Introduction

This AI version lens was made from about 1975 - 1979. Other versions with different mechanics but what appears to be the same optics were made since 1961.

It is a swell manual focus macro lens. It's the predecessor to the current 55mm f/2.8 micro and 60mm AF.

Even for manual focus cameras today I'd suggest getting the newest 60mm AF instead here unless you get a screaming deal on this 30 year old lens used.

Specifications

It takes 52mm filters.

It focuses down to about 10" (0.241m) at which point the image on film is one-half the size of the subject.

It has five elements in four groups.

I'm unsure if it has close range correction (CRC).

It has a six-bladed diaphragm stopping down to f/32.

It takes the Nikon HN-3 hood, although you don't need it.

It weighs 8.6 oz. (245g), less than the current 55mm f/2.8 micro

It is 2.6" (66mm) in diameter and 2.5" (64mm) long, a tad fatter and a little shorter than the current 55mm f/2.8 micro

Performance

Like most Nikkor manual focus lenses, this lens is sharp in the center at all apertures but a bit soft in the corners wide open. Close it down a stop or two and the corners are sharp, too. This is at infinity! Close up it probably is better still.

Also typical for this vintage lens, there is falloff wide open which goes away closed down a stop or two.

Like all Nikon manual focus lenses it is made to an impeccably high mechanical standard and should last forever.

Recommendations

This lens is over 20 years old and should be a bargain for anyone who needs great macro performance.

I prefer the 105mm lens for macro work. Friends use this focal length for photographing fish in aquarium tanks. The short focal length allows one to get close to the glass and still be able to see a complete fish, unlike a 105mm.

If you want a macro for duplicating documents then this is a good choice. If you want to photograph little animals, then go instead for a 105mm macro.

It works great in place of a faster normal lens. When I was younger and stupider I thought that it would not be very good when used at ordinary distances. Whoops, it should be spectacular at all distances. Unless you need the extra stop or two offered by the other 50mm normal lenses, you can forget about needing a separate normal 50mm lens if you have this.

The nature of close-up photography is such that the effective aperture of the lens gets smaller as you focus closer. The camera compensates for this automatically when you meter through-the-lens for available light or with TTL flash.

If you are using this with manual flash or an external meter you will need to compensate manually for this loss of light.

The hard way to do this is to carry the instruction sheet with you everywhere and refer to it constantly.

The smart way is to attach a piece of removable white label to the focus ring, and mark the compensation along this ring of paper that corresponds to the focused distance per the instructions. No I don't have the instructions or the figures for you here.