Nikkor 28mm f/3.5 AI-S Review

My thoughts on the d7000 are still coming, but I wanted to share a few on a recent acquisition: the Nikkor 28mm f/3.5 AI-S. I got this for $50 (+$5 shipping) off of EBay, and it was well worth the price. The d7000 treats this just like any other lens thanks to its "non-CPU lens" data features.

If you've paid any attention to my previous posts, you'll know that I have a 24mm f/2.8 Non-AI lens as well, which isn't compatible with the d7000—it won't mount. I was pretty disappointed by this. The reason I got the 28mm f/3.5 was to replace the 24 in my line up. While I'm sorry to say that the 28 so far hasn't been quite as nice, I'm pretty pleased by its performance (especially for the price).

Most remarkable in my experience is the excellent ghost control (these are shot with a plain-jane $10 Tiffen UV filter):

Philadelphia

Some months ago, I got some friends and family together and recommended that we try to do some photography together. It sounded like a good time, and so we planned to hit Philadelphia in the first of a few trips this year.

It was good. Rey put up a gallery for us, and Dave also put up some shots. It was a group of about six of us. (Ed: Rey says Gallery is horrible, so we're probably going to skip it.)

I'll be posting my own shots as time and commentary permits, both here and in Rey's add on.

My Hot Little Hands

The d7000 has arrived. I'll be doing some testing with it (shooting around) and adding some review-style comments as time allows.

Initial impressions:

• my Non-AI lens does NOT fit; I had simply mistaken the marketing text. I'm debating about doing a DIY AI conversion, which will be less expensive than buying a new lens.
• The action button is a lot spongier than the d40's or even the d90.
• AF is fast and nice to have on the 50mm.
• The ability to change things with buttons instead of menus is nice, but maybe not $1200 nice.
• Silent mode really is pretty quiet.
• 6fps is pretty fast.
• That LCD is good!
• Dual card slots? Sweet.
• High ISO performance? Pretty performant.

I'll have more later, with some reference photos and thoughts.

Giveaway

I gave my sister the d40 for Christmas. I've kept silent about ordering the d7000 for awhile because it was intended to be a surprise (which it was, more or less). I gave her the 55–200 as well as the kit lens, anticipating that I'll get an 85mm prime sometime to hit that range. I don't know which of them I'll get.

As soon as it comes in (I've been waiting since 4 November!), I'll post impressions, reviews, and, of course, pictures.

The inaugural photography outing with a group of friends will take place 22 January; hopefully it'll arrive by then.

Perspective

Thom Hogan (page at right) put together a string of posts he calls "you week." The page itself is fairly long, but his commentary is well worth reading. He gave an assignment: take a fixed lens, set your camera to manual focus/exposure, and go shoot. He comments on a few reactions:

• You discovered that your pictures looked different. Using only one focal length tends to make you move in order to frame your shot. Moving to frame changes your perspective. When you start changing perspective between shots you get pictures that leave differing impressions of foreground and background relationships. Heard about the 3D craze going around Hollywood? Well, you just discovered 2D. All good. You need more practice, though. Take two primes of different focal length and start exploring moving in relationship to your subject.

This is a really interesting comment, because it demonstrates so clearly what makes primes an interesting tool: perspective. Perspective is influenced by both the focal length and distance to the subject. Framing the subject in the same space using two different focal lengths requires moving back and forth—and it represents things much differently.