Hello, everybody! It’s really cold now as it’s the middle of winter, not a good season for birding if you ask some people but this is a good chance for me to take photos at the marsh because all plants are dead, leaving any wading birds exposed. This makes it easier for me to discover and shoot them, I won’t have to worry about anything obstructing my view. I could also get closer, too. Birding is not my thing so I don’t buy equipment exclusively for it but there’s a lens that I am fond of for this purpose. Today, I’ll show you a cheap lens that you can use for birding so you can try it for yourself and see if shooting birds is going to be exciting for you.
Introduction:
The Nikkor 200mm f/4 Ai-S was sold from 1981-1996, quite a long time for a lens from this class. This is the last of its class, it became redundant as zooms began to perform as good if not better than some prime lenses. This was one of the favorites of many travel photographers because it’s light and compact. Its optical performance is also quite good, making it an appealing substitute for bigger Nikkors. While it’s simply a refresh of the older Nikkor 200mm f/4 Ai with a new barrel and internal mechanisms the optics remained the same as far as I am aware.
It’s really well-made but not as tough as the older Nikkor 200mm f/4 Ai. Despite that, it’s able to withstand use by an amateur or professional in the field. The focus-throw is rather long which is expected from a telephoto lens but I would prefer that it’s a bit shorter. It’s not bad at all and it’s not a handicap. It has a built-in shade which is convenient so you will not worry about buying a separate accessory for it.
Hello, everybody! I’ve been watching some music videos and movies from the 1990s. I consider this era to be a “transition” era from “analog” to digital. Standards were not that well-defined yet, many things were in a state of flux until the mid-2000s where things began to take-shape. Many concepts from that era don’t appeal much to some people because they’re not “vintage” enough to be novelties or be tolerated for their flaws because the standards are too-close to what we consider to be the status-quo these days. They’re awkward but they play a huge role in forming many concepts that we have today so I think they require more recognition. Today, I will show you something from this era, it’s a bridge from the past that links us to the present. Many people do not give it the respect it deserves but without it we wouldn’t be enjoying some of the established lenses that we’re enjoying today. Read this article to learn more about the “Spice Girls” of Nikkors.
Introduction:
The AF Zoom-Nikkor 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 was sold from 1989 to 1998. It was made to satisfy the need for a long 4x zoom that’s portable. It surely was until its successors were introduced which were all a lot smaller, lighter and made of plastic. To its credit, it replaced the Zoom-Nikkor 100-300mm f/5.6 Ai-S which was even heavier. It is also brighter and wider at the wide-end but it doesn’t have a fixed-aperture. That allowed it to be made with a more compact body which people were more than happy to compromise with. It proved to be quite popular thanks to its versatility, that “macro-gimmick” also allowed you to focus nearer, about 1.5 meters which is not that bad for a lens of this type back then. With it, you could shoot sports, journalism, fashion or anything else without the need to bring several lenses in your bag. It’s more about convenience, than image quality.
It’s a long lens so it comes with a tripod collar which helps keep your setup stable. You simply loosen the knob and adjust your setups orientation. It won’t click into-place at right-angles unlike some older lenses. The build quality is quite good, it’s mostly made out of metal, hinting that it was aimed at the professional market. It has a broad zoom-barrel which feels comfortable to use. The focusing ring isn’t as broad but it’s adequate. Using it manually doesn’t feel good at all, it turns lightly without much resistance or damping unlike manual lenses.
Hello, everybody! Are you someone who demands the latest or the greatest in order to create something good or are you someone who could just go-by with what you have and make the most out of it and just bear with it despite the challenge? I fall into the latter, I am not demanding as a person so I’ll do what I could with what’s available to me at any time. The results won’t be my best but at least I ended up with something. There will be times when we just have to deal with things no matter how inadequate they are so long as it’s not impossible. Today, I’ll show you a decent lens that’s inadequate for professional use but it’s not unusable to the point that it couldn’t take decent photos. In desperate times, I would take this lens out and take some nice photos with it.
