Thank you John, Francis, Cyril, Airy, Richard, and Eric.
Close focus of the AI-S version is 0.5 m as per Roland's site.
I'd heard about this lens over the years. At first my reaction was, why would I need or want such speed? Why pay much more for just a fraction of a stop? Then I ran into enthusiasts for this lens on NikonGear but heard that the lens was 'tempermental'. Hmmm...didn't interest me.
At some point I saw close-range f/1.2 photos here from this lens that intrigued me to the point where I wanted one, so I went ahead and took the plunge. Tests at distance showed the lens not very sharp away from the center when wide open, but playing around with closeups and minimal depth of field showed a lot of promise from the start.
With the Z cameras I had planned to wait for the next generation in the hope that some early shortcomings would be addressed. In the end I went ahead and got a Z6 on sale, on the basis that I could experiment sooner with a lot of lenses from different mounts which I already have, and why wait to enjoy them? The advantage of getting the Z6 rather than the Z7 at this time is saving money, in the expectation that I'll eventually get an improved high-resolution Z7 (Z8?) in a couple of years or so. I already have a D810 for high-resolution shots in the meantime.
Here in lowland California things were rather dreary the last few months (until a few weeks ago) due to normal seasonal haze, human-caused air pollution, smoke from fires, the effects of the normal seasonal drought on vegetation, and at least early on in the period a higher sun angle. Now things have freshened up with recent seasonable rains, fresh new grass, clean air, and a very low sun. The new few months should offer far better light and subjects for a nature photographer like me. Plus, a debilitating health condition has improved greatly so I'm motivated to get outside more and do things for fun.
