You should know the story of Atlas, the Titan forced to hold up the weight of the heavens for all eternity. If you don’t, well, that tidbit is all you really need to know right now. I’d recommend sitting down with a book on Greek mythology if you have the time, it’s exciting stuff.
Anyway, in this experiment I felt quite a bit like Atlas lugging around this camera + lens combo. Take a look:
Camera: Nikon D2Xs (1,200g)
Lens: Kiron 28-85mm f/2.8-3.8 (approx. 700g) + Urth Ethereal 1/4 filter
That’s almost 4.5 lbs of metal and glass, which is not an insignificant weight for something hanging around your neck for a weekend getaway. The reason? Well, there’s just something so intentional about using such a large, antiquated camera and lens such as this. Plus, the photos have a certain atmosphere that I personally really enjoy.
So, with the camera slung over my shoulder with the aptly-named DSPTCH Heavy Camera Sling Strap, we were off on our adventures. First stop was a small side quest in Ohiopyle after dropping the dogs off at the sitter’s house.
The photos are soft but sharp, thanks to the Ethereal filter. Being a heavily-loved third-party lens from the 80s the results were very satisfying. The end cap of the lens was a little loose but that was remedied easily by tightening some of the screws around the collar.
When we got to our destination in the great land up north, St. Catherines to be exact, I had some time to really dial in my settings in a few different environments.
In low light, shooting wide open, I was pleased with the results. I don’t shoot RAW anymore (more on that in another post) so these are mostly straight out of the camera, aside from a few edits for color.
I don’t use zoom lenses at all outside of work. Mostly because I prefer the performance of primes and their simplicity. However, this focal range proved to be quite fun to work with. This being a crop-sensor camera the 28-85mm range of the Kiron lens is approximately 42-127.5mm on the D2Xs.
Currently, my two workhorse lenses are the NIKKOR 35mm DX (50mm equivalent when used on APS-C) and the NIKKOR 85mm FX (127.5mm equivalent when used on APS-C). So this zoom range was very close, on each end, to what I normally use.
I found myself at 28mm a lot. The wider the angle, the better if you ask me. Just take a look at that last photo above, you can see the slight distortion along the gutter. Such depth!
Alright, show time! I was asked to take photos at the dance performance we attended Saturday night. It was an exceptional opportunity to shoot action in low light, which is a fairly difficult thing to do, especially with gear from twenty to forty years ago.
Let’s take a look at the settings, specifically on the photo of the dancer above:
1/80s shutter speed | f/2.8 | ISO 800 | +1.3ev
There is absolutely a significant amount of noise at ISO 800 on the D2Xs. That’s the last numerical value you get before the camera just reads “HIGH.” Does it detract from the final picture? I don’t think so.
We hiked a short loop in Niagara Glen on our last day. Initially, I actually regretted bringing my camera along just because of its weight and size. As a casual companion, this camera + lens doesn’t really make the cut ergonomically. However, it more than makes up for that with character. I mean, just look at that portrait. That’s straight out of the camera!
So, after three days and about 700 frames I came to some conclusions.
The D2Xs and the Kiron are an awesome, albeit heavy, combination that made me slow down and take my time with each image. If I’m lifting that 4.5lbs beast up for a photo you best believe I’m getting it right the first time.
Being manual focus only and having a limited quiver of tools at my disposal due to the antiquated nature of the equipment I had to really focus on the basics. Composition, lighting, and how I could quickly manipulate my settings became crucial to getting the images I wanted.
This was absolutely a test of my skills as well as an experiment with gear I had easy access to. I definitely felt like I stepped out of my comfort zone creatively, which was difficult, but I was rewarded with new perspectives and some really fantastic pics of some really awesome people.
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