I have 5 “D” lenses and 5 AIS lenses and wouldn’t sell or trade them. There’s a quality with these old lenses that you simply don’t get from the newer lenses mostly because of the increased number of elements in the newer lenses. I’ve actually taken portraits with my 50 mm 1.4 AIS lens and the results are exquisite, quite unique.

I have the 24 and it’s awesome. I love that I can take that with my D750 and basically put it in my pocket or small belt clip easily. Image quality is fantastic. I don’t see why any functioning lens would not be relevant in 2019. Because Mirrorless? Blah.

I have and use the following D lenses: 24, 35, 50, and 85mm on my D750 with zero problems. For portraits or pets I don't need the supposed more modern lenses like the G series. I actually prefer the D's on a 24 mp just fine. I can't tell the difference.

I had the AF-S 50G and sold it for a D lens instead. The G just felt too big. The stubby little D lens feels better balanced on my D50 and D700. I’m not too bothered about image quality. The difference between a good photo and a great one will be down to me, not whether I have this 50mm or that 50mm. I have an old manual pancake 50mm as well.

Bought the 24mm d lens and the 60mm d Macro a number of years ago with the intension of going full frame. The 60 is the sharpest for portraits on my D7200 ever. I recently bought a D800 in excellent condition for a great price from someone I know (who was upgrading). I now use the 24 on it for landscapes and it works a treat. I totally agree about getting rid of gear. You get very little for it and nobody is interested. I keep older cameras and lenses in the Boot or Trunk of the Car because as you know, the best camera to have is the one that you've on you. Apologies for being long winded! I'm just an enthusiast 😂

@paulconnors2078

3 жыл бұрын

As far as I'm concerned, no apology necessary and it's nice to meet another shooter who holds onto his gear! :-)

@markkasick

9 ай бұрын

LOL I bought a 60mm D TODAY! It was $160 shipped in EX + from KEH. I am going to shoot portraits with it on my d7200. Going to digitize film on my 810 with it.

I use the 24mm f2.8 d lens on my D5100 and love it. Although it does not autofocus, you can still focus the lens manually in rangefinder mode on the D5xxx cameras and still get accurate focus. What I like about manually focusing the lens is that it slows me down and makes me think more about things like composition, lighting, exposure, etc. It is also a small and light lens, so it’s easy to carry around on my camera.

I’ve got the 20/2.8, 24/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.4, and 85/1.8. They’re memorable for me because I can remember each event I did with them. I love that I can have all these focal lengths for less than any one of the modern versions. Like you said, I keep thinking of selling a few but can’t justify it for how little I spent. The 24, 35, and 50 have the exact same dimensions and similar weight, so they can be swapped on my gimbal without needing to re-calibrate it, not to mention throwing all these in a small bag when I travel. The haze and aberrations used to bug me but I be come to really enjoy that “style” of the old, since-improved glass.

I have the 50/1.8 AF-D left over from my D80 days, and even though I also have the native Z 50/1.8 S, I still find myself adapting the old AF-D lens to my Z 6 every once in a while. The Z lens is so technically flawless in comparison that the charm of the AF-D for me is really its imperfections: it has different kind of bokeh, it flares a lot and is a bit soft at largest apertures, but it also creates a different mood into the pictures.

Excellent video. Very useful summary. Thanks

Really nice video dude! Thank you! Best resgards from Spain!

Yep. My 50mm nikkor f/1.4D and my pentax super takumar f/1.4 - the radioactive one! The latter has a color renditions that is outstanding on top of being sharp and fast. 62 USD for a bruised copy. Love it!

