New digital photos with old glass

[wlewisiii]

It's a good camera Raid. See my answer in your thread for some links. I think you'll like it

[Dennis Gallus]

A Hike in Coronado National Memorial
Featuring:  24mm/2 AI and 50mm/1.8 AI (long nose) on a D200

My goal was to take a fairly ambitious hike and to check out performance of two more manual focus Nikkors on the D200.  The 24mm/2 MC lens is the widest Nikkor I own, and I was curious to see how it would perform.  Some reviewers criticize off-axis sharpness.  The 50mm/1.8 AI is one of the best Nikon normal lenses ever, focusing to 1.5 ft (0.6m), so I expected good images from it.

24mm/2, f/8, park visitor center.  Decent image


24mm/2, f/8, park ranger doing trail maintenance.  Sharpness questionable, but…


Crop from same image looks decent


50mm/1.8, f/8, Century plant along the trail


50mm/1.8, f/11, flower at max close focusing, and cropped


50mm/1.8, f/8, I arrive at Coronado Peak, 3.8 miles and 1,640 ft up from my starting point.  My home is down in the valley just to the left of that tree. 


Thanks for looking.  I’m enjoying the images that others have been posting.  James, it is fun to examine the pictures from those LTM lenses and try to pick a favorite.  I think I agree with your choice of the Summitar.
Dennis

[lesged]

Dennis,

Congratulations for stirring the embers to fire up folks to put some oldie but goodie lenses on their digital camera.

I have looked at this thread many times since it opened and have seen the excellent examples you and many others have posted. I intended to put my 135/3.5 Takumar on my K10d and other lengths of my Oly glass via M42 adapter.

But I had an accident the day I posted "Lazy trout fishing." I tripped and fell off the pier, not into the water which would have been better, but onto concrete and the wooden edge of the pier. No broken bones , but my ribs ache a lot especially when I cough, sneeze or turn in my bed at night..

That's my excuse for not following through and posting new work to fit the title but I should have commented on the super shots you got in response to a call for photos made using old glass on digital cameras.

So many wonderful shots were posted . Bravo to all of you.

[br1078lum]

Good to see you out of the sling, Dennis.  Your shoulder problems have not hurt your photographic abilities any.

PF

ps: And get better, Les

[jamesmck]

Very nice, Dennis, especially the flower (poor lonely thing that it is).  Personally, you are looking damn good, my friend.  Maybe some joint surgery would improve my condition :rolleyes:.

James

[Kalkadan]

Dennis - great to see you looking so well - I was very interested in your 24mm as it gives us my much-loved 35mm point of view with the D200.

Your lens seems to capture good colour - of course I am not in a position to know! - it's just an impression from the full frame shot of the Handgunner.

What is the "long nose" 50/1.8? It cetainly turned in a very good environmental portrait of you at the top of the mountain.  And if you have time, what is the 24/2.0 "MC" - multicoated?

I like the way the old nikkors perform.  Keep hiking.

Dan

PS - hey Les!  so sorry to hear about that - what a bummer - the ribs can give you such a hard time when injured - keep us updated on your progress.

[Dennis Gallus]

Lester,

I'm very sorry to hear about your fall.  I know that sore ribs can hurt with every breath, so I hope that you heal soon.  I'll try to keep this thread going long enough so we can see your M42 and Oly glass submissions.

Phil, James,
Thanks for your well-wishes.  Yesterday was one month since the shoulder joint replacement, and I am gaining in both mobility and strength every day.  Progress this past week has been very noticeable.  I wish that my right shoulder felt as well!

Dan,
I used that 24mm exactly for the reason you cite, I've learned through experience that a 35mm perspective is about the most useful for photography in mountainous country.  With the 24mm, "MC" does indeed mean multi-coated.  Bjoern Roerslett hints that the 24/2.8 Nikkor is a bit better in sharpness than the 24/2. 

As far as color saturation goes, I have followed Ken Rockwell's suggestions for setting up the D200:  I use color mode III, and saturation + (enhanced).  These seem to work well for me.

Nikon has made at least four different manual focus 50mm/1.8 lenses.  The Series E came in two sub-versions, focused to 2 ft, and was single-coated.  It has always been an AIS lens, though not labeled so.

The Nikon 50mm/1.8 AI "long nose", which proceeded the AIS version, had a longer front barrel which shaded the front element of the lens.  The glass was multi-coated.  It focused to 1.5 ft and has a much longer throw in focusing than the AIS versions.  Serial numbers are 2XXXXXX. 

There was apparently a variation on the AI "long nose" with a different optical design and serial numbers 3XXXXXX.

The Nikon 50mm/1.8 AIS has the same appearance as the Series E lens, but the glass is multi-coated and the lens mount is somewhat better.  It is of the same "pancake" construction and optical formula as the Series E and also focuses to 2 ft.  Serial numbers are 4XXXXXX.

In terms of sharpness, there is apparently little difference between the 50mm/1.8 lenses, even including the Series E lenses.  But contrast is lower with the Series E.   Of the three I own, I think my cheap little AIS has given me the sharpest images.

