I bought a Nikon FM2n back in December. I also picked up a Nikkor 50mm f1.8 lens. It's the auto-focus lens, but it came at a good price...I really would have preferred one of the Nikkor MF lenses. Anyway, I'm looking at buying some additional lenses. I happened to find a place in town where there's a good selection of used equipment. I stopped in today and talked with the gentlemen that runs the place. It's basically a repair shop, but they sell some used equipment. In the display case was a large assortment of Nikon lenses and bodies. I browsed a bit, looking for a good portrait lens (something in a 105mm maybe?) but noticed the large number of 50mm lenses. There were some f1.8s but also a lot of f1.4s. The thing I noticed on the older lenses is that the DOF seems to be deeper. I looked at one lens in particular; it was (I think) a non-AI lens--had the "rabbit ears". The guy at the shop said it would work well with my FM2n. As I looked at it, I noticed that each of the f-stops was embossed on the barrel in a different color. And the DOF markings were clearly marked with the same colors. The DOF was very narrow for the lowest f-stop, but was noticably marked for the rest of the f-stops. On my new lens, there is only a DOF range for only f22 and f16. All the rest are so shallow, they are not even marked; they all run into the focus dot. I've taken some landscape shots (nothing fancy) with the new lens where when focused at infinity, I've got some trees in the foreground of the picture that are out of focus. I forget exactly what setting I was using, but it was overcast that day and I know I wasn't stopped all the way down. I had to open the aperture up to keep the shutter speed fast enough to hand-hold the camera. (Yes, I know I should have used my tripod, but as I said, it wasn't anything fancy and I didn't have the tripod...) So, my question is: Are the newer lenses made in such a way that the DOF is very, very shallow and the older lenses are not? Would the older lens be a better choice for general photography? There are times when I'd like the shallow DOF, but not always. Thanks in advance. Les
