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This plus DXO or Topaz is the GOAT

There are actually two versions of the original Nikkor 50mm f2, in 1959 the original standard lens was the Nikkor-S 5cm f2 which has an extra element compared to the later and more common Nikkor-H 50mm f2 which was introduced in 1964. The Nikkor-H is more sharp and contrasty, but the earlier Nikkor-S has tons of character and a great vintage rendering.

As someone who has way too many cameras I am going to not buy any new cameras. Well, maybe a lens or two. I have used Canon for years and have many great Canon EF L lenses. I also got a Nikon Z7 and discovered the Fringer EF-Z adapter and it works just great with my Canon lenses on the Z7. All the automatic functions work just great. I had been looking at Z mount lenses but the prices stopped me and really couldn’t justify getting another 70-200 in Nikon Z when I have a great Canon 70-200 f2.8. Fringer has really saved me some money on lenses.

Merry Christmas from the UK , I was taking some photos this afternoon with my D300 and my very recently purchased Nikkormat FT having found a roll of TMAX 100 , as far as I can tell the light meter is accurate when compared with the readings from the digital camera with the same lens & settings . I have found the camera & lens videos very useful and would not have bought the FT if I had not seen your videos , Thank You

Merry Christmas Jules. As far as what videos to put together, I started watching you for the reviews and "how to" videos with older cameras and lenses. Not sure you have one, but I have a Nikon F and an F2 I purchased on Ebay. If you have one, would love to see something with them. Also, have you ever replaced all the seals on an older camera. I bought a seal kit for my Nikon F but have yet to start the process. Anyway, have a great remainder of the day.

Thank you always for your incredible photography and experience. I’am still learning with my old d300 and vintage manual lenses. Still learning composition and color. Taking my Nikon everywhere to make every moment a learning experience. Happy Holidays to you and loved ones.

Yes, watching on Christmas. I got a few lenses this year against my better judgment. It might be interesting to spot differences between the old and the contemporary lenses in the most common print sizes. The question of what we get when we pay more I find interesting. Obviously, we get much more in the photo-taking experience (and that matters a lot), but what about in the prints of the coffee-table book variety?

Several years ago I bought a D700 with a very low shutter count for $400.00. That freed up some money to buy better glass, and WOW! If you couple a D700 with the best possible glass you will have a bargain setup that can go toe to toe with most of the latest technology. Not so much with sports, but for events, weddings and landscapes, the color pallete of the D700 will blow you away. I will never sell mine.

Great photos Jules, especially the candy cane one. Happy xmas to you and your family!

Very nice pictures of NY with this lens. I visited Tokyo, this past May, and enjoyed this lens in this big city. It is part of my travel lenses.

bought the Nikon F with the eye level finder about 13 years ago, sparked enormously my interest in film photography again. for a couple of years now, I wanted the F2 but prices on eBay are way too steep, as with many other brands and models of film cameras. a few weeks ago stumbled upon a fairly good condition silver F2 with a fairly acceptable price tag while browsing thru our local flea market and everything seems to be working like a charm. went back home smiling from ear to ear 😅. happy man indeed.

I got a used D700 in late 2019 and I absolutely love it! I thought this was a very fair video. The D700 is a legend in its own rite. I also tend to agree that the D810 would be great for landscapes or heavily cropping. Thank you!

The candy cane and manequin shots are great.

Jules, great shots, NYC is always a very cool place to visit. I have been thinking of getting that lens for some time to accompany my 24-70 F4. Have a good week and enjoy the holidays with your family.

can Ais lens be attached to a F2 Photomic ? pls tell cuz im a newbie to this analog world 🙏🏼

Can’t wait for the video. HAPPY HOLIDAYS !

Does anyone know what the Nikon BR-4. 9 adaptor for the Bellows is? I accidentally got ahold of a Bellows 4 and did not know how to use it until this video. It came with two of these adaptors.

omm ever try a reverse mounted wide angle on the bellows..

minolta MC's were among the very first coated lenses with 3 layers. I was ever convinced that the Nikkor 50mm f:2 was not outstanding at edges, as pre AI or AI versions, later 1.8 versions were much better.

If you have ever been at a news conference, then you know that the press guys never worried about making their cameras quiet. LOL

Thanks.

The issue with high resolution is handheld, because the “pixel” is small ( hence more sensitive to motion)

You didn't mention the adapter that allows a regular cable release to fit the F and F2 etc...

1:25, could you develop those lever strokes? It's not clear at all

I have many Nikon Ais lenses and They match great with my Sony A7RV 61 Mpx

Great review, thanks Jules.

I enjoy using this on my Fuji XT2, just picked up a converted copy to use on my D750 as the Fuji is a crop sensor. Love the simplicity, you can do plenty of shooting without the need for the bulk of autofocus. I have many Pre Ai lenses, also love the old Canon LTM lenses. Thanks for making this video!

Hi Jules as I am sure you own different Nikon 50mm f 1.4 or less fast can you compare this new one to the others ? Honestly even if this one is less expensive than the 50mm f1,8 S which doesn’t mean this one is good bargain but the other absolutely theft (..) I am a little frighten by the price of standard primes now… so the question is : does this new lenses really deserve their money or not ? A good comparison could be with the 50mm f 1.4 ai, the 1.8 afd, the 1.8 G… which are all between 2 to 5 times less expensive … so is it worth or just to increase Nikon margins ?

It is good to be reminded of processing film , as you say looking at the first strip of wet film and seeing images and then seeing the print in the fixing tray is memorable , I had previously seen a processing film demonstration at the local camera club where the EXPERT member poured fixer in to the loaded tank before the developer much to the delight of the other members who still remember decades after , 1 mistake I never made myself.

