The 35mm

I got my Nikon D90, my first real camera, about 15 years ago. When I say “real” I just mean that the camera could interchange lenses, it was a DSLR, not a point and shoot. The D90 came with a 50mm f/1.8D lens, but the first lens I purchased myself was the DX 35mm f/1.8G.

That lens basically never left my camera until today when I sold it to a young guy named Kevin in the parking lot of a Vons supermarket. What a coincidence that the pre-owned NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8 S, the new and improved model for mirrorless cameras like my Z 6, would arrive just a few hours after I got home from meeting Kevin. This 35 will be a much different experience since I’m using a camera with a full frame sensor (the D90 was cropped at 1.5).

But it still seemed like a tidy bit of fate that one 35mm f/1.8 lens would leave on the same day the new one arrived. So, I took the new glass for a walk, and have a few samples to share.

First Macro

Last week I was sitting in the Jeep waiting for Gemma to finish up an appointment. With time to kill, I decided to search the area for a camera shop. As luck would have it, Paul’s Photo was sitting directly across the street from me. Of course, I headed straight there.

I have a mental list of the Nikon lenses I’d love to have, and near the top was the NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S. This is a newer macro offering that has been highly reviewed both for its macro ability, and for its versatility as a flattering portrait lens. It’s been on backorder every time I’ve checked for it, so I figured it would be a while before I was able to add it to the collection. But I got lucky again because Paul’s Photo had just received a delivery, and a copy of the 105 was included in the shipment. I spent a few minutes playing with it in the store. The clerk, visibly annoyed, watched as I changed half a dozen settings in the demo camera. I just wanted to get a good feel for the lens as I would use it.

I was surprised by how light and comfortable it was to handle. It felt nicely balanced latched onto the front of the Z 6II I’d just rearranged. And the images looked really nice as far as I could tell from the three-inch OLED: incredibly sharp, razor thin depth of field while wide open, and the color rendition and contrast were really rich, too.

I brought it home. This evening, I took it for a walk around the block with Gemma, and here are my first photos with it. I’m really pleased with the results. It’s my first macro lens, and it’s so fun to shoot. I can’t wait to explore more with it, both as a depth of field macro monster, and as a gorgeous portrait lens with smooth, compressed backgrounds.

Stroll with The Nikon Z 6

I recently picked up a second-hand Nikon Z 6 and a couple of prime lenses: both the 85mm and the 50mm f/1.8 from Nikon’s new roster of Z-mount “S” line lenses.

Excited to see what my new setup could do, I took grabbed the 50 and headed out for a quick walk around Hermosa Beach. I didn’t have a lot of time, but initial impressions are really good.

The Nikon felt perfect in my hands after many years with my trusty D90 (which nearly 15 years later still takes terrific pictures). The files straight out of Z 6 look terrific.

I’ve got to shake off some rust after a long stretch without using a camera that’s not my iPhone, but I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of it.

More to come!

Solo Adventures

I'm rediscovering my love of writing and recording music. In middle and high school I spent many, many hours on my Tascam 424 MK II Portastudio 4 track recorder. Now, I'm learning to use Ableton Live on a MacBook Pro. The learning curve is steep, but I want to finish things and put them out there.