Joe
Please could you let me know which type of lens you used on when you took pictures with the Nikon F100. What was the focal length, aperture and whether it was a zoom or fixed lens.
Was it G-type or D-type designation on the front of the lens barrel? This would help me avoid making a mistake and assist me in making a better choice.

Harshad

By Dietmar Koch on Tuesday, June 04, 2002 - 03:55 pm:

Some people only do tests, and they take poor pictures. The theme is the most important, than the light. The film has grain, the depth of field could be not enough ... For architecture I would try to get the sharpest lens. Maybe not all the 135 have the same sharpness, but there are much whith absolutly sharpness. Try to get one in a shop to test before buying. And take a last one (black, and half-stepped aperture). Take a slide-film, make a line of exposures (for example f5,6 and 1/250, f8 and 1/125 and so on - so you can test the shutter times and the aperture also because every exposure has to have the same brighness) and look with a magnifying glass 10x or 12x on a lightbox - also in comparison to your 80mm. The best sharpness you will have on about f11 or f16. At smaller aperture you could get loss definition because of light refraction on the edges of the lamellas. But if I need maximum depth of field, and there are no bright reflexes in the motiv it will be not a big problem. Mostly the grain comes before.

By Joe Farrugia on Monday, June 03, 2002 - 10:50 pm:

Thanks for the reply Dietmar.

I'm planning to use the portrait lens at f8-f11 in my (24" feet long by 10" feet wide) studio; for tight, close-up shots of the face & nude studies.

From your reply & what I 've read I'm interested in the 135mm; but am worried by claims that it is not so sharp (see Tim Brown's lens tests). Many say the 180mm is indeed sharper.

Is it true? What are your thoughts?

Thanks once again.

JF

By Dietmar Koch on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 04:16 pm:

First, sorry for my bad English!

Both, the 135 and the 180 are sharp, maybe the 180 is a little sharper, but has less depth of focus if you take the same detail.

The second point is: Do you have enough place in your studio? The 180 will need more distance between camera and model.

For nudes, people (no portrait) the 105 is a great very sharp lens, and the model 105 DS is the only one which can stop down also the viewing lens (for control) - but maybe it isn't important for people photography because during exposing you want to see the open eyes of the model on a bright screen ...

By Joe Farrugia on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 09:26 pm:

I am the proud owner of a Mamiya C2 TLR with 80mm chrome lens. It's producing better prints than any NikonF100/Canon EOS3 I've ever used.

I'm looking for the SHARPEST portrait lens (subjects: people, nudes, portraits).

Which one, the 135mm or 180mm?

Will the 180mm focus close enough for a very tight crop on a person's face?

Please help!

Thanks in advance,

JF