Q&A

Nikon 50mm 1.8 E vs. S.

2020, Favourite, Inspiration, Nikon 50mm f/1.8 series E AIS, Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S, Q&A, Teaching point

Like the title says, I’m comparing the 40 year old Nikon 50/1.8 Series E AIS lens with the new Nikon 50mm 1.8S lens.

Wide open, there’s no contest: the 50/1.8S trounces the E (you’ll have to take my word for it).

At f/2.8, however, the differences are less obvious.

WARNING:  This is not a scientific comparison.  This is me sharing something with you for free that might be worth absolutely nothing to you.  Or it may change your life.  We can only say with certainty in retrospect.

Below you will find two similar but uninteresting images taken under horrible lighting.

Technical:

  • f/2.8
  • 1/125
  • ISO 1250
  • Camera used: Nikon Z7

–

Nikon 50mm 1.8E:

 

Nikon 50mm 1.8S:

–

And now the crops (click on each image to enlarge)…

Center:

–

Left Edge:

–

Upper Left:

–

Right Edge:

–

The 50/1.8S is technically the better lens, for 10x the price.  The 50/1.8E is easier to carry around.

Thanks for looking.

—Peter.

Some thoughts on Nikon’s Z7.

Inspiration, Nikon, Nikon Z7, Q&A, Teaching point

I’ve long avoided switching into mirrorless but I’m now photographing primarily with the Nikon Z7 (though I’ve kept the D500 for my baseball work).

The reluctance to go into mirrorless was consequent to a few things:

  1. EVFs.  I prefer optical viewfinders.
  2. Ergonomics (or lack thereof). The camera-as-computer feel of most of the mirrorless offerings seemed to get in the way of taking photos.
  3. Speed (also lacking).  Most of the early mirrorless cameras were very laggy in operation.

So what’s changed?

Well, I warmed up a little to EVFs after using the Fuji GFX earlier this year, and obviously mirrorless cameras have been progressively evolving with respect to both their ergonomics and speed.  Though what really won me over was Nikon entering the market with the Z6 and Z7.

For the first time, a mirrorless camera felt like I a real camera (to me).  Ergonomics — check.

And I don’t know the resolution or refresh rate of Nikon’s EVF, but in use it feels more natural than the others I’ve tried (including some of the “best in class”).  I still prefer the window of an optical rangefinder, but I have little to criticize in the Z7‘s EVF.

The Z mount has also been a positive and significant development.  It has freed up Nikon’s engineers to design truly outstanding lenses while balancing size and cost.  Win, win, win.

Lastly — and this has simply been a revelation to me — though the tracking ability of the AF has been much maligned (and is overblown), the precision and accuracy of focus on stationary subjects have been noticeably improved over DSLRs.  Whether using a single focus point or the “eye-tracking” function, critical focus on a person’s eyes at wide apertures is easily achieved.  Critical focus at wide apertures was one of the reasons I preferred rangefinders over DSLRs, but now mirrorless has improved upon even that.

Mirrorless? 

I’m in.

—Peter.

 

 

Epson V600 Scanner.

2019, Inspiration, Q&A, Scanner - Epson V600, Scanner - Plustek 120, Teaching point

I had someone ask me today how I like the Epson V600 scanner.  A few more of you have asked the same question since my last set of images were posted, so I thought I’d resurrect this previous discussion:

https://prosophos.com/2014/02/07/epson-v700-vs-plustek-120/

The same observations for the Epson V700 hold true for the V600, except that:

  1. The V600 film holder can handle 3 frames of a 6×7 negative, just like the Plustek 120.
  2. The V600 is smaller than the V700.
  3. The V600 costs much less than either scanner.

All in all, I am pleased with it and would recommend it to anyone scanning medium format film. For 35mm film, I use the Plustek 8200.  Both of these scanners can be purchased for less money than the Epson V800, which is the current equivalent to the now discontinued V700.

The Plustek 120 is also no longer available, but a next generation model is anticipated.

—Peter. 

 

A little story about baseball (exhibition pre-2020 game).

2019, Baseball, Beyond 200 feet of My House™, Favourite, Inspiration, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR, Nikon D500, Portrait, Q&A, Sports

The days are already much shorter here, so most of the game was played in the dark with the field lights on.  I had to crank up the ISO to 8000 (and beyond) but most of the grain you see here was added during post-processing.

—Peter.

 

↑Nikon D500 + Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR.

 

The Graduates.

2019, Favourite, Fujifilm GF 110mm f/2 R LM WR, Fujifilm GFX 50R, Inspiration, Nikon 105mm f/1.4 E, Nikon D850, Portrait, Q&A, Teaching point

I decided to create this composite image using photos I’ve taken over the past year.

As you can see, the first (from last year) was created with the Nikon D850 + 105mm f/1.4.  The other two (from this year) were created with the Fuji GFX 50R + 110mm f/2.

I share the above information purely for your interest and not for the purpose of making comparisons, as there are simply too many variables in effect in each image (for example, subject’s natural skin tone, time of day, natural vs. artificial vs. mixed lighting, etc.).

Suffice it to say, both systems produce wonderful image quality, though I would give the edge to Fuji  (you cannot, however, discern that from the small-sized images I’ve posted).

With respect to weight, the Fuji also has a slight advantage:

  • Nikon D850 (1, 055 g) + 105/1.4 (985 g) = 2, 040 g.
  • Fuji GFX 50R (775 g) + 110/2 (1010 g) = 1, 785 g.

However, the Nikon is without a doubt the more versatile system.

—Peter.

The Konica Hexanon 60mm 1.2.

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

A couple of years ago, I updated my review of the Konica Hexanon 60mm 1.2 by deleting the entire discussion and replacing it with the statement:

“I no longer recommend this lens.”

Do you know why I did that?  Because:

“I no longer recommend this lens.”

Since then, I’ve had a handful of people (including one in the comments section of what remains of the “review”) write to ask me whether I did this to drop the price of the 60/1.2, so that I could buy it again.

Well… no.  That would be unethical.

Part of the reason for the downgrade was the price-to-performance ratio had become too great, and part of it had to do with a change in my preferences.  Simply put, I am no longer interested in lenses that impart too much of a specific “look” to a photograph.

So for those individuals who paid an insane amount of money to own one, I’m sorry that its price has dropped, though I really don’t think I had anything to do with it.

—Peter.