Vintage Primes - recommendations for the frugal photographer

Was sorely tempted to bid on a Nikon 100mm F 2.8 MF lens down by dBay today - let it go. It sold for $80 (with 15 minutes to go it was about $50 - always the last few moments that count). Looked at a 200mm "1:4" (not listed by F?). And a 135mm F3.5. All are manual.

I found an chart on line that shows my D610 can manage all lenses except the "pre-AI" (which is sometimes called Non-Ai I think those mean the same). And "invasive fisheyes". My D5100 has a shorter list of compatible lenses.

I've been enticed by some of the very nice bokeh on some of images shot with these old vintage primes. And the reviews of their quality suggest that they are still great lenses. IF you get past the "MF" part.

I've always pretty much left the AF on and do not own any MF only lenses. I'm going to try a photo-shoot with one of my lenses turned to MF (I think I'll use my 50mm F1.8 just because. And see how it goes just to see if I like to manually focus or if I hate it.

I know that MF is not recommended for family snapshots where people are moving about or wildlife. Portraits maybe. Still life (in my case my model railway hobby shoots), landscapes, buildings and other things or macro's are recommended.

Anyone still in love with their old, err vintage MF Prime?

Which ones should I look at getting - which ones should be avoided?

As you have worked out your 610 can use almost any MF lens from the late 70's. All I have work wonderfully... Many have (especially the AIS versions} the same optical formula as their AF equivalents. Primes are meant do one focal length well and many of the iconic photos of all times (Afghan girl and Brother Wolf) were taken with these lenses. The macro lenses are fabulous and I've never figured why the heck you need AF with such a small DOF. The ability to use my "old" lens collection on a FX digital body was the reason I joined the revolution in 2012.
Try to buy the faster versions of the focal length your after and you won't be disappointed.... If you search a thread on here about MF lens usage you'll find some amazing photos from a 50mm F1.2 AIS lens

One that i liked from my 35mm days was the normal 200mm f4,if you can find the 200mm f4 macro lens that had a very good reputation.

Sorry can't find the link, was a fab shot of a model and was as good as you'd get from any 50mm....

Just remembered another good one 180mm 2.8,the only thing to watch for it was a well liked pro lens and as such was used without a filter on, loads are for sale with varying degrees of front element marks.

I love using my 35mm and 85mm f/2 AI lenses even on my D750. The 35mm f/2 in particular is great for street shooting when I'm wanting to manually "zone focus" rather than using AF at all.

They're not particularly cheap lenses, but cheaper than their AF/AF-S equivalents (though I think the AF/AF-D 35mm maye be close in price to the AI version?)

Certainly lenses like the 135mm and 200mm AI primes are really nice, too, as are zooms like the 80-200mm f/4 AI.

Mr. Shine said:

I love using my 35mm and 85mm f/2 AI lenses even on my D750. The 35mm f/2 in particular is great for street shooting when I'm wanting to manually "zone focus" rather than using AF at all.

They're not particularly cheap lenses, but cheaper than their AF/AF-S equivalents (though I think the AF/AF-D 35mm maye be close in price to the AI version?)

Certainly lenses like the 135mm and 200mm AI primes are really nice, too, as are zooms like the 80-200mm f/4 AI.

Click to expand...

I'll have to keep eye out for that 35mm - I do have a 35mm DX which I really love on my D5100 - although through the crop factor that lense is closer to my 50mm 1.8 on my D610. While it does work on my D610 I do lose the FF advantage.

As for "cheapness" - I'm seeing many lenses in the $100-$200 range, a few sub-100 and of course lots over $200.

Well did a few more parrot portraits - just love a model that does not complain - too much. And sharpness counts when looking at bird feathers.

Used my 70-200mm lens set to MF for most of the testing switched back to AF for some comparison shots.

It is a skill that needs to be developed. I seem to recall that on my old Nikon F60 when manually focusing there was a focus aid in the viewfinder that helped - but there is no such aid in the D610 (unless I missed it). I thought maybe when I turned the button to MF maybe an MF aid might come to assist. (Hint to Nikon that would be a dandy feature). Or maybe it is there and I don't know about it.

The image below is a composite of two shots taken one after the other, only thing to change is MF to AF (I was on AF-C). I'm sure there must be a small difference in the focal settings but my MF effort was dang close to the AF-C image. And that was without much practice at all. Still it takes a little getting used to.

Might have been easier in better lighting as I had a little difficulty seeing Kiwi in the dimly lit room.

I also wanted to just play with a few different focal lengths that I commonly see available in the vintage MF prime market. After this little experiment for parrot portraits - and I'm sure people too I'm leaning towards the 85mm. I do read that it is one of the recommended portrait lenses. Although I did see a recent youtube about photography extolling the virtues of using a 200mm lens for portraits. It seems to give greater background blur. Although at least with my old vintage Nikkor 70-210 I had to step well back from the bird to get him into focus. Maybe six feet or so which is not a big deal and did get a really nice blurred image.



