Old Nikkor AI and AIS zooms. Plus a couple from a Nikkor 105mm f1.8

[peterm1]

I have been obsessed lately with a couple of Nikkor zooms - the 80-200mm f4.5 and the later f4 version. These suckers are pretty good when a longer MF zoom option is called for. They render pleasantly and though not quite so sharp as modern lenses and prone to some chromatic aberration (which can be fixed easily enough by Lightroom) they are worthy additions to a shooters bag.
I also have the Nikkor 100-300mm f5.6 which I have little used but will press it into service seen. I was put off by its slow maximum aperture (so why did I buy it you may ask.....I cannot answer) but test shots show it to be every bit as good as they say it is so I will give it a run soon.

I have also been experimenting a little more with my new (to me)
Nikkor 105mm f1.8 AIS

Feel free to add your own shots.

From the 80-200mm lenses

Winter's Day, Shopping Mall by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

Cafe Study 39 by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

In the Salon by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

Wallking the Walk - Rainy Day by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

From the 105mm f1.8


Cafe Study 46 by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

Pensive by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

 

[Timmyjoe]

What body are you shooting those on Peter?

Best,
-Tim

 

[peterm1]

What body are you shooting those on Peter?

Best,
-Tim

A D700 is what I almost always use (when shooting Nikon) and certainly did use in this case.

 

[NickTrop]

I have been obsessed lately with a couple of Nikkor zooms - the 80-200mm f4.5 and the later f4 version.

I have a clean copy of the 4.5 AI version without the baffle over the rear element. If you don't use a zoom often, prioritize IQ over autofocus, VR, or weight -- and don't want to spend much, this is the zoom to get. They're, like, 50 bucks and among the higher rated zoom lenses on Photodo with a very respectable 3.6 MTF rating. These lenses were around $1800 new adjusted for inflation. Love how they render -- very "un-zoom like", as your nice photos illustrate. Great lens period -- especially for the money.

 

[lxmike]

the 105 is a classic and well worth investing in

 

[farlymac]

Never thought of the 80-200 as a street lens. I've got to ask, Peter, what imaging software do you use? I've just loaded Corel Paint Shop Pro 2018, and I hope it fixes some of the nagging quirks of the X6 version I grew to dislike. It came with some interesting plug-ins, and the effects on your photos look like some of Corel's advertising.


PF

 

[peterm1]

Never thought of the 80-200 as a street lens. I've got to ask, Peter, what imaging software do you use? I've just loaded Corel Paint Shop Pro 2018, and I hope it fixes some of the nagging quirks of the X6 version I grew to dislike. It came with some interesting plug-ins, and the effects on your photos look like some of Corel's advertising.


PF

I tend to like shooting at the long end of lenses as I suppose that shooting folks in the street is a little like shooting birds in a tree - you want them to act naturally and you do not want to scare them off. Like you I do use PSP 2018. Previously I was using PSP version 14 but the problem with that is that it is 32 bit and very clunky with big files plus sloooooooooow to load. Oh yes and unstable. The advantage of 2018 is that it is 64 bit and quite fast (even with 24 megapixel RAW files) and relatively stable. It also had the advantage that you can still run the Nik plugins under this version - I had heard that you could not run them under later 64 bit versions though that may now be corrected.

In fact my actual workflow is to save every file in RAW format and import these into Lightroom for quick basic processing. I like Lightoom for some of its capabilities like highlight recovery which is better than anything else I have tried including in PSP.

If an image needs more comprehensive processing than can be done in Lightroom (I find most do, but that's just me) you can link PSP 2018 to Lightroom so it runs almost as a kind of plugin to it. So having set it up this way, I just click on the PSP 2018 link from within Lightroom and it fires up that program allowing me to do any extra edits I want. When I am finished and click "save" in PSP 2018 the two programs somehow work together and the newly edited file opens up (with the newly added PSP edits intact) in Lightroom once more. And if I really need to "go to town" on an image either program allows me to also run Nik plugins for further edits in much the same way. This, incidentally can be done directly from Lightroom or from PSP once PSP has been opened from Lightroom.

it all works much more smoothly than this description would suggest.

 

[peterm1]

I have a clean copy of the 4.5 AI version without the baffle over the rear element. If you don't use a zoom often, prioritize IQ over autofocus, VR, or weight -- and don't want to spend much, this is the zoom to get. They're, like, 50 bucks and among the higher rated zoom lenses on Photodo with a very respectable 3.6 MTF rating. These lenses were around $1800 new adjusted for inflation. Love how they render -- very "un-zoom like", as your nice photos illustrate. Great lens period -- especially for the money.

Yes they are very inexpensive, especially the 4.5 version and well worth that money. And I find the image characteristics to be pretty acceptable. The only slight complaint is that so far I found them to be a bit harder to focus due no doubt to their slow maximum aperture.

 

[rumbliegeos]

I bought the 4.0 version from a pro who made the 80-200 2.8 transition back in the day and used it for years as a primary zoom. It is sharp, and the only downside I found was that it is quite large, especially with the dedicated hood, and was conspicuous. On the other hand, you do tend to be some distance from subjects when using it. I really like the 50-135mm AIS lens, a different animal.

 

[phofseth]

Not complaining, butt the classification of this post is strange. A zoom on a rangefinder (apart from the WATE) ??


p.

 

[presspass]

Two comments. First, slr zooms are no stranger than all the mirrorless stuff. Second, the later 80-200 4.5 is a great lens. I pair mine with a 25-50 f4, both on film bodies.

 

[peterm1]

Yes I certainly make no apologies for using long tele lenses. Especially these days with mirrorless cameras. While I tend to shoot my long Nikkors on a Nikon DSLR body I also have a couple of shorter Nikkors (35-70mm f3.5 for example which sit nicely on a mirrorless) and I also have a Pentax 80-200 f4.5 which is much smaller than its Nikkor equivalents and works well on a mirrorless. (These latter lenses are dirt cheap due to the number made but really very good IQ wise).

 

[View Range]

One of my favorite AIS lenses is the 50 - 300mm f4.5 ED Zoom Nikkor. But I don't use the lens much because I usually shot dynamic subjects and focusing is difficult. This is a lens I wish Nikon would re-issue in auto focus. The attached Pelican photo taken at our zoo shows the lens is very sharp even by today's standards. The body is a Nikon D5.

 

[Contarama]

The 75-150 E is one that I have always wanted to shoot.

 

[leicapixie]

I guess I've never liked zooms.
Strange fuzziness and lack of color.