Hello, everybody! I’m craving for some doughnuts today. I like them a lot, it can be eaten with breakfast, lunch or dinner. They can also be served from the simplest of settings up to the fancier presentations that can be found at the expensive restaurants. They also come in many different flavors, too. If you don’t prefer sweets like me, you can just enjoy the plain and un-glazed version which I consider to be the best because it’s the most versatile. I love that version a lot and I judge a shop by how delicious their plane version is. If you can’t make one the right way then there’s no point masking the taste with other flavors. Speaking about the basics and versatility, I’ll show you a lens today that’s the pinnacle of simplicity and and it does the basics right. It’s so good at the latter that it was used as the lens to judge other lenses in terms of sharpness. Its versatility cannot be denied and it does everything really well. Let me present to you one of the best Nikkors ever made.
Introduction:
The Micro-Nikkor-P 55mm f/3.5 Auto is one of the most influential Nikkors. It was so successful that it influenced a lot of copy-cats from other brands and its legacy still lasts to this day in the AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED. It’s one of Nikon’s best contributions to the photography world since it turned a specialized lens into something that you can use regularly for taking almost everything thanks to its practical design. Its predecessor is the Micro-Nikkor 5.5cm f/3.5 which is exceptional in its own right but its use is limited due to its quirky handling. It does not have an automatic iris but it can focus down to 1:1 magnification but it’s tricky to use outside of its own field and you’ll have to make a lot of compromises. It can’t be coupled to a camera’s meter, too. These were addressed by the Micro-Nikkor-P 55mm f/3.5 Auto. It turned it into a more useful lens but it lost the ability to focus down to 1:1. This was remedied by the included M-ring that’s sold with it as a kit. It’s just a simple extension tube but it allows the lens to be coupled to the camera’s meter. Its length is enough to get you down to 1:1 so you don’t lose anything with this new setup so long as you have the M-ring with you.
The build is perfect, it can withstand the tortures of professional use. It can last for generations so long as you maintain it properly. It’s so simple that it can’t get broken in the field so long as you keep it clean. Its core design did not change much from its debut in 1963 to its last version that came out in 1979. Even the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 Ai-S which is still being made today didn’t deviate much from this design. The design lasted the test of time and I don’t see any point in changing it because simplicity akin reliability. More
Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 