This thread is devoted to those photographers shooting with Nikon digital and film cameras who mount manual focus Nikon lenses, specifically those lenses with either Nikkor or Series E Nikon labels.

There are two appreciation threads now appearing on the Nikon forum and I believe it is time to give a little love to the wide range of excellent manual focus lenses that has been produced by Nikon over the years. Perhaps it is true that evangelists more often come from the recently converted, so please forgive me for my enthusiasm. I bought my first Nikon digital camera six months ago and had never shot manual focus when playing on the Canon side of the world. But my first Nikon manual focus lens, about which I initiated another thread on this subject, the 105 f/2.5 AI-s, launched me into this new world. Today I picked up my EIGHTH manual focus lens produced by Nikon from a lovely Japanese gentleman I met through craigslist. He'd just bought a digital camera and was excited about shooting with AF lenses. His loss, my gain.

This is what my kit of MF lenses looks like...



By request, left to right: 20 f/2.8 AI-s, 28 f/2.8 AI-s, 35 f/2 AI-s, 50 f/1.2 AI-s, 105 f/2.5 AI-s, 135 f/2.8 AI, 200 f/4 AI-s, 180 f/2.8 AI-s

But this isn't about showing off lenses, it is about sharing with one another the best that these lenses can produce. As I said on another thread, it is time for Nikon users to celebrate lenses that more often are talked about on the Alternative Gear forum where they are being mounted on cameras from other manufacturers. I say, lets have one thread where we can talk about MF lenses we love and share the photos we've taken with them. I'll start us out with a less than spectacular shot I grabbed yesterday afternoon after a pristine 135 f/.2 AI lens arrived. This was shot wide open. (I've shared so many recent photos taken with the 50 f/1.2 and 105 f/2.5 I figure a change of pace is in order.)

My favorite all-time lens, which spends the most time on my body, is the Micro-NIKKOR 105mm 2.8 manual focus lens. Bought it in the early 90s to use on my F4 but now I use it on my D300.

Sharp and contrasty. Beautiful rendition. Great all purpose lens and exceptional at macro work (using the PN-11 to achieve 1:1). I love the feel of the focus ring plus the metal body exudes reliability and toughness. I have a lot of newer lenses but this is my favorite. I thought about buying the newer version but I can't imagine it has better optical quality than this baby...especially since it has VR.

Manual focusing isn't as easy as it was on the F4, but I can usually get the job done with the D300. Here's a shot of my cat "playing" with her little friend.

And her little friend is

No doubt one of the joys of these lenses is how beautifully they are made. It is such a pleasure to use them. And, as you've said, they produce great images. I don't have a manual focus micro lens but my therapist says I need to refrain from buying any more lenses until I've spent quality time with each of the ones I own...

Is that a friend or dinner?

CGrindahl wrote:
I don't have a manual focus micro lens but my therapist says I need to refrain from buying any more lenses until I've spent quality time with each of the ones I own...

Your therapist has obviously never handled one of these lenses. I find that holding my older Nikkors can be very therapeutic.

runamuck wrote:
Is that a friend or dinner?

She just plays with them. Usually, my dog will steal the mouse away (once it's exhausted) and eat it. The dog and cat have developed quite the symbiotic relationship.

I've got a couple dozen manual focus Nikkors and love them all!

Nikkor 24/2 Ai-S

Il Campanile di San Marco, Venezia by Donald G. Jean, on Flickr

dgjean wrote:
I've got a couple dozen manual focus Nikkors and love them all!


I'm delighted you share your work with us Donald. Every time you do you no doubt find new fans for your photography. One of your earlier offerings with a 500mm mirrored lens caught my attention and led me to your photostream at Flickr. I love your approach to photography and certainly envy your proximity to so many magical places to shoot. Remarkably, it was in Italy, Urbino actually, where I put my camera away so that I could experience the countryside and people without a camera viewfinder between me and what I witnessed. That was 35 years ago and the camera was a Nikkormat. It took me a long way back to photography and now I wish I had the opportunity to visit Italy, Greece and all the other places I enjoyed as a youth, this time with my camera in hand...

Thanks for showing us some of your work. I hope you'll share some more taken with that amazing collection of manual focus lenses.

shmn wrote:
runamuck wrote:
Is that a friend or dinner?

