Nikkor Ai-s Lenses! Post your experiences with them, all of them!

[Daniel.Quencho]

I just started accumulating legacy lenses after I started up with photography back in november because of the IQ, bang for buck, tactile interaction and feel and very fast primes for the $$$. I purchased a new 20mm nikkor f2.8ai-s and it has really blown me away, bokeh is phenomenal with point light sources forming almost perfect circles and sharpness is spectacular in the center at 2.8, and simply surreal at 5.6 on a tripod. I just want to hear your experiences with AI-s's, their quirks, and what you guys think. I'm looking to get an 85 1.4 ai-s, 105 1.8, or 35 1.4, yes very different focal lengths, but at 35mm I only have a zeiss flektogon 2.4 and it would be nice to have a faster 35mm. 1:2 on the flek is very nice and allows nice framing options.

So what ai-s do you own and post images!

 

[Daniel.Quencho]

Here are 2 shots with a bit of enhanced colors, but most of the magic is from the nikkor. The dried up tree shot was taken at f8, the mango tree shot was taken at the base of the trunk at f2.8

 

[pixmedic]

Derrel would be a great resource for this thread. he has quite the bounty of experience with nikkor AI and AI-S lenses.

 

[KmH]

The bokeh looks horrible in that photo on the right with the shallow DoF.

Lenses have come a long way since the AI/AI-s days. Mainly because of the increasing use of computers to do the extensive math needed to design lenses that have fewer optical aberrations.

 

[480sparky]

I've had a 28/2.8 for several years now, dedicated to reversed on a PB-6 bellows for macro work. I got it super cheap because someone botched a coupling prong repair.

Just a couple weeks ago I acquired a 135/2.8 that beats the pants off anything else I have in that range... even my 70-200/2.8 VRII. Hope to get out tomorrow with it.

 

[Daniel.Quencho]

horrible bokeh is subjective i guess. It's one of my favorites lenses when it comes to getting bokeh from a leaf canopy. Here's a shot of the facade of a local church with the 20mm ai-s

taken at f8.0

 

[Derrel]

Nikon made a BUNCH of lenses in Ai mount from like 1977 to the very early 1980's when they began transitioning to Ai-S mount. I bought one of the earliest Ai-S lenses, the 105mm f/2.5, which was updated with CrC [close-range correction floating element system] AND a built-in sliding shade. Ai-S lenses have a linear diaphragm system, and when they are shot, they are "quieter"; Ai lenses make a fair degree of clunky noise when their diaphragms stop down to shooting aperture. Most Ai-S lenses have SHORTER focusing throws (fewer degrees of rotation) than their Ai counterparts, and in many cases, they have a "sexier", re-shaped exterior (good example is the 85 f/2 Ai versus the 85 2 Ai-S) cosmetic appearance.

There are some really "good deals" available in Ai and Ai-S lenses. I think the creme de la creme as a SHOOTER is the 105mm f/2.5 Ai-S. The 135 f/2.8 Ai-S is ultra-compact. The 85mm f/2 Ai-S is VERY compact--looks about the size of an AF-D 50mm f/1.4...it can EASILY be mistaken for a 24,35, or 50mm lens!!! The 50mm f/2 is an Ai, not Ai-S, and can be had cheap. The 200mm f/4 Ai-S is nice and shapr and SMALL and light. Another thing about Ai-S: the focusing ring travel is light-touch, and fast, meaning easy to move and fast-twist; the earlier Ai lenses have much stiffer turning, and slower focusing, with more degrees of turn. I have a 200 f/4 in Ai and one in Ai-S: optics appear to be IDENTICAL, but the Ai is less-costly, and turns harder, which is actually easier to focus with on an AF body, for me.

In higher-end, the 85/1.4 Ai-S was decent, but I sold mine back in the eighties when it brought me $550 and two and a half months' rent!!! The 135mm f/2 Ai-s is okay too...heavy,fat,solid. The 180mm f/2.8 ED Ai-S is built really SOLIDLY, and is still decent, but has some CA. The 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor is good, tricky to focus though. The 300mm f/4.5 ED~IF is a feather-touch focusing INTERNAL FOCUSING tele...not the kind of "IF" we have today; the 400 f/3.5 ED~IF is a SWEET lens, and one of THE absolute easiest big glass lenses to handle and shoot...very skinny tube, it balances great on a monopod.

