Best Vintage Nikon lenses.

[Overrank]

My two favourites

50mm f/2 (either pre-Ai or Ai)
105 f/2.5 (pre-Ai)

Neither are the sharpest lenses, but they both seem to improve the scene in some magic way.

 

[Nikon 2]

My two favourites

50mm f/2 (either pre-Ai or Ai)
105 f/2.5 (pre-Ai)

Neither are the sharpest lenses, but they both seem to improve the scene in some magic way.

Are you using film or digital with those lenses…?

 

[Overrank]

Are you using film or digital with those lenses…?

Film (mostly Nikon F and F3)

 

[Nikon 2]

Film (mostly Nikon F and F3)

That`s good you're using film with those vintage Nikkor lenses...!

 

[madNbad]

If you want the sharpest, most versatile MF Nikkor lens get a 2.8 55 Micro Nikkor Ai-S with a PK-12 extension ring. You’ll be set for everything from close up to infinity.

 

[Nikon 2]

If you want the sharpest, most versatile MF Nikkor lens get a 2.8 55 Micro Nikkor Ai-S with a PK-12 extension ring. You’ll be set for everything from close up to infinity.

There`s so much talk on that lens online...!

 

[Mick Fagan]

If you want the sharpest, most versatile MF Nikkor lens get a 2.8 55 Micro Nikkor Ai-S with a PK-12 extension ring. You’ll be set for everything from close up to infinity.

Sort of.

I bought mine early in 1980 when it became available in my country. It is incredibly sharp, contrasty and it's ability to close focus is suitably enhanced with the floating elements, or CRC in Nikon speak (Close Range Correction).

The one limiting point of this terrific lens, is at infinity. It is very good at infinity, but it is not brilliant at infinity. I eventually bought the Nikkor f/1.8 AI-S 50mm and apart from being faster in low light, it is superior at infinity compared to the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-S. But for everything else within the 50mm to 55mm range of Nikkor lenses, the Micro Nikkor is undoubtedly better.

The f/2.8 55mm Micro Nikkor is surprisingly good at portraiture and if one so desires, you really can get up close and personal and be as sharp as a tack.

Using a tripod and Kodak Ektar 25 professional C41 film, the results are/were staggering. the combination of that film and the Micro Nikkor was heavenly.

The PK-13 extension ring (27.5mm extension) was included with the purchase in Australia with the 55mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor, the PK-12 at 11mm extension is also very handy and probably the extension ring I use the most. I also have the PK-11A extension ring (8mm extension) it is the least used extension ring I have.

 

[madNbad]

Sort of.

I bought mine early in 1980 when it became available in my country. It is incredibly sharp, contrasty and it's ability to close focus is suitably enhanced with the floating elements, or CRC in Nikon speak (Close Range Correction).

The one limiting point of this terrific lens, is at infinity. It is very good at infinity, but it is not brilliant at infinity. I eventually bought the Nikkor f/1.8 AI-S 50mm and apart from being faster in low light, it is superior at infinity compared to the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-S. But for everything else within the 50mm to 55mm range of Nikkor lenses, the Micro Nikkor is undoubtedly better.

The f/2.8 55mm Micro Nikkor is surprisingly good at portraiture and if one so desires, you really can get up close and personal and be as sharp as a tack.

Using a tripod and Kodak Ektar 25 professional C41 film, the results are/were staggering. the combination of that film and the Micro Nikkor was heavenly.

The PK-13 extension ring (27.5mm extension) was included with the purchase in Australia with the 55mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor, the PK-12 at 11mm extension is also very handy and probably the extension ring I use the most. I also have the PK-11A extension ring (8mm extension) it is the least used extension ring I have.

+1 on the 50 1.8 Ai-S. I had one I used on a Df and it was fabulous. I have owned a number of 50 Nikkor's over the years, mostly non-Ai, from the barely out of the tick mark Nikkor S 50 2.0, my personal favorite the non-Ai Nikkor HC 50 2.0 with the fluted aperture ring, finally the 50 1.8 Ai-S but over the years I almost alway had a 55 Micro Nikkor. Even after I sold all of my other Nikon gear, the Micro Nikkor stayed for another year as my scanning lens.

 

[Rolleiflexible]

I don’t have a lot of experience with Nikkor lenses but I’ve been happy shooting a 1968 Nikkor-UD, a 20mm lens that focuses down to 11 inches. It’s a beast of a lens but it renders landscapes well, with very little vignetting. And it plays well with infrared photography — I shoot it on a Sony a7 with a 720nm sensor filter, and it has no hotspots.

 

[bjorke]

[describing the 35mm ƒ/2 non-ai] Flares very easily, barely usable at f2, nice metal construction, Ai 2/35 was much better and it's version I prefer.