Introduction:
The AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6D IF was sold from 1998 to 2003. This lens is all about compromises, it could do a lot of things at the expense of some drop in image quality. It offers an amazing 7x zoom-ratio which is convenient for a lot of things specially when traveling so long as you have enough light to work with. It was a hit and many people bought it for its versatility, even professionals bought these.
The barrel is wide, it’s a bit heavy when held, too. The focusing-ring is slim and inadequate for manual-use, its really short focus-throw makes it even worse. Despite having a bogus “macro-gimmick” it won’t focus close at all. The zoom-ring is broad and easy to identify, this just shows that the designers envisioned it to be used like this wherein people will zoom with it more than use the focusing ring. The aperture ring is standard but since it’s a lot smaller than the focusing ring you could easily turn it by accident with your little finger. There’s not a lot of space for a grip so it’s a bit awkward to mount-and-dismount. There’s a tiny lock for the aperture ring at the throat so you won’t accidentally turn it, giving you an “FEE” error when used on many newer cameras.
Hello, everybody! I was listening to Modern Talking, their hits have catchy melodies that will leave earworms in your head for days. People will laugh at you when they catch you listening to them these days but the duo used to be very popular back then. I personally don’t mind what people think about my music choices, this is rather personal and we should listen to what we want wherever we want. Your choices shouldn’t be dictated by anyone and that includes what lens you choose to shoot with. Today, I will show you a lens that used to be quite popular back then but is now considered “unfashionable”. It’s not the best lens out there but people who know how to shoot with it will be able to enjoy using this and have a great time. You show the snobs what you could do.
Introduction:
The AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5 was sold from 1987 to 1995, it’s sort of the successor to the older Zoom-Nikkor 25-50mm f/4 Ai-S which was designed as a professional lens as evident by its fixed maximum aperture. It came out at a time when Nikon was making a huge move towards autofocus lenses to complement the then-new Nikon F4. Unlike the Zoom-Nikkor 25-50mm f/4 Ai-S it’s more compact and light so that compensated what I consider to be its biggest shortcoming, having a variable-aperture.
It’s well-built, typical of many Nikkors of its time. Despite not being all-metal like the classic Nikkors it’s quite dense when you hold it. The front and outer barrels are plastic but the chassis appears to be made from metal so it could take some form of abuse. Unlike many of the earlier autofocus Nikkors it has a decent build and the focusing ring isn’t flimsy at all.
Hello, everybody! I am actually amazed by how many youngsters are into film photography these days. It is a good thing because it keeps the industry alive and the appreciation for older equipment ensures that the little mom-and-pop shops selling used cameras stay open. The side-effect to this is prices of used gear is on the rise, even cameras that used to be less-desirable now cost more than they should. I am not against this, in fact, it’s a sign of a healthy market. Today, I’ll introduce to you something that represents this social phenomenon, it was something that people forgot but kids these days remind us of what used to be precious and how photography is supposed to be enjoyed.
Introduction:
The Nikon L35AF/AD was sold from 1983 to about a few years after that since newer, improved models were introduced frequently to keep the market interested. It’s a handsome camera, the body shell was designed by no other than Giorgetto Giugiaro himself so it incorporated some of his design philosophies that you could see in a Nikon F3. Going back to its conception, this was made in order to give Nikon something to sell in this part of the market. Other manufacturers made early-advances with their all-automatic cameras and Nikon had to join the race in order to show them who was the boss back then. This resulted in this camera which is a good, reliable design and it performs consistently as you would expect from a Nikon. The designers were so proud of it that Nikon nicknamed this the “pikaichi” or “number-one”. It’s an impressive camera considering that it’s Nikon’s first fully-automatic compact camera.
