A self admitted lens junkie, I have a weakness for glass. Whether it be home made x-ray lenses or modern everyday primes, if I can take a pic through it, I like it. Every lens has a “look” to the images that it produces, no two the same, and often judged only by the eye of the beholder. Some may view a lens based only off the contrast, sharpness, and color rendering, only to blind themselves to the beauty of the image that can be made with them. Judging any technology on this format will always say that the newer version of anything is superior to the former. However, lenses remain a frontier of romantic nostalgia that stand for the time they were created rather than the time they are used.
So when it came time to take a short walk with my wife, I decided to take my Nikon D3, and a 1982 Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AIS. Yes, I took a lens that is older than me, but I was going for a lens that relaxed me to use, perhaps based purely out of its nostalgia. The focusing ring is smooth, perhaps because it has been rotating for over 30 years, but pulling focus seemed natural from the first frame.
It’s like driving my dad’s ’65 Corvette… There’s no traction control, no power steering, yet in the end it just works. Yes, the pics are just one man’s random snaps, but there is something in them that is the lenses, or my comfort with it that makes them special.
Hey, I didn’t know you could actually focus by hand – with NO MOTORIZED lens! Whoa, dude – you’re getting… old.
Great frames, Blair! I have some old lenses for my Pentax 67II that are still as sharp as can be
I first learned using a D3000 and old SLR glass I would pick up at yard sales and flea markets. I’m so grateful I didn’t start out with autofocus and TTL metering. Without the automatic help I got to learn the basics of exposure, DOF, and manual focus right off the bat.