Photography Thread

[The Poet]

Brad, my first Nikkor 40 years ago was a 50/1.4, and it is a great lens. But I see no need for one to "step up" from a 1.8, or even a 2.0, as one stop rarely makes the difference between getting the shot and NOT getting the shot. That opinion is based more on my past work history. I worked for 8 1/2 years in a photo shop, before high-speed digital sensors, and my go-to films were Kodachrome 64 and Tri-X 400.

[hwgoesit]

THe 1.4 and 1.8 have 7 blade diaphrams, the 1.2 has 9 blade and will provide better "sunstars" when stopped down. Not sure there is much of an advantage from the 1.4 over the 1.8

[hwgoesit]

BTW, I ahve the 1.8 and think it is a great lens

[OLS]

Originally Posted by Steve

All I can say is the Nikkor 50/1.2 is a sweet lens...

yes, but you have your own river-view hot tub, I am talking about for schlubs like ME.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by OLS

yes, but you have your own river-view hot tub, I am talking about for schlubs like ME.

I WISH that was my hot tub with a river view. It's actually my MIL's, and it's currently up for sale (much to my daughters chagrin). Buy the hot tub and the view and you get the 5000 sq. ft. house for free

I may still have my 1.2 lens; I just put a lot of my old 35mm stuff away. I got a really great deal on it when I bought it, and since I used a 55mm macro for most of my work, I needed something that would be a little faster for candid and such when I wasn't doing nature stuff.

Boy, I wish I still had some of my big glass stuff though!

[OLS]

That is what we all want to hear, affirmation that we are right, lol. What pushed me over the top on NOT getting it
was a very interesting article I read that added a tidbit near the end that KIND OF shocked me. You don't have to read
all of it if you want to read the part that kind of surprised me...just scroll down to "A Surprising Result". It was not the
thing that made up my mind, that was helped along by you guys repeating what I thought I knew, that while the lens
I was looking at IS AWESOME, the difference when one has one lens is somewhat lost when you pick up the other. Add to that
the fact that I am not really a portraitist but someone who struggles to get things in focus in night clubs, losing even more
DOF might actually be a tragedy, lol. Thanks, y'all. And way to get that dad armadillo banished to a non-current page!

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0012817/a...out-f18-or-f14

[OLS]

Originally Posted by Steve

I may still have my 1.2 lens; I just put a lot of my old 35mm stuff away. I got a really great deal on it when I bought it, and since I used a 55mm macro for most of my work, I needed something that would be a little faster for candid and such when I wasn't doing nature stuff.

Would that lens have been a "modern spec"? AI or above? I am always tempted to pick up a pre-AI lens
because they are the REAL red-headed stepchildren now, since they will damage most popular Nikon digitals.
I even bought a D40, because they can accept those old Nippon Kogaku lenses. but then I realized it might be
a bad idea to pick up a blazing fast Pre-AI lens and mount it to a camera as consumer-grade as a D40 when
I have perfectly decent 'fast' lenses and great bodies....just to pick up .4 . Also it mostly seemed dumb to
pick up ANY GEAR AT ALL when I am set and content.

[Steve]

Almost all of my stuff was AI'd. I used F3's mostly, but I had a few older FMs and a couple of the original Fs that I used at various times, so I was able to use all of my lenses on most of my bodies.

[OLS]

Thanks, Steve. I may end up picking it up, as half of us think its worth it and half don't.
And I will continue to ponder whether or not the narrower DOF actually HURTS me or can add something.

[Steve]

DOF wasn't really an issue for me back then, but again, I was younger and had better eyes at the time. For me the real deciding factor of getting the 1.2 was that there really wasn't that much of a difference between the 1.4 and the 1.8 (I actually had a 1.4 as well) but I needed something that would perform better than the 2.5 of the macro lens.

One of the benefits I had to hanging around a local old school B&M camera shop was I had access to a lot of deals on quality used glass. Unfortunately these days, most of those old school shops have gone the way of the dodo bird

[OLS]

Originally Posted by Steve

most of those old school shops have gone the way of the dodo bird

that and the fact that most of the shops long ago realized that people were back on those old lenses.
They went from 'can't hardly give em away' to 'back in stride again' overnight. I think I got in before the
second wave when the prices went up again. And I think if film was still big, the old shops could have
made it. They lose a lot of new sales to online, but service on an item like that is still important, and I mean
both kinds, camera and customer.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on my first D200 so I could use the oldies, frankly the only ones I could afford.
I ended up buying 4 D200s and except for the 5th one I just bought, lol, they are ALL GONE. They might suck at night,
but that is one versatile camera. Nowadays there are at least 5 enthusiast Nikons that will mount and meter with
the old glass. But without those lenses in 24, 50, 85 and 105, I am shot. Boy do I love my old primes.

