beginner's nikkor kit

[2XLX2]

hi all,


i'm thinking about getting a pair of [used] nikkor lenses for my Nikon FM2N:

a 50/1.8 or a 50/1.4

and a 24/2.8 or a 28/2.8

any suggestions? advice?


also, what are the differences between Non-AI/AI/AIS lenses. do they all work with the FM2N?


finally, are there people from toronto here? i'm kind of new in the city...i was wondering where i should go for a camera check-up; the camera hasn't been used for almost a decade.


thanks in advance. 🙂

 

[zgeeRF]

These lenses look beautiful (but heavier) in the non AF versions. The 24/2.8 is a great lens. I have it and it still works great even with digital bodies.
Both 50s are considered excellent, I am interested also in getting one for these two. Curious as to what the users of both these 50s will have to say.
Non-AI requires stopping-down for metering AI/AIS (automatic indexing) does not. The latter two will be best for the FM but they will all work. Good luck
George

 

[vrgard]

I can't answer your Nikkor questions and the only camera store that I can recall right now is Henry's. But I can tell you that you live in an area having a number of very knowledgeable and friendly rangefinderforum members. I don't live there but have visited and met with them on multiple occasions. I'm sure one of them will chime in on this thread shortly but if not then all you have do to is start another thread suggesting another get together in the GTA (greater Toronto area) and that'll get their attention. And welcome to the rff!

-Randy

 

[mhv]

50mm: get the f1.8, it's sharper, has less flare, and will cost you less anywhere. Neither the f1.4 nor the f1.8 will have outstanding bokeh anyway, so go for sharpness.

This guy here did the comparison:
http://www.pbase.com/miljenko/50mm_vs_50mm

24 v 28: depends. Both are excellent and affordable lenses. The 28mm has the reputation of being very sharp all the way down to the corners. I prefer the 24mm focal length, simply because it has a little more oomph when it comes to take a wideangle picture. Try to compare the angle of view in a store.

Eventually, you might want to have a portrait lens, to take portraits and/or photos with outstanding bokeh. The 105mm f/2.5 is the logical conclusion, but I heard that the 85mm f/2 is equally gorgeous. Either one will give you great results.

I live in Montréal so finding used photo gear here is more of a of a crap shoot than in Toronto, so I bought everything at KEH.com. Check these guys' prices before you buy. You may save a bit by buying online with our strong Canuck dollars.

For your FM2n you absolutely need AI or AI-s. AI'd will also work. Non-AI will not work.Here are some definitions:

AI: automatic indexing. Believe it or not but it took Nikon forever to arrive with a meter coupling solution that meant easy mounting, open-aperture, TTL metering. It's the basic standard for Nikon lenses, the required minimal.

AI-s: ditto, but has a notch here and maybe a pin there for the purpose of cameras with a Program mode (like the FA or the FG). You can recognize them by the orange color of the smallest aperture on the barrel

AI'd: shortcut to mean an old (pre-1977) lens that was put on the cutting lathe in order to convert the barrel to AI. Has the same functionalities as a normal AI.

Our friend Stephen Gandy has a good writeup on the differences:
http://www.cameraquest.com/aidaiais.htm

And so does Ken Rockwell, with pictures:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

 

[grainhound]

Hi & welcome to the forum & Toronto. No advice on Nikon service, other than Henry’s. They’ll likely send it out anyway, but you could start there. Check with Downtown Camera as well; it’s just a little west from Henry’s on Queen St. If you’re free next Sunday, Dec. 2, the GTA RFF group is getting together at the Rhino on Queen St. W. Google, & you’ll get a map. We’re going to take shots through whatever 35mm (or 40) M mount lenses show up next Sunday, more as an excuse for something to talk about over beer than for anything scientific. We also tolerate SLRs. The two threads on the meeting are below.

original thread: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49366
poll: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49662

 

[Steve Bellayr]

Non-Ai 1959-1977
AI 1977-mid 1980's
AIS afterwards

AI & AIS will not go with Non-Ai.

McBroom defines it much better.

24mm is very good for architecture & landscape. I agree that the 85mm is a great portrait lens. 35mm is harder to find and more pricey while the 50mm is ubiquitious. Always go for the widest aperture affordable. Go for the AIs as opposed to the AI. Optics better.

As for a camera check-up KEH advertises an affordable one & recently I have used Garryscamera. Also, affordable. Both advert. about $45.

 

[Graham Line]

Ai-S lenses have a shorter focus throw than their Ai versions-- I kind of like having the longer movement on wide-angle lenses. The aperture stop-down motion is also linear on the Ais, which benefits the FE/FE2/FA user a bit more, as I understand it.


There is a Nikon MF list on Yahoo which is good for these questions, once you get past a couple of the personalities.

 

[Vics]

Nikon SLR lenses.

Nikon SLR lenses.

My understanding is that NAI lenses will work fine on the FM (don't know about the FM2n) but you must flip the little coupling tab on the body out of the way before mounting the lens. The NAI lenses will not couple to your meter, though, so if that's important tben better to go with AI-S I suppose.
My lenses are all NAI, but I use them on meter-less F bodies. (or did use them I should say, having moved on to Leica RF) Most of my Nikon stuff will be sold.
I love the 24/2.8! For about six months, I didn't shoot anything else. Wide-itis, I guess. The 50/2 is my choice for normal, having used most of them. Its small size and razor sharpness sealed the deal for me. As said before, the 105/2.5 in almost any version is the lens that made Nikon great! Great for field work, landscapes and portraits. I have always liked John Shaw's idea of building your kit in rough doubles. 24, 50, 105, 200/4 did it for me. Beware the bad 200/4 lenses! Check the Nikon compendium for the good one. Or spend ALL the money you have in the bank and get the 180/2.8ED. One of Nikon's best!
Vic

 

[kshapero]

all I know is that my pre AI(S) lens work perfectly on my Pany L1, of course, with an adapter.