I have the same problem. Nikkor AI-S 105 2.5, 55 2.8 micro, 50 1.4. Just can’t decide what keep and what to sell? Use on my Panasonic G85 or Olympus E-M10 mkII. Look and work great on the Olympus. But I mainly photograph my kids and they just don’t stay still long enough for me to nail focus and find I miss shot. Maybe I need keep the Sigma 56 1.4 as well?

love adapting lenses - there's some real gems out there

How is the infrared performance on all of those? Interested in the 24 and 35mm but I'm very picky about hotpsots/uneven contrast issues in infrared. I know this series has some other good offerings for IR but I'm looking for really good contrast in infrared with no diffuse washing out i the center. hard to find modern lenses that are decently sharp and good through the range

Did you end up selling them, or are they at home on the F6? I kept my 50 AF-D, my 28 AF-D, and my 24-120 AF-D in case I went back to a AF film body (yeah I did). Have a few others too that I pull out to shoot with when the mood hits me.

My current favorite lens is the Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 - but just ordered a few other ones that I had hoped to get but don't think I would ever get rid of em

Some of the older lenses can work for UV photography - something that you can do with the full spectrum D810. The 50 AF-D AFAIK does good for UV per an article for Kolari. I enjoy using the older lenses for their character. :)

Though it is not in the same league as my Canon L lenses or Sigma Art series lenses, my favorite lens to use is my Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 M42 mount manual lens. It is fully mechanical, and the image quality from f/2.8 is more than adequate for me. When I want to manually focus on anything, it is the lens I immediately grab because its focus ring is *that* enjoyable to use. When I use it on a Canon 5D Mark II or III, it gets even better with focus peaking available through Magic Lantern.

Great timing, I suspect it will be a while until I upgrade to the Z series and am considering the 35, 24, or 28 D prime lenses for my 610. I’m very happy with the 50 f1.8 I have

Small size and fun are also part of enjoying photography. I use the 35 and 24 D on my Sony A7III. I have also used them on my A7RIII, but with such a demanding sensor (42 MP) they just don’t work as well. I would suggest that a 24 MB sensor is the highest resolution these lenses can handle. I wonder why companies can’t make fast small primes for mirrorless cameras. Even F1.8 lenses are big these days.

You guys are awesome. Could you please recommend a smallish 35mm for the DF that has character?

I bought a 135mm f/2 Nikkor and a 135mm f/2 Zeiss to use for photojournalism and portraits. The Nikkor does a good job for portraits and the Zeiss does a good job for photojournalism. Both are manual focus. I should sell one. Originally, I had planned on keeping the one I liked and selling the other.

I was looking for an inexpensive 35 for shooting family gatherings with my d850, and d800. I can buy a 35 f2 d for $280. Do you think that I would be satisfied with the image quality ? I mainly shoot with Nikon’s holy trinity, and a Nikon 105 f 2 d dc portrait lens that I really love... should I try the Nikon or buy a sigma art or one of the new Tamron lenses for $600 - $900 ?

I just recently picked up a non ai 50mm f/1.4 lens used for $75.00 and I am having a lot of fun with it. Focus peeking makes it a breeze to use.

@frabo1000

5 жыл бұрын

I should have mentioned I have the Z6 with the ftz adapter.

Hi Guys, Shooting Pentax with K-1000 & then the MX from the mid 70's till 2008 - the most important & nostalgic images were shot using the SMC PENTAX - A 1.7 50mm - & now the lens cleaned twice is still in use - the 1.7 fits right-in adapted to provide similar shooting experiences on my FUJI's as you would easily understand. Thou not as sharp as my FUJINON Primes in the corners when pixel-peeping. Cheers from AU.

I own all there of those lenses, but in the AIS versions. They aren't worth much used, but the only G lens I own is a 50mm. I also have a 35-105 AFD lens. I usually just use the 50mm G on my D750, and now I think I need to invest in some new wides. It is a pain to set up the camera for every lens change with the 750, but I had these lenses I purchased in the 80's.

