Marco Aries

The Nikkor 85mm 1.8 D was sold from 1994 to 2015, it autofocus and many people would not consider it vintage. Personally, I don’t care what you call it, so, let's take a closer look. The lens is made of hard plastic with a metal mount, it weights around 370g, it is 59mm long and it has an external diameter of 71mm, with a 62mm front thread. It uses a rear focus system, so the front doesn’t extend when focusing. The autofocus is screw driven.  The iris has 9 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f1.8 to f16 without half steps.  The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 90 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 85cm.  The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. The plastic body doesn’t feel great, but it is well put together.  The focusing ring is very light and narrow, a bit too much of both, but it is very precise.  The aperture ring is even more narrow and it can be tricky to use.  It is just a little bit front heavy, but it feels rig...

The lens is made of plastic with a metal mount, it weights around 250g, it is 44 to 52mm long and it has an external diameter of 65mm, with a 52mm front thread. The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f1.4 to f16 without half steps. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 160 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 45cm. The autofocus uses the screw drive system. The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. The plastic body doesn’t feel amazing, but it is well put together. The focusing ring is a bit narrow and smooth, while the aperture is big but only partially textured and not the most practical to use. It is a small and light lens so it doesn’t throw off the balance of the camera, whether adapting on mirrorless or on Nikon srls. Sharpness wide open is lacking all over the frame, but it improves stopping down and gets really sharp by f8. Chromatic aberration is present at all apertures, but rarely distracting and highlights bloom at wider a...

Between the 70s and 80s, zoom lenses were rising in popularity and, after three years of development, Nikon released the 35-200 in 1985. Allegedly, it was a technological marvel at the time, created with the aid of rapidly improving computer processing, allowing manufacturers to push the boundaries of what was previously possible. The lens is made of metal and hard plastic, it weights around 700g, it is 11.9 to 17cm long and it has an external diameter of 70mm, with a 62mm front thread. The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f3.5 at 35mm or f4.5 at 200mm to f22 without half steps. It uses a push pull zoom and focus, with a wide textured grip and it turns 150 degrees. Minimum focusing distance is 1.6 meters throughout the zoom range but if you push this button and turn the barrel it can focus up to 30cm at 35mm and 1.3 meters at 200mm. The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. Overall build quality is great, but there are a few things that I don’t like ...

As we have already established in the review of the 28mm, Nikkor lenses can be quite confusing, so it took me a while to figure out what exactly this 50mm is. Apparently it was build somewhere between 1968 and 71 and later on has received a factory conversion, meaning that is was upgraded by Nikon to work with the AI system introduced in 1977. The letter S indicates the seven elements construction and the front and rear glass have a single amber colored coating. The lens is made out of metal, it weights 300g, it is 48 to 53mm long and it has an external diameter of 67mm, with a 52mm front thread. The aperture is clicked and it goes from f1.4 to f16 and the iris has either six or seven blades depending on the year it was produced. The focusing ring has dimples for better grip, it turns 170 degrees and minimum focusing distance is not great at 60cm. Flange distance for the Nikon F mount is 46,5mm. The focusing ring is smooth but the dimples are shallow so the fingers might sl...

Nikkor lenses seem to have a bit of a cult following, with many people swearing by their amazing quality, so I was curious to try them myself. A few months ago I finally found two of them, the 28mm we’re checking out today and the 50mm 1.4 that I’m still testing out. Right off the bat, I have to say that Nikkor lenses are kind of confusing; while they all share the same F-mount introduced in 1959, there a number of different variations, often almost indistinguishable one from the other. Luckily for me, none of that matters when adapting to a mirroless camera. This lens is made out of metal, it weights 220g, it is 45mm long when focused to infinity and 50mm when fully extended, with a 52mm front thread. The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2.8 to f22. The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 180 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 30cm. When focusing the front element turns as well. Flange distance for the Nikon F mount is 46,5mm, here' an adapter ...