- Joined
- May 12, 2011
- Messages
- 78
- Format
- 35mm RF
Here's my story...I hope you find it fun...and maybe a bit informative....
....I've done a lot of lurking here and a lot of what is here has been talked about in other threads
I used to be a PJ on newspapers and a stringer for AP...since then I've been shooting as a passion rather than as a profession, having been in other careers until my recent retirement...
I thought I'd have as my 1st post here a tale of seller's remorse....and salvation.....
When I got into Dslr photography (I know that's not entirely appropriate here, but there it is anyway...sorry), I just had to keep my darkroom gear (tanks, enlarger, trays and timer), but sold all my analog/film Nikon gear to fund my new setup
...only to discover that I terribly missed all my film bodies (Fs and an FM3a) and too many prime lenses that I had sold (all but the 85/2 and 200/4-Q)
...so for the past 3 years I've kept my eye out looking to replace my gear and finally have most of them back...an FE for now and most of my Nikkors...from 50 to 300mm....
...and just recently I finally found a lens I've wanted for 30 years....
...the 85mm F1.8 "K" mount MF Nikkor with the AI factory modification
...This and other "K" series of lenses were made for only a couple of years in the mid-70s...and so are kind of special to some of us, if not so rare...
...This 85/1.8 "K" is factory modified for AI bodies making it even more rare ....
Like all "K" lenses the 85"K" has rubber on the focusing barrel giving it a newer look than the all-metal barrels of previous versions...
....but it is also a bit brighter through the VF and on the meter, and is sharper and has cleaner colors because of better anti-reflection coating) than the older "H" that I owned back in the 1960s and 70s that was and still is, excellent...
Both of these puppies are 35 and 40 years old!!!! but beautiful....
I had an "H" version for shooting sports in dim and dark gyms...but traded up at the urging of a Nikon sales rep for a "better" lens....the 85mm F2 AIS which I bought because it was smaller and it seemed a better fit on my Nikon F cameras....the 85/F2 AIS Nikkor was good, and got me great photos for over 25 years...
.....when I shot news stories with my Nikon F bodies I kept my gear to the minimum...not even having the large Photomic meter on it...
I used a trusty 200mm/F4-Q instead of the 180mm/2.8 because the 200 was lighter and likewise better balanced for me...and rarely used the 300/4.5 sitting in the newspaper's closet of gear...
...but then...
...as I said I got into DSLR bodies ....and I found that larger lenses were a better fit...and better balanced
...so finally got the 180/2.8ED and an AI'd 300/4.5-H (which I like more than the "K"-AIS version because the focusing and aperture barrels are closer together and easier to simultaneously use)
....as well as two 50mm lenses, a 1.4AIS and the wonderful 50mm/F2 "K", and the 105/2.5AIS, 135/2.8-K (I like "K" lenses), as well as my 40+ year old 200/4-Q
...as beautiful as the 85/1.8-H was, there was a problem with it (despite the fact that it cost me only $30 after selling an older beater 1.8 I had had)
...while it will meter on cheaper Nikons dSLRs and ironically, on Canons EOS bodies with an adapter, it will not meter on the better Nikon bodies like the FE, or better Nikon DSLRs, without an unauthorized owner-modification that would hurt a mint version's "value" as a collectable...even though I know it would work on a Nikkormat...(like my 1st SLR, the Nikkormat FS didn't even have a meter!)... I could get some day...
...but I wasn't upset about doing a cheap modification on this "H" that has pristine glass, because it was already modified/drilled/"butchered" for attaching a "stem/stalk" for focusing during a video tracking shot on a video camera...This lens is famous for making professional videos, commercials, tv shows and movies...it's that good...but one more cheap modification couldn't hurt...
And then last month I saw a Craigslist ad for the newer "K" version already modified, with the factory authorized aperture ring...
YES!!!!
Well that's my story....for now...there will be more, just as there will always be more gear to lust for...when I get my 5 posts, I'll edit this and add the photos...both of these 85 lenses are a beautiful to behold...and hold...
I'll be back and look forward to reading your stories and contributing every so often when I can...
