This little gem of a lens really shows how timeless optical and build quality is. It's not the fastest or the sharpest, but it is one of the smoothest (in use and in bokeh). It's very compact and heavy, lots of glass and metal. It has a built in sliding hood that is actually really convenient. I can put it in my pocket and not worry about damaging it, unlike plastic bodied lenses. Manual focusing is very nice with a wide grip and a dampened and precise action. So far, I find very little CA or distortion on my D300. I need to get more film and test it out on the F100, which should be even easier to MF.

These samples might not be very interesting but they should show a little of what this lens can achieve.

One of my first test shots (before I bought the lens) - pretty sure it is wide open. Shows good sharpness and nice bokeh to me:


Just a bokeh test:


This one would've been stopped down at f/4. Nice detail in the hair and skin. What background? All I've got is subject isolation.


This was actually more to test minimum focusing distance but the sun star at f/8 was interesting. It should be a 14 point star given the 7 blade aperture design:


This shows the heptagonal aperture shape when slightly stopped down. Boring pic but.


Hope to get more out of this lens as I get used to it. I probably paid too much but it was an impulse buy and I was supporting a local pro shop so it still feels good at the moment. Heh.