Nice old lens for Nikon D80

mxfun

mxfun

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Sean Logie
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Hope everyone's copingish with the lockdown ....

I'm after some advice on getting myself a nice old manual lens for the D80 I have ,any suggestions ,I already have the 18-55 VR kit lens which is okish for now .

Budget of around £100 .

Cheers
Sean
 
The earlier 18-70 that was the kit lens for the D70 is better than the 18-55. Still automatic though. If I was after a fully MF lens, I'd probably go for a wide aperture 50mm, as wide as budget will allow. I doubt you'll find an f/1.2 but a 1.4 or 1.8 should be there or there about.
 
You should be able to find an older MF 50 f1.8 for around that price. The f1.4 version will be a good bit more, unless you're willing to take a punt on one from Japan (bear in mind 'mint' isn't actually what we'd call mint; it should be ok mind). You amy also get stung for import duties, which will be at the claimed value of the item, not the actual price you pay (so if they value it at a higher price for postage insurance purposes, you'll end up paying according to that valuation). So you could end up paying a chunk more. And it's a royal PITA to send it back (if it's 'free postage', it'll cost you a small fortune to return it). That said, I've bought a fair few bits from Japan off Ebay, and only been done for import duties once. And all items have been fine.
 
The 50mm is appealing but I think I'd rather a longer zoom .

Sean
 
A Vivitar 70-210 Series 1 might be what you're after. From memory, it could be a little soft in the corners but that was on 35mm film so you'll be losing that bit on a Dx sensor anyway.
 
The Nikon series E 75-150 is sharp and light. You'd need to check it's compatible with the D80 (I think it is). And watch for a loosish zoom action which some samples have. It should be under £100.
 
Have just had a quick check (you may want to check yourself). The D80 is compatible with AF-D and AF-S Nikon lenses, but will not meter with AI and AIS lenses. Thus manual focus only lenses may be s problem.
 
I'd look out for a 135 f2.8 AIS. The one downside is the lack of metering as John has said.
 
JohnFar said:
Have just had a quick check (you may want to check yourself). The D80 is compatible with AF-D and AF-S Nikon lenses, but will not meter with AI and AIS lenses. Thus manual focus only lenses may be s problem.
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I enjoy using old full manual lenses .

Sean
 
I think you could take a look at the Nikon Kogaku 50mm f2.
 
woof woof said:
I think you could take a look at the Nikon Kogaku 50mm f2.
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I think any lens old enough to have the 'Nippon Kogaku' engraving will originally have been a pre-AI lens. Mounting one of these can damage the D80! However, many pre-AI lenses were converted to AI after the new system was introduced in the late 70s. Ideally, you want one converted using the official Nikon kit rather than some hack job that (depending how it was done) might still not be safe to mount.

As noted above, even AI lenses will not meter with the D80, though fitting a third party 'Dandelion chip' can add this compatibility. Nikon also made three manual focus 'AI-P' prime lenses that will meter with the D80 out of the box.

There are also some reasonably priced dSLR bodies that will meter with AI lenses (e.g. the D300). The less reasonably priced Df can even take pre-AI lenses.
 
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Ive got a nice old NIKKOR 50mm manual lens for sale. If you want any more info or pics just message me. (coincidentally ive had 3 messages about this lens in the last 5 minutes from FB marketplace. Its been for sale for months. Someone is collecting on Thursday. If it falls through, let me know your interest and i'll keep you in mind.)
 
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Retune said:
I think any lens old enough to have the 'Nippon Kogaku' engraving will originally have been a pre-AI lens. Mounting one of these can damage the D80! However, many pre-AI lenses were converted to AI after the new system was introduced in the late 70s. Ideally, you want one converted using the official Nikon kit rather than some hack job that (depending how it was done) might still not be safe to mount.

As noted above, even AI lenses will not meter with the D80, though fitting a third party 'Dandelion chip' can add this compatibility. Nikon also made three manual focus 'AI-P' prime lenses that will meter with the D80 out of the box.
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That's a shame. Metering you can I presume do without but it's a shame if it wont mount.

They do however work well on my Sony A7, which is nice if ironic.
 
Retune said:
I think any lens old enough to have the 'Nippon Kogaku' engraving will originally have been a pre-AI lens. Mounting one of these can damage the D80! However, many pre-AI lenses were converted to AI after the new system was introduced in the late 70s. Ideally, you want one converted using the official Nikon kit rather than some hack job that (depending how it was done) might still not be safe to mount.

As noted above, even AI lenses will not meter with the D80, though fitting a third party 'Dandelion chip' can add this compatibility. Nikon also made three manual focus 'AI-P' prime lenses that will meter with the D80 out of the box.

There are also some reasonably priced dSLR bodies that will meter with AI lenses (e.g. the D300). The less reasonably priced Df can even take pre-AI lenses.
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I understand the not metering bit; that's how my Z6 seems to deal with old MF non-electronic lenses. But I can still take pics, cos I can see how the exposure looks, through the viewfinder. So I can still take well exposed pics. Can that not work with a D80? By simply reviewing the image in the LCD; 'chimping', to get the exposure right?
 
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AZ6 said:
I understand the not metering bit; that's how my Z6 seems to deal with old MF non-electronic lenses. But I can still take pics, cos I can see how the exposure looks, through the viewfinder. So I can still take well exposed pics. Can that not work with a D80? By simply reviewing the image in the LCD; 'chimping', to get the exposure right?
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Sure - it's less convenient than looking through a mirrorless viewfinder, but it will work, and you can use the histogram. It may also help to get the settings approximately right first and then fine tune (the 'sunny 16 rule' works suprisingly well, as do some of those exposure meter phone apps, and of course you can use the D80's meter with your existing lens at the start of your shoot to get an idea of the baseline exposure). Incidentally, I've seen it claimed that pre-AI lenses can be used with the FTZ adapter for the Z series. This isn't officially supported, though - a 'dumb' adapter might be safer.
 
woof woof said:
They do however work well on my Sony A7, which is nice if ironic.
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Do you get a metering indication? The Z6 does actually meter (in Aperture Priority mode), and gives correct exposure. It just doesn't give you a readout which would be useful in Manual mode.

Retune said:
I've seen it claimed that pre-AI lenses can be used with the FTZ adapter for the Z series. This isn't officially supported, though
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Most Pre-AI lenses can be used; it's to do with how far the rear lens elements protrude into the body. Some fisheyes for eg, need the mirror locked up on a DSLR BEFORE fitting the lens. I don't think that's possible on all Nikon DSLRs. Of course, with the FTZ, there is no mirror to get in the way. And with Pre-AI, there's no upper needle thingy for the aperture index, like you'd get on older Nikkormats, Fs and F2s etc.
 
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Whilst looking on E#ay along with other sources I bagged myself an immaculate 50mm f1.8D for a bargain price.The sellers said it was used ,on receiving and opening up the lens it was still inside the little plastic bag which was still sealed ,which kinda makes sense because the lens to me looks unused,maybe he had a bag sealer This little lens is sharp . Guess I'll have to find the 50's little brother now
Sean
 
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