What is a good OLD prime tele?

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NikonThom

Senior Member
I don't use telephoto lenses much, so an older used prime lens would be great for me. I don't even need autofocus or in camera metering. (I have a D5000 and a Fuji S3) So I'm looking for good sharpness, not speed. I use a VERY sturdy tripod. With these criteria in mind, and price a definite factor... what lenses come to mind?

Thom
 
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Eye-level

Banned
Cheap - take a look at the 135's...the 2.8 non Ai is dirt cheap and an exceptional lens...the 135/3.5 is also cheap and is a sonnar formula... The 180 is another good lens pretty famous back in the day...

In terms of short telephoto the 85/1.8 non ai is a bit pricey but still affordable and very good...also that cult classic lens the 105/2.5 which is pretty affordable and the really really old ones are also sonnar formulas.

I know you said primes but one of the cheapest and most underrated lenses in the old Nikon line was the 75-150 series E zoom...an amazing lens with incredible bokeh all for about a $100....
 
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NikonThom

Senior Member
Eye-level said:
Cheap - take a look at the 135's...the 2.8 non Ai is dirt cheap and an exceptional lens...the 135/3.5 is also cheap and is a sonnar formula... The 180 is another good lens pretty famous back in the day...

In terms of short telephoto the 85/1.8 non ai is a bit pricey but still affordable and very good...also that cult classic lens the 105/2.5 which is pretty affordable and the really really old ones are also sonnar formulas.

I know you said primes but one of the cheapest and most underrated lenses in the old Nikon line was the 75-150 series E zoom...an amazing lens with incredible bokeh all for about a $100....
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Thanks for the replies. I left out some important information... I have lenses covering up to the 200mm range, and I even own the 135mm f/2.8. It is a very good lens indeed! I'm looking for 300 to 400mm range for birds. I have an old Solagor 400mm lens which is more like the bottom of a coke bottle than a lens! Chromatics are terrible! Just look at my bird picture in the 365 project for a sample!!!

I can't afford the fast nikon 300mm lens, it costs more than my whole kit! I don't know how good the mirror lenses are, never used one. Not sure if ANY third party lens would be much better than the Solagor... so... are there any options with decent quality at, say, $300 or less? (Used of course)

Thom
 
L

LensWork

Senior Member
If you are at all concerned about image quality, stay far, far away from mirror lenses. While they are compact and lightweight for the focal length, they are slow (usually f/8) and not very good for picture quality.

The best of the Nikkor 300mm manual focus lenses that won't set you back a ton of cash is the Ai-S 300mm f/4.5 ED-IF. They can be found for $250-$400.
 
Pierro

Pierro

Senior Member
What about the 400 f3.5 Ai ?

I seem to get reasonable shots

EDIT - sorry , just read your budget of $300. I missed that bit

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AperturePriority

New member
NikonThom said:
Thanks for the replies. I left out some important information... I have lenses covering up to the 200mm range, and I even own the 135mm f/2.8. It is a very good lens indeed! I'm looking for 300 to 400mm range for birds. I have an old Solagor 400mm lens which is more like the bottom of a coke bottle than a lens! Chromatics are terrible! Just look at my bird picture in the 365 project for a sample!!!

I can't afford the fast nikon 300mm lens, it costs more than my whole kit! I don't know how good the mirror lenses are, never used one. Not sure if ANY third party lens would be much better than the Solagor... so... are there any options with decent quality at, say, $300 or less? (Used of course)

Thom
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Hi Thom,

I still have nikkor 300mm f/4.5 AIS that I used with FM2n, FA, and F3HP bodies. It has a better sturdy collar than 300mm f/4 AF-S that I am using now. You can find one likes it in ebay for less than $200-250. It's sharpness and contrast are great. But its minimum focus distance is 8' compare to the new lens is about 5'. Be awared with its Chromatics too: watch out for the back-light and the ghost flare in the morning and late afternoon shots.

Good luck,
Tu.
 
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