Buying a vintage MF lens for an AF camera.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Well, I have the opportunity to purchase a very old Nikon lens - and when I say old, I mean it's actually the first zoom lens Nikon ever made. The lens itself is one of these:

http://www.cameraquest.com/jpg3/nf85255.jpg

http://www.cameraquest.com/nf85250.htm

The lens you see there is a Nikkor 85-250 Ai unit (technically 8.5-25, they measured in cm back then), I believe the one I looked at is identical. I'm guessing the lens itself was built in 1960, but I could be wrong. The lens is in absolute mint condition, not a mark on it.

Now, the question I want to ask is this: at ~ $150CAN, is it worth buying? It's huge, heavy, and ungainly, but I find myself strangely drawn to it. I can't really express how robust the construction is, other than to say I would be supremely confident you could bludgeon someone to death with this lens and then go right on using the lens afterwards - there's no plastic in the lens anywhere.

I'm not sure I'd even use the damned thing, outside of long-distance portrait shots or something - it's too damned heavy to walk around with much, not to mention that it lacks AF or metering on my camera. I'm sorely tempted to just put it in a display case and hope it becomes a collector's item. :D

My other option is to say "to heck with it" and go buy a Sigma 70-300 APO DG. What do you guys think? I can't find an overly logical reason to buy this lens, but you know how it is with logic - it's great up until you don't feel like listening to it any more.

[Rockski]

bang bang with the sharp sharp is all i gotta say

[DJ Lazy]

I'd spend the money on whatever you are actually gonna use... or hell.. just buy both if you can afford it... :thumbsup:

As cool as the lens is... I wouldn't never spend the money on it, even at the low price of $150.. just IMO:dunno:

[lint]

if you're never going to use it, what's the point? and unless the optics are amazing, is it worth losing autofocus and infinity focus (at least on canons)? Technology has to have changed for the better since the 60's

[Obscura]

What kind of camera do you shoot with?

That lens won't work with a D50 or a D70 because there is no chip in the lens. As far as the camera is concerned there is no lens on it so no metering or any program mode.
Newer Nikons control the aperture from the body, not on the lens, which leads to another problem because you can't do stop down metering on the new bodies.
Some newer Nikons will not even allow for the shutter to release if the camera can't communicate with the lens. It will release in manual mode but not in any program mode.

Unless you plan on buying an old body like an FM or Nikkormat I wouldn't bother buying that lens.

Jusy my opinion though.:dunno:

[TurboMedic]

Yeah, won't work with our D50's at all....not sure it would be worth it personally....and why a sigma instead of a Nikon 70-300??

[Obscura]

isn't the Nikon 70-300mm G series made by Tamron? it's an okay lens, nothing really great. lots of plastic. The Nikon 70-300 ED version is much better but a bit more pricey.

Haven't had much luck personally with some Sigma lenses but others have so

:dunno:

[Ferio_vti]

What do you think you're shooting with, a Pentax?? Far as I know, only Pentax's digitals can use old MF lenses.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Well, I dunno about you guys, but it worked when I tried it out today. Of course it didn't meter or anything, but it took pictures just fine in M mode. Besides, it was kinda fun to actually use an aperture ring for once. :D

The pictures weren't all that uber-sharp as I hoped they would be. To be fair, they were on par with the brand new Tamron 70-300 I took for a spin - but man, did that Tamron feel flimsy. And focusing took forever - I could probably focus faster with the MF zoom than the AF, and I'm only mildly exaggerating.

However, the equally antiquated 180mm F2.8 Ai lens I tried out was absolutely dead sharp. I mean, it's 95% as sharp as my 50mm! What a lens! I'm going to see what kind of deal I can swing for it. I think I'll end up buying a Sigma 70-300 after all, but I might pick up one of the MF lenses for fun.

[D'z Nutz]

I always thought modern Nikon cameras were still backwards compatible with older manual focus Nikkor lenses (but missing autofocus, of course). Do you still get focus confirmation? I read somewhere that Nikons still got focus confirmation even when using manual lenses since it was a part of the body's design, rather than the lens. I was also under the impression even some of the current Nikkor lenses still have aperture rings.

If you plan on using manual focus lenses, you should look into getting a split focus/prism screen. The focus screens on non-full frame dSLRs are pretty pathetic and dim

There are some really great manual focus lenses out there that even put current lenses to shame in terms of image quality and can be had for dirt cheap.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
Whoa, I always thought modern Nikon cameras were still backwards compatible with older manual focus Nikkor lenses (but missing autofocus, of course). Do you still get focus confirmation? I read somewhere that Nikons still got focus confirmation even when using manual lenses since it was a part of the body's design, rather than the lens. I was also under the impression even some of the current Nikkor lenses still have aperture rings.

If you plan on using manual focus lenses, you should look into getting a split focus/prism screen. The focus screens on non-full frame dSLRs are pretty pathetic and dim

There are some really great manual focus lenses out there that even put current lenses to shame in terms of image quality and can be had for dirt cheap.

Yes, Nikon bodies are backwards compatible - but how compatible depends on the body. Any F-mount Nikon lens (AI or later) will work on any modern Nikon body. However, if used on anything but a D2X, D2H, or D200, you will lose metering. So on my D50 I have to Polaroid it and take a test shot or two to get my exposure right - something that doesn't bother me, as it's a very minor inconvenience and it will force me to learn to get a feel for lighting conditions instead of relying in Nikon to do my metering for me. Yes, modern Nikon lenses (anything other than G lenses) still have aperture rings - but you don't have to use them since the camera adjusts aperture by itself. If you take the aperture ring out of fully-stopped down, the camera gets a bit unhappy and I believe you lose metering capability - but I could be wrong.

Yes, the focus confirmation (aka "little green light") still works perfectly with the MF lenses - I'd have a really hard time without it using the rather tiny viewfinder!

I'd never heard of the split focus/prism screen before, I'll be sure to check it out, thanks for the tip.

Edit: Is this the kind of thing you're talking about?:

http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Nikon-D50--prod_D50.html

[D'z Nutz]

Yup, that's it. Also look and see if Haoda has any screens for your camera:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/screen4DSLR/

They are generally cheaper and work just as well.

[TurboMedic]

Hmm, thanks for that link, I preferred the split screen on my old SLR, it worked great.....I may try this too....