Two New Lenses: 50 f/1.8 and 135 f/2.8

[Prospero]

With everyone on this forum buying new lenses, I just couldn't resist getting some for myself

I will be shooting pictures the coming years at my student club which is always dimly lit, so I needed faster lenses. The budget was very low, so I couldn't get one of these fancy f/2.8 telezooms. Instead, I got myself two primes for a little over 200 Euros.

The first is the 50 f/1.8. The lens that needs no introduction. For the price it is simply magnificent. I briefly considered getting the f/1.4, but after looking at samples, the bokeh of that lens did not seem substantially better. The two/third increase in f/stop was't enough to justify paying double the price.

So far, I really like the lens. Focussing is pretty fast, the DOF - or rather lack there off - wide open is awesome. The only thing that somewhat dissapoints me is the minimum focussing distance. I guess I am a bit spoilt by using Sigma glass with macro functions for close to two years.

Some samples:



Finally a decent lens cap again, not the Sigma trash that keeps falling off . Wrestlingreport was right after all ... j/k







And this is the other lens: the 0mm f/0 (at least that's what the Exif sais)
No really, it is the Nikon Series E 135 f/2.8 AI-s. I got this one because I wanted a fast longer lens as well, but I couldn't afford any of the fast long lenses on the market. Also, this lens is great for portraits (though a bit long on a 1.6x camera)

The lens does not meter with the D50 (it would with a D200), which means that it may take a couple of times to get the exposure right. I suppose shooting with this is like shooting a Nikon D30 (no AF and no metering with all glass that's not af-s) .

If the light does not change too much, this shouldn't cause too much trouble. The lack of AF is not that bad either. Manual focus on this lens works very nicely. The ring turns smoothly, but not too smoothly; this makes it easy to make precise adjustments. Also due to the small DOF (smaller than the 50 f/1.8) it is pretty easy to judge the focus.

The E-series was introduced by Nikon in the 80s. These lenses were budget oriented. Their build quality was worse than the Nikkor AI-s lenses, but the optics more or less the same. By todays standards, the build quality is pretty good, though. It feels solid, and I really like the build in telescopic hood.
An advantage of E-series lenses was that they were so compact. This one is really small; it's double the length of the 50, but has a smaller diameter.

Anyway, here are some samples:

[davew]

Nice shots, enjoy your new lenses

[jcon]

Finally a decent lens cap again, not the Sigma trash that keeps falling off . Wrestlingreport was right after all ... j/k


And this is the other lens: the 0mm f/0 (at least that's what the Exif sais)
No really, it is the Nikon Series E 135 f/2.8 AI-s.

WrestlingReport.... Ahh yes.. good times..good times!

Thanks for sharing your first impressions. I seriously considered buying the 135mm awhile back but thought it was a tad too long for studio portraits. Your samples look very impressive!

[r3g]

Very good looking images.. I expect some awesome pictures from you with those lenses now!

[Rooz]

the images from that 135mm look very good. nice and sharp with excellent bokeh.

[XaiLo]

What? No HDR lol nice clean images Prospero, hope they serve you well happy shooting.

[K1W1]

I've got a Tamron 135mm f2.8 lens from about 1980 that looks almost identical to that one.

[Prospero]

Dave, thanks

Thanks Jason. I think it would indeed be too long for studio shots. In a studio, I think you can only get headshots at that focal length. So far, the performance of the lens seems great, but I'll do some more testing tomorrow.

Rooz, thanks for your reply.

Reg, thanks for your comment, glad you like the pics. By the way, I won't be posting any "who needs VR at 135mm"-pictures. Compared to the pictures you posted that would be simply embarasing ...

Xailo, thanks. Perhaps I'll try to take a HDR with these tomorrow

Besides needing the speed, I also bought these lenses to try out different things with DOF. With the lenses I had, DOF was a lot bigger, so these lenses open up many new possibilities.
By the way, If I hold the 50mm inverted onto the 135 it becomes a super-macro. I couldn't get any shots now, because it was too dark and I needed much more DOF, but I'll try it again tomorrow.

Richard, the lens you have may very well look like this one. At the camera-store where I bought this one (there was a huge collection of ancient glass) I found that many of the lenses from that time look very similar.

[rawpaw18]

Funny, I just assumed everybody that buys a Nikon DSLR automatically buys a 50 1.8, well better late than never, welcome to the club.

From someone who thinks 20mm is a telephoto lens, using these two lenses you will probably feel as if you have tunnel vision. Nice to get new gear, post up my friend.

[fionndruinne]

Awesome shots. I love the lighting with those lens shots especially. I'm sure you'll enjoy the glass.