 

[peterm1]

all I know is that my pre AI(S) lens work perfectly on my Pany L1, of course, with an adapter.

Me too. I have just received some adapters for my Pany L1. There is an AIS 24mm f 2.8 mounted on it right now. But I love the fact that the Pany will use pre AI lenses (with an adapter, manual stop down and manual focus but other wise full functionality) when my Nikon D70s will not even mount them. With such a lens on this camera I can use the flash and meter successfully. The damned D70 will not do either even with AI lenses.

 

[mhv]

NAI lenses work on the FM and the FE, but DO NOT work on the FM2n and FE2, because the latter cannot flip the little tab away.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Sandy

Look here http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/ for tons of info on Nikon cameras and lenses. I have the 50/1.4, 50/1.8 and a 50/2 and find them all pretty good so choose whichever fits your needs as far as F stop and size goes. The 24/2.8 is a good all around wide if you only plan to have one wide and goes well with a 35 or 50. The 28/2.8 ais is the one to look for not the ai version. The 28/2.8 ais is very sharp and will focus close if that matters to you. There are good bargins in Nikkors right now so have fun.

Bob

 

[JNewell]

As others said, do NOT mount a non-AI (pre-AI, sometimes confusingly referred to as NAI) lens on an FM2, FE2 or FM2n.

A great three lens kit would be the 24/2.8, the 50/1.8 or 1.4, and the 105/2.5.

Be aware that the 28/2.8 AIS is a very different (and much better) lens than the 28/2.8 AI.

The MIR site mentioned above will keep you in good reading for a week. 😉 For various opinions on lenses, look at www.nikonlinks.com. Opinions differ, so read more than one or two reviews.

 

[Uncle Bill]

Greatings from the suburbs of Toronto, as a Nikon user, I echo the above NAI lenses is a bad idea for your FM2n. I concur with JNewel with his lens picks, I would also include the 35 f2 lens as it is a class and you need a relatively high speed moderately wide lens.

 

[pvdhaar]

There really are some gems in the E line as well. Sure, they don't give bragging rights as they're not metal through and through, but they're still better than most would expect.. a lot better.

The 50/1.8 E is a splendid lens, much better than all the AF versions combined, and costs next to nothing. The best thing about it IMO is it's very rich colour rendition. That's counter intuitive, as the multicoating on the later models should give better pictures, but it simply doesn't deliver.

Another fine one in the E line is the 100/2.8. It's very compact, but also optically very fine. Somewhat hard to find, as they're quite sought after.

 

[Jeroen]

I second the 100/2.8. It's very crisp, found mine for $40.

 

[kalokeri]

Ai or AiS doesn´t matter, the FM2 will accept both types. AiS is important for cameras like the FA which gives program- and aperture-automatic.

I second Nikon Bob. The 2,8/28 AiS is a wonderful lens, the focus scale goes down to 20 cm, so it´s wonderful for wide angel close ups. Haven´t tried the 1,4/50mm Ai or AiS, but the old 1,8/50 Ai and also the early AiS versions are somewhat close to legendary as is the 2,0/50 Ai.

Thomas

 

[Abbazz]

Me too. I have just received some adapters for my Pany L1. There is an AIS 24mm f 2.8 mounted on it right now. But I love the fact that the Pany will use pre AI lenses (with an adapter, manual stop down and manual focus but other wise full functionality) when my Nikon D70s will not even mount them.

Peter,

I use non-AI lenses with my Pentax K10d. They mount directly on the camera without even the need for an adapter (see this link). Of course, the lenses are usable in Av or manual mode with stopped-down metering. One additional benefit is that I can use the built-in focus assist and shake reduction of the camera with these lenses. That's really a lot of fun to shoot in available light with an old Nikkor-PC 105/2.8 lens: focusing is a piece of cake with the focus assist and taking a sharp picture at 1/30sec. works every time thanks to the shake reduction feature.

Cheers,

Abbazz

 

[Bill58]

Check http://www.aiconversions.com/compatibilitytable.htm for compatibility of the various Nikkor lenses/ Nikon cameras. John also does super/ cheap conversions.

 

[titrisol]

It sounds about right, a 50/1.4 or 1.8 are fine lenses
Now the 28/2.8 AI(s) is the best 28mm available (IMHO)
You may also need a 135mm very versatile mid tele

for the differences between AI, AIs and such look in the Nikon resource page linked here
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography//hardwares/classics/nikonfmseries/index.htm
Also a manual for the camera, tips and tricks.
Try getting AI or AIS lenses, but if you plan to get an autofocus camera in the future consider buying autofocus lenses as well.

The camera should be fine, check the battery for corrosion, if there is none clean the contact with an eraser (at the top of a pencil) anyway, get a new battery for the lightmeter and off you go.
Before loading film open the back, point to a window and shoot several times while you look thru the curtains, if you see light you are most probably in business. The shutter is aluminum/titanium and it is very hard to break.

Shoot a test roll and see if the results are correct.

hi all,


i'm thinking about getting a pair of [used] nikkor lenses for my Nikon FM2N:

a 50/1.8 or a 50/1.4

and a 24/2.8 or a 28/2.8

any suggestions? advice?


also, what are the differences between Non-AI/AI/AIS lenses. do they all work with the FM2N?


finally, are there people from toronto here? i'm kind of new in the city...i was wondering where i should go for a camera check-up; the camera hasn't been used for almost a decade.


thanks in advance. 🙂