GAS Dear Giary!

This is a truly lovely - and complex - and rich - image.
Part of it is (obviously!) due to the eye of the photographer.
But from my admittedly eclectic and unscientific perspective, I have often found photographs made by the Df to have a certain extra something, a je ne sais quoi, which is hard to describe let alone articulate. But I think that in the right hands, the camera can make special images. Which this definitely is.
Short version of the above: really nice, Mike!
Hugely appreciate the kind words from you Miguel!
I think there's a big part of "Df image" is contributed by the lenses one most commonly wants to pair with a Df.
 
Let's talk about GAS for a moment.

My cash poverty is continuing and it's good in that it only curbs my excess gear enthusiasm, leaving a pretty open tap on other expenses of life. Local travel, quality groceries, restaurants and things like that. My upcoming Stockholm trip is soon saved up in a "savings" account so I predict that money flow will soon shift gears.

Maybe a 250 € lens purchase will be in my near future; the Panasonic 20-60 zoom for S1.

And now my local dealer launched their annual Green Week sales. Let's window shop for a moment or two. (Work, what's that?)

For L mount digital gear, not much for offer. One Panasonic (Leica) 24-70 f/2.8, Sigma DG 45mm f/2.8 Contemporary, two S1R bodies. Nothing earth shattering going on here. The Sigma looks good but not 319€-good.

Let's see Leica R... Mostly different versions of the 180mm lenses.

I'm going to risk it and browse Leica M next. Not much in store. Mind you I'm limiting myself to those discounted items only. Some 50mm Summicrons of various types, a cool looking f/1.5 Summarit. Would love to buy three new-to-me 50mm lenses from this collection under different circumstances but with my current situation I don't even have proper GAS for it. A good thing indeed.

Let's get into the danger zone next, with Nikon F gear. These lenses can provide so many different roles now, with the M4/3 speedbooster and whatnot. Kamerastore has put 733 Nikon F mount items on Green Week deals. All right then, right on the Page 1 we have one interesting thingie that could be a big thing for my Df. A pistol gripped Leica 560mm Telyt. Nikon Df as the sole Nikon DSLR could accept a threaded shutter release cord from the grip for the full experience. 300 € off, now for 1200 €. I guess I can resist the offer as I have resisted the same for years now. 560mm is just too long and unwieldy?

What else? 105mm Sonnars aplenty, with general prices gone up 80 € since I bought mine. One 135mm f/2.8 Nikkor-QC for a good deal of 69 €. I think I paid 95 € for mine a couple of years back. A very nice lens. Then there's a bunch of 135/3.5 Sonnars.

Some G zooms. An autofocusing 16mm fisheye? Neat. 180mm f/2.8 primes in several variations. Perhaps but don't feel a need to be paying 167 € for a fast tele prime. There's also a sexy 5-element 180mm f/2.8 pre-Ai, but it costs more.

And now we're getting to the 200mm Nikkors. The type price appears to hover around 111 € for an Ai 200mm f/4. And around 70 € for pre-Ai. One scratchy pre-Ai copy is only 31 €.

And we get next to 24 and 28mm lenses.
I think I should close the page before I do anything unwise.
 
And the adapters are here.

The Panasonic S1 viewfinder still looks larger than life, after a pause of 6-8 months since I last saw it.

I was planning on staying home today but there's a supermarket who celebrates their 5 years of business and serve coffee and cake. I guess I can stroll around there, the least I can do. ;) It'll be a 5-mile walk. If the cake they serve there is portioned disappointingly small, who knows maybe I burn more calories on my walk than what I consume there.

Will probably carry just one lens on the camera, Pentax-F 50mm f/1.7. Seems to be producing extremely good rendering (observed on the viewfinder) but KP can't really focus it to any fidelity.

There's also a third-party 2x teleconverter and from a quick kitchen tests it appears to be a decent companion to the 50mm. Then again, what's a 100mm f/3.4 eqv when I have a Sigma DG 105/2.8 macro that's just superb. Oh right, I could make myself a 210mm f/5.6 but let's try that combo some other day.

Now I only wish there was a way to force aperture ringless Pentax lenses wide open. They serve no practical use when they're stopped down to f/22.
 
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Will probably carry just one lens on the camera, Pentax-F 50mm f/1.7. Seems to be producing extremely good rendering (observed on the viewfinder) but KP can't really focus it to any fidelity
Terrific lens, which, you're right, doesn't work very well if you can't see to focus it. The K-1 does a much better job than any aps-c because of the larger viewfinder.
 
Really a pleasure to be using the camera out. The lens is so small and lightweight, the overall package was very manageable.

The color fidelity and resolution of the viewfinder is just outstanding on this camera. Really puts Olympus E-M1.2 to big shame in comparison.

The EVFs on my [current] cameras are probably ranked thus:

  1. Panasonic S1
  2. Panasonic G80
  3. Panasonic GX80 (very, very close to G80 actually)
  4. Olympus E-M1.2
  5. Fuji X100
 
I saw that my local dealer has begun to sell used Nikon D5 bodies at 2400 € price point. It's a lot of money but you do get a lot of camera at that price. It wasn't a long time ago when D5 was an absolute monster, a god machine that was the best of the best, cream of the crop. And it still is a top dog.
Agree. The D5 is a beautiful camera.
Lucky for me, it's just too much camera (size and weight wise, but it's also 5x overkill in any other ways also for my photography) to be seriously considering it.
Like my new PC ...
Sadly M4/3 is missing a solid ~67.5 mm AF lens.
Mike, have you considered the f/4 12-100?
Not a prime, but leaves almost all primes in its dust, optically speaking.
 
