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Nikkor-S.C 50mm f/1.4 just arrived
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:27 pm    Post subject: Nikkor-S.C 50mm f/1.4 just arrived Reply with quote
Parcel in the post this morning:




First couple of "does it work" test images:

Available light, ISO 200, 1/60s f/1.4


Thats a 100% crop from this image


Another sample, available light, ISO 200, 1/60s f/1.4.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excellent! Congratulations!
I love its bigger brother (SC 1.2/55) and little brother (H 2.0/50) a lot. I am sure you will love this lens!


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
COngrats, this lens is a classic.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Chris,

Is that a non-Ai lens?
Do you shoot it on the D40? Do you need to make modifications?

Be sure to post some more test shots.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Mike, the nice thing about the D40/D40X is they can shoot these old
non-AI lenses without mods.

Bill


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


Available (not much) light. Nikon D40, Nikkor-S.C 50mm f/1.4 @ ISO 400, 1/50s f/1.4.

Ideally need f/2 to get the entire face in focus and 1/250s to freeze the motion. That would also need 10x the amount of light Smile

Manual focus and manual metering at f/1.4 on a cat which is considering whether or not to jump on your lap is not straightforward. Actually surprised this came out at all...


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
same breed as my Melissa Smile


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
maddog10 wrote:
Chris,

Is that a non-Ai lens?
Do you shoot it on the D40? Do you need to make modifications?

Be sure to post some more test shots.


It is a pre-Ai lens, yes. They all work on a D40 (or D40x or D60) just the same as an Ai or AiS lens - that is to say they mount without risk of damage, work in M mode only (other modes give an error saying "no lens") and they work without any metering. You take your best guess, look at the result, look at the three color histograms, adjust, and take a better shot.

I also have another pre-AI, the Nikkor 20mm f/4.

The downside is that, if I get the funds to upgrade to a D300, these fine lenses are only usable if Ai converted. Although, on a D200 and up, that would also give me metering if I told the camera the focal length and max aperture via the menus.

(The D80 is in a strange lose-lose middle ground - it can't safely mount pre-Ai lenses nor can it get metering from Ai or AiS lenses.)

This lens cost me the princely sum of GBP 46 (manual snipe 15 seconds before closing). Its the first lens that I have which opens to 1.4, before that my widest was the Ultron at f/2.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Congrats for this classic beauty!


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
congrats Chris, look nice!
& when you get the D300 send me the lens, on my canon it will work very well


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks Bill!

Thanks Chris!

I knew I could not mount them on my D80 and thought the same was true for all the newer bodies. Never even looked at the D40 when it came out (lesson learned). I will have to look into a D40 so I can shoot all the older lenses I have and get "instant" results. I am assuming you (and most other members) have been shooting enough that your "best guess" is pretty close most times. Would you suggest a meter for those like myself who's best guess is truly a guess! I have only been shooting with SLR cameras for about 2 years and before that it was pretty much only compact autos.

I like to shoot in the evening so larger apertures have always appealed to me. Making the jump from 2 to 1.4 should open up some nice shooting opportunities for you.

Thanks again for all the info, much appreciated.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
maddog10 wrote:

I knew I could not mount them on my D80 and thought the same was true for all the newer bodies. Never even looked at the D40 when it came out (lesson learned). I will have to look into a D40 so I can shoot all the older lenses I have and get "instant" results.


All the old Nikkor lenses.

If you have Canon, or M42 mount lenses, they will not fully work on a D40 (even with an adapter) because you won't get infinity focus.

maddog10 wrote:
I am assuming you (and most other members) have been shooting enough that your "best guess" is pretty close most times.


It varies. Sometimes ists so wildly off that I get solid white or black Smile but its fast to fire off a shot to see. (you don't need to focus, or even compose all that accurately, if your shot is 'just for metering'.

Oh and to rub it in, your D80 does not have three color histograms either, just a single luminance histogram. (But at least you can use AF lenses, while for me they won't AF).

maddog10 wrote:
Would you suggest a meter for those like myself who's best guess is truly a guess! I have only been shooting with SLR cameras for about 2 years and before that it was pretty much only compact autos.


With an external meter, you are not metering through the lens; also you still have to adjust for things like light falloff due to smaller effective aperture at close subject distances, too. To me, its easier to use the LCD review screen and the histograms to see what the test shot is like, then adjust. Unlike film, shots are free and review is instant, and you have a delete button to get rid of the bad guesses. So - use your camera as the meter.

Also, I recommend shooting raw so you can fine tune exposure, set white balance, etc after the shot. You still want to get exposure approximately right, but you have a +/- 1 stop latitude with little impact on the end result, and +/- 2 stops at the expense of some shadow noise or blown hilights respectively. So you can fine tune afterwards if needed.

maddog10 wrote:
I like to shoot in the evening so larger apertures have always appealed to me. Making the jump from 2 to 1.4 should open up some nice shooting opportunities for you.


I like evening shots too. Enhanced shooting possibilities was the reason for getting this lens - I already have a good Micro-Nikkor 55mm which is very sharp, around the same focal length, but only f/2.8 max aperture.

I probably need to do some comparisons stopped down so that I know which one to use in the f/4 to f/8 range. (There is also the closest focus difference, 0.6m for the f/1.4 and 0.25m for the Micro).


PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 12:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks again Chris, all good info.

I did mean old Nikkor lenses, still going to use them on my F bodies but glad to know I can also use them on a digital body as well.

I was actually out this evening with my Micro-Nikkor 55/2.8 mounted on an F5 (my first time with a film SLR). I may have some solid white or black shots!

I have been shooting in raw on the D3 and am just now starting to get an understanding of the histograms. In general, I shoot my fish shots slightly underexposed and tweak them a bit in Photoshop, but I try not to do too much as it takes the skill (and pride) out of getting a nice shot.


PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Congratulations Chris.

I went for the AI model for my D200, but if you head that route the original conversion kits for your lens still crop up on the bay quite frequently unlike some of the older Nikkors (no idea how easy they are to fit...).
Having the rear modified by cutting isn't astronomical either.
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