Nikon Series E 100 2.8 wide open

[Michael Carter]

I often recommend the Nikon Series E 100 to people on a low budget. Used it again today for an interview in a very tight space, so I wanted to knock the BG as soft as possible. I usually shoot stuff like this around F4 or 5.6, but I needed the length and the wide aperture to give me some separation - she was about 4-5 feet from the windows.

This thing's a great performer wide-open for people (it's great stopped down as well). There are several on eBay today for under a hundred bucks. Not as legendary as the 105, but a great budget lens. If we'd had the time, I would have hung some white mesh outside the windows to cut the hot spots, but they're fine for this budget and schedule).


(575 HMI par bounced from a white popup reflector - space was too tight for a scrim. Shot it at 6500k (uncorrected temp of the globe) since I like the way the outdoors go warm vs. gelling the light. .6 ND and cc20m 4x4's on the lens, the cc was for her very pale, almost-blue skin)

 

[HunterAK]

That does look really nice especially for a $100 lens wide open. What body are you using?

 

[DPStewart]

Nice.

I really like the way you used a cooler key than the actual daylight and what it does to the warmth of the sun coming in - brilliant.
I wish people thought to do that more often.

Thanks for the tip about the E-100. There are a few clever Nikon lenses that really punch much higher than their price tag, and I try to own as many of them as I can!

 

[Michael Carter]

That does look really nice especially for a $100 lens wide open. What body are you using?

This was a D7100. Think I'm going to retire it soon, really getting some crazy noise in the shadows. Probably get an NX1 for my "no rental in the budget, I own it" camera. I think I bought this lens in the early 1990's when I switched from Olympus to Nikon. Traded all my Oly gear in for ONE 8008 body - this was the only lens I could afford when I traded!

Nice.

I really like the way you used a cooler key than the actual daylight and what it does to the warmth of the sun coming in - brilliant.
I wish people thought to do that more often.

Thanks - my light is one of those Source 4 HMIs that were converted for auto shows & whatnot - the globe is 6500k (the 5500 globes cost more than the fixture!) So I usually do 1/2 CTO + 1/8 minus green and it's lovely, but I've found if you shoot at the native color, you get that sunset-ish look of the outdoors, and you don't lose a half stop or so to gels, which helps trying to hang on to a window - and it speeds things up.

I have a 4x4 cc10 or 20 magenta filter that I purchased by accident (5 bucks, thought I was getting a red filter for infra red film) but (the subject above is my wife who is paaaaale, doing a web video for her business) it's handy for pale skinned people. You can see that bit of pink in the white window frame.