Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D, A Garden Ensemble

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, images with an AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D, a compact, lightweight 'nifty-fifty' prime appreciated for its affordability, exceptional sharpness, and shallow depth-of-field capabilities.

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A combination of two greats, the super-sharp AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D, and the Nikon F90X. As a traditional AF lens, the f/1.8D works with all of Nikon's SLR cameras, film or digital, auto or manual focus, but it will not autofocus on Nikon bodies that do not have the mechanical autofocusing screw, such as the D40, D60, and D5000 models.

The Nikon F90X, or N90s in the US, is often mentioned as the best and most expensive amateur 35mm SLR of all time, a spec sheet that nearly matches the F4 in capability.

Nikon F90X, AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

Compared to the F4, for example, the F90X has a faster and better autofocus mechanism, is lighter in weight, has a more sophisticated matrix metering, and, of course, is a lot cheaper. The F90X was replaced by the F100 in 1999.

Minolta MD 50mm f/1.7, The Catch (2018)

Cameras and Lenses: Images with a Minolta MD 50mm f/1.7, at a 100mm full-frame equivalent on the Olympus PEN E-P5, down by the lake, catching the catch at the annual fishing tourney.

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A quick detour to the local city lake, where a fishing tournament was held. I did not have the chance to spend as much time as I needed and just managed these few shots of part of the substantial crowd, well dispersed on the bank of the lake. Participants have already cast their lines and are now waiting for the bites.

The MD 50mm f/1.7, as tested, is the last in a long line of standard kit primes produced by Minolta for SR mount bodies. It is a pleasant lightweight, and on the unit I used, focus is still smooth, and handling on the E-P5 is just about right, if not excellent. The lens has a 49mm filter thread, easy to come by on the auction sites, and is relatively inexpensive.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta MD 50mm f/1.7

Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6, The Long End

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, images with a Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6, the zoom kit lens for APS-C Sony Alpha DSLR cameras, on a reverse digital to analog adaptation on a Maxxum 70 35mm SLR film camera.

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Continuing from where I left off with the Wide-Angle Vignettes, posted previously. These are the images from the long or telephoto end of the lens, which, to me, is about as normal as what they are supposed to be.

As I mentioned in the previous post, this was a fun session where I had the Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 mounted on a Maxxum 7000.

The whole idea of mounting a DSLR lens, more so one designed for the APS-C sensor, was actually an experiment with which you can get interesting results.

Minolta Maxxum 70, Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6

Lenses designed for APS-C sensors have a smaller imaging circle, and at the wide end of the lens, the image circle is much smaller than the film frame size; thus, the vignette effect, which will dissipate as you zoom in past the 24mm focal length mark on the Sony DT.

SMC Pentax-M 40mm f/2.8, On The Street

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, images with an ultra-compact pancake prime with a 40mm focal length lens, the sweet-spot lens for photography, for a natural, slightly wide-normal perspective on 35mm film.

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Continuing from where I left off with the earlier post, Street Squares, taken with the Pentax MX, an all-manual camera, mounted with the SMC Pentax-M 40mm f/2.8. The Pentax MX features a fully mechanical construction, including a horizontal travel cloth type mechanical shutter with a shutter speed range from 1 to 1/1000 second, plus B.

The MX does not have any autofocus or autoexposure modes such as aperture priority, shutter-speed priority, or any programming functionality. It is strictly manual, with a film ISO speed rating from 32 to 1600, and the light metering system is the only function that is dependent on batteries. Introduced in 1976, the camera was Pentax's flagship professional SLR until the introduction of the Pentax LX.

Pentax MX, SMC Pentax-M 40mm f/2.8

The camera is solidly built, very compact, and is smaller and lighter than the preceding K Series models, which, of course, include the much beloved and highly acknowledged K1000. It was designed as the mechanical twin sister of the remarkably successful entry-level Pentax ME.

Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8, Low Key Edits

Cameras and Lenses: Images with a classic vintage legacy Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8 (1977), at a standard normal 56mm full-frame equivalent focal length on an Olympus PEN E-P5, with low-key edits in post-processing.

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My trial at creating low-key shots and edits, from images shot with a Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8 mounted on the E-P5 in a 1:1 image aspect ratio. While I am happy with the results from the first three images, the final two are just post-processing heavy edits and are solely there as space fillers.

One advantage I have is the Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8 lens, which is generally considered to be one of Minolta’s best 28 mm lenses, an excellent lens often measured against the MC W.Rokkor-SI 28 mm F2.5 or the MD 28 mm F2.

Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8

The lens I used, even though it is a plain MD, is the 7/7 (7 elements in 7 groups) version, which is reportedly a step up from the latter 5/5 version, recognized by the serial number, which is 80xxxxx for the 7/7 series, whilst the 5/5 version is 70xxxxx.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8

A little bit more detail is the plastic recess between the name ring and the front element of the lens, which is designed with eight tiny steps instead of six.