I have a 70-300mm Nikkor with no vr ,5.6, just put it up for sale on ebay. I replaced it with the 70-300mm VR ED lens. This lens is doing a very nice job. Couldn't live without the VR on the other lens. I also have an extra 18-55mm kit lens brand new that is sitting on my shelf. Has a slight mark on the lens when I received it but it doesn't seem to interfere with image quality. I am wanting to maybe put that up for sale on ebay or keep it as a spare. Haven't yet decided.

I own a 28mm f/2.8 Nikkor and a 28mm f.2 Zeiss that I use for street and landscape work. There is little difference in image quality between the two; however, I prefer the extra stop of light gathering of the Zeiss. Both are manual focus. I should sell one. Originally, I had planned on keeping the one I liked and selling the other.

I have a number a couple of the lenses that you were using, and I have some that are even older. Remember the ones with the little horseshoe hook on the top and the manual f stop ring? One of them is a Vivitar 135mm f2.8, and it’s just a lot of fun to use. I will probably never get rid of them, and they are the only ones I have that work on my Nikon FM body. They probably aren’t the “best” optically, but they are small, and for certain kinds of photography, they “do the job” as you say.

@bfs5113

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I still have my four decades old Nikon F2A & FE2, plus various AI/AI-S/E lenses such as the legendary 105 f/2.5. Another lens I have from that period is a Vivitar 24 f/2.

I LOVE my older Nikon AI-S lenses. Better quality I think ;)

@AntPDC

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed - many of the AI/AI-S lenses are simply superb, both in build and optical quality. The 60mm AF-D micro is also outstanding.

I have a these lenses and i use them almost every week. For landscape street and portrets

I've 35/2 & 50/1.4. I love the 35 prime esp. for the weight, it has been my default on d600 (if I carry it with me). Questions: I'm thinking of getting a light weight 24mm or 20mm prime, to replace my 2470, which should I go?

@LeighAndRaymond

5 жыл бұрын

I don't think you can go wrong either way, but it really is about personal preference.

@peterlemke3468

5 жыл бұрын

I would go for the 20mm better too wide than too narrow. You also have the ability to crop in post if you need to.

I have the 50 mm f1.8 AF-D and the 85 mm f1.8 AF-D. I use the 50 more than the 85 mm but have gotten some really great portrait shots with the 85 mm. I still use a D750 and D850 and have no plans to sell either lens despite the fact that I use them less than my other lenses.

I love my 50mm 1.8D. Easily my favourite lens, and so much fun to shoot with. Nice and light too!

I actually threw a 24mm AF lens (1990's version) in the trash a couple of years back because the focus had seized-up and could not be moved manually or by motor. I decided it was not worth the effort to take apart and try to fix myself because I had the Sigma 18-35mm by then and it didn't fit in the plan anymore. But now this year I have moved from DX to FX and I wish I had a 24mm f/2.8 to use with my astrophotograhy. In FX format, I only have my 24-120mm f/4 lens available for wide angle, or else mount the Sigma in DX mode. Well, there is a 20mm f/1.8 out there waiting for me to buy now.

The Nikkor 24-85 kit lens on a D610. It's good enough for snap shots. I don't own the Z 6/7, but I would like to try one out on that camera to see if it would be any sharper. .... I was looking to buy a Nikkor 85mm f/1.4, but I rented it and found out much to my surprise that I could get close enough to the f/1.4 with my kit lens if did a little sharpening in PP. So, I decided not to buy it. If I do get into the Z product line some day, I believe the 24-70 f/4 S will be good enough for me as a replacement for my current kit.

@LeighAndRaymond

5 жыл бұрын

We love the 24-85mm. It has pretty much been replaced by the 24-70mm f/4 S lens for the Z cameras for us but we got a lot of use out of it on our DSLRs.

