind a Carl Zeiss 150 f/4 on a 500CM... too bad I don't own the damned thing...)

Cheers,
Alan



--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Martin Francis wrote:

"Gordon Moat" wrote in message
...
If you get another FM3A, there are a few good f1.4 choices in older Nikon
manual focus lenses. The 35 mm f1.4 AIS is quite nice, yet a little tough
to
find used at a good price. If you find a clean example, that is one of the
nicest lenses for available light use.

The 85 mm f1.4 AIS is another excellent choice, though it is a heavy lens
with
a 72 mm filter mount. I find the 85 mm f2.0 much more compact, and nearly
as
good at anything other than really close range, or shots needing that
extra
stop open.

With the 50 mm f1.4, I went through four AIS versions before finding one I
liked. This might be sample variation, quality control, or just bad luck.
I
have read about many people complaining about the 50 mm f1.4, but I think
once
you find a good example, it is a nice lens. My favourite of the Nikon 50
mm
choices is the slightly older 50 mm f2.0 AI long barrel design, which has
very
nice defocus rendition.

Then there are exotic choices in the f1.2 realm from Nikon. Only the 58 mm
f1.2
Nocturnal, which is somewhat rare and expensive, is really an excellent
lens.
The 50 mm f1.2 actually performs worse than almost any 50 mm f1.4, with
more
light falloff towards the edges of the image plane. The prior 55 mm f1.2
Ai is
okay, but not much of a change from a 50 mm f1.4 AIS in illumination.

Enjoy your search.

Ta, Gordon. I've my heart set on the 85/1.4, a 180/2.8 AF (maybe not yet)

I rented several 180 mm f2.8 versions prior to buying one. I found virtually no
detectable difference between final images from any of them, though the weight
and focus feel differences were noticeable. If you want to manually focus one
of these, the autofocus versions feel very loose, and not precise, the AIS ED
version has a fairly short throw, and the AI or earlier seem to have a slightly
longer throw. I suggest trying one out prior to buying one. Also, if you get a
chance, try using one with a PK-11 short extension tube. That extension tube
allows for a slightly closer focus, and can be interesting for head shot
portraits.


and i'm 90% convinced I want a 45/2.8 (I used to have the old-style long
barrel 50/1.8 which was optically identical to the old 50/2, and hence
fantastic- if I find one, i'll get one too).

I have large hands, so I did not like the really short lens barrel of the 45 mm
f2.8. If that does not bother you, having one on the FM3A would almost make it
a jacket pocket camera.

Wides are the issue- I want the
35/1.4, but I admit the 35/2 I used to have was a nice lens. If I could
afford it i'd sacrifice a couple of stops and get the 20-35/2.8...

The Tamron 17 - 35 mm zoom really surprised me in a comparison with the Nikon.
While I am somewhat anti-zoom, the newest Tamron manual focus is almost exactly
the same in rendition as the more expensive Nikon zoom.

The 35 mm f2.0 did nothing to impress me, though the 35 mm f1.4 would be nice
to have on hand. I have only rented the 35 mm f1.4, and it is great for low
light photography. I actually think it is noticeably better than the 50 mm
f1.4. The only 35 mm I currently own is a PC-Nikkor 35 mm f2.8, which actually
works incredibly well unshifted, and at f2.8. The PC-Nikkor is actually more
expensive than the f1.4, so unless you want to do architectural images, and can
deal with using a pre-set lens, stick with the 35 mm f1.4.

If you are not going to quickly be getting the 85 mm, you might want to try the
105 mm f2.5. While it is tougher to use in low light conditions, I have found
that the 105 mm f2.5 is so good that you might not want to use any 85 mm. There
are many of these on the used market, so prices are somewhat low. If I was told
I could only have one Nikon lens, my choice would be the 105 mm f2.5 AIS.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com