GAS GAS: Please Share your Latest Acquisitions Big and Small

The Mountain-Elmar arrived

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Mounted on a Leica II from 1933, with some other black & nickel-finish glass
 
I know - that's why I don't find it too difficult to hold out.

However, the Z 50 proves itself to be exactly the unassuming, high-performance EDC I need, not least because the kit lens is so good - and the Z 6 is such a good camera I simply don't feel the need to seek anything else, not even within the Z system, though the Z7 II may offer an upgrade path over time, but I'm by no means sure if I even want that - more megapixels would obliterate my whole (purposefully modest - but portable!) processing pipeline, and I find the 24MP files (and the 20MP files coming from the Z 50) fully satisfying. With the compact primes, the system will realise its full portability potential - and I really want both, the 28mm being the more universally useful one (42mm-e on the Z 50), the 40mm the ideal partner for the Z 6 for my preferences.

In the meantime, the Z 35mm f/1.8 S is a superbly pleasant lens to use - though the package is just a tad too big to fit in my favourite EDC bag alongside everything else I'm used to taking along. Come to that, that's not something that needs to stay that way (time to cull the contents of that bag ...).

M.
I'm really looking forward to picking up a Z50.
And the release of the 28 and 40.
 
Not that I think the compact camera system had any legs, I think the DL series of cameras that Nikon was going to release would have been way more successful then their KeyMission series. Like you, I would have been very interested in the 18-50 as well as the 24-85, as that is my sweet spot street and general purpose range.
I wonder how good the DL series would have been. Was there any clear reason why Nikon cancelled them?
 
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For a while now, I've pondered over one sufficiently compact, yet worthy lens to shoot on the D750; after seeing (on this board - if only I could remember by whom) what the Voigtländer Nokton 58mm f/1.4 can do, I bid on the SL-II version when it came up locally - and won; it's minty (a bit of residue, probably from cleaning, in the grooves of the focusing ring, no marks to speak of). I tried it this afternoon - very nice, characterful, not entirely "clean" (there is quite a bit of CA going on, mostly LoCA), but very good overall, and certainly rewarding to shoot with, with very pleasing results. I'm already pretty sure it was the right choice - and a nice treat after a trying month (nothing to do with what has been going on the forum - RL taking its toll in pretty loaded times ...).

M.

Nice Matt, you’ll gonna love it. At least I am with my Nikon Df.


 
I'm really looking forward to picking up a Z50.
And the release of the 28 and 40.
Just be prepared to give the little guy a bit of time - it may feel a tad underwhelming at first compared to its bigger sibling; happened to me, coming from the Z 6. But the Z 50 has steadily grown on me - it's now more or less the "obvious" pick: If I'm unsure which camera to take, I just take the Z 50 with its kit lens.

And there's more: I'll take out my Z 50 with the 70-300mm E on the FTZ this evening (for a *second* walk :)) to catch the shot that eluded me yesterday due to lack of reach. This combo stands heads and shoulders above my otherwise quite satisfactory FZ1000. Now, if Nikon would bring out such a lens for the Z mount, with its usual worthwhile optical improvements ... that'd be wonderful. I actually like how compact the current combo is (and that the lens works on the D750 as well), but after what they've achieved with the 24-200mm (a truely compact superzoom that offers overall competitive performance and blows all its predecessors in Nikon land out of the water), I think they should be able to deliver an even more compact lens with even better optical qualities. Not that the 70-300mm E needs a lot of tweaking, mind - it could use more peak sharpness and contrast, but that's about it; it's on par with or better than the 24-200mm as it is.

I have stopped worrying about how little love Nikon gets online - the Z series is working great for me. Now I just have to hope that Nikon will manage to stay alive. I think they will, though; their current plans *are* aggressive, and they appear to be going full-tilt - that's not the way a doomed company would act ...

M.
 
I wonder how good the DL series would have been. Was there any clear reason why Nikon cancelled them?
Apparently, problems with the image processing circuits delayed the release of the three DL cameras indefinitely, and Nikon hasn’t said if it ever completely solved that issue. Instead, Nikon blamed the cancellation on concerns that the models would never be profitable, and pointed to a “slow-down” in the camera market.