[OLS]

The Pistol & The Queen, Earnestine & Hazel's, Memphis, TN

She's a talented guitarist from New Orleans, he handles the rhythm and sings the songs
and he's from around London. I know that's a re-hashed bit of info, but I always say it
when I post a photo of them, because its SHOW BIZ after all, every eyeball on em might
be an ear hole one day. And its my night job, lol. One day I might even make a whole
dollar for the work. Spending a little time before they played to shoot some posterity pics.

And what's that they do on the red carpet, "Mr. Wood is smoking a borrowed H. Upmann
Coronas Major Tubo....." This is the same thing I try to do when I know I am going to be
around Marc Gasol from the Grizzlies. Have havanas on hand. Those guys are used to
having access to havanas, shame they have to toil away in the USA without em.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by OLS

that and the fact that most of the shops long ago realized that people were back on those old lenses.
They went from 'can't hardly give em away' to 'back in stride again' overnight. I think I got in before the
second wave when the prices went up again. And I think if film was still big, the old shops could have
made it. They lose a lot of new sales to online, but service on an item like that is still important, and I mean
both kinds, camera and customer.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on my first D200 so I could use the oldies, frankly the only ones I could afford.
I ended up buying 4 D200s and except for the 5th one I just bought, lol, they are ALL GONE. They might suck at night,
but that is one versatile camera. Nowadays there are at least 5 enthusiast Nikons that will mount and meter with
the old glass. But without those lenses in 24, 50, 85 and 105, I am shot. Boy do I love my old primes.

Of all the lenses I had, I think the 105 was my favorite. Beautiful depth of field for cadids.

[OLS]

I also find that to be true. Mine was the "slow" 105 f/2.5, but WOWIE ZOWIE does it create a great photo.
I am so happy its Friday, I am just going to fill up this page today. Here is a test shot from a lens that
I bought that was shipped to me, refused at delivery, shipped BACK to NY, then I asked them to RE-ship it. They asked
me if I was sure, and I said of course I am sure. Should have declined. Won't focus at infinity from the 75mm position.
This is an old Nikkor 75-300mm AF lens. And it will focus anywhere at the long end, which is the only reason I have it
to begin with, so ehh, I like it fine enough. This was shot on a D70. I had no electricity in the house, and I did not
want ANYTHING to happen to the shots I had gathered over the weekend, so I took out my 2nd oldest body for this test.

Looks like the -.07 Exposure Comp was too much....looks a bit dark.

[OLS]

My favorite thing in photography is an ultra-wide shot. In most cases this might be considered a no-no with
this lens, simply showing how wide you can go, with no thought to compositional interest or anything like that. But to
tell you the truth, I wish I had been even WIDER here. This is the landing at Oak Alley in Vacherie, LA, and this is
the area that Brad Pitt rides through on his horse in the opening of Interview with the Vampire. He rides through
his 'vast sugar cane plantation", up and over the levee, whereupon you see Oak Alley, his plantation home. As you can
see here, there is no room for a vast cane plantation, just a tiny river bank, then the levee. But Hollywood is not
interested in what isn't there, they have a story to tell, and they use any means necessary. But when I drove up
and saw the American Queen tied up here, my nipples got hard knowing I had the perfect lens for this shot.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by OLS

Looks like the -.07 Exposure Comp was too much....looks a bit dark.

Don't put yourself down, brother. Instead, call it "saturated".

[OLS]

Originally Posted by The Poet

Don't put yourself down, brother. Instead, call it "saturated".

I agree with you of course, because when I DO get the exposure 'right' I don't like em nearly as much, haha.

[OLS]

Night time across the river.
This is from Algiers Point where you can catch a ferry across to New Orleans. I've shot here in the daytime,
but that is a poor substitute for the night view. In this one you can see the Algiers Ferry about 3 hours or so
from going to work for the day. I know one day I am going to be beaten to death and thrown into the river for
5 dollars, but until then, man, what a wonderful way to take pictures. I highly recommend ANYONE who
loves photography to spend one night a month shooting only at night.

[OLS]

Not the oldest, but surely the most beautiful cemetery in NOLA, Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District Uptown.
Right next to Commander's Palace restaurant. On this trip though, I entered from the upriver end closer to the
condo I was visiting where my mother was staying for a week. Neat place, well worth a visit. One thing is for sure,
if you are at THIS CEMETERY, you are exploring New Orleans the right way. You gots to get off Bourbon Street to
get the best feel for the town.

[shark]

Tight little body...