I just use what I have, which is a 12-24/4, 17-55/2.8, 70-200/4, 35/1.8 and 85/1.8 on a D7100. I will exchange that body, maybe for a fullframe camera, and if that happens I anticipate the 85 to become much more usable. Of course I’d have to replace the 12-24 and 17-55 (and honestly I don’t know how to do that one) and I’d get a 50/1.8G. Unless I go mirrorless that is. However, the moral of my story is this: I don’t have both superstar and non-superstar lenses I hold on to, because I don’t want to have to think about which lens to pick. Each time I do I’m thinking about the gear and I’m not actually using it. So I just have the focal length/size/weight/capabilities compromises I like to use best.

I would use them for video. Especially the wider ones are not so tricky to obtain manual focus. And they have different look than the current glass. I'm not saying "better", I'm saying different :) You can see it in the portraits of the woman in this video. They look like older pictures. And that's cool.

The 35mm f/2 AF-D is super expensive used, in the UK at least; a fair bit more than the 35mm f/1.8G AF-S (FX version). No idea why...

The three you tested all work on my crop sensors. D200 & D7000. You are correct the corners are garbage on full frame. Stopped down they are more than acceptable, smaller and lighter than my 1.4 G lenses.

My 300mm f/4.5 ai is pretty much a daily driver for me, and when things get dim (or I want that mood) my 50/1.4D comes out.

I have the 50mm/1.8 and 24mm/2.8. My copy of the 50mm is THE lens I choose every time if possible. It cost $99usd years ago on my d70, and is absolutely still incredible on my d610 and is still my favourite over much more expensive lenses. I bought the 24mm/1.8 d on vacation for a cheap lens... I am unimpressed with my copy everytime I use it. Either the focus is off or it's not sharp, and the colour out of it is dull. I constantly tell myself I want to upgrade it. The size of it is extremely convenient and I should to spend 4x the cost for the f1.8 or 10x the cost for the f1.4... but I keep delaying, waiting to switch systems to Z mount or Sony.

Why didn’t you try them on a d500 or d850 .... I have the 50 and the 60 mm macro version and they are awesome

@LeighAndRaymond

5 жыл бұрын

We've been using them on our DSLRs for years. It was time to try them on our current day-to-day cameras. :)

@nevvanclarke9225

5 жыл бұрын

TheSnapChick cool ...oddly I have a d850 and yesterday I tried a dx lens fx body and it while the images were not great it still worked great lol ...there is too many rules at times and oddly I love to break the rules and experiment

My Nikkor 50mm 2.0 converted to Ai. Brought together with a Nikkormat FTn. Love it over my other 50mm Nikkors!

So I have a D850 since a few years (best decision in my life after asking my partner if she wanted to merry me) and a very diverse "lens park" which include a razorsharp Sigma Art 40mm f1.4, a rather normal AF-S 50mm f1.8 & the AF-S 35mm f1.8 DX (which works perfectly fine on a Fullframe body for everyone who still doesn't know) and an AF 28mm f2.8. When I go through my favourite pictures, most of them happen to be from the 28mm! Although it's technically far inferior to all others, it just is a brilliant lens and even if I some day join the Nikon Z system, I probably will never get rid of the 28mm f2.8. It's the lightest lens I have which makes a huge difference and I simply love 28mm focal length on FX. Also it was just 60€ which was a no brainer for me 😉

It is the size and weight that make me take these lenses. I use my 50mm 1.8 pancake lens a lot it's like a body cap.

I am a fan of the "D" lenses I have a 50mm, 60mm macro, 300mm. The slower and louder autofocus does not bother me, and very few people will be able to see the difference in quality between the older lenses and today's technology. The older prime lenses are still much higher quality compared to most current zoom lenses.

I got 20/2.8d, 24/2.8d, 35/2d and 85/1.8d. they are great lenses with really cheap price, and their outlook is some kind of classic design. But if u are really mind of sharpness, especially for resolution of the corner. U should take a look for 20/1.8g, 35/1.8g, 50/1.8g and 85/1.8g... they are better than old afd lenses, only the outlook is ugly and more plastic feel.

helios 44 4 and 44 2. jupiter 8, all great lenses with my litttle sony a6000

Nikon needs to make something like Sony's LA-EA4 adapter, which allows similar Minolta lenses to autofocus on the E-mount camera's.

