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The story for this lens actually starts at Tempe Camera. I saw the older push pull zoom focus version in the case. I mounted in on a D780 they had in the case and it was not as easy to operate as I thought. I drove home thinking about it. At home, researching the lens, the newer version, two ring focus was a better choice but I still wanted to check it out on my F6. The next morning, I drove back, walking up the stairs, entering the room, Kathy saw me and smiled. She greeted me and opened the case and brought the lens up to the countertop. I asked if I could see the 300mm f4 as well and, “…can we go outside and take a look?” Mind you, I was only there for the 80-200. Long story short, the lens I was there for was awkward and had trouble focusing on the F6. Kathy brought the 300 with her, “You might as well try it…” and I pushed the release button on the camera. I passed on the 80-200 and bought the AF Nikon 300mm f4 ED.
I made two great decisions that morning.
I still own the AI-S version of the slower Nikkor 80-200mm f4 AIS. It is a nice lens but not a necessary lens for my F3 kit. I have a lot of overlap now and I am making my collection smaller, more defined by what I'm actually going to do with it.
Anyway, I will stay focused on this lens.
At home, I really started to research the different versions of this lens. It turns out the push pull single ring was not the version that I wanted. The two ring zoom and focus was really the desirable configuration. I started hunting one down. I prefer to inspect the lens myself rather than to trust even the 100% positive rating sellers and their pictures on auction sites. I started to drill down locally instead of risking it at a distance.
I ended up purchasing my copy of the AF Zoom Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 ED Dual Rings MK III from a famous local professional photographer. I’ve bought a few items from him now and we have spent a little time discussing, photography and Nikon manual focus lenses. He has afforded me some of his time in discussing things that I don't know or understand. I told him about my love of the NOCT lens and before I knew it, I actually had one in my hands. This is a lens that costs as much as a car and it's old, heavy, a substantial chunk of finely tuned glass and metal. I appreciated his trust in me handling it. I will own one, oh yes, I will.
We talked of my recent lens purchase, the AF-S Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 G ED and drifted into the subject of chromatic aberration, "What exactly is that?" and I was given a nice class, an example of what it is and recognizing situations where it is augmented by contrasting borders. He pulled out his phone, brought up an image he captured and illustrated the description of how it appears in wall sized photograph enlargements. He was telling a story, and I just stood there in the cool morning sun listening intently. I now understand what chromatic aberration is and I will now pay attention to lenses, conditions that warrant mitigation of it. This isn't a trivial thing, it is real and I know it now. I'll be cognizant, able to identify it. The devil is in the details and I’ll look forward to eliminate it and backward to identify.
I am becoming more of a photographer; I really enjoyed learning about it.
I enjoy learning advanced techniques from intelligent people. I share a little social media time together with him and we seem to jive. He may end up reading this as he knows now that I blog about my photography. If you do end up reading, I appreciate what you do, thank you for this morning and the lens, it's nice and I hope to do well with it. I'll post the results here from my F6 or the D780.
So, as with most of the content I generate, this piece is primarily for me to track my own progress with this lens. I like telling the back story so here we go.
I got home, pulled the case out of the box, the original plastic was wadded up in the bottom, the registration papers and the lens data sheet folded up. I opened the case, mounted it on the D780, made sure the lens slide switch was on A and panned over to my gal, Lucille of Baja Arcadia, the love of my life, my wife's sheep-a-doodle. Press the shutter release halfway, quick focus, boom.
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| First image, 5 seconds after mounting and taking off the lens cap |
This is the first picture from this lens. My room is dark, I panned over to the wood shutters, focused in quickly, over to the lamp.
I'm going to love this lens, it’s love at first sight.
It focuses very quickly compared to the
Nikon 300mm f4 ED AF which is a similarly constructed series lens. The focus is driven by a shaft / coupling in the lens, the body of my
D780 and
F6 drives the shaft that focuses the lens. These two cameras were purposefully chosen to assist in my addiction of
Nikkor lenses, the F-mount, the focusing mechanism, everything. Film and digital, all Nikkor lenses. It was a well thought out photography system by Nikon and I definitely did my homework in choosing these two cameras. Yesss. Just like my professional photographer friend is helping me, I have other friends that assist me in my direction.
Wow. Ok, time to clean the lens, read about it, wipe it down with a baby wipe, clean the front and rear element and place it on the shelf. I need a 77mm filter and a lens hood for it. I'll check the social media marketplace and flea bay, yup, readily available. Do I want a petal lens? Nah, I'll get the stock Nikon HB-7, it's metal. I'll decide on which filter, I prefer Nikon, but Hoya makes good lens filters too. I bought the Nikon L47c. Now to wait a week or so for it to arrive. I’ll take the ID pics for now and maybe a couple other shots for fun. This is a fun lens THEN I’ll just start to use it. I don’t know, these AF D series, or this type of construction may very well be my favorite type of lens. Bomber, Metal, TANK, I really like the handling of this lens at first glance.
Let’s see what I can do with this lens.
The above pictures are from my
Nikon F6, 100 asa with Kodak Portra 160 developed normally.