Thanks for being here...it's a very nice forum...
....I've done a lot of lurking here and a lot of what is here has been talked about in other threads
I used to be a PJ on newspapers and a stringer for AP...since then I've been shooting as a passion rather than as a profession, having been in other careers until my recent retirement...
I thought I'd have as my 1st post here a tale of seller's remorse....and salvation.....
When I got into Dslr photography (I know that's not entirely appropriate here, but there it is anyway...sorry), I just had to keep my darkroom gear (tanks, enlarger, trays and timer), but sold all my analog/film Nikon gear to fund my new setup
...only to discover that I terribly missed all my film bodies (Fs and an FM3a) and too many prime lenses that I had sold (all but the 85/2 and 200/4-Q)
...so for the past 3 years I've kept my eye out looking to replace my gear and finally have most of them back...an FE for now and most of my Nikkors...from 50 to 300mm....
...and just recently I finally found a lens I've wanted for 30 years....
...the 85mm F1.8 "K" mount MF Nikkor with the AI factory modification
...This and other "K" series of lenses were made for only a couple of years in the mid-70s...and so are kind of special to some of us, if not so rare...
...This 85/1.8 "K" is factory modified for AI bodies making it even more rare ....
Like all "K" lenses the 85"K" has rubber on the focusing barrel giving it a newer look than the all-metal barrels of previous versions...
....but it is also a bit brighter through the VF and on the meter, and is sharper and has cleaner colors because of better anti-reflection coating) than the older "H" that I owned back in the 1960s and 70s that was and still is, excellent...
Both of these puppies are 35 and 40 years old!!!! but beautiful....
I had an "H" version for shooting sports in dim and dark gyms...but traded up at the urging of a Nikon sales rep for a "better" lens....the 85mm F2 AIS which I bought because it was smaller and it seemed a better fit on my Nikon F cameras....the 85/F2 AIS Nikkor was good, and got me great photos for over 25 years...
.....when I shot news stories with my Nikon F bodies I kept my gear to the minimum...not even having the large Photomic meter on it...
I used a trusty 200mm/F4-Q instead of the 180mm/2.8 because the 200 was lighter and likewise better balanced for me...and rarely used the 300/4.5 sitting in the newspaper's closet of gear...
...but then...
...as I said I got into DSLR bodies ....and I found that larger lenses were a better fit...and better balanced
...so finally got the 180/2.8ED and an AI'd 300/4.5-H (which I like more than the "K"-AIS version because the focusing and aperture barrels are closer together and easier to simultaneously use)
....as well as two 50mm lenses, a 1.4AIS and the wonderful 50mm/F2 "K", and the 105/2.5AIS, 135/2.8-K (I like "K" lenses), as well as my 40+ year old 200/4-Q
...as beautiful as the 85/1.8-H was, there was a problem with it (despite the fact that it cost me only $30 after selling an older beater 1.8 I had had)
...while it will meter on cheaper Nikons dSLRs and ironically, on Canons EOS bodies with an adapter, it will not meter on the better Nikon bodies like the FE, or better Nikon DSLRs, without an unauthorized owner-modification that would hurt a mint version's "value" as a collectable...even though I know it would work on a Nikkormat...(like my 1st SLR, the Nikkormat FS didn't even have a meter!)... I could get some day...
...but I wasn't upset about doing a cheap modification on this "H" that has pristine glass, because it was already modified/drilled/"butchered" for attaching a "stem/stalk" for focusing during a video tracking shot on a video camera...This lens is famous for making professional videos, commercials, tv shows and movies...it's that good...but one more cheap modification couldn't hurt...
And then last month I saw a Craigslist ad for the newer "K" version already modified, with the factory authorized aperture ring...
YES!!!!
Well that's my story....for now...there will be more, just as there will always be more gear to lust for...when I get my 5 posts, I'll edit this and add the photos...both of these 85 lenses are a beautiful to behold...and hold...
I'll be back and look forward to reading your stories and contributing every so often when I can...
Thanks for being here...it's a very nice forum...
