Saturday, March 6, 2010

My latest vitrine window


Top shelf is only old nikon 35mm fim cameras. The one on the middle front is Nikonos IV-A with 35mm UW lens. On left side, nikon original BR-2 and filters.

Middle shelf left side is all for nikon and nikon compatible lenses. Some are:
nikon 20mm f/2.8D
nikon 35mm f/2.0D
nikon 50mm f/1.4D
nikon 85mm f/1.8D
nikon micro 105mm f/2.8D IF-ED Nano VR
nikon 180mm f/2.8D ED
nikon micro 200mm f/4.0D ED
nikon 17-55mm f/2.8D IF-ED
nikon 85mm f/4.0 enlarger lens

Middle shelf right side is various collectibles including Minolta, Kodak, Canon, Russian Zenit, Walz Envoy etc.

Buttom shelf is mixed, with flashes and old european and japanese cameras, point and shoot cameras like lubitar, konica, GOKO, agfa and kodak. Some filters, extension tubes, manuals too.

I will recieve a nikon FE and nikon fg-20 this week for the USA.

nikon D3S - a NOlight master?

I have read about some tests in international magazines and they all agree on one thing:
The new D3S is a monster of darkness.. This camera is a beast for paparazzis, sport photographers, F1 journalists and most probably-spies :)

It has a -wow- 102.400 ISO limit, still with nikon's unexplainable method of h2.0 indication on the screen.

Just to remind what does 102.400 ISO means:
ISO 25 - Non of todays D-SLR's offer this speed. Need film or special production cameras.
ISO 50 - Some Canon's have it, but nikons have the same sharpness at higher ISO's with faster shutter speeds.
ISO 100 - Everybody is familiar with it. New nikon's with CMOS sensors indicate lo.1
ISO 200 - My studio speed
ISO 400 - Who see any differance between ISO200 and 400 on D300,D700 or D3 series?
ISO 800 - perfect for street candids, indoor shoots
ISO 1600 - superb results at nights witha little light, no noise on new cmos series of nikon.
ISO 3200 - this is the point where D300 and D90 meets with remarkable noise
ISO 6400 - it was a dream in 70's
ISO 12800 - who, what??
ISO 25600 - NASA used it..
ISO 51200 - is it the peak?
ISO 102400 - wooww, where is Canon, i can not see it? Too high here :D . 10 stops of differance between ISO100 and that. That means: If you were at ISO100 (or lo.1 at most new nikons) and Aperture priority, if you read 2 seconds, you need a good tripod to fix you on earth surface, but, when you set ISO to 102.400, you will have an amazing 1/500 seconds in the same light conditions, which means you can shoot while running..

Second best 10 lens of nikon

After my top ten best lens of nikon list, a lot of my friends called me and critisied me about this and that lens should be in the list. So, i have made up a second best ten lens of nikon for you and them :)

Second best 10 list of Nikkor lenses:

11) Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 AI-S
12) Nikkor 105mm f/2.0 DC AF
13) Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF ED AF-S
14) Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Nano AF-S
15) Nikkor 180mm f/2.8D ED IF AF
16) Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF ED AF
17) Nikkor 24mm f/3.5 PC-E ED N
18) Nikkor 200mm f/2G ED IF AF-S VR
19) Nikkor Micro 60mm f/2.8D AF
20) Nikkor85cm f/1.4D IF AF

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Top 10 lens of nikkor - Best ten lens of nikon

This is my list of top 10 lenses nikon...

1) Nikkor 13mm f/5.6 AI-s (1976 -1998)
2) Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF (1978-today)
3) Nikkor 135mm f/2 DC AF (1990 - today)
4) Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED Nano AF-S (2007-today)
5) Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D AF (1994-today)
6) Nikkor 28mm f/1.4D AF (1994-2006)
7) Nikkor Micro 200 mm f/4.0D IF ED AF (1993-today)
8) Nikkor Micro 105mm f/2.8G IF ED AF-s Nano
9) Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 G IF-ED VR AF-S Nano
10) Nikkor-N 5cm f/1.1 (1956)

Comments:
1) Nikkor 13mm f/5.6 AI-s (1976 -1998)
This lens is one of the widest lens for a serial
production lens produced ever. Not only it is
extremely fast, it is also sharp. Also, it has very
small amount of barrel distortion and other flaws.
Only the flaw of this lens is it's availabilty.
If you can find one in e-bay or a garage sale
around you, spare some 10-20K dollars to have it.

2) Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF (1978-today)
This lens is in the list because of it's price
performance relation and extremely simple and light structure.
Very sharp and fast lens need to carry in your backpack..

