The perfect street snapper.

While the manual focus Nikkors I use lack the immediate response of the later AF optics, they remain a lot of fun to use and the 28mm f/2 Nikkor N.C. doesn’t need that much focusing in any case, owing to an extended depth of field at all but the largest apertures. They are also far better made than the current optics, making the whole experience a pleasure. The 28mm f/2 is a chunky piece and melds nicely with the far from svelte D700 body. The following snaps use my tailored lens correction profile which you can download here. I use it with Lightroom 4; it works equally well in Photoshop.

I set to it the other day and took but this one lens with me, hitting the streets of San Francisco, as usual. The 28mm is arguably the ideal street snapper – not too long, not too short – and the f2 speed will handle just about anything you will encounter.

Lunch break in the Castro District.

Thee World’s Smallest Side Show. On Castro Street.

In addition to a particular lifestyle, you will see a lot of dogs in the Castro District.

More pups. At f/2.

Noticeboard in the vibrant Castro community. French lessons to massages ….

Mission District muralist. A team of six friends was working on this
mural. This was the team leader, and he told me they had been at it all day.
They remove the spray tips from the aerosol cans to get a sharper line.
Here they are filling in the rough sketch.

The Taqueria on Mission at 25th Street makes divine food.
This little boy was enjoying his meal. Snapped at f/2.
A face straight out of Goya‘s oeuvre – questioning and tragic.

Lovely window light at La Taqueria. At f/2.8.
The lens profile fixes the corner shading. Click the picture.

Late evening light catches a hopeful fisherman at the Bay Bridge

The 28mm f/2 pre-Ai Nikkor N.C. is a crackerjack lens. A thrill to use. My multicoated version (hence the “C” in the designation) renders very contrasty images on the D700, needs no stopping down for even big prints, has a lovely feel and heft and just seems made for the modern full frame Nikon DSLR. Not bad for a 40+ year old optic.