…. we snapped in monochrome.

Oakland Bay Bridge, D700, 24mm.

Gold Street, Jackson Square. Click the picture for the map. Same hardware as above.

Hotaling Street, Jackson Square. Same gear.

The 24mm Nikkor is special. It was special when I sold them, as a clerk at Dixons in London in 1969, to rich American tourists, and it remains special today, at a fraction of the cost. At that time I was quite convinced that Americans were so affluent that they never had a shirt laundered. They merely threw it away and donned a new one. And that 24mm seemed every bit as remote from that world as I was back then.

Back then the only people who could afford color prints were those self same Americans. Of course, despite all their costly gear, they opted for 3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ machine made Kodak prints, just like their successors today who think nothing of using a $10,000 camera to publish their work exclusively in 600 pixel sizes on the web. Many of these are the same people lining up to upgrade to a 36mp D800 ….

In 1974, when mine was made, the 24mm f/2.8 Nikkor-N.C ran $316.51, which is $1,472.72 in today’s money. I think I got a bargain at $165 for a mint one.