I just bought a used Nikon 24-85 f 2.8 lens. My 7100 and this lens is great. Most of us don't have the budget to by brand new lens.

Am I alone in loving the "look" of the images produced by older AI/AiS Nikkors, along with some of the AF-D's? The more modern lenses may have more resolution, but there's something soulless, clinical and flat about them in their rendition.

Still have D and older Nikon lenses and wouldnt trade

I use them on a Sony A7 2/3 no prob there!

I like old style compact lenses because they’re are high-quality, light and “let you live your life first”. I also own heavy lenses, but I prefer thinking a camera like a tool I can bring with me in everyday life, during trips etc. I don’t like feeling like the man who brings around a heavy camera! 😂

These are best value for the money

I own a 35 f/2 and funnily I had a little trip to Germany with it and my D800 last week end. This lens is certainly still useable when stopped down (here at f/8 in bright daylight ic.pics.livejournal.com/aspexplorer/11218127/2409215/2409215_original.jpg ), but wide open, you have to cope with visible optical aberrations (here : ic.pics.livejournal.com/aspexplorer/11218127/2410333/2410333_original.jpg ). This made me consider that this lens is of little use in a world where the vastly superior 35mm f/1.8 G is sold new for 170€. Same thing could be said of the 50 f/1.8 D, compared to the G guy. The only relevant one is the 24mm, which has no modern equivalent (the 1.8 is an expensive brick, and the 1.4 is a $2000 pinnacle of stupidity). Yet, the most desirable of the classic Nikon primes is for me the 20mm, which replaces a 14-24 in most situations for a fraction of the weight.

I inherited three nikkor lenses with an old nikon F camera. Now I have about 30 lenses I use with a D800. Most are D type. The macro lenses with extensions are very interesting. The Fisheye is retro-loveable. The telephotos are great. My favorite is the 50 f1.4. These lenses are cheap. In my mind it's time to buy them. They are good quality. Maybe not 100% as sharp as new ones, but they have their own feel and image quality. I think it's a mistake to sell them, please everyone, go on ebay and do so.

*one year later *Nikon: " hey kids here is a camera that films 4k 10bit and can use every lens we ever made, including the ones with screwdriver autofocus"

I just got rid of those three lenses. Served me well, but I wasn't using them anymore.

The 1.8D is my main lens on my only body d50. ROFL.

@raymondpan5961

5 жыл бұрын

You are so dated!!!!!!!!

@HandleIsNewAndBad

5 жыл бұрын

@@raymondpan5961 Thanks, you're very up to date.

Snapdude

@scraymond5597

5 жыл бұрын

SnapChap

@squadboitv6284

5 жыл бұрын

Has a nice ring to it!

@squadboitv6284

5 жыл бұрын

I don't know 🤷‍♂️

Some of the older glass is just as good, sometimes better than some of the new, I'll take Japanese made lenses over China and Philippines

It must be awful having clients who pixel peep and who care about what lens you use.

go buy an M42 adapter for the Fuji, then pick up the SMC Takumar 35mm f3.5... then try to take it off the camera. it won't be easy. that's a combo i use more than my modern lenses. if you need more than f3.5 you don't understand photography... moreover, instagram is ALWAYS the bottleneck. IMHO, the era of vintage glass you are looking at with these dinosaur Nikkor lenses is NOT the best era of glass in human history... i use vintage glass more than my modern fuji primes.

I have and use the 70-210/4 AF. The 70-200/2.8 VRII should have replaced it, but if I don't need f/2.8-4, can save a LOT of weight. Otherwise... My F4 and earlier film cameras don't like G lenses, so they tend to stick around. G stands for G@ddamit why can't they put a freakin' aperture ring on these lenses any more. I kept the 50/1.8 AFD after I got the 50/1.4 AFD because at