Mike, have you considered the f/4 12-100?
Not a prime, but leaves almost all primes in its dust, optically speaking.
I've long considered the 12-100. Expensive and heavy and too slow for night time so it's not on my immediate radar. The 14-150 is something I'll probably get sooner.

I like the 50 & 135 prime combo precisely because of the prime focus. You have the 135 on your eye, after a few minutes a fifty is all the wide angle you ever need. And vice versa, after observing the world through a normal, 135 seems to offer just the right amount of reach.
 
Sigh. Looking at the prices of Billingham inserts I wish I had jumped on the Hadley One deal a year ago.

I think my Black Friday spending spree is limited to a new wristrap. Unless someone can recommend me a nice looking Peak Design anchor compatible wrist strap that's on good BF discounts right now? :D
 
Had a solid 5mi stroll and took a classic prime shooter's kit with me: 28mm, 50mm and 105mm Nikkors, on the Panasonic S1 this time.

A big bummer to find out that the 50mm Nikkor that has a loose element inside, affecting infinity focus on the Df, still suffers from the same on the adapted S1. I guess the adapter is either too close to flange specification or actually a bit long? I should probably spend a little time to see if the lens focusing scales agree, that would reveal the state of things.

Either way, bummer. I was hoping I could breathe use into the wonderful 50mm with the adapter. I hope that maybe at least I can use the lens on M4/3, depending on things. Maybe the loose element affects focus in some other ways that can't be corrected with a short adapter.
 
Had a solid 5mi stroll and took a classic prime shooter's kit with me: 28mm, 50mm and 105mm Nikkors, on the Panasonic S1 this time.

A big bummer to find out that the 50mm Nikkor that has a loose element inside, affecting infinity focus on the Df, still suffers from the same on the adapted S1. I guess the adapter is either too close to flange specification or actually a bit long? I should probably spend a little time to see if the lens focusing scales agree, that would reveal the state of things.

Either way, bummer. I was hoping I could breathe use into the wonderful 50mm with the adapter. I hope that maybe at least I can use the lens on M4/3, depending on things. Maybe the loose element affects focus in some other ways that can't be corrected with a short adapter.
Mike, if there's a loose element, the lens will not work properly on any camera ...

The solution is to have the lens repaired ...
 
Mike, if there's a loose element, the lens will not work properly on any camera ...

The solution is to have the lens repaired ...
The effect of the lens is that it sometimes loses ability to focus at infinity. Sometimes it won't focus over 8 feet, sometimes it works perfectly throughout the range.

Where it can focus, is optically good.

Hence, my hope that it could be compensated by an adapter that's a little short.

Being a 100 € purchase sadly I don't think it's at all reasonable to have it serviced. Moreover, this sample of mine has some damage to its coatings. The cheapest option probably is to get a replacement, of which Kamerastore has plenty in stock. Well worn samples at 99 € and good condition ones running up to 189 €.
 
The effect of the lens is that it sometimes loses ability to focus at infinity. Sometimes it won't focus over 8 feet, sometimes it works perfectly throughout the range.

Where it can focus, is optically good.

Hence, my hope that it could be compensated by an adapter that's a little short.

Being a 100 € purchase sadly I don't think it's at all reasonable to have it serviced. Moreover, this sample of mine has some damage to its coatings. The cheapest option probably is to get a replacement, of which Kamerastore has plenty in stock. Well worn samples at 99 € and good condition ones running up to 189 €.
Maybe it's worth pulling it apart yourself to try to fix it?

If it's an electronic AF lens, probably too complex for most of us, me included.
 
I've been trying to get the S1 sold for so many months now. I believe since April or so.

And now in November I got the new set of adapters for it and have been shooting the camera for a bit outside.

And some buyers are gathering around the camera out of the blue.

And guess what. Yesterday I was just turning around in my bed, restless. I worried that someone will now buy the camera now that I am having a new honeymoon period with the camera.

This camera really makes it a breeze to focus and compose the Nikkor 28mm f/2 in the way Nikon Df won't allow me to.

Yesterday with the Nikkors the weather was vastly different just four miles from my home. Instead of dry cold there was mist and a little drizzle that immediately froze on surfaces on contact. It was a bonding experience for me and the S1. I trust its sealings even though I know the lens and the adapter are unprotected. It wasn't a lot of water, volume wise, so I am not worried. But having the lens and the top LCD covered in thin instant ice was fun. And bonding us together. I hope this buyer won't make an offer. Let me have a buyer for it in the springtime, please?
 
I had the yesterday's companions at my desk here and started to study and clean them to the tune of Lloyd Webber's Cats. Got very emotional when I was holding and studying the 50mm with Memory playing in the background lol. 😿

At least with this lens the focus distance scales are pretty accurate. Just my luck, I had to get the only third party adapter that's perfectly manufactured to original flange distance? Maybe I'll buy the cheapest possible adapter I can get my hands on, hoping it'll be sufficiently short.
 
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