Nikkors I have loved, and some I have left
Nikkors I have loved, and some I have left
First, I should explain my biases.
1) I like physically smaller lenses. Easier to manipulate, and carry.
2) I like minimal distortion. Unfortunately, most Nikkor wide angle lenses have barrel distortion.
3) Flare resistance is nice to have.
4) Macro and telephoto photography is where SLRs shine in comparison to the rangefinder camera.
5) Nice bokeh in the background
Here's my experiences with the following focal lengths:
20 f/3.5 AIS - very tiny, sharp in the center. Less sharp in the corners wide open, but it does get sharp by about f/8. Some barrel distortion. FLARE RESISTANT! This was the only lens that I used when I visited Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright) in Arizona. I could even get the AZ sun into the picture with no flare or ghosting. With the titanium shutter of your Nikon camera, you don't have to worry about burning a hole in your shutter. Don't put your retina in harm's way by looking in the finder with the sun in the picture, however.
24 f/2.8 AI - This one flares easily if light is in the field. Barrel distortion. Has CRC and is sharp, but the distortion and flare make it not my preferred lens. I still own it, but I never use it.
28 f/2.8 AIS - Super sharp, has CRC. Minimum focus distance makes it almost a macro lens. NO DISTORTION! This is the magic lens compared to the 24mm.
35mm f/1.4 AIS. Nikon doesn't make great 35mm lenses. That conclusion lead me to Leica with the incredible 35 Summicron ASPH 😀. However, of the 35mm lenses that are Nikkors, the 1.4 AIS is probably the best. It has CRC, but the barrel distorion is extreme up close. Don't use this to photograph women - it makes them look "fat". Otherwise, at a reasonable distance, between f/2 and f/8 this lens is really sharp.
I did try the f/2 and f/2.8 versions of the 35mm lenses. The f/2 are somewhat spotty in quality, and not so good close up. The f/2.8 that I had was a horrible dog.
45 f/2.8 AIP - unusual little Tessar lens introduced with the FM3a. It is uncommon, and costs a lot due to its rarity. No distortion, flare resistant (only 4 elements). However, as with all Tessars it vignettes visibly until stopped down to f/5.6.
50mm f/2 or f/1.8 non-AI, AI, AIS, AF Some incredible optics for not much money. No distortion (very mild barrel at minimum focus), and sharp. Neutral bokeh.
The 50 f/1.4 was a lens that I never got along with, though I've owned it about 4 times in the past. The visible barrel distortion and the ugly bokeh in the background really turned me off.
55mm f/2.8 Micro AIS - This macro lens is the sharpest of the 50mm range lenses in manual focus, that you can also use as an everyday lens. Sharp from macro to infinity (due to CRC), with no distortion. I often use this as my standard lens. It has a deeply recessed front element, so very flare resistant. It focuses to 1:2 by itself, and requires an extension tube to get to 1:1.
60mm f/2.8 Micro AF - more expensive, plastic bodied version of the above. Possibly a bit sharper in the macro range than the 55, and it will go to 1:1 by itself without an extension ring. However, it is much bulkier, and I probably should have bought the 55 in the first place and not bought this one. There is very little space on the focus ring towards infinity, so using this as an everyday normal lens is problematic.
85mm f/2 AIS: I've had two. One was really excellent, the other was less so. You'll have to try a few to get a really good one. Nikon makes excellent telephoto lenses, so you have a lot of choices. I don't own any of the 85mm lenses, as they are too similar to my 105. If I was to get an 85, it would probably be the huge 1.4 - that is a special lens.
105 f/2.5 AIS. I have the double - Gauss version with the pull-out hood. It has some residual spherical aberration for smooth bokeh wide open. By about f/4, it is sharp as a tack. This lens has a long focus throw near infinity. I made the mistake of scale focusing it on infinity and taking a picture of a locomotive about 100 feet away. It was not sharp. On closer examination, 100 feet is not infinity with this lens. You need to watch your focusing screen very carefully with this lens to make sure that you have the exact plane that you want in focus.
I've noticed that the Nikkor 50mm f/2 HC and Leica Summicron 50 also exhibit this discrimination at long distances. Even 200 feet isn't infinity for these lenses. You need to really get the focus right.
70-180 Micro Nikkor f/4.5 - 5.6 The world's only zooming true macro lens. It almost reaches 1:1 on its own. You need to add the 6T doublet lens to get to 1:1. Not very popular when it was released in the 1990s, it is now a highly desired collectable (along with the doublet). The lens is super sharp, and the zooming feature makes macro framing so much easier when in the field. It's the only zoom lens that I own, but now super expensive if you can even find one for sale.
135 f/2 DC - a special medium telephoto lens with bokeh control! This is my current lust object.
180 f/2.8 ED AIS - super sharp, distortion free. Also, bulky and heavy. For such a large lens it has NO tripod mount. It puts all the strain on your camera's lens mount. These reasons lead me to get rid of it. Instead, the 200 f/4 is also very sharp, in a much more compact package. However, I do find the 200mm range too much for everyday, and not telephoto enough when you need the reach. Thus, my tending to look into the 135 DC, and I don't own the 200mm lens anymore.
300mm f/4 ED-IF AF: this is an incredibly sharp telephoto lens. It comes with a really poor (unstable) tripod collar. I've replaced mine with one from Kirk. RRS also makes a good tripod collar for this lens. With the 1.4X teleconverter added, and extension rings behind it, it makes a killer 420mm macro lens. Needless to say, you need a strong, rigid tripod to really make the most of this lens. The lens is somewhat long, but not heavy for its size.
