f1.2 ..... A new learning curve.

[Don Hoey]

I love those images where the background is an absolute blurr. Those pics are normally taken with long fast lenses so well out of my budget. I have also seen great images taken wide open with an 85mm f1.4, but I would have a struggle affording one of those as well. So after many months of saving my 'Saturday money', I have finally managed to get a nice condition used manual focus Nikon 50mm f1.2 lens. This is quite a change of tack for me, as in most cases I have been trying to maximise dof and now I will look to see if I am successful at selecting suitable subjects to minimise it.

As usual with these things the weather is not on my side for outdoor testing. So attatched is my first sample. A simple job on the kitchen sink drainer with a white card backdrop, and natural light. Lens to subject distance is 24inches, and aperture set to f2 so dof is minimal - maybe 5mm. Even with the electronic rangefinder getting precise focus up close looks like it requires a bit of practice, even for me, and I mainly use m/f lenses. For this I took 3 shots and only one was dead on. No A/F lock when the focus point is not on the target and dof is as thin as this.

Still last years mission was getting to grips with digital infrared, for which I had to use the D100, and as a consequence hardly used the D2X. So this year I will get to use the D2X again for its superior viewfinder and electronic rangefinder, while I get to grips with wide aperture images ........ Hurrah.

Don

[yelvertoft]

Lovely soft lighting Don, great framing too. The ad men/editor would love you as it leaves lots of space to write copy in all the right places.

Having played with my fully manual 50mm f/2 (K1000 lens) on the digital body, I can appreciate the frustrations associated with this kind of work. Well done.

[Alex1994]

Nice piccy--could easily see that in a magazine with 'because you're worth it' or similar vacuous ad-man nonsense on the top. Having used f1.4 on manual focus I know that getting the focus point to where you want can be a real pain.

[surfg1mp]

great shot there....what was the surface the product was sitting on?

[Don Hoey]

Lee,
The surface is the draining side of our ceramic kitchen sink. That will probably be more obvious in the attached shot of a mug on the same surface. For the Dove shot it was placed about 2 inches further up the drainer. The mug shot was the first thing I did after unpacking the lens, and was to just do a quick check to ensure that it had survived the mail without damage. From my experience at work I know that for some van drivers the word "FRAGILE" on a parcel has little or no meaning.

As the mug was also taken at f2, and is of something familiar to most of us , I have added two crops that show just how shallow the depth of field is at 24 inches, and how quickly focus falls away beyond the zone of focus.

Alex,
I have tried this on my F2 and F3, both of which have a screen with 45 degree split prism and focus is really easy. They have the same problems as the D2X though if you have to recompose after focussing. Its all down to the very shallow zone of sharp focus and that is easily displaced on recomposition.
As a film camera buff I thought I would amuse you by saying that in my opinion plain screens fitted to DSLR's are not really suited to accurate manual focus, and you do have to rely on the electronic rangefinder (viewfinder focus confirmation indicator) for spot on focus. Mind you that may also be true of the general run of autofocus film SLR's fitted with plain screens. I know on the Nikon F5 and F6 you have to fit an accessory Type L screen to have the 45 degree split wedge.

I use my old manual focus lenses for probabably 90% of what I do, and it was through my experience with them on the D100 that I went for the D2X rather than spend on a new set of A/F primes. It may be regarded as being nearly an antique in this brave new digital world, but the D2X will knock spots off Stevie's newer D300 with its latest autofocus technology when it comes to m/f, and I do like my old Ais lenses.

Don

[Alex1994]

Ah, I haven't tried mine on a split prism focussing screen, just a plain one which I find easier to use in general conditions. I have a split one somewhere, ought to try it on.