For those of you who don’t like puns, I apologize for the title, but people who know me know I can’t resist such a thing.
Tomorrow morning I head to Washington DC to stay with a friend for the long weekend most of us have here in the States, and so like before I left for Japan I’m posting about my inability to decide what equipment to take. This time though, I’m more concerned about what camera than what lenses.
Basically the choices are:
Nikon D200
Nikon FE (film)
Mamiya 645E (medium format film)
I’m not planning on taking too many photos, and the Mamiya might be a bit bulky, but I just got it so I want to try it out on something different. I’ve been using the FE a bit more recently, and it’s small and great for candids and getting out of my way and letting me shoot. The D200 of course gives me everything wonderful that comes with digital.
24 hours left to decide.
P.S. For anyone wondering about the new background image, see my post on Byodo-in.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Optics: 4.5
Price on Used Market: ~$300–400 USD
Value at $300 USD: 4
Accessories: Great with PN-11 Extension Tube, usable with TC-200/201, TC-300/301 Teleconverter
Nikon users are blessed with a history of good 300mm lenses, perhaps none so physically attractive as the solid metal construction and silky smooth focusing of Nikon’s smallest, the 300mm f/4.5 AIS ED-IF .
Nikon 300mm f/4.5 ED-IF AIS
Taken with Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/4 AIS
Assorted Information
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Max Aperture
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f/4.5
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Min Aperture
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f/32
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Aperture Blades
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9
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Close Focus
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2.45m/8ft
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Filter Thread
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72mm
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Hard Infinity Stop?
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No
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Built in Hood?
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Yes
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Image Quality
My sample is sharp from f/4.5, probably best at f/8, and contrasty. Despite the ED glass, there is still some amount of chromatic aberration especially in the area directly behind focus, though it’s generally not a big problem. The fringing in this photo of a turtle a particularly bad example of this.
Turtle @f/4.5 1/250sec. ISO100 handheld
Operation
Nikon’s smallest and lightest 300mm lens, it’s good to handhold. The focusing ring responds perfectly to the touch, travelling a bit over 3/4 of the way around the barrel from a close focus of 8 feet to infinity (and beyond, as it has no hard infinity stop).
The tripod collar is sturdy, rotating and being removed by loosening a screw. It gets a bit in the way when I handhold it, though, so I like to keep it off when I know I won’t be using it on a monopod or tripod. Attaching and removing the collar as much as I do is a bit annoying, but it’s still much better than the one you see on the modern 300mm f/4 AF-S
Zebra @f/4.5 1/250sec. ISO100 handheld
With PN-11 Extension Tube
This is a great combination for getting close-ups of animals that are easily scared. Focus is from approximately 1.2–2.4m/4–8ft
With Teleconverter
I use this sometimes with a TC-200 2X teleconverter resulting in 600mm f/9. This lens is compatible with both the TC-200/201 and the TC-300/301 which I don’t own. I get acceptable, not spectacular, results with this combination. Next to buying a reflex (mirror/catadioptric) lens, this is one of the cheapest ways of getting out to that focal length. Here’s a recent example, I’ll have to look to find a better one.
w/TC-200 @f/8 1/100sec. ISO140 on Monopod
Final Word
Focusing can be difficult for many at this focal length, and if you’re photographing subject matter such as birds which can demand fast and accurate focus, AF is basically a must.
If you can deal without AF, this is an excellent choice. The size and weight are a real plus, and the IQ is certainly there. My only real complaint is the chromatic aberration which prevented a 5 on the Image Quality rating.
More Photos with This Lens
Hillary Clinton @f/4.5 1/80sec. ISO800 handheld
Crane @f/4.5 1/90sec. ISO100 handheld
Nancy Pelosi @f/4.5 1/100sec. ISO800 handheld
w/PN-11 1/750sec. ISO200 on monopod
w/PN-11 1/320sec. ISO140 handheld
w/PN-11 1/500sec. ISO140 on Monopod
Nikon FE & Velvia 50, scanned on Plustek 7500i
More Photos of This Lens
Nikon 300mm f/4.5 ED-IF AIS
Firefox 3.5 has finally been released, bringing box-shadow and embeddable fonts to the masses! Those are both features I use on this site, so for those of you who prefer the red panda over Safari or other Webkit browsers which have had such support since I launched this site, give it a download! This site will look better, I promise.
In honor of Firefox’s release, a real firefox
Red Panda
In preparation for my coming Nikon 300mm f/4.5 ED IF AIS review I went out this morning with my PN-11 extension tube attached to take insect pictures. Here’s some of the results as a preview — or should I say pre-review?
This first image really illustrates what’s nice about this combination. I took this photo seconds after putting on the PN-11. It’s certainly possible to get this type of image with a 105mm or 200mm macro lens, but being at 300mm let me be 4 feet away so the moth wasn’t scared in the slightest.
moth
My focus wasn’t perfect for the bee in this second shot, the shutter may not have been quite fast enough either, not sure. In any case, I’m a sucker for pictures with flight like this, so I’m still happy with it.
bee in flight
With the other two, I used my monopod, but this one was just handheld. It was bright enough that they all could have been handheld, but the monopod made focusing much easier.
bumble bee
All images were taken with natural light only at f/5.6 or f/8 on my D200.
Photos from the pride parade today in NYC. My D200’s batteries ran out after only a short time because i hadn’t remembered to charge it, and shockingly, my Nikon FE’s batteries were dead, too. Luckily I had spare LR44s in my backpack and switched them out and now have several rolls of film to develop. Unfortunately, I expect a lot of these to be underexposed, as I was using a pre-ai lens, and kept forgetting to stop down for my metering.
All photos are with my new Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AIS. Great lens.
Recycling is good. And fashionable.
Primary Colors
1,324
All content © Tai Shimizu unless otherwise indicated.
