[davidmanze]

    Hi guys....I've been playing studio portraits in the last few days and my Sigma 150mm F2.8 macro has been showing inaccuracies in it's AF precision......it's a great pity because at over four meters it's fine......but just where you want it...........it goes belly up!

 

    I've the AF50mm F1.8D (no laughing in the aisles please) as well as the AF85mm F1.8D, which is a decent lens and gives good results......

   For those longer focal lengths I have very little above 85mm,... there are the Nikor 105mm DC and the 135mm DC (with defocus control for softer bokeh) but they command very high prices.....the new AF 105 F1.4 is great but the price?

 

   I want to find a Nikor lens (to avoid any AF reverse engineering) which leaves with the AF 80-200mm F2.8 in there various guises and the AF-S 70-200mm F2.8.

  Well I don't want to spend much, in fact I'm at a 200 euros ceiling.......yeah I know last of the big spenders!

  But then..... I spotted a Nikor AF 80-200mm F2.8D push-pull version on the bon coin for 160 euros, the seller said that there was some fungus behind the front element, but that it wasn't much. I told him what I was using it for and the guy "volunteered to send it first for my appraisal" saying as he wasn't that knowledgeable he would prefer for me to see it before committing myself..

 

  The review of the lens on Lenstip basically stated that from 80-135mm the lens is good and sharp even wide open and that it's short fall is at it's longest focal length where things slip a little, basically the optics have remained the same (16 elements in 11 groups) until the introduction of the AF-S version. 

                Mechanically, well I'm not a fan of push-pull zooms at all, but the lens is built like the proverbial brick "dunny" and has screw-drive AF from the camera body, no VR or any other things that are going to make the lens too serious of a risk to disassemble and clean.

 

   So we will see what it is like when it arrives!

[JJ_SO]

If you need to adjust it for studio portraits, why you don't use the inbuilt AFMA adjustment process? Instead of infecting all your lenses with fungus?  But of course, depending on the shape and area of fungus it will add a nice individual touch to the bokeh.

 

Btw., since I now exchanged my 85/1.4G... oh no, sorry, your ceiling is a bit low.

[Brightcolours]

Does the AF happen with AF help light from either the camera or flash lights? Try turning that off first.

[davidmanze]

If you need to adjust it for studio portraits, why you don't use the inbuilt AFMA adjustment process? Instead of infecting all your lenses with fungus?  But of course, depending on the shape and area of fungus it will add a nice individual touch to the bokeh.

 

Btw., since I now exchanged my 85/1.4G... oh no, sorry, your ceiling is a bit low.    

Yeah, it's so low I keep banging my head on it! 

[davidmanze]

   The Nikor AF80-200mm F2.8 (non D) arrives!..in surprisingly good condition.....but it's not the fungussy one....but another one found for the same price (€160).

 

   When I said "new optic" in the thread title, I meant new to me, this lens was made between 1988-1992 in this version, making it 25-29 years old!

   The auto focus is well and truly first generation, screw-drive, noisy and very slow and it needed +15 to nail the focus.

 Briefly, it's black, heavy (1.270), all metal, push-pull zoom, sharp enough wide open and generally clunky.  There's also no tripod foot which is huge mistake IMHO.  Kirk Photo actually make a foot with two collars, one that clamps around the front of the lens and one  at the rear.......all "clunky dory" and the same price as the lens........do I feel a DIY project coming on?

 

   Other than for portraiture on a budget, it's uses are limited these days, but they made 170,000 of this model so there are inevitably many perfectly functioning copies still out there.........some for little money!

[davidmanze]

  Le voilà!

 

    In all it's clunky dory glory.....

[JJ_SO]

Don't forget to wear your safety shoes with steel caps.

[davidmanze]

      Well out with the old to make place for the new!

 

    How was the Nikor AF 80-200mm F2.8 pumper........actually it was a sharp lens.......which was good!

 

  ......the push-pull zoom after twenty years of use was still smooth and damped.....which shows the quality of it's construction..

 

   ....however there's no tripod foot....which makes it useless on a gimbal, and that leaves it on a ball head poorly balanced..

 

   The AF.....it needed various settings to be nearly accurate......in short it just wasn't accurate enough for portraiture wide open......why I don't know?

 

   Many will say that I chose a cheap lens and deserved what I got......and you may be right!..... :mellow:

 

    ...but it makes it easier to sell on ........which I did.......for a small bénéfice.......it was another optical experience on life's optical learning curve..

 

   I've looked at the Tamron 70-200mm VC G2..... G2 stands for second market grey.......doesn't it?

 

   There is some very clever marketing  going on line.....I checked out the price.."Eglobal have it for 947 euros.....500 euros less than europe price.

 

    ..once you've looked on line .....just about everywhere you go, the offer "pops up"   

 

   ...at the moment I'm resisting.........but heck....I have to keep clinching my buttocks together to do it!  

[davidmanze]

OK, I've been looking for a 50mm F1.8 G lens.....I have the D version which was bought for 40 euros like new in the box......yes its gets very sharp but looks gritty to me, not keen on it!

I've been waiting for what is effectively the most common FF lens to appear at a reasonable price on my S/H site....they all want nearly new prices!
So, I've bitten the bullet and gone for a new one.....E infinity have the lens for €154 inc. delivery!

Guess what colour market?

Have we lost emoticons?

Dave's clichés

[JJ_SO]

Detecting the flock of points, this post must be coming from ole "dave's clichès". Then the affnity to dumpster market where all the lenses go to which absolved several circle of selling - resend from customer because of decenterring - selling again - going back for AF flaws - nobody repairs it, "just good enough to go grey..."

Hahahaha.

http://www.macinacs.de/smile/smoke20x18.gif

Oh, and we lost nearly everything what made the old forum a good place: no smilies, no BC code, quoting is weird, overview with no overview because one cannot recognize the messages so easily, some posts (a couple of 100, I guess?) of the old forum (but Klaus is filling the new one quickly with at least 3 threads per lens)