My Favorite Old Favorite – Moving Pictures

My readers know that one of my favorite things about photography is lenses.

One of my favorite lenses, which I have talked about before, is the 85mm focal length. I love it for any number of different situations. For some of the now-ending basketball season, I shot basketball action with it. I love it for head shots, portraits, indoor news conferences, and more.

I absolutely love the build quality and feel of Nikon's Nikkor lens lineup from the 1970s and 1980s, and love the images they can deliver. — I absolutely love the build quality and feel of Nikon’s Nikkor lens lineup from the 1970s and 1980s, and love the images they can deliver.

I participate in a monthly open mic event, and, as with so many things in my life, I have become the photographer for that gathering. I frequently reach for an 85mm lens. I have three “official” 85mm lenses, and a couple of garage sale or junk drawer 85mm lenses.

Last Monday I brought my 1985-era 85mm f/2.0, a beautifully-made reminder of the way cameras and lenses were constructed, especially by Nikon. Even better, this marvel is able to deliver beautiful images with the right skills.

I made this image of a lawn ornament recently with my 85mm f/2.0 at f/2.8. Up close and nearly "wide open," the depth-of-field is paper-thin, but worth the extra work to get in-focus images. — I made this image of a lawn ornament recently with my 85mm f/2.0 at f/2.8. Up close and nearly “wide open,” the depth-of-field is paper-thin, but worth the extra work to get in-focus images.

Yes, there’s the caveat. Since my early years in photography didn’t involve autofocus lenses of any kind, I built some serious manual focusing skills, and I don’t like letting them get rusty.

I would offer up that there are many good modern 85mm lenses out there, but if you asked me if you should get an old manual-focus lens at a yard sale or thrift store, I would say yes, definitely. Then you could set yourself on a journey of building a new set of photography skills.