Nikkor 50-135mm F/3.5

[John Geerts]

Has anyone experience with the Nikkor 50-135mm F/3.5 on the Nikon camera's?

[pluton]

This is useless, but I bought a used copy once.  It was defective...no infinity focus.  I disliked the push-pull, so returned it instead of getting it fixed.  The zoom range is very attractive.

[Fons Baerken]

Has anyone experience with the Nikkor 50-135mm F/3.5 on the Nikon camera's?

i have one

[Chip Chipowski]

I picked one up last year for a good deal - it had been on my "watch list."  However, I haven't used it very much.  It is a little larger than the 75-150.  It seems nice, I just haven't bonded with it yet.  Please let me know if you have any specific questions.

[John Geerts]

Thank you Pluton, Fons and Chip. Found one on ebay too and was curious about its practical use and optical performance especially on the latest Nikon camera's.

[Chip Chipowski]

I have used it a few times on my D300.  For landscape it handles nicely, but I had trouble with MF when I tried to take photos of my 3 year old.  That is a difficult task - but I have an easier time using the 75-150 on people.  Maybe the 50-135 focus throw is longer? 

Here are some shots using the D300 and 50-135 in central Oregon.

[John Geerts]

Nice photo's Chip.  According to Roland Vink's Nikon- encyclopedia  ( http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/specs.html#50-xx ) focus-throw is only 150 compared to the 190 of the E 75-150. Perhaps the close-focus of 1,30m is a factor? 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The 50-135 has a quite useful feature of close focusing when zoom is set to 50 mm. Then the focusing continues well beyond the 1.3m limit elsewhere.

I used the 50-135 a lot in the film days, plus with the D2X. Not used it much of late, but the few occasions of shooting it with the Df indicate the performance should be very good to excellent.

Insider's tip: The lens performs very well with the Nikon 6T close-up lens.

Lastly, the 50-135 is beautifully built and handles perfectly on say the Df.

[Rick Popham]

I used this lens a lot with my film Nikons and loved it.  When I got a D70 it was my main lens for quite a while, until I got a 70-200VR.  I loved the zoom range on this lens.  On the film cameras it performed very well.  On the D70 it also performed very well, and with the DX format was basically a 70-200.  The only thing I disliked was the push - pull zoom, which got loose and would zoom by itself when I pointed the camera up or down.

After I built up my collection of AF lenses I put the lens aside for awhile.  Unfortunately both this lens and my 105/2.5 were exposed to humidity and developed a fungus problem.

[Roland Vink]

Nice photo's Chip.  According to Roland Vink's Nikon- encyclopedia  ( http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/specs.html#50-xx ) focus-throw is only 150 compared to the 190 of the E 75-150. Perhaps the close-focus of 1,30m is a factor?

Yes, when comparing the focus throw you also need to consider the close focus limit: the 75-150 has focus throw of 190° to 1m, the 50-135 has 150° focus throw to 1.3m (190° with macro mode at 50mm setting). It turns out the focusing "speed' is pretty similar between the two lenses - just look at the focus scale starting from infinity and you will see the the distance scales are spread out a similar amount.

I have both lenses but used the 75-150 more often: it has slightly more reach, it's smaller and lighter, takes the same 52mm filters as my other AI primes, and it focuses to 1m through the entire zoom range - no special macro mode - and being able to focus to 1m at 150mm is more useful than 1.3m at 135mm or 0.6m at 50mm.
The 50-135 on the other hand is built to higher standards, has a greater zoom ratio (quite useful on DX) and the filter does not rotate when focusing which is handy when using a polarizer.

[JJChan]

I like the 50-135mm - unlike my 75-150, it remains sharp with nice contrasts and details with smooth transitions on the D800E. My 75-150 doesn't have the same crispness on that camera. Both are really good on the Df.
The 50-135 is pretty cheap on eBay - I bought it to go traveling with the 28-50mm zoom (see Sten's nice series on another thread) and they make a nice pair with the Df.

My only issue (and it may be my Df - is that both sometimes underexpose by up to 1.5EV even at wide open apertures- happens also with 25-50). Doesn't occur on my D800E.

[John Geerts]

Thank you all for the information.  I think the the T6 Close Up lens is hard to find, Bjørn.  Could not find a single hit, but perhaps I didn't use the perfect search-criteria.

I got the lens this morning, in a perfect shape, and my first findings are very positive. I tend to agree with JJChan on the crispness of the lens.

D700  F/8

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The correct designation is '6T'. 62 mm achromatic close-up lens with +2.9 dioptre strength if memory serves.

[John Geerts]

Ha, thank you. That will help.

Some samples of the lens.

The Theater (1960) built in unique brick-construction is a national architectural monument.
Both at F/5.6



The dutch 'Irene Brigade' was one of the liberators of Tilburg in 1944. This statue of Eduard-Speyart-van-Woerden was sculptured in 1955.

[Mike G]

Super stuff John.