[With Sample Photos] The Early-Summer City Atmosphere Rendered by the Nikon D750 and Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4

Hello.

This time I walked through the city in early summer with the Nikon D750, a classic full-frame DSLR from Nikon that is still enormously popular, paired with the Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 ZF.2 T* (for Nikon), a much-loved, uncompromising manual focus lens.

In an age when cameras that focus instantly with autofocus (AF) are taken for granted, we look through the viewfinder and slowly turn the focus ring by hand. We bring you that "joy of taking photos" along with ten sample photos.

Finding Vivid Colors Blooming in the Gaps of the City

With the D750 on my shoulder, I head into the skyscraper district of Shinjuku. The D750's large, secure grip keeps excellent balance with the solid, heavy metal-barrel Planar lens. The optical viewfinder is bright, and the focus peak of manual focus (MF) is very easy to grasp.

At the foot of the buildings, I looked down and found a small piece of nature breathing.

To start, I approach white flowers blooming in a planter to test the Planar's rendering near wide open.

The central petals in focus are strikingly sharp, while the rendering melts into soft bokeh toward the edges. This three-dimensional rendering is what makes people say, "This is Zeiss's Planar."

A little further on, vivid pink azaleas leapt into view. Against a backdrop of the city's linear buildings, I deliberately blurred the flowers in front to add some gloss to the frame.

The clear, crisp color delivered by Zeiss's traditional "T* coating" sets off the texture of the city's concrete and glass while fixing the pink color vividly and without muddiness. The smoothness of the front bokeh is breathtakingly beautiful.

Changing Perspective: "Light and Shadow" Seen from a Pedestrian Bridge

In urban snapshots, just changing your eye level reveals an entirely different drama. I stood on a pedestrian bridge and decided to capture the people and vehicles passing by from a high viewpoint.

Crossing in front of me was a motorcycle dashing along over a blue arrow painted on the asphalt.

Manual focus on a moving subject is nerve-racking, but the moment you capture it just as intended, to the crisp shutter sound of the D750, there is a special sense of achievement you can't get with AF.

Glancing to the side, a woman in a suit holding a white parasol to block the strong sun passed by.

Deep shadows falling on the road surface and the geometric pattern of the tiles. The Planar's high contrast stages the city's dry light and shadow dramatically.

Looking further, I saw a businessman walking down a passage between buildings where dazzling light poured in.

His light stride in sneakers is very much the daily life of a modern office district. The D750's well-judged 24.32 megapixels preserve the detail of the building's tiles without crushing it, yet the file sizes aren't too heavy, which suits snappy street shooting.

In a corner of this busy city, there was also a person standing still.

I boldly blurred the handrail in front and placed lush green at the bottom. The man's back in the center, sandwiched between the front and rear bokeh, evokes the loneliness and stillness of the city.

Into the Lively Crowds That Retain Traces of the Showa Era

Leaving the modern office district, I moved on to a downtown area lined with nostalgic signboards. There, unlike the calm of a moment ago, the place was filled with human energy.

A man pointing and saying, "It's that way," and an elderly gentleman in a white jacket looking up at him. Although a jumble of signs fills the background, the Planar's shallow depth of field (the size of the bokeh) makes the presence of the two main subjects stand out. The fleeting expressions and movements of passersby are captured as they are, with the 50mm angle of view close to human vision.

The Distance to a Friend, Rendered by 50mm

A dear friend accompanied me on this walk. To close out the snapshots, I made use of the angle of view of this 50mm "standard lens" and asked him to be my portrait model.

The 50mm is a magical distance that doesn't intimidate your subject and lets you press the shutter as an extension of everyday conversation.

First, a shot of him walking along a tree-lined street, from a step back.

The green bokeh in the foreground creates an atmosphere like a page from a story, as if watching over him through gaps in the thick trees.

The moment he stopped on a street corner and looked down.

Each strand of hair translucent in the light, the texture of his clear-frame glasses. His downcast expression conveys a delicate atmosphere that can't be put into words. Thanks to the D750's clear optical viewfinder, I could finely control the focus on the core of his hair with my fingertips.

When I called out, "Hey," he turned around to face me.

The background melts away completely, and he stands out from it with an overwhelming sense of three-dimensionality. The warm yet honest color reproduction of the Nikon D750 and the superb sharpness and bokeh of the Zeiss Planar meshed together in perfect rhythm, giving me a favorite shot.

The Joy of Photography That Your Gear Teaches You

[Nikon D750] and [Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 ZF.2 T*]. This combination is certainly not for competing on hit rate. It is a set that makes you cherish the whole process of facing your subject one frame at a time, setting the focus, reading the light, and pressing the shutter.

Precisely now that mirrorless cameras have become mainstream, the DSLR feeling of "shooting while looking through the viewfinder" and the appeal of Zeiss MF lenses that strongly retain the essence of old lenses shine all the more.

Why not head out into your usual streets with your favorite camera and lens? Surely stories you have yet to see are waiting there.

Click here for Nikon D750 products

Click here for Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 ZF.2 T* products

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