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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Nikon Lenses

A

Arnold F.

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Are there any particular standouts in the Nikkor line? I'd love to get some for both my 5D and Scarlet but don't know what, if anything, to look for or where to start.
 
The manual focus 85mm f/1.4 AIS prime is one of the most beautiful lenses ever made by Nikon.

However, they can be difficult to find in tip-top shape.
 
Zooms-
14-24mm f/2.8 -simply amazing
Also, the 24-70mm f/2.8 and the 70-200mm f/2.8 are a tad sharper and more consistent than the Canon's counterparts.

Primes:
24mm f/1.4G
85mm f/1.4 AIS or the new G series
 
I think I'm mostly interested in primes. I have a Canon 24-70 f2.8 L series so perhaps something faster. I was also hoping for perhaps older Nikkor lenses that might be cheap and/or good values.
 
The PL mount Ruby version was on my short list, but I went with the Duclos 11-16 to get wider.
 
i've had some not so good luck with older 50 1.2's that is to say that at 1.2 it's not really useable, but 1.8 though it's pretty sharp. I think there are better copies out there though and I would certainly look at it as an option. KEH.com is a great source for used glass.
 
I have used/owned the 24mm 2.8, 35mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.4 and 105mm 2.5 AIS lenses... The 50 and 85 are great. The 24 is pretty cool, the 35 is not great and the 105 was pretty good. I also had the 180mm 2.8 AI, which was not worth the money.

The 50 1.4 I had was wonderful. Used it all the time.

However, replaced them with three Zeiss ZF primes and they are worth every penny. I've got the 28mm 2.0, 50mm 1.4 and the 85mm 1.4 and they greatly outperform the Nikons in many areas.

The Nikon primes are however super easy to de-click, which was nice. Did all of them myself in about two hours.
 
ProfNoxin said:
I have used/owned the 24mm 2.8, 35mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.4 and 105mm 2.5 AIS lenses... The 50 and 85 are great. The 24 is pretty cool, the 35 is not great and the 105 was pretty good. I also had the 180mm 2.8 AI, which was not worth the money.

The 50 1.4 I had was wonderful. Used it all the time.

However, replaced them with three Zeiss ZF primes and they are worth every penny. I've got the 28mm 2.0, 50mm 1.4 and the 85mm 1.4 and they greatly outperform the Nikons in many areas.

The Nikon primes are however super easy to de-click, which was nice. Did all of them myself in about two hours.
Click to expand...

I own the 35 f1.4 and it's my fav. lens by far. I've played with almost every Nikon prime ever made (lived in Japan for a few years) and it's my go-to though I would certainly look at picking up some Zeiss or perhaps PL lenses down the road.

I'm curious what kind of grease etc... you used when you de-clicked the lenses. Any tutorials or info you could provide? I've got at least 2 lenses i'm looking to do this to.
 
Lee - The AIS version of the 180 is famously rather different. It is the perfect partner to the 85mm 1.4... those two lenses commonly get mentioned in the "greatest Nikon of all time" category.

Brad - I just did a simple de-click. Pull the lens mount off, pull off the iris ring, unscrew the the little plastic 'click' tab, but the iris ring back on, put the mount back on, tada. Just be careful and patient. Oh, and don't mess with the 105... I almost screwed that one up completely. It had a flange attached to the lens mount that I almost unscrewed... don't know what it was for, but I know that if I'd unscrewed it from the lens mount I would've been in trouble.

I tried the de-clicking first on a cheap plastic 50mm 1.8, saw how it worked, got my courage up, then tried the others.
 
The 105/2.5 is apparently one of the few Nikon lenses that have the same reputation as Leicas. I have one but I have not yet used it (I haven't converted it to AI).

Samyangs also have a good reputation.

If you want an f/1.2 50mm, there are three to choose from: 50mm, 55mm and 58mm. One is supposedly crap, one is supposedly excellent. I can't remember which. But f/1.4 is so unnecessary. The 50/1.8 has a good reputation. I have one (and old Series E) but it's not sharp at all - either a bad sample or someone dropped it.

For wide-angle lenses, particularly zooms, forget Nikon or Canon for the most part (unless you don't mind stopping down). For an example of how soft a Canon zoom can be, even in the centre of frame, see the 16-35/2.8 L II wide-open at 21mm compared to the Zeiss 21mm/2.8 prime on the same camera:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/zeiss/slr/21mm-comparison.htm

It makes me sad when people use high-res cameras and mess it all up with expensive lenses that under-perform. "But you don't get it, the OEM lenses have better re-sale value!". I don't buy camera equipment for the sake of re-selling it. YMMV.

Another good site is this one:

http://photozone.de/

Here is their review of the 24-70/2.8 on the D3X:

http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/456-nikkor_afs_2470_28_ff

Note the barrel distortion at the wide end, as well as the relatively severe CA at most settings below 70mm. Fine for news and such I guess. Compare it to the Sigma:

http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/474-sigma_ex_2470_28_hsm_fx

The Sigma has less distortion, more vignetting and less CA. However, its resolution is poor at some settings. It makes the Nikon look great, but compared to poop, dirt looks so much more appetizing. The Sigma is less than half the cost of the Nikon, but is less than half the lens. Conclusion: price and brand mean nothing. But what's new?

End of rant.
 
ProfNoxin said:
The AIS version of the 180 is famously rather different. It is the perfect partner to the 85mm 1.4... those two lenses commonly get mentioned in the "greatest Nikon of all time" category.
Click to expand...

I own both of these manual AIS lenses in amazing condition, and I shoot them on my Nikon F3T all the time. The 135mm f/2, IMHO, is a step or two ahead of the 180mm f/2.8. :mellow:

The vast majority of the manual AIS lenses were built like tanks, and they have the hard stops that their newer cousins lack.

If you win the Mega Millions or knock over a bank, the holy grail of non-distortion wide angle primes is the famous 13mm F/5.6

4177269099_975cdfe3ae.jpg


There were three versions of this lens (K, AI, AIS) and I believe less than 15-20 were made of each type. It was just an example of Nikon showing off.
 
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