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Reviews (30)
02 December 2006
The "Ideal" film focal length?
22 of 25 found this helpful At some point in any photographer's evoloution we all need to make a decision - am I a zoom or fixed focal length shooter?
For the type of photography I enjoy, and for the purposes I use my photos for, are the tight tolerances and distortion controls designed into most professional level fixed focal length lenses necessary? Do I need the faster apertures - really? Do I mind carrying around several lenses, each weighing half to one and a half pounds, to cover the focal lengths I most frequently use when shooting and do I mind having to reach into my bag to change lenses again and again during a shooting session?
Or do I prefer carrying one, or at most two, overlapping zooms covering the same range?
If the answer to this question is the latter, then you should read no further and consider purchasing one of the many zoom lenses available that include the 85mm focal length. You should especially do so if you are a digital shooter. For you, the fast aperture of f/1.8 is meaningless, since most of your SLR's start with a sensitivity of ISO 320, and corner sharpness is useless since your sensor is only "seeing" the central portion of the circle projected by this lens.
Having said all that, Nikon's 85mm f/1.8 AF lens is one of the finest optics it has been my pleasure to own. Designing short telephoto's is, admittedly, easier to do well than say superwides but this lens is, nevertheless, a jewel among short telephotos. Distortion is virtually nil and the lens is sharp at all apertures, especially at f/1.8. Build quality is excellent, being mostly metal and the lens has metal filter threads (which you will learn to appreciate the first time you cross thread a filter on a lens with plastic threads). The internal focusing mechanism and short movement required to focus to infinity makes autofocus on the lens as fast on my F100 and D100 as my lenses with the AFS motors.
Slides taken with this lens are contrasty and sharp at all apertures with no vignetting - even with the lenshood on over a thick filter mount. The lenshood itself is a welcome departure from some of the plastic horrors Nikon has come out with in recent years, being an all metal screw in type.
So if moody portraiture with soft out of focus backgrounds on ISO 50 films are your thing - this is your optic and it's a bargain even at full price. If you are a contemplative one lens shooter, who spends the time setting up a tripod and then moving it about until your angle and framing are perfect, then you could not do much better than this little gem (But why are you working in 35mm and not large format?). Even a working pro, who occasionally needs a little more reach and speed would be happy with this lens and can be confident that the results will not let him down.
It just that the rest of us, with limited budgets, who take pictures for our own pleasure and not for resale, would probably be better served spending the same money for something a bit more versatile.
22 December 2006
Wide but not wavey
9 of 9 found this helpful Take your favorite wide angle zoom, rack it in to it's widest angle setting, point it at a brick wall and take a picture. Make a 5x7 or 8x10 print from that file or negative and look at the straight lines of mortar between the bricks. Do they bow up? Are they wavey? Do they bow inward? Odds are they do and that's called distortion and it's the bane of all wide angle lenses. It's why the horizon line seems to bulge upward in the middle on all those vacation photos you took down at the beach or why the palm trees at the edges of the photo seem to be leaning inward like some kind of arboreal vultures. The wider the angle of view, the harder it is for lens designers to control distortion. This is especially true for SLR lenses that have to be mounted farther from the film plane than a rangefinder lens in order to create a space for the mirror to move.
Now imagine a 21mm wide angle lens that weighs a couple of ounces, fits in a shirt pocket, has a fast f2.8 aperture, is autofocusing and takes photographs that show essentially ZERO distortion edge to edge. The 21mm Contax Carl Zeiss Biogon is that lens.
Designed for the now discontinued but superb Contax G1/G2 rangefinder cameras it is worth purchasing one of these bodies just to be able to use this incredible optic. Mine is permanently mounted on my G1 and goes with me even on "all digital" photo trips. The whole package, lens, body and finder weigh less than any one of the lenses in my digital or film SLR kit.
If a high quality, distortion free verywide angle lens is what you're looking for, you could do much much worse. The only reason I have downgraded the lens to a 4/5 is the fact that it only fits the Contax G series of cameras.
02 December 2006
The "Ideal" film focal length?
19 of 21 found this helpful At some point in any photographer's evoloution we all need to make a decision - am I a zoom or fixed focal length shooter?
For the type of photography I enjoy, and for the purposes I use my photos for, are the tight tolerances and distortion controls designed into most professional level fixed focal length lenses necessary? Do I need the faster apertures - really? Do I mind carrying around several lenses, each weighing half to one and a half pounds, to cover the focal lengths I most frequently use when shooting and do I mind having to reach into my bag to change lenses again and again during a shooting session?
Or do I prefer carrying one, or at most two, overlapping zooms covering the same range?
If the answer to this question is the latter, then you should read no further and consider purchasing one of the many zoom lenses available that include the 85mm focal length. You should especially do so if you are a digital shooter. For you, the fast aperture of f/1.8 is meaningless, since most of your SLR's start with a sensitivity of ISO 320, and corner sharpness is useless since your sensor is only "seeing" the central portion of the circle projected by this lens.
Having said all that, Nikon's 85mm f/1.8 AF lens is one of the finest optics it has been my pleasure to own. Designing short telephoto's is, admittedly, easier to do well than say superwides but this lens is, nevertheless, a jewel among short telephotos. Distortion is virtually nil and the lens is sharp at all apertures, especially at f/1.8. Build quality is excellent, being mostly metal and the lens has metal filter threads (which you will learn to appreciate the first time you cross thread a filter on a lens with plastic threads). The internal focusing mechanism and short movement required to focus to infinity makes autofocus on the lens as fast on my F100 and D100 as my lenses with the AFS motors.
Slides taken with this lens are contrasty and sharp at all apertures with no vignetting - even with the lenshood on over a thick filter mount. The lenshood itself is a welcome departure from some of the plastic horrors Nikon has come out with in recent years, being an all metal screw in type.
So if moody portraiture with soft out of focus backgrounds on ISO 50 films are your thing - this is your optic and it's a bargain even at full price. If you are a contemplative one lens shooter, who spends the time setting up a tripod and then moving it about until your angle and framing are perfect, then you could not do much better than this little gem (But why are you working in 35mm and not large format?). Even a working pro, who occasionally needs a little more reach and speed would be happy with this lens and can be confident that the results will not let him down.
It just that the rest of us, with limited budgets, who take pictures for our own pleasure and not for resale, would probably be better served spending the same money for something a bit more versatile.