Old School Nikon Primes

[Roland Vink]

True, but a photographer might still want to use a 120mm medical on a digital camera and know which lens was in use, even though it is not meter coupled. It seems Nikon discounted that possibility.

[John Koerner]

Interesting I thought they would have the focal lengths for all "Nikkors", after all they even have focal lengths of the 43-86. Strange they left 120mm out. They don't seem to include the series-E focal lengths - nothing for the 36-72, or the 75-150. For my 75-150 I set 100mm instead, as a mid-point of the zoom range, and to distinguish it from my 105mm primes. Luckily the 100mm setting is there - taken from the short end of the AIS 100-300 zoom - so I can also use it for my series-E 100/2.8.

Getting back to the Voigtlander 125mm APO macro, the best option is 135mm, it's the closest focal length and "looks" similar. Otherwise, get the lens chipped so you can report the correct focal length automatically.

I agree, 135 is the best option. Can't justify the hassle/expense of getting the lens chipped, so that the "3" would be a "2" ... when all else would be identical.

The D810 recognized the f/2.5 of the Voigtlander APO 125, which is the most important for my reading where I'm at in my display when I shoot.

I guess I will have to wink every time I see the 135 in the exif data, lol

Thanks.

[Edgy01]

Long after many AF Nikkor motors are burned out you will have the manual Nikkors still in vast numbers on the secondary market.  All are terrific buys.  The biggest negative on older Nikkors is their coatings. If you know your serial numbers and when multicoatings kicked in you can buy smartly. 

Skillful avoidance of flare situations can allow you to exploit them to the fullest.

Every Nikon gear head should have at least these manual lenses:

20mm f/3.5 (52mm filter)
35mm f/1.4 (later is better)
50mm f/2 (the later the better)
50mm f/1.4 (late)
55mm Micro-Nikkor (any aperture)
105mm f/2.5

Obviously, for the telephotos, those with ED glass over earlier ones.

Many zooms are often overlooked because of our old friend
 The she-san hatchi-roko (43~86) that singlehandedly hurt the zoom lens concept before it even had a chance to start.  Later 43~86 lenses are blessed with better optics including better coatings.  Mechanicals are first rate Nikkor.  Don't forget the 80~200 f/4.5--a miracle lens that still works with 52mm filters!  Nikon put a lot of effort into keeping their lens lineup all within the 52mm filter size.

My all time favorite--but impossible to find today without trading in your car--the Nikkor 13mm f/5.6.  Vastly sharper than the AF 14mm f/2.8.  It goes with me across the pond routinely.  The 14 stays home.

The other lens I get tremendous satisfaction from is the Noct-Nikkor.  No more must be said.  It performs similarly to the Leitz Noctilux 50mm f/1.0 from two releases ago.

Dan

[Roland Vink]

Many zooms are often overlooked because of our old friend  The she-san hatchi-roko (43~86) that singlehandedly hurt the zoom lens concept before it even had a chance to start.

It is unfair to blame the 43-86. Yes, it performs poorly, and being the first standard compact zoom on the market it was the one to hit the headlines. But other similar zooms which appeared soon after were hardly better ...

This lens has to be seen in context, it was developed when zoom technology was in its infancy, and in its day it was really quite a handy lens.

[the solitaire]

50mm f/2 (the later the better)

Dan

Dan, I always think of better as a relative term.

I owned the 50mm f2 Ai, 50mm f2 Nikkor-H, Nikkor-H.C and currently use the 5cm f2 Nikkor-S (later version with 6 aperture blades)

My findings tell me that for my intended use the 5cm f2 Nikkor-S with 9 aperture blades will be the better lens choice.

In the 50mm f2 Ai I found glare around even in-focus subjects at medium to far distances a big problem. It really messed with the overall appearance I got from images taken with the lens because subjects appeared as if they had a halo around them.

Pretty much the same thing happened with the Nikkor-H and H.C so I do believe it had something to do with the optics (similar for all 3 lenses) rather then owning a bad copy of one of them.

The 5cm f2 Nikkor-S on the other hand has less problems with glare but is weaker in sharpness at mediium to long distance subjects unless stopped down. Wide open it is usable up to about 5 meters. Anything further away makes me want to stop down to f4. When stopping down a lens with 6 straight aperture blades OoF highlights look terrible, so I hope the 9 bladed version will serve me better.

Some examples with the 5cm f2 wide open

[Fons Baerken]

nice work Buddy

[the solitaire]

Thank you Fons. It all is a matter of personal opinion of course, but for me this old 7 element 5cm lens sings in a way none of the newer 6 element 50mm lenses could.

Here is an experiment I tried with the 50mm f2 Ai which I owned



The lens was completely disassembled, cleaned, left to dry for a week, lubricated and re-assembled. Everything worked great after that and all the internal dust and the slight amount of haze were gone after cleaning the lenses with acetic acid

[Tristin]

Acidic acid?  As opposed to . . .?   

[the solitaire]

Acidic acid?  As opposed to . . .?   

That of course happens when the misse sis waiting to go outdoors and the fingers are faster then the brain because I want to write this post and send it on the way. Acetic acid it is of course

[Tristin]

I figured    Cool image, did you find it worth all the effort?

[Lorne]

True, but a photographer might still want to use a 120mm medical on a digital camera and know which lens was in use, even though it is not meter coupled. It seems Nikon discounted that possibility.

Roland, Nikon suggest using the nearest focal length longer than the lens, 135mm for your 120/Medical example. Then assign a different or no aperture that allows you to recognize which lens was used.

[the solitaire]

I figured    Cool image, did you find it worth all the effort?

It was a nice experiment. Cleaning the lens wasn't really worth the effort. I found out that I like other lenses in the 50mm range far better then the 50mm f2 Ai. But then again, I learned a bit about lens dis-assembly as well in th eprogress so as far as learning is concerned it was well worth the effort

[Airy]

Just acquired a 50/2, following Fons' recommendation...

[the solitaire]

Congratulations on the new acquisition then

Do not discard the lens based on anything I write.
My personal findings base on my opinion and on a certain type of rendering I am after. Sometimes I can not describe the exact defining factors I am looking for in a lens until I find the lens I was looking for (mostly by trial and error). And when I then praise a lens and let someone else try it in the hope they find the same qualities, they most of the time do not see them.

In other words, there are no real bad lenses. Just lenses that do what you want them to and ones that don't.
I know of a guy who loves his copy of the 43-86mm zoom because he thinks it is an excellent lens to reverse-mount on a camera. Another Nikon users favorite versatile small macro lens is a reverse mounted 28-50mm zoom Nikkor.

[John Koerner]

Here are some recent photos of San Dimas Canyon Macro Wildlife, all taken reverse-mounted on either the Nikon 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S, the 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S, or the Voightlander 125 APO Macro.


Running Crab Spider♀ (Philodromus sp.) | Nikon D810, Nikon 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S, reverse-mounted (2:1), tripod, remote, natural light, stacked (17 images).



Flower Crab Spider♀ (Mecaphesa sp.) | Nikon D810, Nikon 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S, reverse-mounted (2:1), tripod, remote, natural light, stacked (15 images).



Green Lynx-juv (Peucetia sp.) | Nikon D810, Nikon 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S, reverse-mounted (2:1), tripod, remote, natural light, stacked (17 images).



Gabb's Checkerspot♀ (Chlosyne gabbii) | Nikon D810, Voigtländer SL 125mm f/2.5 APO-Lanthar Macro, tripod, single image.



Bull Thistle (Cirsium sp.) | Nikon D810, Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S, reverse-mounted (1:1), hand-held, single image at f/1.2.