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Need Help With This Photograph, Please.

help with bad photograph

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3 replies to this topic

#1
Tony

Tony

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IMHO, this is just about the worst photograph I have ever taken, or seen.  I have been working with my Nikon Series E 50mm Ai Lens lately and wanted to see what the old girl had left.  Surprisingly it is still quite sharp at F/1.8, however even wide open the bokeh or lack of bokeh is horrible.  I took this in our front yard, early evening on a bright, sunny day.  I am not certain that going to a slower shutter speed and closing the lens by 1/2 to a full stop would have accomplished anything.  Now the ISO is set between 200 to 800 automatically.  Ooops, now there is a thought.  Maybe the auto Iso does not function when the camera is on Manual.  My other train of thought is perhaps I should not be using this SLR film lens on a digital camera.  Just because they are compatible, does not mean they are suitable.  It is possible that it just is not a good marriage.

 

Please feel free to offer any comments/suggestions/solutions.

 

Regards,

 

Tony

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#2
Ron

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Focus seems to be clearly off. The back bottom leaf appears to have better focus than either the flower or the other leaves. Maybe the camera is back focusing with that lens.

 

Bokeh looks about right for that focal length at that distance but I can't be sure. And, I'm also not sure about whether Auto ISO works with manual on the D70 since I have no experience with that camera.

 

I use all my old film era lenses on my digital cameras with no problems. In fact, one of my "go to" lenses is a 1990's era 24-120D. However, I don't have any experience with the Nikkor Series E line of lenses. Perhaps someone who does have experience here will jump in. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

--Ron



#3
Merco_61

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As the D70 doesn't meter with lenses without a chip, AutoISO doesn't work.

The 50 E doesn't give great quality bokeh, like all the 6-element 50-s, but the transition between sharp and unsharp is quite good. It is, however, not very sharp wide open. If you close it down to f/2.8, you will get a different result from the lens. 

The 6-element lenses with a MFD of 45 cm are very much sharper, but the bokeh is a bit busy.

There is nothing wrong with using film-era lenses on digital, but they have to be good lenses... The Series E or the consumer zooms don't fall in that category with the exception of the 75-150/3.5E. They were made to be affordable, with acceptable performance for the price.



#4
Tony

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As the D70 doesn't meter with lenses without a chip, AutoISO doesn't work.

The 50 E doesn't give great quality bokeh, like all the 6-element 50-s, but the transition between sharp and unsharp is quite good. It is, however, not very sharp wide open. If you close it down to f/2.8, you will get a different result from the lens. 

The 6-element lenses with a MFD of 45 cm are very much sharper, but the bokeh is a bit busy.

There is nothing wrong with using film-era lenses on digital, but they have to be good lenses... The Series E or the consumer zooms don't fall in that category with the exception of the 75-150/3.5E. They were made to be affordable, with acceptable performance for the price.

Although I have received glowing reviews of my work with Nikon's consumer lenses, I do understand what you are saying.  You stated it very well, when you said, I quote, "Acceptable Performance."  Now there is a real wake up call, because I do strive to exceed acceptable, so your point is well taken.  I need to move up if I am serious about improving my photography.  Thinking back, I can only recall one really bad lens produced by Nikon and that was the 42~84.  This was so bad, not only was it nearly impossible to get a sharp image, you also had to fight ghosting, flare and a few other issues.

 

Many thanks,

 

Tony







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