It’s sturdy, certainly well-made compared to other cheaper compacts of its time made by other companies. Its plastic chassis is tough and the back is made from metal. The flash pops-up when the shutter-speed is too-low but you could trick it by covering the meter’s window and depress the shutter-button. You can also shoot with it in lowlight without the flash by depressing it so it won’t pop-up but the results won’t be as good because you are overriding what the camera thinks will give an optimal exposure. The flash’s GN is unknown but the user manual said that the flash is only able to give accurate exposures up to 4m at most. It’s also coupled to the iris module, ensuring accurate exposure within the 4m-range.
Hello, everybody! My kid loves the toys she gets with her “kiddie meal”, it’s a good tactic on the part of the restaurant because it keeps children occupied while eating or at least they could look-forward to something if they finished their food. These toys used to be made with better quality as opposed to how they are these days but they’re still quite nice considering how little they cost. It’s difficult to make a decent product and sell them cheaply but it’s even tougher to produce something that’s great at a much lower price. Today, I’ll show you something good that’s cheap but it will also satisfy even the demanding photographer when you factor-in its price. A great value in today’s economy.
Introduction:
The AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G was sold from 2001 to 2005. It’s considered to be the first real kit-lens in the true sense of the word. There were many cheapo lenses that were made before this but the kit-lens idea hadn’t been clearly defined yet, this lens defined the standard which every manufacturer follow to this day. It gave us a concrete idea of how these lenses should be – specs, price and expectations. It should have a decent performance, acceptable build quality, practical specs for general photography and most important of all, a low price. These were not meant to be used by professionals but they were so good that many people use them for a living even today specially in less-developed economies.
This is the first G kit-lens as far as I know. Its compact dimensions and light-weight makes it ideal for travel or hiking but not so much for the latter since its mostly made of plastic, even the lens mount is plastic, too. It will survive heavy use but it may not endure the professional use in the field. A hard knock may split the lens into pieces as you’ll soon see why.
Hello, everybody! Recent events tells us that Nikon won’t be making cameras in Japan anymore, all cameras will now be made from the Thailand plant due to cost-cutting decisions made several years earlier. While it’s a big blow to Nikon’s prestige I don’t think it’s much of an issue since we’ve been using Nikons from the Thai plant for some time now and we’re shooting lenses that were made there for an even longer time. The earlier days of Nikon Thailand are now distant, they have now grown and acquired the precious know-how to create high-quality products. The growing-pains of setting-up an offshore company has all been ironed-out by now. I will show you something in this article that was made in the early days of the Thai plant, it harked back to the days when it was only relegated to manufacturing cheaper, bottom-shelf products but look at them now, they could now produce some of the best cameras on the planet! Let’s all support Nikon Thailand.
Introduction:
The AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-80mm f/4-5.6D (N) was sold from 1995 to 1999 and was made in Thailand. It replaced a similar-naming lens so it has the “N” suffix meaning it’s the “new” version. The older one was made in Japan, it has a different look which is more “premium”, that was made from 1994 until it was replaced by this one. A big reason for moving production to Thailand is to cut manufacturing costs and with it many of the products that were made there in the early days have a rather cheap feel to them. If you want to make it cheap why not go all-out? The Thai version has noticeably cheaper materials and methods used so people looked-down on it, so did I but I think I’ll have to look-back and correct my previous views of the early Thai Nikkors.
Handling is quite standard with all the conventional rings in their right places. The focusing ring is very thin, almost non-existent. Nobody was designing this to be focused manually it seems. The plastic body made this a light, compact but cheap-feeling lens. This is not the Nikkor that many people are used to, in fact, it feels quite cheap even compared to newer kit-lenses. The later ones also have plastic bayonet mounts so I replaced mine with a compatible one that I found in my spares box.
