Buying a second hand nikon ?

If you are buying a second hand lens for your nikon - nikonos - nikkormat camera and not sure about its orginality, you may take a look below website for all original serial number lists :
Nikon Lens Serial No's

Lens Review - Nikon AF Nikkor 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED

nikon nikkor AF 180 mm f/2.8D IF-ED (1994 Release)

FACTORY SPECIFICATIONS

Focal Length : This is a FX format lens, so you can both use them on typical SLR 35 mm cameras and D-SLRs. But on a D-SLR camera, it will effect like 270 mm.
Aperture: f/2.8 . Nine-bladed rounded diaphragm stopping down to f/22
Optics: 8 elements in 6 groups. 1 ED glass element.
Closest Focus: 1.5 m(5 feet)
Macro Ratio: 1:6.6
Filter size: 72mm Non-rotating, Internal Focusing
Accesories: Lens rear/front caps, Barrel shaped, Bayonet Lens Hood . Lether Lens (CL38S)case is included.
Dimensions: 79 mm diameter. Length is 144 mm.
Weight: 760 grams

MY REVIEW ABOUT THIS LENS
The Nikkor 180mm f/2.8D is extereme sharp with showing NO flaws. Build quality is excellent. Lens glass quality is very high. According to IMATEST results, pinchusion distortion is only 0,3% , not negligible in field conditions. Vignetting is almost non-exsist. You may shoot without worrying even at widest aperture setting of f/2.8. MTF Resolution results are excellent starting from f/2.8 reachest peak values at f/5.6. Chromatic Aberrations are not field relevant. (limit is 1 pixel, test results do not exceed 0,64 pixel)

180mm f/2.8D is a very good lens for outdoor portraits and wildlife photography. Some may consider to buy a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR or 80-200mm f/2.8 instead when price is considered. But the weight is an advantage for this lens for hendheld shoots.
PAY ATTENTION :
- Not so fast Auto Focus (but not slow for sure!)

- Be careful about second hands. There is no lens in the back side of the lens to protect the diaphragm blades. They may be filthy !!

VERDICT : It is not a cheap lens. I may recommend 80-200mm f/2.8 instead if you are not a prime lens addictited. All test result are almost excellent. It is compact telephoto lens with good performance. Recommended (8/10)

MY SAMPLE SHOTS :

What does PC-Nikkor means ?

PC-Nikkor means a lense which features a Perspective Control ability, to be more clear, they are wide-angle lenses with extended film plane covering ability. These lenses are used to cover large rectangular subjects, for i.e., a tall building, the photographer has to tilt his camera upwards to include the top of the structure; generally, the resulting image portrays in the photograph will have walls of the building appear to converge, as if the building were falling over backwards. With the PC Nikkor lenses, you may correct this convergness.

Technically, there is an other trick to minimize effect of converging perspectives.By using a wideangle lense, you shoot the subject in the middle but you have to compromise with a loss of useful negative space with inclusion of large unwanted foreground in the photo while cropping to eliminate undesirable elements in a wide-angle negative. With the new D-SLR crop factor 1,5x cameras, you will have less problem.

Pic No:1 > CONVERGED

Pic No:2 > CORRECTED

nikon D90 D-SLR > Is it a speculation or truth?

Altough a a lot of bloggers consider this is a big baloon, i will use my sixth sense and share my prediction:
First of all , nikon's tradition will change about two digit models use CCD sensors. As you all know, D40, D40x, D50, D60, D70, D70s, D80 uses CCD sensors.
D90 will have a new developed Sony CMOS sensor, with 12.3 MP. Speed will be 3-3.5 fps different from D300. This will be an answer to Canon 450D for sure.

For latest news, check latest nikon releases , USA.

How to Create Such a Photo?

Simple steps:

1) All of your camera settings must be MANUAL.. No exceptions !
- Focus
- White Balance Setting
- ISO
- Exposure Mode (M)

2) You ust use a tripod

3) Use a remote shutter or cable shutter. If you do not have these, shoot with 5 sec delay to avoid camera shakes.

4) Spend long time with preperation, less time with shooting as the light conditions will change.

5) Take a shot without the model for fixings

The rest is simple, put them together on PhotoShop.
This is our next lesson :)

NEW Nikon D700 FX Released

D3 dreamers!!! Here is your answer for a relatively low cost new FX model of nikon.This is a good answer to famous expert canon 5D. If you were walking on the edge of buying a full frame but do not want to give up your nikon lenses, here is your solution.
12.1 MP, CMOS censor, up to 25.600 ISO (Hi2.0), extra low noise, 5fps, 3" LCD screen, 51 Point AF, 1005 RGB Matrix metering and FULL FRAME D-SLR.
If you also have DX lenses, do not worry. D700 automotically recognizes the DX lens and crops the frame to 1,5x and get a 6.1MP resolution with your DX lenses.(Hey, if you say this is stupid, why are you looking for a full frame with your DX lenses, go and buy a D300 then)
Some new pics of D700 FX.
Enjoy it...
(Price around 3.000 US$/Euro)

Links

For the newest innovations and releases in the market:
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/index.html

Biggest photo shopping center with the best prices:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

Can not beat me, but OK :) ... For SLR and accessories tests:
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php

For nikon fans... THe history of nikon :
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/

Official web site of nikon :
http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/index.htm

My favorite web site for real reviews :
http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/overview

Lets earn some real money :
http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php

What else shots do the world take?
http://www.deviantart.com/