24/2.8 Ai-S used to be good; not quite so good on high-MP digital tho...35/2 Ai-S...still okay...35/1.4 Ai-S sharp, but I had a hard time focusing it,so let it go. 70-150 f/3.5 Series E is technically Ai-S, as are ALL of the Serie E lenses. The 36-72mm f/3.5 Series E is interesting reversed as a very close-up lens. A really interesting lens is the 100mm-300mm f/5.6 AiS; Bjorn Rorslett mentions that lens with the 6T + diopter reverse mounted on the front produces "stellar" macro images...not good, but stellar. I have one, it's tough to focus, but wide-open it's PERFECTLY round aperture is...100% rounded and f/5.6,so "no blades in the bokeh". The 45mm f/2.8 P is a nifty pancake lens with a beautiful bokeh, and is good wide-open too. Makes a NICE close-up/pseudo macro with a 12mm or 20mm extension tube added.

I like the 50-135 f/3.5 Ai-S...made in one series, it was like three months rent back in the mid-1980's...VERY handy focal length on 1.5 OR FF. Easy to work with too.

A REAL BARGAIN, today, is the 80-200mm f/4 Ai-S zoom...it is a LOW-cost but VERY good performer...it's built very nicely too.

 

[Aloicious]

I've currently got one of the late 105 f2.5 AIS models so I can speak on that a little, expounding on what Derrel said. its a great little lens, the built in hood is a good addition too, less to carry, easy to extend/retract, etc...its a great size too, not too small, not too large, and built like a tank.

the very last versions of the 105 Ai-S that were made had an updated coating on the optical elements, and mine is one of the late model ones with the updated coatings. an article on the Nikon site claims that the coatings update offers better color balance with the newest SIC coatings vs the older NIC (Nikon | Imaging Products | NIKKOR - The Thousand and One Nights / Tale 5 : AI Nikkor 105 mm f/2.5), the SIC coated ones were roughly the last 10k lenses made before it was discontinued (Serial # 1043xxx though 1053928), so with more than 160,000 AIS copies made, the SIC ones are fairly rare. but honestly I don't really think you'll see much difference in real life between them, so if you're looking for one I wouldn't go out of your way to find the SIC coating version, but if you happen to find an SIC one and it's not stupidly priced, why not, 'eh?

but all in all, pretty much all versions of the 105 f2.5, Ai, Ai-S, even the older non-Ai (modified) are great little lenses, and a fantastic value in the price vs performance area, and are easy to find.

here's a nice little site that can come in handy if you're doing research on various versions of lenses, old or newer: Nikon Lens Serial Nos

 

[snowbear]

Sometimes it's a chore to nail focus (pun unintended) with a manual lens, but I'm getting better. The biggest issue, for me, is not being able to meter on the D40, so I take a couple of test shots to get it.

Nikon D40; Ai-S 105mm micro Nikkor; 1/2 second, f/8, ISO 400

 

[Aloicious]

I've been starting to really enjoy and appreciate MF lenses in the recent months, I've used them a bit and always had them available in the past but never fully appreciated them. they sort of force you to slow down and think more about what you're shooting (relatively) rather than just a fraction of a second AF and shutter actuation, and for me at least it helps develop a stronger connection with my subject that not only benefits my final image, but also is a more enjoyable time shooting (which is hard to imagine because going out and shooting is f-ing awesome to begin with regardless of AF or not).

nailing focus on them can be difficult at the beginning but its not too bad with some good practice, the sweet buttery smooth precision focus action and longer focus throw of a real MF lens is a dream to use, people who have only done manual focus with an AF lens won't understand that because doing manual focus with an AF lens is just not pleasant, at least in function, to me. The 'in focus dot' can be helpful, but it can't always be trusted 100%, you'll need to get to know your lens, and some people aren't aware of this, but you should be able to do AF fine tuning (if supported by your body) even with a MF lens (seems contradictory, right?), but what that will do is fine tune that 'in focus dot' to be more accurate to what you expect, or want, it to be. I haven't tried it with my Ai-S lens, but I have done it with my Zeiss MF lenses (although those lenses are CPU lenses that still communicate with the camera body, so someone correct me if I'm wrong when it comes to non-CPU lenses)

Snow, does the d40 let you input 'non-CPU lens' info in the menu? that's how I do it with my 105 to meter correctly. I'm not super familiar with the d40's specific setup.

I've been doing more MF stuff throughout the wide, normal, and short tele range in the past year or so. really the only AF functionality that I won't give up is the super-tele wildlife stuff. I don't really want to try and MF an eagle in flight or something like that haha, its totally possible, and I respect those who are able to do it well, but AF has its strong suits too.

 

[snowbear]

Snow, does the d40 let you input 'non-CPU lens' info in the menu? that's how I do it with my 105 to meter correctly. I'm not super familiar with the d40's specific setup.

