Five Frames, Nikon Ai Nikkor 35mm F2, A Nikon Classic

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Olympus E-P5, Ai Nikon Nikkor 35mm F2

#VintageLensTest - Five frames with an Ai Nikon Nikkor 35mm F2, a fast wide angle Nikon classic.

Favored by both Nikon photo enthusiasts and used extensively by photojournalists as a standard prime, the Nikkor 35mm F2s have been in production since 1965. The lens is a solid all-metal and glass construction, with an excellent focus ring, and a long focus throw, excellent for a manually more accurate focus.

The Nikon Nikkor Ai-S 35mm F2 came with strong credentials as well. Ken Rockwell used it as his normal lens on his Nikon cameras until he replaces it with the 35mm F1.4. His main advocate, however, is that the lens should not be used for night photography with bright points and light sources, as the lens has a tendency to produce strong ghost effects.

Beyond that, other users give the lens their thumbs up as well. Image quality was the strong suit, sharp and contrasty even from f/2, sharpest at f/4, and good through f/11.

Nikkor 35mm F2 Ai, Olympus E-P5, Fotga Nikon M4/3 Manual Adapter

Shot wide open in 1:1 image aspect ratio on the 2x crop sensor E-P5, these images are not up for evaluation of edge or sweet spot sharpness, coma, or comatic aberration which can be an advantage to some as much as it disadvantages others. A lot can be done while the image is post-processed as well.

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Five frames, Holga 120Pan, Trying To Get It Right II

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Holga 120-Pan

Film photography favorites, five frames with a Holga 120Pan, and a roll of expired Fujifilm Pro 160-S.

Well, here I am, back again with the Holga 120-Pan at the park right near to where I live, and as per my previous visit, I had the camera loaded with a roll of expired Fujifilm Pro 160-S. The Holga 120-Pan is a medium format 6x12 panoramic camera released around 2010. Its form factor is based on the Holga 120-WPC pinhole camera body, as can be seen, by the same field of view lines on top of the body.

The camera comes with an attached viewfinder, two hot shoes, and a level bubble, features that make the Holga almost a complete contraption all set and ready for tilt and yaw adjustments.

The 90mm optical lens has the same four focusing distance positions as seen on other Holgas as well - 1M,  2M, 6M, and 10M-Infinity. Same as other Holga cameras are the single (N) 1/100 second shutter with a B(ulb) setting. The film back has a fixed film counter window.

To get the correct frame count, the film must be advanced to the next odd-numbered exposure number, otherwise, the film will not be properly forwarded to cover the panoramic film frame and overlapping exposure will occur. An optional 35mm film kit is also available which can expose 24 x 108mm images.

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Five Frames, Pre-Ai Nikon Nikkor 35mm F2.8, In Black-n-White

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Olympus E-P5, Pre-Ai Nikon Nikkor 35mm F2.8

#VintageLensTest - Five frames with a Pre-Ai Nikon Nikkor 35mm F2.8, post-processed in black-and-white.

The Pre-Ai Nikon Nikkor 35mm F2.8, an improved version of the Nikkor S Auto model, was first introduced in 1959. The version is more compact than its predecessor, extending only 44.5mm out when mounted on the camera body, and comes with NIC (Nikon Integrated Coating) on all air to glass surfaces which contributed to the improved performance, reduced flare and ghost, and improved color rendition.

From its basic 6 elements in 6 groups construction, the lens evolved through both multiple optical and cosmetic variations and ends with a 5 element optical design. The Ai version was made from 1979 through 1981, while the Ai-S was made available from 1989 through 2005.

The lens is a nice fit on the Olympus Pen E-P5, giving my smallish hands just the right leverage and finger distance for both aperture and focusing control. Focusing was, of course, soft and smooth, as smooth as a Nikkor should be, while aperture clicks were just right, not that I used much of it. Most of my quick-take images were taken at full aperture and almost at the lens's shortest focusing distance.

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Five Frames, Olympus XA1, Soft, Sharp, and Saturated

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Olympus XA 1

Film photography favorites, five frames with an Olympus XA1, a fun, and exciting point-and-shoot 35mm compact.

The Olympus XA1 has only 2 film ISO (ASA) speed settings - ISO 100 and ISO 400. While ISO 100 speed film has finer grain, ISO 400 film has light-sensitive materials which are larger in grain sizes and requires less light for proper exposure. Photos, however, may show up with visible grain.

When using the faster ISO 400 speed film, in a typical bright light situation, you can get away from motion blur and achieve great depth of field as the fast film speed lets you shoot with a faster shutter speed and smaller aperture.

One of the fun things you can do with the Olympus XA1, when you are stuck with the slower ISO 100 speed film, and where the light is insufficient for you to get a properly exposed shot, is to use the exposure lock trick.

What you need to do is first point the camera at the brighter light source, half-press the shutter release to activate the metering, then turn the camera to frame the composition and take the shot.

The shots, of course, will have a varying degree of underexposure, which can be enhanced with post-processing.

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