micro-nikkor 200mm f/4 Ai!!!

[richardHaw]

https://richardhaw.com/2021/07/23/repair-micro-nikkor-200mm-f-4-ai/

finally got to dismantle one of these

[Roland Vink]

Very good article! I used the AI-S version a lot when I used to shoot film, but I don't have so much time for tripod-based macro photography these days so it doesn't get much use. Many of the examples I saw had coating damage around the edge of the front element, it seems to be a common problem with this lens. The lens you have is very early, serial numbers started at 178021, yours is 178097, just the 77th lens made!

[richardHaw]

Very good article! I used the AI-S version a lot when I used to shoot film, but I don't have so much time for tripod-based macro photography these days so it doesn't get much use. Many of the examples I saw had coating damage around the edge of the front element, it seems to be a common problem with this lens. The lens you have is very early, serial numbers started at 178021, yours is 178097, just the 77th lens made!

i am looking for a cheap ais to repair 

PS: You can send your lenses here any time!

[David H. Hartman]

Capture NX-D's Axial color aberration correction helps with green glow around specular highlights on a bright, pitted aluminum lamp socket and also specular highlights on black plastic of a Nikon rear lens cap. A value of 70 seemed to be enough. This didn't help the green/magenta out of focus blooming. I was only looking at the center at f/8.0 and f/11.

In general I think the 200/4.0 AI Micro should be used at f/5.6 to f/11 or maybe f/16. f/8.0 is my go to aperture for this lens unless I'm looking for more DoF. Image sharpness seems to be OK at f/8.0 using the Standard PC [on a D850] with maybe a touch more than the default sharp, mid sharp and clarity. That's the way I set up the PC(s) for use with the LCD monitor. I do the sharpening from scratch in post.

I wish the 200/4.0 AI Micro was an ED lens.

Dave

[richardHaw]

f/8-f/11 seems to be the sweetspot for me

[John Geerts]

Thanks for the great article, Rick.  I like the compactness and ease of use with this 200mm, especially with the Z6  (With IBIS and High ISO performance many options are possible)

[richardHaw]

its hard to use

[Roland Vink]

I wish the 200/4.0 AI Micro was an ED lens.

Me too. if the focal length was 180mm that would give scope for the front element to the slightly oversized (retaining the 52mm filter size) to reduce vignetting, which is rather high with the AI 200/4 micro. A 180/4 IF-ED micro would be very nice. The closest to that is the Cosina-Voigtlander 180/4 APO, which focuses to about 1:4, but this lens is rare and very expensive. It's a little surprising there aren't more lenses in this space, most longer-than-105mm macros have an aperture of f/3.5 or f/2.8, and are much bigger lenses. The good thing about the 200mm micro is how compact it is.