Jules, excellent review, that lens has very nice Bokeh, definitely a lens to consider. BTW, on a side note, your son is pretty brave wearing an Eagles beanie in the middle of NY. 😊 Anyway, enjoy your content, thank you.

Oh man, those foggy photos are awesome! I guess a 1.4 lens really shines in these conditions… Pretty happy with my 1.8 S version though…

Hi Jules and thank you. I flipped the front element of mine and am having lots of creative fun!

I like the photos. The way you took them made me feel I was there

Those shots are amazing thanks for sharing

Great content. I love my Nikon 28mm f2.8. I am in the market for a Z5 and Z8. How you like the Z8?

I'm led to understand that dioptre attachments are available for this camera too.

This camera is excellent for wedding photography, (except for a relatively moderate hi ISO acceptability). It's so inexpensive that I use two to three of them per wedding instead of swapping out lenses. 😎 During the film days I had no qualms with swapping lenses but now, if any dust gets on the sensor, you will have to deal with a spot or squiggly on every single image you take from that point on! 😳 Also by having several of these bodies on hand, I have exact duplicate spares with no loss of usability! 🤓

Thanks so much. Really appreciate your take on lenses and advice. I have the 24-200. Looking for an additional lens. Generally use my camera for travel. And I am thinking when inside more dimly lit areas, like churches, a 40 or 50 mm lens might make more sense than the 24-200, give the slower speed. What are your thoughts?

Hi Jules, did you need to use manual focus when shooting basketball at all? If not, then believe it’s possible to disable automatically switching to manual focus when you turn the focus ring while in autofocus mode. I think it’s one of the custom settings… That way you won’t change your focus by accident.

Jules, great video and awesome shots of the girls’ basketball game. That lens seems to be a winner, not only it is less expensive that the 1.8S, it is pretty sharp too. You stopped down to 1.6 in a few of the shots, I imagine that if you stopped down to 1.8 the sharpness would improve closer to the original 1.8S. So, for less money you have the advantage of 1.4 plus sharpness close to the 1.8S, would this be a true statement? Anyway, again, enjoyed our content and thank you.

I've been wondering how the z fifties compare to the f ones. I know the z ones are sharper and have some other optical improvements, but I'm wondering if those improvements would show up in medium-sized prints. Have you had a chance to print images taken with your new fifty, and, if so, what are your impressions in regard to the results? It looks like the new f/1.4 is working quite well, and it definitely proves its worth in this context in which you can successfully crop a high-resolution file. What I've seen of the new f/1.4 online is that it's a pretty good lens, somewhere between the old f-mount 50mm f/1.8g and the new f/1.8s but maybe with a touch of what some people call "character."

very informative, loved it!

So many TH-camrs rave about the camera, yet it is easy to buy for low prices. It seems like a minority think it is great, but the majority say "12MP... no thanks"and large numbers also say "no video... no thanks." So the price stays low. Stills only is a big hurdle. I am okay with both of those, but I feel we are in a shrinking minority. Younger people think that it is no good having a camera that you cant use to make social media clips. Video has become an essential and basic feature, and the D700 comes up lacking. I guess, back in the 1960's when I started with a Speed Graphic (I still have it) I used to hear older guys talking about how lousy 120 was for serious work (back then 5x7 and larger was considered 'large', 4x5 was considered 'medium,' and 120 was considered 'small format,') while most young people were getting TLR's for weddings and news. For a while everyone except amateurs thought 35mm was a toy format, too small to be suitable for anything much except rich kids toys, but then National Geographic decided to go 35mm at the same time as Nikon decided to advertise big in National Geographic, and suddenly everybody was buying 35mm. I think it was driven by the new demand for color in magazines, and 35mm was way more affordable when it came to color film and processing. Suddenly 35mm became a standard professional format. Attitudes are fickle things. For a while my Speed Graphic was worthless. Now I could get a grand for it because I still have the original case, working flash, and a half dozen or so flash bulbs. The one thing I don't have is my old 4x5 12 sheet magazine. I gave it away years ago, and have regretted it ever since. I also gave away a very nice Zeiss Jena lens for it. Boy, can we be idiots sometimes. All because we don't value old gear enough at times, when fashion says something is not worth having. The D700 suffers from the same kind of undervaluing.

Since 1973, I have been experienced with the 2.8/24 Nikkor-N.C, #429.230; later also the first version, #281.733, and up to now #571.999 in AI-version. As you say, it's a very fine st.ph.lens because of wide depth of field so you can easily & unnoticeably shoot from the hip. It's one oft my most widely used everyday lenses because of its flexible application mounted on analogue and digital Nikon SLRs as well. For me, the latter is half format, so the viewing angle is comparable to a 35mm full format lens, and there is a shift to other priorities but still useful.

Clear & concise information. Well done 👏👏.

My D810 recently performed well at a nighttime rodeo event. Lots of fast action under poor lighting conditions. Going to try the D500 at the next one.

This was the hardest for me. I love the beefy feel to the 135mm and love the versatility of the 70-200. Other factors didn't rack me because both lenses resolve great images.

I was tossing between this Nikon Z 70-200mm f2.8 VR S Lens and the Nikon Z 135mm f1.8 S Plena. But realizing the zoom performs just as good in most instances @135mm. I'd opt for the zoom in this case.

great video , i'm guessing the D800 high ISO noise performance will hold up as well as the D700 or maybe even slightly better ? Thanks

Jules, I agree with you, there is no question in my mind that shooting in the golden hour is the best especially for portraits. Interestingly enough I don’t know of any way to truly duplicate the effect, maybe as professional you know. It is unfortunate that level of light last only a fraction of an hour. Anyway, nice shots from Mississippi.