She just plays with them. Usually, my dog will steal the mouse away (once it's exhausted) and eat it. The dog and cat have developed quite the symbiotic relationship.

Perhaps I should refer your cat and dog to my therapist...

I never seriously considered shooting with a manual focus lens until I saw the quality of images produced with the 135 f/2. But I picked it up, and found I could almost immediately use it. Way easier than I had expected. It's now my go-to lens for high school senior sessions and outdoor headshots:

Todd Adamson wrote:
I never seriously considered shooting with a manual focus lens until I saw the quality of images produced with the 135 f/2. But I picked it up, and found I could almost immediately use it. Way easier than I had expected. It's now my go-to lens for high school senior sessions and outdoor headshots:


Better to come late to the party than to miss it entirely! It seems your epiphany has paralleled my own Todd. It has been fun to observe your curiosity and delight along the way. When you bought the 200 f/4 AI-s you'd mentioned it would likely be used for portraiture, but it appears you've found a new favorite in the 135 f/2. No doubt, what you've been sharing with us is really fine work being produced with that lens. Considering what you paid for it, it seems almost criminal. I'll be really curious what you discover when you've had the opportunity to compare the Zeiss 100 f/2 with this Nikon lens.

And so the pleasure continues...

Great shot, Todd!

It's good to remember that once upon a great while ago, various MF lenses were the best glass out there. Most of the classic photography we've seen wasn't done using lenses that we use today. It worked for the best and it can work for us too.

Here is another shot from the little brother of Todd's 135 f/2, the 135 f/2.8 AI. This too is wide open.

dgjean wrote:
I've got a couple dozen manual focus Nikkors and love them all!

Nikkor 24/2 Ai-S


dgjean...that's a great photo...love the composition...although the noise is a bit much. What ISO was this? Must has been pretty high since it looks dark out.

Here's two more shots with my 105/2.8. The first dog was Bruno who we had to put down a couple of months ago (broke my heart) and the second dog is the canine trash compactor (and notorious rodent-meister), a.k.a. Syd.

I took this photo of a neighbor's daughter a few minutes ago after they'd returned from getting ice cream that lingers on her face. She added colorful new braces this summer and more recently stud earrings since her school doesn't permit dangling earrings. (135 f/2.8 wide open)

CGrindahl wrote:
I took this photo of a neighbor's daughter

It's a nice photo...but your black point needed some adjustment. Not trying to be a jerk...it just looked a little washed out.

I have been watching the 50/1.2 thread for a couple of days now, quite interested in some of these lenses for the price/performance/manual fun factor. This thread should be a good one to watch!

I was curious Curtis, could you edit your first post with a description of what each lens is? That is one hell of a nice collection for someone that just switched!

shmn wrote:
CGrindahl wrote:
I took this photo of a neighbor's daughter

It's a nice photo...but your black point needed some adjustment. Not trying to be a jerk...it just looked a little washed out.



Much better... I'm afraid I got caught in a bit of a rush and didn't give the image enough time. Your version works. Thanks.

Steezus wrote:
I have been watching the 50/1.2 thread for a couple of days now, quite interested in some of these lenses for the price/performance/manual fun factor. This thread should be a good one to watch!

I was curious Curtis, could you edit your first post with a description of what each lens is? That is one hell of a nice collection for someone that just switched!

Good suggestion! I'll do that...

I'm a bit surprised myself at how caught I've become in the hunt. No doubt it happened in large measure because each lens I picked up proved to be such a winner that it made me curious about others I read about. I'd bought a minimal kit of AF lenses, only the 28-70 f/2.8 and 85 f/1.4 considered exceptionally fine, but I knew nothing about Nikon nomenclature. As I educated myself it seemed natural to try out some of the oldies but goodies, for as you observe, the price/performance/fun factor all leaned in the direction of these lenses.

I have less invested in these eight lenses than in TWO of the Canon professional lenses I still own. As the Scots say, "incredible value for money..."

the longer glass is a nice value for AI(S). Wish the wider glass shared the same set up lol. Waiting to hit tokyo in a few weeks to find a 24 2 to get rl shots to try before buying, the 1.4 too rich for my blood and even the used 24 2's are kind of pricey.


Decent samples of 105 and 135 will be hunted down to get a feel for them as well since would like a better portrait lens and not looking to spend 900 for one (used 85 1.4 D price) .