One more thing:  I've learned I can focus faster and with equal accuracy using the focusing screen of the D200, rather than using the green "in focus" light.  Yesterday I used the legendary 105mm/2.5 Nikkor and I am very pleased with results.  I'll post those pictures here sometime in the future.

Best regards to all,
Dennis

[jamesmck]

Here are some from today with a LTM-Mount Cosina-Voigtlander (CV) 4/25mm Snapshot Skopar lens on a Panasonic Lumix G1.  The CV lens is by no means "old" in years, but it is in attitude (it is not even rangefinder-coupled when used on an LTM camera).  It is definitely very up-to-date in performance.  The large image is of a waterfall/fountain in Meridian Hill Park, near my home in Washington, DC. You may have seen similar images from me before.  This has become my own Motif #1, as I have shot it with many different cameras and lenses in all seasons.  Still, it shines.  The two thumbnails are another view of the waterfall, and the sculpture of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square across from the White House.  This CV lens on the Lumix G1 makes for a nice compact and competent package.



Click on thumbnails.
 

[wlewisiii]

Got out and about this morning after dropping my son off at school. Decided to visit one of the usual suspects. I stood in one spot and used all three of the Nikkors I had with me. E-PL1, ISO200, A mode, f/11 ish on the lenses.

24/2.8:


50/1.4


105/2.5


And a few other shots:

50/1.4


24/2.8


24/2.8


24/2.8

[Dennis Gallus]

The legendary Nikon 105mm/2.5
Or,
Geezers with Guns

Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, I remember reading about, and actually knew a few photographers who said that if they could have only one lens for their Nikon SLR, it would be this lens.  The formula changed from a Sonnar-type to a Gauss-type in about 1971, and multi-coatings were added about the same time.  But that hardly mattered.  Even the original version made for the Nikon S-series rangefinders was an excellent lens, by all accounts.

Last weekend, I put mine (Gauss-type, MC, early 1980’s) on my D200, set the ISO at 100, and kept the aperture at either f/4 or f/5.6.  I took my son to shoot sporting clays in Double Adobe, Arizona.  My shoulder replacement is not quite up to shooting shotguns yet, so I just did the photography.   

Manual focus was not a problem.  First thing I noticed with this lens is that it was very quick and easy to focus using the viewing screen on the D200.  I quickly abandoned all reference to the “in-focus” light at the bottom of the screen.  Obviously, on a shooting range, I had to maintain a safe stand-off from the shooters.  I was happy to see that the lens is so sharp that I could crop severely and still get a good image.  Concerning the images shown here, I did not adjust sharpness, brightness or contrast, I only cropped the images.

 
The Smoker.  I thought his beard would be a good test of sharpness.

 
Bill.  The full image was not interesting.  The crop gets to the good part.

 
I appreciate his definition of PETA.

 
Gabby:   A photogenic face.

In addition to sharpness, I think the bokeh is excellent too.  This lens is just too good to just sit at home in a camera bag. I’ve got to get out of the Auto-Focus habit and use it more.  Perhaps at Wyatt Earp days in Tombstone, last weekend in May?

Thanks for viewing, especially to those of you who have posted pictures with your old glass.
Dennis

PS:  How is your old glass, anyway?

[jamesmck]

Geez, Dennis, these are exceptionally nice.  Even the crops are sharp as a tack.  The beard in number one is amazing.  You must have a nice bright focusing screen (as well as a good eye).  I must do more with some old lenses on my Pentax dSLR.  Manual focusing with old glass on the electronic viewfinder of my m4/3 cameras is burdensome.  Of course, with the bright light you had there, DOF was on your side.  Nice work!

James
P.S.:  Just noticed that you used f/4 or f/5.6, so I take back my comment about DOF aiding you.

[lesged]

Dennis,

Lots of real nice shots in your series today re skeet shooting. I like the two top crops best of all.

The only time I had a Nikkonr105/2.5 lens was in its rf mount. I was lucky enough to have two Nikon S2s chrome and black bodies with matching Nikkor 1.4/50s for each. I shared that gem of a lens with both S2s. The other lens that I shared was a Nikkor 35/3.5.

Talk about sellers regret. I sold the whole kit and kaboodle at a PHSNE* biannual show to a Japanese dealer for a bargain price for him. Not much time later the price of that kit soared sky high.

* Photo Historical Society of New England


I have taken some shots with the K10d with my Takumar 135/3.5 this week and will post a set, but for now here's my first attempt in 2010 to use the K10d with old glass via M42 adapter.

It does not show the crispness of the 105/2.5 but in this case a diffused Takumar almost pastel in texture. It is the opposite side of a coin using old glass with DSLR


Claudia

K10d, 135/3.5 Takumar, wide open

[wlewisiii]

Nice ones Dennis, Les.

My 105/2.5 is the earlier -P. That's one of the nice things about buying that F2 a year or two ago - I was able to buy older pre-AI glass for a song since most of it is hard to use on Nikon digital bodies. The Sonnar version is, open, I think a bit softer but then it has that Zeiss look to it which makes up for that. Stop it down and either could be razors.