Old Nikkors

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gbadgley

Active member
As a new user of the AF100 I ended up getting the 14-140mm. I think this was a good first choice for a lens as it is allowing me to explore the full functionality of the camera. Now I'm considering purchasing fast primes and I have been looking at the old Nikkors AI AIS MF.

But on one of the threads there is a discussion of worn mechanicals in these lens. It seems that performing a rack focus sometimes produces an image shift. So, after reading this thread I'm not so keen anymore. It seems buying these lenses is a bit of a crap shoot.

Just how concerned should I be, ie. is it rare to have this problem, or is it fairly common?
 
gbadgley said:
As a new user of the AF100 I ended up getting the 14-140mm. I think this was a good first choice for a lens as it is allowing me to explore the full functionality of the camera. Now I'm considering purchasing fast primes and I have been looking at the old Nikkors AI AIS MF.

But on one of the threads there is a discussion of worn mechanicals in these lens. It seems that performing a rack focus sometimes produces an image shift. So, after reading this thread I'm not so keen anymore. It seems buying these lenses is a bit of a crap shoot.

Just how concerned should I be, ie. is it rare to have this problem, or is it fairly common?
Click to expand...

I have bought quit a few lenses off of eBay and have had pretty good luck with them. So far I have bought 10 lenses off of eBay and had only one that was not up to snuff, and on that one I got a full refund. The feedback and resolution systems that eBay has keeps people pretty honest. So I am pretty confident when buying off of there. Just beware of the listings that say something like. "From an estate sale, no way to test... Sold as is". If the seller states condition and functionality in the listing and it does not turn out to be so, then you do have a pretty good leg to stand on. Of ccourse, buyer beware is in full effect, everywhere you go.

As for image shift when rack focusing... still lenses in perfect condition can do that. A lot of still lenses "Breathe" when focusing. They are not designed for motion imaging and this is just the characteristics of some lenses.
 
I have a Nikkor 50mm f1.8 that my mom bought back in the late 70's. It's works perfectly, and produces an image that is indistinguishable from high-quality cine primes. The only times I've had an image shift when using a follow focus is when I'm using a lens adapter that doesn't sit completely still in the mount.
 
David G. Smith said:
I have bought quit a few lenses off of eBay and have had pretty good luck with them.
Click to expand...
Same here. Got one Nikon 50mm f/1.8, some Vivitar 70-150 & 80-200mm f/3.5 & f/4 and one Hoya 28mm f2.8. I've shot some nice video with them and I've been pleased with the quality of them.
All of them have their quality and uniquness:
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 : Nice Bokeh and great low-light performance.
IMG_5681.JPG

Vivitar 70-150mm f/3.5: the 70-150 can macro-focus and have some nice bokeh, but starts at f/3.5
IMG_4945.JPG

Hoya 28mm f/2.8: Nice lens flares and not bad with the f/2.8 as it's quite wide and allow more light.
IMG_4874.JPG
 
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