Nikon adaptations

I feel the Nikon setup is in a pretty good spot. Not great, but pretty good - but I've discovered that making it more suitable for me is a bizarre challenge.

Having slid across from Pentax, I believed I had a feel for the used lens market. Both N. and P. have several series of bayonet mount lenses going back to 1979 more or less, with 3rd parties adding both prime and zoom lenses. Since the K mount has been forsaken by most of those parties in recent years, it seemed clear that the F mount would have even more choices! 

AmIRite? 

Well? 

-er NotSoMuch.

A larger supply of gear is apparently overcome by demand from the much larger Nikon user base, so few options are available. And the most recent 3rd party items are aimed at hi-ticket buyers, so even 50 percent off is above my budget - worse yet, the f/1.4 primes and f/1.8 zooms are massive!

So, on to the right-sized f/2.8 primes.* I want 'em small to avoid confusing a prime with the 28-105 (I truly believe that is possible now!), so small and relatively 'slow' is good, and zooms are low on my list. Since I know little about Nikon gear I browsed a few review sites for glowing praise of Nikkor 20/24/28mm primes.

Wow. Guess the DA Limiteds spoiled me, as reviews are pleasant rather than enthusiastic about many of these. And oh yes: demand v. supply means they aren't cheap,not even the elder D series whose 28-105 zoom is beloved. Well, strongly beliked at least.

I also did not prepare myself for dealing with owners of the 2nd largest camera brand. They strongly dislike things Pentaxians have long accepted, like loud focus motors ** or with primitive features like front elements that rotate & mess up polarizing filter settings. (Quick tip: focus first.) 

• All I wanted was a 20-24mm, a fast 35 and maybe a 50mm. Doing so would cost $500 on a lucky day, so plan A is out.
• How about a wide xx-35 zoom? They are either exotic monsters or 1980s relics made to be cheap and left out to die. Another plan bites the dust.
• No plan C came to mind. Well the Nikkor 24-50mm D reviews well from 24-35mm, shall I waste space carrying around the extra 15mm anyway?

Then i encountered a Tamron 166, or maybe 266. It's a 20-40mm f/2.7-3.5. A what?! Sounds like a pentax design with such strange numbers, but it's pretty compact (albeit dense!) and actually reviews.. pretty well? Stranger still, it's comfortably below $200 in a few cases. I found a copy of the later model 266, which has a gold ring like my 70-300 and distance scale on the nose unlike the window view on the 166. It also came with its hood, which helps with its main problem of flare. 

Be it so ordered.

And with that in hand, a 50/1.8 (FX) becomes a sensible item to seek!

model 266 on the left, 166 right

* Did I mention the DX/FX thing? Like Pentax' DA/FA labeling, but again for an audience 50x larger!! A good half dozen times I found a deal on a 35/1.8 for example, only to see the DX code at the penultimate period. Terminology matters!

** 

Give

us

a 

break, folks. Nikon AF motors sound like a vacuum cleaner compared to the high-speed drill that is Pentax.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Oh yes: the 17mm Sigma will be on the the block if the 20-40mm works out. That will defray the 50's expense. Unless the 17 wins, the 20-40 leaves and I get a 35 instead.. oh was that out loud?

covid.19 USA v. Europe

Wow.

Freedom (USA style) does not come without cost.

Is something missing in my 𝛍43 kit?

I took a few team photos recently (coming soon) of my 𝛍43 and Nikon kits. The small system is the most complete, with GX7, primes at 14-20-30-60mm (and that pixco 8mm fisheye) and zooms (14-42ii, 45-150 and 4Thirds 70-300). 

Hm, where's that EM10 that I picked up a few months ago?

Ah yes.. about that.

When browsing for a final piece of the Nikon puzzle I encountered something I'd been seeking for a while: a compact tan-and-silver camera body. I sought a tan GX85 in the past, but did not find one at a 'reasonable' price (by my miserly definition). Yet here was an EX condition ePL8, with all the features of the EM10 with fewer 'issues' and (apparently) a body style that I prefer. I dropped the EM10 as a trade option and the ePL8 is on its way.

Yes I lost the EVF, but the PL8 is the last Pen to accept clip-on VF, so it can be added later if needed. This camera should look great with the silver 20/1.7 or 14-42ii, and nice enough with the other lenses. It was not a straight-across trade, but it's a far more interesting camera to me than the OM∙D variant. I've learned the hard way (after 3-5 EM and G bodies) that compact rangefinder-types are more for me.

So how does it compare to the GX7, since its name is "one better" (according to Nigel Tufnel)? Well, it's a tradeoff: better stabilization that works with video, fewer video specs. Marginally better sensor, marginally inferior AF (perhaps) and no 'starlight AF' to EV-4 faintness. Still uses a touch screen, the Oly has live time/composite but lacks 1/8000 shutter speed and two control dials. No easy AF/MF switch that I like so much. So overall it will see less use, but it's a good camera in any case and will see some time in play!

Oh yeah, might as well finish our team introductions..

The Nikon set is also done to my satisfaction and beyond my needs - D600, 17/3.5 + 90/2.8 (1:1 capable) primes, 28-105 (no OpStab) and 70-300 VC zooms. Perhaps some day a wider stabilized zoom will happen, but the 28-105 with its 1:2 closeups and great image capabilities will do. 

Heck, once I get them out of the camera I'll just stick the team photos below this space. 

(insert Graham Chapman voice here): Wait for it -- ! 

New prime #2

My dealing of Pentax and redundant 𝛍43 gear was handled by Roberts/UsedPhotoPro. They did me a favor and sent funds through PayPal - fast and simple! At that time they didn't have any superwide primes in Nikon mount, but we agreed that Watch This Space! was the right thing to do. Used gear moves fast, especially during these viral days when higher priorities abound compared to spare gear.

Watch This Space -true enough.

Today I picked up an early-model Sigma AF 18mm prime. At f/3.5 it isn't blindingly fast, the distortion is corrected as well as 1982 could manage, and no coatings are quaint 20th-century. I expect it won't have a hood (confirmed on arrival). The price was quite right however, and buying a prime in this range instead of a zoom was my goal. I'd have preferred a 20/2.8D Nikon, but at >triple the price? - well no thank you. 

Some fun!

I also picked up a split-ND filter for the lens. Superwide lenses and polarizing filters are well known for the 'sky problem' - a lens this wide will shoot outside the polarizer's capability and lead to uneven blue skies. By choosing a split-ND instead one can reduce light in the sky or on the ground, as needed. In most cases though: who needs a filter anyway? 

A hood however.. that would be nice.

Hopefully at some point I can track down one of those!