I thought the DL18-50 looked particularly promising - the form factor of a Panasonic LX7 and the sensor of a Sony RX100.

-R
 
Nice to see I left such a profound impression on you😂. But seriously and without having tried the Planar 85mm, the Nokton is probably my favourite manual lens on a Nikon.
That's it! Thanks, yes, it was you - your pictures, and Matero's as well. But I remember now that there was a whole series by you that I found so very enticing!

I'm really very pleased with the lens so far - it fits the D750 perfectly, and while I find focusing a little tedious, it's certainly not a lot worse than on other manual focus cameras, and it works fine. I'm happy ...

The lens also helps secure the D750's place in my kit: A great performer, especially with bigger and longer lenses, that can also act as the base for shooting vintage SLR glass - on a (D)SLR! The Nokton's arrival also made me want to try try a couple of more quirky options I have lying around in the days to com - but I'm already certain that none can even begin to touch the Nokton's performance. It'll just be for fun - and that's how it should be. I truely love "bridge builders" like this!

M.
 
I wonder how good the DL series would have been. Was there any clear reason why Nikon cancelled them?

“However, it has been decided that sales of the DL series will be canceled due to concerns regarding their profitability considering the increase in development costs, and the drop in the number of expected sales due to the slow-down of the market.”

 
Not that I think the compact camera system had any legs, I think the DL series of cameras that Nikon was going to release would have been way more successful then their KeyMission series. Like you, I would have been very interested in the 18-50 as well as the 24-85, as that is my sweet spot street and general purpose range.
Pretty sure everyone one at launch was of the belief that this was not interesting and was going to fail and guess what...
Yes the KeyMission series seems particularly stupid to me, dud Nikon even have anything in the Action Cam market before?

Apparently, problems with the image processing circuits delayed the release of the three DL cameras indefinitely, and Nikon hasn’t said if it ever completely solved that issue. Instead, Nikon blamed the cancellation on concerns that the models would never be profitable, and pointed to a “slow-down” in the camera market.

I thought the DL18-50 looked particularly promising - the form factor of a Panasonic LX7 and the sensor of a Sony RX100.

-R
“However, it has been decided that sales of the DL series will be canceled due to concerns regarding their profitability considering the increase in development costs, and the drop in the number of expected sales due to the slow-down of the market.”

Personally the 24-85 and 25-500 really seemed like "Why Bother" and only made sense in a way to help spread out development costs. Those also would have been up against several options from Sony, Panasonic, and Canon.

But to date there is still nothing on the market with the 18-50 range.
 
“However, it has been decided that sales of the DL series will be canceled due to concerns regarding their profitability considering the increase in development costs, and the drop in the number of expected sales due to the slow-down of the market.”

Well, that answers that question.
 
A third of a stop, Ray ... And apparently, the bokeh is quite nice. I don't mind the f/2.8 of the Sigma 45 one bit, and from what I see, the 40mm seems somewhat sharper. Not quite as pleasant in its rendering maybe, but smaller *and* sharper *and* sealed ... You see, I don't make things any easier, neither for me nor for you ;)

M.
Looks like Nikon are doing small 40mm and 28mm F2 lenses for the Z Mount. So for me, a tilt in Nikon's favour against Canon. As is the Fringer Adapter allowing you to use every Canon EF lens on a Nikon Z camera with no change in AF speed or focusing. That can't be done the other way round in Canon's favour. At least currently, but who knows in the future. I must say I'm glad to be sitting on the sidelines seeing how this Canikon battle emerges. I'm terrified that if I make a move now, I'll make the wrong decision and waste lots of money in the process so the wise decision as someone who already has sufficient gear is to wait another year and see how things develop. But I can already see that my fears of modern yet boring computer generated images being generated by these new Canikons are dissappearing as third party lens solutions are really improving, F0.95 lenses are commonplace, I even saw that Meyer Optik Gorlitz lenses in 30mm/35mm/50mm/58mm/75mm/100mm varieties will be or are available right now. Despite all this (and whilst we're talking GAS), I am still checking the eBay prices on a used Fuji S5 Pro, the thought of using my F mount lenses with that CCD sensor is tempting.

 
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