Hello, everybody! I was out shopping for some ginger. The market is flooded with Chinese ones and it’s hard to distinguish them from local produce but upon closer inspection you’ll find that their colors aren’t the same and putting one close to your nose will even make it easier to distinguish which one came from where. These imported ginger are less-fragrant and the color is a bit paler, they’re inferior but they serve a purpose that is why we see them at the grocers. They’re sold to the budget-conscious who won’t care about where their food came from and the subtleties in food quality. I’m not saying that Chinese ginger is bad, they’re just inferior to the local ones in every manner, that won’t fly with me but it’s good-enough for some people. Today, I’ll show you something similar, a watered-down version of a classic and it was done for the same reason, to cut cost.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-Q 13.5cm f/3.5 Auto featured in this article is the 6-bladed-iris version, an optimization of the older, more expensive 9-bladed-iris version that was sold from 1959 to 1960 with the rare Nikkor-Q 13.5cm f/3.5 Auto (tick-mark) as its most-prominent model. This one was sold from 1961 to 1969 with later ones named Nikkor-Q 135mm f/3.5 Auto which should not be confused with the identically-named Nikkor-Q 135mm f/3.5 Auto which is a different lens with a modified optical formula and a totally-new barrel. The earlier 9-bladed models were difficult and expensive to make due to the intricate design of the iris. Nikon decided to give this one a simpler iris mechanism in order to cut cost, that and a couple of minor internal revisions made this easier to create. It certainly made the accountants happy.
It’s a well-built lens. It feels dense when held, its all-metal construction ensures that it will survive field use in the worst conditions possible.
Hello, everybody! I was watching some videos of my favorite musicians when I was young and I was shocked to see them categorized as “oldies”. Some of them still sound great while a couple seemed “dated”. I consider them to be quite decent in their time but now they’re totally irrelevant, just a blip in the music scene. This is not to say that they’re bad if you put their music in the proper context, they did entertain us at a time when a lot of musicians simply made bad music. Today, I will show you something that used to be quite good at a time when many of its contemporaries simply couldn’t make the cut but it’s dated today, something that’s best left to the lens aficionado to appreciate. Read this article to know what this lens is.
Introduction:
The Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.5 Ai was sold from 1977 to 1981. It’s one of Nikon’s original “standard-zooms”, it was revolutionary in a way since it covers some of the most important focal lengths used for photojournalism and events or travel photography. That allowed this to replace 2 or 3 lenses, a big convenience at a time when carrying several prime lenses was the norm. Its maximum aperture speed of f/3.5 is respectable but not as fast as most primes lenses, that’s a price many people were prepared to sacrifice for convenience. I suspect that it was made for use by professionals because it has a constant-aperture and other features that many of use will consider to be premium such as the amazing build quality and its well-corrected distortion profile.
Unlike many zooms of its time this one came with separate zoom and focusing rings. That means it’s better for shooting with a tripod since zoom-creep won’t be a problem. You could make precise turns with it, too. All this suggests that it was originally intended for shooting with a tripod instead of action photography. I was merely making an assumption with that statement.
Hello, everybody! I like Korean fried chicken, it tastes great and I won’t get tired of eating it all-day. It’s crispy and tastes better with the special sweet-and-spicy sauce. There are some things that you’ll never get tired of, I will show you something today that’s similar to Korean fried chicken, you could reheat it and it will taste just as good as the day you bought it but this one is something that you’ll never ever digest.
Introduction:
The Nikkor 28mm f/2 Ai-S was sold from 1981 to 2005, quite a long time compared to many Nikkors. This is an upgrade of the older Nikkor 28mm f/2 Ai wherein it gets a new barrel, later serial numbers have the then-new Nikon SIC coatings applied. It’s great to use, I know many people who love these but some people will always compare this with the cheaper and tinier Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S and claim that the latter is better. Neither is, they’re different tools for different uses. If you want something that renders a scene with a delicate look, this is the one you need.
Its barrel is beautiful, the build quality is good and it will survive professional use in the field. It has a rather pathetic depth-of-field scale which I don’t like, it’s narrower compared to many wide-angle Nikkors. For those of you who are used to focusing with the scale, this may be a problem. The good news is your view is going to be a lot brighter because more light will reach the focusing screen.
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Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 