Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review

Hello, everybody! I took a leave from work today to cover CP+ 2017 for my readers. I had to wake up early today because CP+ 2017 also coincides with the used camera bazaar by ICS in Ginza. I went there first and then quickly made my way to Yokohama for CP+ 2017. If you’ve been following me for more than a year, you will remember that I covered CP+ 2016 of last year. What’s new this year? Well, nothing much to be honest. It looks and feels the same every single year. This is Japan’s version of Photokina wherein new products are showed to the public and international brands come to Japan to sell theirs here. There are plenty of newcomers but it usually consists of the usual big boys in the Japanese camera industry.

Nikon’s booth is yellow as usual. There’s nothing new in terms of layout and I hope they’ll change that next year so that we’ll see something new next time in terms of presentation and activities. Nikon has been very conservative all this time and that attitude has allowed others to leapfrog them in many things. More

Hello, everybody! I am feeling very well now, thank you very much for the well-wishes and messages that I received! The weather is beginning to get warm as Spring is just around the corner. Spring brings plenty of seasonal things like migrating birds, hay fever, the numerous seasonal produce that I enjoy and most especially – bugs! Bugs are shy creatures and taking pictures of them can be a challenge at times. For that, you’ll need a lens that will give you enough subject-to-lens distance. For me, that is only the job of a 105mm lens macro lens (or longer).

Introduction:

Today, I’m going to introduce you to the Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Ai-S. This is a very versatile lens for portraiture, macro and just about everything. It’s an advanced lens that was way-ahead of its time when it debuted, it is still available now new for use with the scientific community wherein precise manual focusing in high magnification is important. How many lenses can boast of such longevity? Not a lot.

The Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Ai-S lens is still being produced now in 2017. That is around 34 years of continuous production since its debut in Spring of 1983. Can you imagine that? It’s older than some of my readers.

This particular lens was bought from the junk shop and you can check from the pictures how bad this thing was. The lacquer coat is worn and the only way to restore this back to its former shiny state is to strip this to metal and repaint this. I do not have the time for that so I will just leave it as-is. I was very pleased with the results of the lens so I restored this so the operation is smooth.

Hello, everybody! I’m now down with the flu so I’m going to keep this brief. I am usually resistant to sickness but lately stress from work has been getting to me so that probably affected my resistances somewhat. I’m feeling a lot better now but I will need to take the doctor’s recommended rest period of 5 days. After that, I’ll assure you that I’ll be back to my usual health and even better, I will practice kung fu again this coming spring so that my body will regain my old resilience to sickness. This is a tale of redemption for me and this also happens with lenses so read on!

Introduction:

Today’s topic is about a lens that many would consider fit for nothing but parts due to its heavy fungal infection but I will show you that almost nothing is not worth a try as far as old Nikkors are concerned! Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you this little gem, the Zoom-Nikkor 43-86 f/3.5 Ai lens!

It looks really great on a camera of the same vintage, don’t you think it looks sexy on this Nikon F3HP? I love the Nikon F3 and for me, this is the best manual SLR ever made. You may have heard about this lens and read reviews about it. Some people will claim that it is useless due to a variety of reasons such as optical performance and ergonomics as well as the unfortunate pedigree of being part of the 43-86 family. There are some lens review writers on the net and they gave the Zoom-Nikkor-Auto 43-86mm f/3.5 a bad name. Sure, I won’t deny that the Zoom-Nikkor-Auto 43-86mm f/3.5 sucks but you’ll have to put things in context and then you will realize how good that lens really is and what it stood for. It’s the first zoom lens that was made affordably with a lot of compromises due to the time it was made but it’s a decent performer then. This lens redeemed the 43-86 family because its optical performace is quite good for its time and category. For a cheap lens that came with many cameras in a kit, this lens sure is a decent performer with no compromise in build quality. I will show you some samples here to back-up my claim but please do not set your expectations too high and remember that this is a cheap zoom lens thats made to give the economically-challenged photographer a zoom lens that they can use for fun and work. Yes, you heard me right – I said work. For some pros who can’t afford much, it was all they had and it sure help paid the bills!

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