I have enjoyed using my AI-S lenses for the last two years, since I switched to Nikon.
They're really quite good, and quite nicely-sized, but (let's be honest) they're a little cheesy and archaic in design.
I tried purchasing a few of the older Nikkor UD-Auto versions, of decades gone by, and these are
a lot more beautiful to hold by comparison to the modern AI-S.
Trouble is, the glass itself is sorely outdated
Every so often, the all-manual Nikkor glass has received facelifts, for better or worse.
The original, all metal design was my preference.
Zeiss itself, for example, just redesigned itself ... discarding what, in my opinion, was one of its strongest points ... and that was its all metal design.
(Now they have rubber bands for focus rings
)
Yet companies like Leica and Voigtländer still have the classic all-metal design, and they are able to make world class optics
in tiny sizes.
Since Nikon has made it a point of focusing on the higher-end markets, and is creating such stellar "Gold Ring" 'E' AF lenses ... I would like to see Nikon make the same total facelift, and completely renovate, all of its MF glass.
The first thing they need to do is get rid of the rubber focus rings, as well as the multi-color (almost childlike) index numbers of the current AI-S lenses.
Basically, Nikon should put the entire AI-S glass to pasture and come out with
a whole new line of ultra-sleek, super-high-quality, all-metal (and supremely-capable) manual focus lenses.
Perhaps they will do this for whatever mirrorless line is on the horizon.
But they need to completely redesign the toy-like, archaic AI-S glass, completely renaming "the next era" would be a good idea also.
If Nikon targeted this evolution for its presumed forthcoming mirrorless line, the resulting manual-focus lenses would
also more readily adapt to legacy DSLR cameras.
Think about it:The only thing that is really keeping Sony cameras a competitive factor is the fact they have companies like Leica, Zeiss, Voigtländer, etc. making new lenses for them.
(Certainly Sony's lenses, by themselves, are yawners.)
I think Nikon needs to keep its "Gold Ring" 'E' lenses coming ... but put an end to the AI-S glass of yesteryear.
Then they need to come out with their own ultra-sleek, supremely-capable 'FL ED'-quality, all-metal MF options ... to keep people's interests going. (If not Otus-quality at least Milvus-quality, but
why not Otus-quality?)
Just imagine a whole new array of tiny, AI-S-
sized, but
Otus-quality Nikon glass like the
Leica Summilux-M 1:1.4/50mm ASPH, for instance, but designed
by Nikon
for Nikon.
Who would buy a $4000 Zeiss Otis, or a $2500 Milvus, with the added weight, if they could get a quality lens like the above, for around 3,000, made by Nikon ... for Nikon?
Thoughts?
