Incredible Deals On Old Nikkor Lenses!

[BruceSD]

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Recently, I purchased a few Nikon D1X bodies.  Needing additional Nikkor lenses to put on them, I just purchased 2 Nikkor lenses on eBay.

The first was a $37 USD Nikkor 50mm f/2 lens.  Overall in excellent condition.

Next, after seeing some beautiful images Birna posted that were taken with a Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D AF lens on her D1X, I decided that I just had to have one of these lenses.  I lucked out and found a "new old stock" one for only $127 USD (see photo) on eBay.  Imagine finding a brand new, in the box, copy of this old lens.

I'd love to hear about your recent purchases of vintage Nikkor lenses.   Are you amazed at how inexpensive fine old Nikkor lenses are selling for these days?
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P.S. Vintage Nikon DSLR bodies are going pretty cheap these days too.   Just bought a D200 for $45 USD.  Also, on Saturday night, I found a brand new Nikon D1X body for sale for just $199 USD.  It was a "new old stock" item that came in a box, with: manual, warranted card, strap, battery, AC cord, and battery charger.  I went downstairs to get a drink of water, and when I got back to my desktop computer, I found that someone else had purchased it.
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[Frank Fremerey]

Thank you!!!!!


I just shot a 1.4/24G for 675€, shipping included.


For my first new copy I paid nearly 2000€ and sold it for 999€ which was a misttake

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Recently, I purchased a few Nikon D1X bodies.  Needing additional Nikkor lenses to put on them, I just purchased 2 Nikkor lenses on eBay.

The first was a $37 USD Nikkor 50mm f/2 lens.  Overall in excellent condition.

Next, after seeing some beautiful images Birna posted that were taken with a Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D AF lens on her D1X, I decided that I just had to have one of these lenses.  I lucked out and found a "new old stock" one for only $127 USD (see photo) on eBay.  Imagine finding a brand new, in the box, copy of this old lens.

I'd love to hear about your recent purchases of vintage Nikkor lenses.   Are you amazed at how inexpensive fine old Nikkor lenses are selling for these days?
.

P.S. Vintage Nikon DSLR bodies are going pretty cheap these days too.   Just bought a D200 for $45 USD.  Also, on Saturday night, I found a brand new Nikon D1X body for sale for just $199 USD.  It was a "new old stock" item that came in a box, with: manual, warranted card, strap, battery, AC cord, and battery charger.  I went downstairs to get a drink of water, and when I got back to my desktop computer, I found that someone else had purchased it.
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[Snoogly]

That D1X also came with a mail-in envelope for the buffer upgrade firmware. I wonder if Nikon USA can still do it …

I recently bought an AF-s nikkor 17-55mm 2.8 G ED DX lens. Weighs a tonne! Excellent condition, and in Yen was 38,000.

[Geert]

Recently, i bought a Nikon 50mm f1.8 AF-D for 40 Euro, including a B+W UV-filter.
It looks like it has never been used before.
I have the impression that, as people are moving more and more to mirrorless cameras, the second hand F-lenses are getting cheaper by the day.

[MEPER]

Could be interesting to hear about if anybody had problems with build quality of the Z-lenses.
We know that optical they are very good and often at a higher level than older Nikkors.
I take a lot of care when using my Z-lenses so I have had no issues so far but a lens like the 24-70/4 feels a bit "plastic-like".
It is tempting to get an older Nikkor from the time where built-quality was higher and then use it with adapter. But so far I have only invested in Z-lenses to be used on Z-bodies.
Is it only a "feeling" about the Z-lenses or are they in general more prone to break than older Nikkors?

[pluton]

I haven't seen many anecdotal reports of Z zooms being knocked 'out of whack' so far.  Conventional wisdom:  Due to lack of reports of Z zooms damaged by "normal" rough handling, we won't have a good idea of the design/build quality of the Z lenses vs the previous F series' until they've been in use for a longer period of time. 
Or...the lack of reports of misaligned zooms after heavy/hard use indicates that the Z zooms are better designed to survive?

[MILLIREHM]

Could be interesting to hear about if anybody had problems with build quality of the Z-lenses.
We know that optical they are very good and often at a higher level than older Nikkors.
I take a lot of care when using my Z-lenses so I have had no issues so far but a lens like the 24-70/4 feels a bit "plastic-like".
It is tempting to get an older Nikkor from the time where built-quality was higher and then use it with adapter. But so far I have only invested in Z-lenses to be used on Z-bodies.
Is it only a "feeling" about the Z-lenses or are they in general more prone to break than older Nikkors?

So far I had no issues with my growing number of Z-Lenses but I did not challenge them either. My impression with my first Z lens the mentioned 24-70/4 is that the lens shade feels cheap- derived from the fact that they made it thinner (probably weight saving)

[Birna Rørslett]

So far I'm convinced that the mirrorless cameras survive drops that  had killed or thrown badly out of alignment most DSLRs. Models involved were Z5, Z6, Z fc (in particular that one), and the Z9.

Whether the same goes for native Z lenses, I don't know except that my Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 has survived 3 -- three -- drops to frozen ground without any damage other that a tiny bit of the plastic lens hood came loose. I put in  a small screw to make the hood lock securely again, in the manner I learnt from Erik years ago.

The draw back with the mirrorless, at least the majority of the models,  is they attract more dust onto the sensor if you swap lenses a lot.

[MILLIREHM]

My cheapest aquisitions of Nikon lenses so far

50 mm f/2 AId (the hacksaw way); 36,34 Euro; analog offering 1991

AI-S 80-200 mm f/4; 45 Euro;  Ebay 2008
Nikon 75-150 mm Series E 40,5 Euro, Ebay 2009

Ebay offerings of old Nikkors appear to have become more rare and more expensive since then

[Bruno Schroder]

My cheapest was 60€ for 6 lenses. A retiring photographer was selling banana boxes with old stuff in it. I spotted a 105/2.5 and a 55/3.5 on the picture and bought a box for 60€. I was loading it in the trunk when she called me accross the street: Take this one too, nobody uses this anymore. I ended up with 6 lenses, 2 (unusable) film bodies, a Polaroid camera and cables, hoods, a flash and a Paterson.

[MILLIREHM]

Had bought some box arrangements with accessories like Lens covers and hoods , Filters, cables too

[Ian Watson]

Could be interesting to hear about if anybody had problems with build quality of the Z-lenses.

Roger Cicala of Lens Rentals disassembled a 24-70mm f/2.8S for his blog.

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2020/01/finally-the-nikon-z-24-70mm-f2-8-s-lens-teardown/

[MEPER]

Interesting!
It looks ok with a metal inner part showing the zoom and focus cam probably (I did not read it in very detail).
Could be interesting to know how many of the plastic looking parts are plastic or metal.
I always gets disappointed when I unscrew screws to release a metal ring or metal part to see that the screws are secured into plastic ("self cutting").
I like M1, M2, M3 screws that are secured into a proper metal thread. I probably need to get used to the other way of assembly with screws directly into plastic.

[Dogman]

My most recent purchase was the 35-70 ƒ/3.5 AI.  It's actually my second used one in the last few years.  The first lens was loose inside when I bought it and it now rattles and no longer maintains sharpness.  This new old one is tighter inside but the focus ring moves smoothly and much more lightly than my first.  New one is also sharper.  I like the look from this lens a lot.

I had the ƒ/2.8D and it was an excellent performing lens but I just don't get on well with one-ring zooms.  Mine got floppy over time--many of them do. 

[Birna Rørslett]

Is this the 72mm thread version of the 35-70/3.5? I fondly recall it was very sharp. However, also quite susceptible to flare if you weren't careful.