I've fallen for manual focus lenses and I blame all of you!

[jhinkey]

Yeah, a droopy hood can be a pain - never had the 105/2.5 AIS hood be a problem through.  And yes you can get a nice reversible snap in hood, but I hate having extra stuff to keep track of, especially when up in the mountains.  Built-ins never get lost, are more compact, and stay out of the way when I don't want them.

I actually use a Nikon snap-in hood for my 180/4 Voigt and it fits like a glove when reversed - and looks right at home with the chrome and black.

[David H. Hartman]

I leave the HN-7, HS-8 and HS-14 hoods in place in the shooting possition at all times and cap them with Tupperware #G Tumbler caps. There is one exception and that's the 105/2.8 AIS Micro when the hood might interfer with light on the subject. I don't like to mess with hoods and I don't like to shoot without them. I don't even reverse the hood on my AF-S 105/2.8G ED-IF VR Micro. My secret fear is Nikon will release a replacement for that lens that is both smaller and apochromatic and I won't be able to afford it.

Dave Hartman

[Harald]

Perfect Match. I prefer the older Ai or eben better the P-Auto-Version. Slightly other colors due to other Coating?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

That specimen was the last of the non-multicoated versions of the 105/2.5. Yet it had the modern optical formula. Before the AI, there was a lens like yours labelled P.C to indicate it had received multi-coating.

These intermediary lenses can be differentiated by help of their black barrels, hill-and-dale focusing rings, and an f/32 setting.

[David H. Hartman]

I remember the first time I looked through a 105mm lens (105/2.5 Nikkor-P Sonar) it just looked right. It was at Gayson's Camera in Glendale, California. That was about 1971 I guess. I traded a 135/2.8 Nikkor-Q I'd only owned over night. I traded straight across, lens for lens and was very pleased. 

A very versatile set of lenses for me is 50~55mm, 105mm and 24mm. Today my only AF-S lenses are 20/1.8G, 50/1.8G and 105/2.8G ED-IF VR Micro. I can without much loss crop the 20/1.8 back to an angle of view of a 24mm lens with my D800.

Can anyone compare a 24/2.8 AI and 24/2.8 AIS with the latest Super IC coatings for worst case sun in the upper right or left corner of the frame? Preferably without a filter. My current 24/2.8 AI Nikkor gives 12 small, harsh ghosts under this condition. I wonder if Super IC coating makes a meaningful improvement.

Dave

[Frank Fremerey]

I take the blame partly although my triggers were Bjørn and Fons clearly.

[gryphon1911]

While the outside looks like it might have been used to hammer nails, the glass was in almost perfect shape.

Then 2 sample images from a walk around my neighborhood.  Nothing special photographically, but just a test as adapted on the Olympus PEN-F.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

That was an almost pristine 105 compared to some of mine

They really stand up to hard use.

[gryphon1911]

Indeed they must.  Other than cosmetics, the focus ring is still buttery smooth and the aperture ring has good, positive clicks.  It just feels "right' and "good" while in use.  Not something I tend to feel as much using modern glass.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Nikon Df and friends ... All CPU-modified of course for maximum compatibility and ease of use.

[Frank Fremerey]

Wow. Bjørn CPU modified a Lenovo (friend of Df)  ... just gorgeous!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Nah, that was incidental - it only had SSD and RAM upgrade ...

[Roland Vink]

Can anyone compare a 24/2.8 AI and 24/2.8 AIS with the latest Super IC coatings for worst case sun in the upper right or left corner of the frame? Preferably without a filter. My current 24/2.8 AI Nikkor gives 12 small, harsh ghosts under this condition. I wonder if Super IC coating makes a meaningful improvement.

Is your 24/2.8 AI a native AI lens or an AI converted lens? I use the older K 24/2.8 with AI conversion - a very nice lens but don't point it into the sun as you get a lot of green ghosts. The AI/AIS versions have a different optical formula. I think Bjørn's old reviews state the newer suffers less from ghosts, but more from general flare.

Anyway, I think I have the lenses required to make the exact comparison, if I have time this weekend I'll post some results. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference the newer coating makes.

[David H. Hartman]

Is your 24/2.8 AI a native AI lens or an AI converted lens?

My 24/2.8 AI is a native AI not converted with a serial number in the 55311X range. I bought it new 1979-03-15 at a price of $296.80 in 1979 US dollars. The price would include sales tax.

I get 12 ghost without a filter and 13 with. It's not a lens to turn into the sun.

Dave

[Jack Dahlgren]

I have a 24/2.8 of similar vintage. Green coatings. Ghosts in the same way. It was my favorite for two decades.