The other day I got some dirt cheap and beat up Nikon lenses. A fully manual Nikon 80-200mm f/4.5 from probably 1977-1980 for $12, and an AF 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 with a broken aperture lever for $20. The 35-70mm from the late 80’s maybe early 1990 still autofocuses, but the lens can’t stop down and will only shoot wide open. Which on this lens has a lot of color distortion. It might be useful in a future situation though!
The 35-70mm actually balances pretty nicely on the GFX. There’s a vignette at certain focus distances but I was surprised how the lens can somewhat cover the larger sensor. This is a bargain hunter’s “28-56mm” on medium format. I’m using this as a test dummy on the GFX to see if I would like this focal length.
If only this particular broken lens could stop down though, I would actually use it at f/8 in point and shoot mode.
The product shot with the time stamp above was shot with the Coolpix 3700 and the one below this was shot with the D700 and 200mm f2. Both opposite ends of the pricing spectrum when it comes to gear, but you know, I like both of them.
The 80-200mm f/4.5 is a trumpet style, push pull zoom and you need to slide the outer ring forward to get 80mm. Weird huh? Back in the day though (late ’70s) this lens would have made you cool in the local photography club. 😉 I still need to find old vintage photo magazines on my thrifting hunts. It will be a kick to read the letters to the editors section, which was the printed version of forums back pre internet days. I’m quite sure folks argued over meaningless stuff too back then.
The cover over the ports on my D4 finally fell apart and off the other day. I’m telling you, to make such good ergonomic cameras with excellent sensors, Nikons have always been really bad with their material quality (and adhesive). This is coming from a fan and customer for like 20+ years. Anyways I’ll always enjoy finding these bargain ugly grade dirt cheap unwanted lenses and using them to create something pretty.