Still, Danny Lyon used it for The Bike Riders, so I hear. I found a shockingly mintish one last year, the guy even had the box and the little Nikon "bell jar" where the lens had been sleeping for a long while. No complaints from me about it!

 

[rulnacco]

I’ve never been to Indianapolis and only met Roberts Camera a few years ago via eBay. I’m hoping to visit in person some day. Very impressive inventory and knowledge and pricing. It’s interesting that they sometimes list on eBay the option to make an offer. Every time I’ve done that it has been rejected, and in one case I must have offended them because the counteroffer was higher than their but-it-now price. After I caught my breath I ended up laughing heartily, at myself, and bought at the BIN price with no regrets.

Hmmmm, that's odd--every time I've made an offer (and I do it every time I buy from them) it's been accepted; sometimes after a counteroffer slightly higher than what I offered, but usually on the first try. As their prices are quite reasonable--often less than most everyone else--and the shipping is free, I usually only offer them 10% or so less than they're asking. Works pretty well for me!

 

[Russ - SVP]

Any comments on a Nikkor 35mm f/2 O.C...?

I'm not sure what the OC version is. But I have the pre-AI "O" version and the AI-s version, and they both deliver superb results.

 

[Russ - SVP]

The attached snap was shot with the original pre-AI 105 f/2.5 glass on Portra 400 film.

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

Kiron Kid - The Nikkor 35/2 O C refers to the newly multicoated version of the lens made from 1973 to 1975. (It was followed by the K version, which replaced the classic metal focus and aperture rings with the rubber ones used thereafter.)

More detail than you could ever need about Nikon lenses - scroll down to the 35mm section and check out the 35/2:

Nikon Lenses

www.photosynthesis.co.nz

And yeah, this is a great lens in all its iterations. I've been using the 1972-vintage one from my parents' studio, and it's still awesome.

 

[Nikon 2]

The attached snap was shot with the original pre-AI 105 f/2.5 glass on Portra 400 film.

View attachment 337215

 

[Nikon 2]

Kiron Kid - The Nikkor 35/2 O C refers to the newly multicoated version of the lens made from 1973 to 1975. (It was followed by the K version, which replaced the classic metal focus and aperture rings with the rubber ones used thereafter.)

More detail than you could ever need about Nikon lenses - scroll down to the 35mm section and check out the 35/2:

Nikon Lenses

www.photosynthesis.co.nz

And yeah, this is a great lens in all its iterations. I've been using the 1972-vintage one from my parents' studio, and it's still awesome.

Yes, I own and use the Nikkor 35mm f/2 O.C. and think it’s a great lens for my artistic endeavors…!

 

[Russ - SVP]

Nikon 35 f/2 pre-AI "O" glass. T-Max 400 film.

 

[Nikon 2]

Flares very easily, barely usable at f2, nice metal construction, Ai 2/35 was much better and it's version I prefer.

Had only one flare with a roll of 36 with the Nikkor 35mm f/2 O.C…!

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

These are all non-AI, my pro parents had been accumulating Nikkor lenses (and Nikkorex, Nikkormat, and Nikon bodies) since 1963, and we didn't feel any need to make the leap into AI gear. I have shot with most of these lenses recently: despite their age and heavy use, none has ever required so much as a CLA! The favorites I use most are bold.

28/3.5 (1968)
35/2 (1972)
45/2.8 GN (1969)
50/1.4 (1973 - we had several, and a 50/2 earlier... but I don't care for the 50mm look, so I hardly use it)
55/3.5 Micro (1972)
105/2.5 (1966)
13.5cm/3.5 (1961)
200/4 (1973)

We had the infamous 43-86/3.5 zoom from early on too, but I can't recommend it!

Which zooms would you recommend for a Nikon N6006?

 

[Nikon 2]

Which zooms would you recommend for a Nikon N6006?

The only exception is the Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AIS.
This lens is the pinnacle and the rest keep basically the same formula from pre AI to AI…!

 

[Paul Howell]

I would get a standard first generation 70 to 200 F 4 AF. which later became the 40 to 200 F4 to 5.6. Not too expensive, optics are good, and with a 6006 a more modern lens will not likely improve AF performance.

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

Me?!? I can't make recommendations about zooms.

I have NEVER used another zoom regularly since that godawful 43-86 in my childhood. Oh, I know that zoom lenses soon got MUCH better, but I was somehow ruined for them. Anyway, I just prefer the discipline of only using primes.

 

[Steve York]

35/2 Nikkor-O

 

[Nikon 2]

Which zooms would you recommend for a Nikon N6006?

I don’t use zoom lenses…!

 

[Nikon 2]

I don’t use zoom lenses, but try these…!