Nikkor Portrait Lens 35mm – 60mm

This part of the project was super daunting… this isn’t a complete list of all Nikon Prime lenses in this field.. but it is pretty close. I looked up research about 95% of all lenses made in this time. Or at least I think so. I’ve came across a few websites that makes this pricing research null. But who cares 🙂

Nikkor DX Primes

• There ain’t jack for these. Only 4 prime in total.
• Which one is the best? The 35mm is far more cheaper…
• Basically it comes down to, do you want to take photos in low light and want bokeh?
• Or do you want to have a macro focus at the cost of low light ability?

35mm The Wide Portrait

The 35mm Lens offers an excellent focal point. It is wide, yet it can be used for natural portraits. It offers flexibility that the 50mm or 85mm does not offer. Some 35mm lens can be had for cheap, can get almost high apertures as the 50mm, plus they have simpler smaller construction & can be had for cheaper. For this lens category I have separated the lenses by their f stops, and for the specialized tilt/shift lens.

35mm f/2.8 – Classic Lens

• Disclaimer – There are 7 lenses in this range, but two lenses are extremely difficult to differentiate from their older counterparts
• The Nikkor-S (both) refers to the old F mount lens, that had an external redesign.
• The ‘newer’ version had a scalloped aperture ring, the older didn’t. At the time I couldn’t tell the difference and included both of them, as the lens elements are the same.
• On the AI variants, the “newer” version had a different internal lens design, but externally it looked the same. Sellers didn’t distinguish the difference, so performance will vary!
• Nab the older Nikkor-S lens or K variant, Ai mod it on your own.
• Get the Ai-S if you require a perfect fit w/ best features, but don’t want to spend the extra like you’ll see soon…

35mm f/2 & f/1.8 + f/2.5 – Classics & Modern

• Not included in research are the Nikkor-O & “K” Lens… sorry. 🙁
• Quite a wide range of lenses, from 1965 to 2018 release dates
• I put the Nikon E Series here.. because idk why, it’s an odd f stop
• Best price/performance – 1128 f/2, great if you don’t use flash
• Better/Safe – 1923, f/2D, because the AF-S 2215 can get pricey
• Nikkor Z is new, so what you expect?
• As far as performance goes… I don’t know if the older lens are limiting, however save that bestest part for the f/1.4 lens

35mm f/1.4 – Low Light Perfection

• The Nikkor-N “C” and K lens have Thorium in them, which gives the lens radioactivity element to it. However these lenses have a yellowing effect due to this, which sadly will affect picture output pre-processing
• Best price – Ai 1129, can be had for cheap on the low end, decent price at the mids.
• Autofocus? – AF-S 2198 is the only autofocusing unit here, hence the price & the larger build than the others. For this you get nano-coat.
• Better Buy – Ai-S 1429 is still in production, & has a relatively great EX+ price in comparison of the older Ai model.

35mm Shift Lens

• None of these lens tilt, they only shift or “slide”
• Not many of these lens are sold or for sale. However they aren’t rare per se.
• I’m assuming people skip these up for the tilt shift 19, 24 or 45mm units
• Price – 2nd lens, only if you can AI mod it
• Performance on these I am not sure, skip the 1st lens unless its cheap.
• The last lens I just had to guess on the price.

45mm f/2.8 – 3 Tessar & Tilt Shift

• Three of these lens are super small ‘pancake’ Tessar lens
• None of these have an auto focus!
• GN – Guide Number, used for auto exposure on flash… much needed back then for photographers who wanted flash on the fly
• Ai-P – Like the GN, but now modern, comes in silver or black
• PC-E – Tilt shift lens, however this thing is FUCKING HUGE compared to the 3 others here
• Most people say the Ai-P is expensive & you’re better off with one of the GN lens
• Price – 1st lens… obviously
• Performance – PC-E, because its expensive, nano coat… & tilt shift lens
• I’d stay skip these entirely, a 50mm lens is optically better for portraits

50mm – The Portrait Lens Standard

There is so much to say about the 50mm lens, for the used market a lot of these can be bought for cheap. A 50mm f/1.8 is probably the most recommended lens to get for any sort of photography. Period. All companies make a stellar 50mm lens, Nikon & Canon have heavily competed in this field. For these lenses there are quite a plenty of them.

