Manual focus lenses - wide is best

The more I review my gear, the more I realize that manual focus telephoto lenses, especially good quality fast aperture ones, are just a waste of time.  It's not due to the optical quality, its due to focusing.  Using something like an 85mm f1.4 or 135mm f2, it is very difficult to get the focus spot on, especially if the object is moving or relatively close.  If it is both, then forget even trying.  If it is difficult to get an in focus shot, no matter how good the optics are, its very difficult to justify owning.

So, just recently I sold my Nikon 85mm f1.4 Ai-S and Nikon 105mm f1.8 Ai-S, and will sell the Nikon 135mm f2 Ai-S shortly.  I've already purchased the Sigma 85mm f1.4 HSM recently to add to the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 AF-S I already own.  Both these lenses have fast AF, and the chances of missing a shot are much, much lower.  My hit rate (ie perfect focus) is now about 70%, as opposed to 5-10%.

Wide angle lenses are a different kettle of fish.  Even with a fast lens, like the Nikon 24mm f2 Ai-s, it is much harder to miss a shot as the depth of field is much greater. The Nikon 35mm f1.4 Ai-S though, is trickier, and so I have just replaced this the new Sigma 35mm f1.4.

Sigma 85mm f1.4 HSM, Nikon D600

The Art of Out of Focus Flowers #3

More out of focus flowers, this time purple dahlias that were growing in our garden.

The pick of the Nikon Manual Focus lenses

As mentioned in recent posts, the great thing about the Nikon D200, D300 and D7000 is that they meter with all Nikon mount Ai and Ai-S manual focus lenses.  The D700 also meters, and these lenses are just superb on full frame.

Here’s my pick of the must have Manual Focus lenses:

1.       Nikkor 20mm f4 –Classic tiny wide angle with great performance (about $250)

2.       Nikkor 24mm f2 – Until recently Nikon’s fastest ever 24mm (about $350)

3.       Nikkor 50mm f1.2 – Ultra wide aperture standard lens with super thin depth of field (about $450)

4.       Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Macro – Unbelievably sharp Macro lens.  Does 1:1 with an adapter (about $200)

5.       Nikkor 85mm f2 – Fabulous telephoto portrait lens – small, sharp, excellent (about $230)

6.       Nikon 100mm f2.8 Series E – Extremely compact and sharp tele lens and a bargain (about ($100)

7.       Nikkor 105mm f2.5 – Another great classic portrait lens ($160-$230)

8.       Nikkor 135mm f2 – Fast, sharp and reasonably priced (about $300)


9.       Tamron 90mm f2.5 Adaptall Macro – Lovely, sharp Macro. Does 1:1 with an adapter (about $170)

Nikon D2X with Nikon 135mm f2 Ai-S lens, shot at f2.8

There's some lenses not on this list that many will say are worthy, but in tomorrow's post you'll see why they have been left off....

Bye, Bye Louis The Fly

I LOVE shooting macro, and the closer the better.  It’s amazing how tiny details you’d never thought possible to see are revealed.  Most macro lenses either do 1:2 or the better ones 1:1, ie the object is life size on the sensor (or film).  A 2cm bee is 2cm long on a film negative.

However this is not enough for me, I want Ultra Macro!

A cost effective way to achieve this is to mount your lens on backwards.  A little difficult without an adapter, and you need to be very careful not to scratch the lens glass if you don’t have a filter and decide to hand hold.  Luckily such adapters are cheap on eBay, but interestingly Nikon makes their own – the BR2 and BR2A reversal rings.  They are a male lens mount attached to an inner 52mm filter thread mount.

The best lenses for this are wider primes, such as 20mm, 24mm and 28mm.  50mm works fine too, but you don’t get as much magnification.  Extension tubes will increase the magnification again.

In practice it’s a little difficult to shoot and get good results every time.  The depth of field is so shallow than minimum aperture is needed (ie f16 or f22), but when you look through the viewfinder it becomes too dark to see what you are doing.  So the technique of focusing at wide open aperture, holding still to stop down the lens to minimum aperture, and then shooting; all takes patience.

 

Before Louis was taken to his final resting place, he was shot on our window sill with a Nikon D2X, a reversed Nikon 24mm f2 lens set at f22 connected to a Nikon PK-11 extension tube and BR2 reversal ring, then lit with a Nikon SB-800 flash pointing downwards with a diffuser.

Hanging Out With My Mates In The Back Yard

Once I read somewhere how, when using a Full Frame camera, a 24mm lens on minimum aperture coupled to a Nikon K1 extension tube; depth of field from the end of the camera lens to infinity could be achieved.  Perfect for those shooting scale models of buildings and the like.

So I found a K1 extension tube at a Pawn shop on Queen Street and decided to give it a go.

My subject was 2 large beetles and a bumble bee (recently deceased) that I had come across in our backyard.  After several tries, and where best to set the hyperfocal distance when focusing, I got something.  I couldn’t quite achieve what I set out to, infinity and real close up still a bit out of focus,  but I got close.