No, it doesn't. The D40 is about as entry-level as you can get. It's not a problem to make a couple of tests or, if I'm not too mobile for the extra weight, I can just get a quick reading with the N90S.

 

[djacobox372]

All the prime ais lenses I own are stellar.

16mm 2.8 fisheye
20mm 2.8
24mm f2
50mm f1.2
50mm f1.4
105mm f4 micro
300mm f4.5 if-ed
600mm f5.6 if-ed

The extra stop if speed on the 24mm f2 is very useful indoors.

The 600mm is a real gem, as is the surprisingly small 300mm if-ed.

 

[Patriot]

I changed out the focus screen in my D7000 to help with manual focusing lens. The split screen helps a lot.

 

[Aloicious]

I would love a split focus screen for my D800e but unless I'm mistaken there aren't any made, even by third party makers like katzeye. it seems camera manufacturers are making it more difficult/impossible to swap them in recent models which sucks.

 

[Derrel]

djacobox mentioned a 300mm Ai-S Nikkor lens that is really small...if it's an ED-glass and internal focus model, he probably means the 300mm f/4.5 ED~IF. It has a very slender barrel, with a light-touch Internal Focus system ring that has amazing feel and functionality when the lens is in good repair, and the focusing ring is not bound up with 30 years' worth of abuse or neglect. The focusing system moves small, internal lens elements, so the action is LIGHT, and smooth...this is not like older 300mm helicoid-focusing lenses...the 300 f/4.5 ED~IF CAN BE successfully used for action photography. The focusing ring has marked distances of Infinity, 100ft/30 meters; 50 ft 15 meters;10 meters; 30 feet; 7 meters; 20 feet; 5 meters; 15 feet;4 meters; 12 feet; 10 feet; 3 meters; 2.5 meters Minimum Focus Distance. When these were new, in the mid-1980's I used to use the one my college newspapepr had in the pool, and it has FEATHER-touch focusing movement...as in one finger, rolling ability...racing to and fro....my current lens has a much more dampened, yet silky-smooth focus throw; I have encountered a few "beater grade" models that had very,very stiff focus throw.

The thing is, the focus throw from 100 feet to 50 feet is about a 3/8 inch turn, or maybe 15 degrees; from 50 to 30 feet is a bit more throw, so it's fairly easy to be both accurate, and precise. The focus throw from 30 to 15 feet is roughly 50 degrees in angle, and about 1.25 inches along the barrel, so the focus "slows down" and also becomes more precise, which helps the human hand,eye,and brain to focus a 300mm lens as well as it NEEDS to be. The 400mm f/3.5 ED~IF works similarly, but has even more marked distances, and is even easier to focus on moving subjects! These lenses were designed to be state-of-the-art "action" lenses in their day, and were groundbreaking when they appeared. I have used the 400/3.5 for track and field, baseball, and some football...the 400/3.5 is one of the absolute easiest-to-handle big lenses ever made. Skinny barrel, big front element group,pre-set distance "Stop" which can be overrun if desired, and two-stage focus tensioning system for either super-light touch, OR firmer, stiffer focusing action if desired. The 400/3.5 balances almost perfectly with a 1-digit Nikon body for ballast, with the lens supported on a monopod.

I just took these puppies out and snapped a few quick shots with a single light. Bang, bang, bang!


Photo 1) The 300 f/4.5 ED's nameplate and signature "gold ring", indicating Extra-low Dispersion glass, an optical advancement Nikon invented and named "ED Glass". Other companies later copied Nikon's lead, and named their own high-performance glass melts with their own proprietary letter code systems.

Photo 2) The 300 f/2.8 AF-S II (magnesium barreled model), 300mm f/4 AF-S still current; 300mm f/4.5 ED~IF.


Photos 3 and 4:The 70-300mm f/4.5~5.6 AF-S G zoom is shown in Photo 4 set to 70mm, and extended to 300mm in Photo 4, seen against the 300mm f/4.5 ED~IF. THis is a size comparison most people can relate to, since the 70-300 AF-S G is in pretty common circulation these days.


Photo 5: The 400mm f/3.5 ED~IF and its littler brother, the 300mm f/4.5 ED~IF. When it was announced in 1976, the 400/3.5 was the world's FASTEST super-telephoto lens. This is a 1982, native Ai-S version, the 181st sample made if my figures are correct. This 400mm lens has been retrofitted with a CPU and contacts, so it automatically reports to any Nikon AF SLR or D-SLR, with no need to manually enter EXIF info into the camera's memory.