3) Nikkor 135mm f/2 DC AF (1990 - today)
If you are a portrait addictive, this is the lens you have
to have. Very fast and sharp lens. Price is not very low but
robust body and Japan manufacturing make this lens one of
the "must have it before nikon stop manufacting it" lens.

4) Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED Nano AF-S (2007-today)

Selected best pro lens by TIPA last year, no need to discuss
this lens. Only two flaws of this lens: No filter mounting and high price.

5) Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D AF (1994-today)
Flawless lens of Nikon ever. It is much better than faster brother
85mm f/1.4 compared to prıce performance success.

6) Nikkor 28mm f/1.4D AF (1994-2006)
Fastest wide angle lens you can ever have. Not easy to find nowadays
after FX D-SLRs showed up in the market.

7) Nikkor Micro 200 mm f/4.0D IF ED AF (1993-today)
One of the longest telephoto macro in the market with a fast aperture
and very high resolution graphics. Some lateral CA's but not disturbing.
Steel and solid feel will be missed after the production stopped in few years.

8) Nikkor Micro 105mm f/2.8G IF ED AF-s Nano
Macro + portrait + low light shots + VR for handheld + nano coating..
Everything you need to have in one lens with very good resolution and CA results.

9) Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 G IF-ED VR AF-S Nano
Best solution for a fast sports and portrait and still life (street sneaker)
photographers. Expensive but worth it.

10) Nikkor-N 5cm f/1.1 (1956)
This is the lens every nikon collectioner must have in their locker..
50mm fastest lens of nikon ever made. dim light is like sun with this lens..
If you can find it..

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Why the G lenses?

Because, nobody uses the aperture ring with the new and modern D-SLR cameras? Yeah... Ok, but, the ones who own old film cameras of Nikon? Are they grounded forever? Do they have to dig in e-bay to find D type lenses?

(Correction made after José Luís 's warning, thx)
And.. What is the next step? I am afraid that they will remove the focus drive on the pro cameras within 10 years. They did it already on D60 and below cameras. If the nikon lens is not AF-S, and you own a beginner or medium range D-SLR like D3000 up to D60, you can not use these lenses.. I have 9 FX primes at the moment and only 2 of them are AF-S. The rest is with screw on them. So, what i want to know, what will be the future of these lenses? Do we have to keep our ex D series to use them 10 years from now on?

PS: Do not use the "D type AF lenses are slow to focus" card on me. Don't bite it..
PS2: As Ken Rockwell quoted: "G lenses are gelded lenses"
PS3: Please support Ken Rockwell against his fight against ABX8 8. He tries to survive via website with free of charge helping to us, photo lovers..

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

D5000 with nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens - NEW

Simple and short explanation: Revised form of nikon D40.
It is heavier, have 11 AF points (D40 has had 3 only) , CMOS sensor, higher resolution with 12.0 MP , video and a foldable LCD screen (finally !)
But the price is heavier too...
But if you can not afford a D90, this may be a better solution. But do no forget, D5000 can work with DX / AF-S lenses only. It has no internal motor like D90.
Technical specs :
12.0 MP, DX format CMOS Sensor, Live View, ISO200-3200 or 100 (Lo1.0)-6.400 (Hi1.0), 4 fps, 2.7" 230.000 dots LCD screen, D-Movie Mode, 420 Segment RGM colour matrix, ultrasonic self cleaning sensor,11 point AF Area. min 1/4000 sec to max 30 sec (bulb also available)


Recommendations:
Wait... Wait for a while for the price goes down to reasonable levels. If you need to buy a DSLR urgently, add 20% more and buy a D90.
If you have a D40 and waiting for an upgrade, this may be your answer, but wait for several months for the price compensation..
If you have older Nikon lenses (AF lenses), you must go with D90. But if you have DX lenses , it is not a deal at all.

June 2010 >
I believe that the D5000 is one of the best entry level kit for enthusiastic beginners. Only be careful about the low resolution movie compared to rival Canon 500D. But, as this is a photo camera, please do not confuse with these marketing tricks of the rivals and buy a photo camera.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

What is "Field Curvative"?

Field curvature means the spherical shape of the focus field. Theoratically, we would assume that the depth of field (the sharpness zone dependent on the object magnification and focus distance) starts at some focus distance x in front of an focused object and ends at some distance y behind. The difference between x and y is called the depth-of-field.

In the real life there's no perfection though and the focus field can be rather distorted (as opposed to flat) with consequences for the depth of field. For sure this isn't overly field relevant but at the image borders the focus field turns inwards (towards you). In infinity focus situation this may cause some focus blur for distant object located at the edges of the image field. It is also relevant for flat objects.



Exaggerated sample :