The above is an 85mm while below it's 200mm



No sharpening or other pp effects - just set white balance to the whites of his eyes. The 200mm isn't even cropped.

I'd say that if you can live without the newer coatings and optical designs, and AF (aka you're not shooting in a fast paced environment) oldies can be pretty awesome. As far as 610, all you have to do modify the aperture ring to make it clear the aperture lever on the body side mount. I did that for my 55/1.2 and works just fine. It DOES take precision handiwork though.

Out of the newer glass, perhaps only the pro lenses can match that glorious, rock-solid feel of the oldies but nothing will ever feel the same as the old metal, scalloped focus rings. There's also little to nothing that can wear and tear unlike the new gimmicky lenses.

i recently picked ap a cheap copy of the E series 75-150 3.5 (there is a thread here I started, just do a search). I am blown away with the sharpness of this lens! a number of the lenses in the e series are reported to offer outstanding performance.

You can replace the ground glass (focusing screen) of your camera and get the focusing aid. The cameras's standard focusing screens aren not de-polished enough for accurate focusing. We are actually seeing more through it than on it's surface.
I've bought replacement focusing screens for all but my Df at www.focusingscredn.com
They come with replacement instructions and it's not rocket science to do the replacement. Well worth it for someone that want to save big on lenses.

Will look into that Marcel

I wear glasses and find that a real problem too as I must remove my glasses to see through the viewfinder - then put them back on to see the subject (or anything else that's more than three feet in front of me). I've consider the replacement rubber do-dad that is supposed to help with this. Hear the cheap imitations ones of those are not a good substitute for the Hoodman Hoodeye. Don't know if that would make much difference, but never heard of this Focus Screen replacement.

BTW it is Focusing Screen the link above is broken.

Englischdude said:

i recently picked ap a cheap copy of the E series 75-150 3.5 (there is a thread here I started, just do a search). I am blown away with the sharpness of this lens! a number of the lenses in the e series are reported to offer outstanding performance.

Click to expand...

This is a really good point - some of the Series E lenses, while often criticitsed as cheap and plasticky, can be actually really quite good. I seem to remember the 105mm is quite good though I'm unsure of the rest of the Series E line - worth looking into perhaps though!

The Series E lenses were:
28/2.8
35/2.5
50/1.8
100/2.8
135/2.8
36-72/3.5 zoom
75-150/3.5 zoom
70/210/4 zoom

Had an extensive 35mm Nikon kit back in the day my favorites were 135 f/2.8 Ais and a 28 f/2.8 Ai.

just recently replaced the 28 with a mint new one via eBay and it is as good on the D700 as it was on my F2's.

Going to the next town tomorrow to look at a 105mm AF F/2.8 D Nikkor Micro (not the VR version)


Seller says bit of dust that does not impact images - he seems to be a very meticulous photographer. Recently made the jump from Nikon to Sony. He had problems with his D610 - Nikon upgraded him to D750 - then that unit had problems. Because it is a local purchase I will get a chance to put the lens on my D610 and take a picture to see for myself. He did post some images and I cannot tell there is any dust in the lens. I guess a little dust in the lens is a common enough issue. As long as it is not fungus I guess.

Any thoughts on this purchase? He came down from asking price to $175

I think it would compliment my collection just dandy.

For 175 that's almost a steal and you get AF to boot.

Fortkentdad said:

Going to the next town tomorrow to look at a 105mm AF F/2.8 D Nikkor Micro (not the VR version)
View attachment 138843

Seller says bit of dust that does not impact images - he seems to be a very meticulous photographer. Recently made the jump from Nikon to Sony. He had problems with his D610 - Nikon upgraded him to D750 - then that unit had problems. Because it is a local purchase I will get a chance to put the lens on my D610 and take a picture to see for myself. He did post some images and I cannot tell there is any dust in the lens. I guess a little dust in the lens is a common enough issue. As long as it is not fungus I guess.

Any thoughts on this purchase? He came down from asking price to $175

I think it would compliment my collection just dandy.

Click to expand...

Want!

As a lens junky, I enjoy a variety of lens, including a whole slew of lens. a lot depends on your eyes, the old cameras
had the split screen, and thru alignment you had some focus aid, but now it is more just a function of your eyes, but
you can use use the camera to dial in your eye site,

What is nice is the focus confirmation with the solid circle, it really works, and so ,, you can have the camera confirm
your focus.

I have a slew of E lens, well, almost every one but the smaller focal lengths.

that said, on an average day, AF,, just more convenient.

hrstrat57 said:

Want!

Click to expand...

Got it