Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review

Hello, everybody! Have you ever felt disillusioned or infatuated about going on a vacation to an exotic destination that you have always wanted to go? Your head is filled with expectations of what French society is like, British cuisine, Japanese hospitality, or even Indian mysticism. Upon arrival, you couldn’t believe yourself and thought that you have arrived in Pakistan, with ninjas all over the place. The food tasted bland (no wonder they’ve conquered the world!), Tokyo is filled with mainland Chinese peasants, and the spirituality is gone as you get blocked by hordes of scammers and olfactory assault along with rubbish. My friends, this is called “Paris Syndrome“, when a person suddenly has a mental breakdown because their expectation of a place is not what they’ve experienced. It’s good if it’s just that, but some people have lost their lives and dignity. I am sad to share that I felt that way but not about a destination, it’s about a lens. I have always wanted one, but after owning it and reading the numerous issues surrounding it, I was not very pleased at all! All those years, I have always thought that this is the ultimate lens of its class and it all proved to be just an illusion, a sad event in my Nikon journey. Read the whole post and you shall know why.

Introduction:

The AF-Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED needs no introduction since it’s a recent lens that was only discontinued a few years ago. It is also the last of a long line of Micro-Nikkors for the F-mount that started from the Micro-Nikkor-P 55mm f/3.5 Auto. It signals the end of an era where it’s replaced by the Nikon NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8 which I consider to be an inferior lens because I have an attachment to the F-mount ones. It replaced the AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D which was still being made concurrent with this up to a certain time because of just how good the older lens is. I was infatuated with AF-Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED and wanted it so much since 2008 when it was still relatively new. The reviews sang praises of it because of its optical excellence, but it hides an ugly truth, one that will forever change my impression of this lens.

It’s kind of chunky for lens of its class and the interface is minimal, with only a switch and a focusing ring to operate. The build quality is excellent, better than many contemporary Nikkors and it’s sealed from the environment, too. Nothing moves while you use it, nothing racks in-and-out, everything is contained within the body so the size doesn’t matter in this context. Despite the use of plastics all over it feels solid, if it were to have a metal shell then it will be much heavier which won’t be good at all.