Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-D ED on EX1+SGBlade

A few weeks ago I met a french guy, living close to where I live in the 11th district of Paris. He is supposed to be a photographer, but had great interrest in the EX1 ans the Shoot35 SG BLade 35mm adapter.
I proposed him to come over at my place for a demo.
He came, at my request, with some of his Nikon lenses : 80-200mm f2.8 zoom and a 105mm f2.8 macro.
We tried both lenses on the blade : SUBLIME !!

I was so « jealous » that I spent some time on ebay and bought these two, plus a 35-70mm f2.8 macro (macro is only working at 35mm, but i’m sure it will help where the 105mm is too much).
I just received the 80-200 yesterday, so I had some tests.
Of course, my tests are not as good as those from Ken Rockwell.

First, the lense. It’s a brand new one, coming from Hong-Kong. I received it in 3 days with Chronopost, well packed in a Chronobox box. Inside was the lense box with bubbles to protect it. Lense was 660€, 15€ shipping and 40€ taxes.

The lense is massive, heavy, feels really solid.
Starting from the top you’ll find the focus indicator and a « limit » switch. This can be used to constrain the focus ring from infini to 3m or from 2.5m to « macro » mode, which is around 1.5 meters.
Then comes the focus ring. When focusing, the top element moves. Infinite is max inward, macro is max outward. As noted by Ken Rockwell, the external filter thread is made of plastic but the case is made of metal. There is a rubber band at the end so the plastic won’t be hurt if you accidentaly hit something.

On the bottom part is the zoom ring. Moving it will move most of the elements in the center of the lense. This needs to have some strength, but whatever, who love zooms in a video ?
Then comes (not pictured) the support ring. you can rotate it to accomodate. I will have to find a support element for the rig. This lense is heavy and I don’t want it to break the shoe of the SG BLade.
Finaly comes the aperture ring, going from 2.8 to 22, which is not totaly closed. You also have a « lock », if you really want to be sure not to change the apertue without noticing it. Seriously, the aperture ring is not like it will move by itself. It’s well crancked.

And now, set on the rig :
      

And now, result of the first test, featuring Mouchette !!!
(Last pictures are made with the Nikon 50mm f1.2 AI-S)

Last words : it’s heavy, but it’s awsom, clear and sharp. it’s quite hard to follow the focus with this kind of zoom, but I’m sure I’ll get used to that. Footages have just been put on a timeline, quickly graded in one shot with a dispertion + contrast preset.

• Vimeo (see on their site, the embeded version can’t do HD)

Mouchette from sebastien THOMAS on Vimeo.

• Youtube (lesser quality, even in HD… what are they doing ?)