Repair of Zoom-Nikkor 80-200 f/4.5 by Richard Haw

[Roland Vink]

Ric has obviously been too busy to post this, so I'll do it for him
Another excellent article on an important lens in Nikon's history: https://richardhaw.com/2018/04/01/repair-zoom-nikkor-80-200mm-f-4-5/

[richardHaw]

Thank you very much! 

yes, very busy lately. sleeping at about 3am almost daily. busy with work and overhauling Nikon F's

I still need to send camera repair tools all over the world and itemizing it for the list takes time 

not going to publish anything this weekend because it's my daughter's birthday party.

Thank you very much, Roland!

[Kenneth Rich]

Richard, this is a fantastic guide to the old, wonderful 80-200 zoom, of which I have two, both owned from new.  They work perfectly, as they should, though one is  loose at the zoom ring and it slowly slides if tilted.  It does not bother me.  I have another zoom that is a problem, a 28-85mm, which focuses well, but the distance indication is not accurate, not even at indicated infinity. Is this a helicoid problem?  I bought a second one to replace the first, and it is perfect with my Df. Have you ever repaired one of these AI lenses? I looked through your repair listing, but could not find a reference to the 28-85 mm zoom.

[richardHaw]

Richard, this is a fantastic guide to the old, wonderful 80-200 zoom, of which I have two, both owned from new.  They work perfectly, as they should, though one is  loose at the zoom ring and it slowly slides if tilted.  It does not bother me.  I have another zoom that is a problem, a 28-85mm, which focuses well, but the distance indication is not accurate, not even at indicated infinity. Is this a helicoid problem?  I bought a second one to replace the first, and it is perfect with my Df. Have you ever repaired one of these AI lenses? I looked through your repair listing, but could not find a reference to the 28-85 mm zoom.

hello, Kenneth!

I will do another article on the late version 80-200 4.5

as for the 28-85, I think I have one in my notes. that's the Ai-S one is it? If the scales are off it can only be 2 things:

• helicoids put back incorrectly or shims misplaced
• if lens is rear focusing then the rear elements group is seated incorrectly.

[Roland Vink]

The 28-45/4.5 was K and AI only. It was replaced by the AI 25-50/4
I'll be interested to know if you think the newer 80-200/4.5 is as well built as the original. Most say the optics were better...

[richardHaw]

Oh, wait. I am getting confused here. 

[richardHaw]

The newer 80-200 4.5 is much better. I would even dare say that it's better than the 80-200 f/4 Ai-S 

it's the best value for money if you find a good one. it's sharper and better built

it's a totally different lens to the early one when it comes to construction

[Roland Vink]

I think the AI-S 80-200/4 was designed for close range performance - it focuses much closer than the older models. If I remember correctly, the designers even considered making it focus down to 1:2 magnification, while the production lens "only" gets to 1:4.2. As a result, performance at distance is not so good. The AI 80-200/4.5 (new) is much better at distance, but it is has the same rather long close focus limit as its predecessor. It's a pity it doesn't focus just a little bit closer - it's one of the reasons I mostly use the series-E 75-150 instead.

[Øivind Tøien]

I think the AI-S 80-200/4 was designed for close range performance - it focuses much closer than the older models. If I remember correctly, the designers even considered making it focus down to 1:2 magnification, while the production lens "only" gets to 1:4.2. As a result, performance at distance is not so good. The AI 80-200/4.5 (new) is much better at distance, but it is has the same rather long close focus limit as its predecessor. It's a pity it doesn't focus just a little bit closer - it's one of the reasons I mostly use the series-E 75-150 instead.

The one copy of the 80-200 f/4 AIS that I have tested resolved remarkably well both close and far. At the time I compared it at ca 100mm to 105mm f/4 AIS micro. There was a little longitudinal/highlight fringing. Contrast decreased when stopping it down, perhaps some kind of flare (as it was only in images with a bright sky background), but it performed very well near wide open. Here is an example at f/5.6 on the D7100 (Please open in new tab for the full resolution image, sorry for the boring image subject):

[richardHaw]

by the way, my observation came from junk lenses that I restore so performance may be suspicious 

I never owned this lens in brand-new condition. when it came out, it almost costs the same as toyota's cheapest sedan. it was that expensive

[Roland Vink]

I haven't used the AI-S 80-200/4 much, one review I saw clearly demonstrated that the 80-200/4 being tested was sharp in the middle, but softer in the corners than the AI 80-200/4.5. Maybe it wasn't a good sample.

New AI-S 80-200 more than a Toyota sedan? That must be the AI-S 80-200/2.8 ED ... surely the 80-200/4 wasn't that much ... or were Toyota sedans very cheap?

[Øivind Tøien]

Roland, since I tested on a DX sensor, and compared mostly at 100mm, it is hard to say what a full frame sensor would have done, particularly at the long end. A couple of more examples, both at f/5.6 and the first one at the long end as I recall (but not a flat field), again please open in new tab for the full resolution versions:

[Laios]

Hello Richard,

thank you for the very detailed repair manual! It's a very fine piece work!
I've recently bought a Nikkor 80-200 f/4.5 (N) from a shop on my last day of vacations in Greece- Athens. I just tried in the shop and it worked well but now that I'm back in Berlin I realize tha it has a problem to focus when I shoot between 80-150mm. I've tried to unscrew the front bezel of the lens, since I suspected that the the problem lyies with the missplacement of the front element, but I was unable to do so. I removed the tiny screw and tried to unscrew the bezel counterclockwise with a glove but I simply cannot unscrew the thing. As a matter of fact I' ve been trying it every single day for the past week  without achieving anything.
Do you maybe have any ideas or tips for me?
Thank you very much!

Best,
Georgios