[MLonlooker]

Hi guys .....
                   Finally got the house to a state where I had two flat white walls that I could use for portraits shoots ..... 
  ...... I was of course in memory lane photographic mode (DSLR) ..... which means my trusty D750, my AF85 F1.8D, AF-S 50mm 1.8G and my AF 105mm F2.8D macro ..... the two D lenses being Nikon's famous "clockwork" AF drive ..... all well dated lenses.
  ... (the Sigma 150mm F2.8 macro was on standby but in the end didn't get used due to it's long focal length) however it does make a sharp portrait lens as well as for macro/general shooting
 .... a quick AF calibration check using Greselda my manikin on her eyes/eyelashes and I was ready .... 
  I had lost one of my flashguns somehow and bought a manual Godox TT600 .... a great flash with GN of 60, a motorized zoom head no TTL but HSS, (if you buy the flash trigger which I may get if I need it later.) Two flashguns were used bounced of a white beamed ceiling and the light was even and shadow-less.
 The shoot was with a lady friend who lives in the village who arrived with a bag of clothes .... 
  It all went well and I got some nice images ......
  
     Lenses, how did this older generation glass perform? ... well the AF85 F1.8D is from 1987 believe it or not and as such performed like older generation glass ....  and although sharp stopped down it is only just decent in the center with low contrast and some fringing ... in short this lens's performance is dated .... I shot it at F2.2 
  ..... the AF-S 50mm F1.8G is maybe a small step up from the 50mm D version, but not enough of one ..... however I shot it wide open.
   The surprise came from the AF 105mm F2.8D macro, they say that nearly all macros are sharp and this one is no exception .... easily sharp enough wide open for portraiture, shot wide open ... I really like this lens.
  Are DSLR's good enough these days for portraiture and can the AF get a decent hit rate on the eye? ...... firstly the AF coverage on the D750 makes it difficult to compose with the head in the upper frame, so in many cases it's "focus and recompose" on the eye ..
  The hit rate? well surprisingly, out of 40 or so shots I only had three slight misses, OK the DOF wasn't the shallowest by modern F1.2 lens standards but for plain white walls what's there to blur out? 
  OK I'm still happy with my two D500s and my D750, the former having super-fast AF and the latter a truly excellent malleable low noise sensor with high DR.

  Still on the lookout for a AF-S85mm F1.8G .....

[MLonlooker]

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.....  Well, after all these years, yesterday I finally found a copy of the AF-S 85mm F1.8G lens on "Le Bon Coin site" .....  yay ! ..... what's more it was only 35 Kms away.
  The seller, winding down his career as a photographer (mainly weddings and social events) was like many, in the final stages of a mirror-less change over and the 85G was one of the last DSLR lenses to go.
  The lens (boxed) is in little used pristine condition and a swift test on a distant line of trees the lens seemed well centered ...... so I bought it ...... for 210 euros.

  In comparison with the 85D lens it's a lot sharper with better contrast and feels like a modern day lens despite it's twelve year old design .... which now leaves me with two 85D lenses to get shot of .....

  While I was there the guy showed me his Nikon Zf (in orange) it's was kitted out with a frame which had a baffling array of accessories attached to it,  I shot a couple of images .... he also had the Z 24-70mm F2.8 it was amazingly compact .......

  This could represent my last lens buying experience ........

[Klaus]

GAS (almost) never ends ;-)

[MLonlooker]

Note the word "could" .......