So I shot this wedding and I'm not sure what to do.....

jake337 · Apr 26, 2013

I'm just kidding.

But the real question is about my inner conflict with gear.

So I bought a Nikkor 135mm f2 AIS a few days ago. What can I say. I'm a lens whore. The first step is admitting it right?

Anyways, how I end up adding gear to my system is through buying used at my local National Camera Exchange and trying the item out during it's 30 day return period and then deciding the last week if is a something I want to add to my system or not. I've done this for 2-4 months in a row at times. I don't feel bad about doing this because it is already used gear and it usually ends up in better shape when I return it then when I purchased it.

So my other options are.

I want a darkroom

I want a 20mm f2.8 AIS

I want a 300mm f4.5 IF ED AIS( or even a 300mm f4 AF-D)

I want lighting. I was looking at getting some radio trigger and a third flash.

So conflicted!!!!!!

Are there any options I'm missing?

o hey tyler · Apr 26, 2013

Turn darkroom to grow room.

Buy everything you want 3 months from now.

Win.

squirrels · Apr 26, 2013

Sneaky thread title. Now what am I supposed to do with all this popcorn? :popcorn:

I like the test driving used idea. I've got nothing of substance to add. Care for some popcorn?

jake337 · Apr 26, 2013

o hey tyler said:
Turn darkroom to grow room.

Buy everything you want 3 months from now.

Win.

And go to jail 3 months after that....

That is something that will happen in my lifetime but I'm waiting for LED lighting to catch up. I can't do it with all that ventilation and heat control needed.

Dude. I need a new house for that. I wish I can like a post infinitely!

jake337 · Apr 26, 2013

So I might not be able to give up this 135mm f2 AIS...

scorpion_tyr · Apr 27, 2013

I would keep the lens. I don't shoot Nikon, but I'm guessing that lens is at least on the same playing field as Canon's 135mm f/2L and that's an awesome portrait lens. I'm a bit of a lens whore myself and any prime lens between 100-200mm's with f/2.8 or better gives me a... well it excites me ;D You can always save up and get the other stuff later or you can go dirt cheap and order a radio trigger and two receivers for $32 from cowboystudio.com I don't do much studio work so dropping a few hundred on just triggers was out of the question for me. I got the cowboy studio ones and while they don't have all the bells and whistles and they don't have "great" build quality, they do work.

bratkinson · Apr 27, 2013

Presuming the Nikon 135 f2 is as out-of-this-world-fantastic as the Canon 135 f2L, you will soon discover that your 135 will have to be pryed from your cold, dead hands...like my 135 will.

But that may come soon, for you...as with a title like this thread, I'll be 20th in line or so to shoot you, and not with a camera!

cptkid · Apr 27, 2013

o hey tyler said:
Turn darkroom to grow room.

Buy everything you want 3 months from now.

Win.

This

o hey tyler · Apr 27, 2013

cptkid said:
This

I think on my feet.

Derrel · Apr 27, 2013

Not sure what you're asking or saying in this thread jake...I have a couple questions for you. First, is the 135 f/2 as sharp and flat-field at close-range as you need it to be? Not sure if you want it to be a portrait/social event type of lens, or more for longer-distance work. Bjorn Rorslett's review of the lens suggests that it's much better at distance than it is close-in. I have one floating around here, but the last time I used it was way back in the D1h era, and it was not anywhere near the 70-200 VR optically. Also, and this is something that Thom Hogan mentioned a couple weeks back; although he has sold off most of his legacy Nikkor lenses, he has now found that some older lenses are performing better on some newer Nikon cameras than they did on models from the past generations...leading to a new need for more testing/evaluating of older lenses.

We saw this same thing back in the 2.7 to 4.2 to 12 MP transitions that represented the various NIkon camera generations; some lenses perform "better", or "worse", depending upon which digital SLR body they are used on. Bjorn's reviews therefore have point ratings based on how lenses perform on individual camera models.

RE the 300, the 4.5 ED-IF versus the 300/4 ED-AF-D...the f/4.5 model is a lot skinnier, and easier to carry, and feels almost light. The 300/4 AF-D feels HEAVY for its speed, and is fatter. One packs light, the other packs 'heavy'.

As far as older lenses of the AiS era...the one I think a guy needs is the 105/2.5 in AiS, with the built-in sliding lens hood, and the quick focus throw and superb manual focusing action.

jake337 · Apr 27, 2013

Derrel said:
Not sure what you're asking or saying in this thread jake...I have a couple questions for you. First, is the 135 f/2 as sharp and flat-field at close-range as you need it to be? Not sure if you want it to be a portrait/social event type of lens, or more for longer-distance work. Bjorn Rorslett's review of the lens suggests that it's much better at distance than it is close-in. I have one floating around here, but the last time I used it was way back in the D1h era, and it was not anywhere near the 70-200 VR optically. Also, and this is something that Thom Hogan mentioned a couple weeks back; although he has sold off most of his legacy Nikkor lenses, he has now found that some older lenses are performing better on some newer Nikon cameras than they did on models from the past generations...leading to a new need for more testing/evaluating of older lenses.

We saw this same thing back in the 2.7 to 4.2 to 12 MP transitions that represented the various NIkon camera generations; some lenses perform "better", or "worse", depending upon which digital SLR body they are used on. Bjorn's reviews therefore have point ratings based on how lenses perform on individual camera models.

RE the 300, the 4.5 ED-IF versus the 300/4 ED-AF-D...the f/4.5 model is a lot skinnier, and easier to carry, and feels almost light. The 300/4 AF-D feels HEAVY for its speed, and is fatter. One packs light, the other packs 'heavy'.

As far as older lenses of the AiS era...the one I think a guy needs is the 105/2.5 in AiS, with the built-in sliding lens hood, and the quick focus throw and superb manual focusing action.

Just looking for other options to throw into the list. I might not keep it. I have about 25 more days with it and then will decide whether I will return it and try something else for 30 days, or keep it. The list I put up are other options to spend my $600 bucks. This 135mm just got the ball rollin'.