# So I bought an 85mm f/2 AI S Nikkor And...



## SamSpade1941 (Oct 1, 2012)

It came attached to this... A Nikon FA with a MD15 Technodrive attached to it. After checking everything out it all appears to work out. I actually was buying the Nikkor 85mm Nikkor AI S lens  and not the camera in case you are wondering, a lot of times in the past when I have bought lenses people ended up giving me camera bodies or vice versa. In this case I am not willing to say what I paid but I assure you I did not even pay what the lens is worth on eBay. The 85mm is one of my favorite lenses and is an awesome portrait lens Its going to get a lot of use on my D40 and N70, I may or may not use the FA , I have not really made my mind up on that yet though it works well enough from what I can see. 


For those who have not googled or do not know already the FA was where matrix metering was actually introduced, IIRC it was advertised as Nikon's most advanced manual focus 35mm camera. 


Anyway I just thought I would share this with everyone. There are deals to be had if you are interested in older gear.


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## Derrel (Oct 1, 2012)

Cool deal! I shot the 85mm f/2 Ai for many years and had two. They tended to develop squeaks in the focusing helicoid. Never hurt anything though, just a little squeak when you turned to focusing ring. One small note...this isn;t an Ai-S model--the focusing ring and overall cosmetics are different...this is an earlier lens, and it LOOKS to me like it's actually a pre-AI model, the "late, RIFR" or "late pre-ai, rubber-inset focusing ring" generation that was made JUST before the Ai series hit...I think your lens was made in 1975-1976. The minimum aperture is NOT orange, but blue, and the "buckhorn" is SOLID...this is not an Ai-S lens. Not that it matters all that much.


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## SamSpade1941 (Oct 1, 2012)

Thanks Derrel, I never thought about it but you are right. It is a pre AI , I just compared it to my  one of my AI S lenses and you are spot on this one was a factory conversions from what I can see. As it does have the secondary aperture scale. Thanks  for catching that. I am still not complaining. I will see if I can load a roll of film up in it and try it out but everything seems to work perfectly on the camera. I know it seems to work properly in Program mode when I set it to F16 which is the orange f/stop on the lens. I will have to play with it and see if I like it and want to keep it or not. I also ended up with an FG and a E series 50 f/1.8 but that will probably find a new home in the near future.


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## Derrel (Oct 1, 2012)

I loved the 85/2 series models for their compact size, and under-the-radar profile when shooting candids, or just doing "regular" portraiture or reporting stuff like mugshots. The small size of the 85/2 does not really come through in your photo,especially since the lens is racked out to pretty close to MFD. Sounds like you got one whale of a deal on it! The late,RIFR terminology is from the old SHutterbug ads from Del's Camera...it always helped buyers to pinpoint the manufacturing era/design cosmetics etc of various transitional lenses which had been Ai-converted. That lens has a solid buckhorn, but has the secondary or *ADR* ( aperture direct readout) scale, so I suspect the conversion kit was applied not by Nikon, but an independent repairman. Nikon sold the Ai kits for a very reasonable price for many years, but I believe Nikon itself ALWAYS used the new, "skeletonized" buckhorn meter prong on all their Ai conversions. (ah...trivia...)


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## SamSpade1941 (Oct 1, 2012)

I remember those Del's Camera Ads . The Nikon Candy Store, his ads were the reason I used to subscribe to Shutterbug back in the day, no other reason.  I often wonder what happened to him , he had everything it seemed like when it came to Nikon equipment.


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