50mm f/2 Classics

• Most of these need to be modded if they aren’t already.
• These lenses have all the same Sonnar elements, its just the H-C & latter have multicoat elements
• If you’re a collector, the 5cm f/2 is Nikons first DSLR lens made. I’m sure the low serial number units will sell for higher (if noted)
• Price & Performance – Ai 1136, its the latest one, which is the ‘bestest’ one and probably has a less likely chance of mold/wear
• Nab the older ones for the looks & feel, I would. Ai mod is only needed for higher end cameras that have the aperture ring coupler.

50mm f/1.8 – Bokeh Bargain “Nifty Fifty”

• I don’t care for the term, Nifty Fifty, but w/e
• Most of these are pretty cheap for the bokeh effect they present in comparison to other lenses
• f/1.8 is perfect for single portraits, but god does everything get blurry if miss the focus
• A lot of these lenses have the exact same name, but have slight differences in build. So not all lens are here, some are bundled, due to these pictures/labeling, its too difficult to differentiate them for now…
• Nikon E Series had two variants, Ai-S has 3 variants, 2 are similar, and the AF had two visually different versions, til the D variant that looked similar to the latter one.
• Cheap – Nikon E Series & love the lightness of the thin ‘pancake’ lens.
• Performance – 50mm 1.8G 2199, or get the special edition for the looks
• Yes the Z version is newer, but is larger & heavier… limited to Z mount

50mm f/1.4 – Because I want more bokeh

• There are 11 type of lens you can get in f/1.4, but the Nikkor-S, “K” & AF (non-D) have two versions of them. So only 8 are listed here.
• The AF units are most distinguishable from each other, design wise, like the 1.8’s. The -S and “K” units (SNK? :D) are fairly similar.
• Price – Ai 1133, because it will fit just fine & quite a bit of em
• Cheaper? – Nikkor-S, for that Thorium radioactive yellowing look
• Performance – obviously the AF-S 2180, grab the 1902 if you don’t mind the motor not built in (noisier), & no manual focus override.
• For me, I already have a 1.8D, so I’d nab a cheap Nikkor-S for lulz, or spend the cash on a f/1.2 unit…

50mm f/1.2 – Not Noct, but bright enough

• Not sure why but Nikon didn’t really make much f/1.2 in 50mm
• They made them in 55mm and 58mm, which is strange bc there aren’t 1.8’s or 1.4’s (one exception) for them
• The Ai-S is still in production via made to order, & is usually in stock thru other retailers, NIB!
• As far as picking which one is better for price/performance I’m pretty tossed up in between them
• Citation needed. Here is info from photo net website & flicker’s discussion.
• Ai – Focusing takes longer (more accuracy), 7 aperture blades, heavier, but is said to have a much sharper focus at f/2
• Ai-S – 9 aperture blades (smoother bokeh, 14 point light stars), but shot wide open, the backgrounds look uglier
• For me honestly, the longer focus throw is fun to use, so I’d go with the Ai version ove the Ai-S. Noct is there for perfection anyways….

55mm – The fastest, & then Macro

The 55mm focal length is an odd one. The first one made was a macro lens, which was able to extend for macro use, similar to a push pull. From there they needed an extension tube to retain the 1:2 picture ratio, vs the 1:1 without it. I believe this was needed for all non AF lenses, however some are picky and need a certain ring, M (M1), M2, PK-3, PK-12. Oh yeah, they made super fast lenses too in this focal length. The first f/1.2 F mount lens was in 55mm. However the technology was a lot different back then. Although you might believe some of these being a discount NOCT Nikkor lens, they were build completely different than those series. BUT, why the hell not, lets get into this!

55mm f/1.2 – The Fast Lens

• Price – This is a tough one… EX+ the K is cheaper, but if going off of ebay… the S-C can be a low priced deal….
• Or just search 55mm f/1.2 and call it a day. Now I think of it.. i should put prices of these due to how many times ppl generalize em.
• These are not like the NOCT lens are they have different glass & I believe a different coat that has better sharpness.

55mm Macro – f/3.5 to f/2.8

• These all have Micro-Nikkor, but I removed Micro because it takes too much damn space on the tables
• One lens not in here is the 55mm f/3.5 non “p” lens, too many results from other lenses or botched searches
• The “Mixed K” are K mounts w/ other non/pre Ai lenses
• The first lens, is hella rare due to being the oldest and it is sought after. Because the other lenses need an extension ring for macro 1:2 scaling
• The 5.5cm lens can extend itself, like a push pull zoom.
• I believe the AF Macro lens does not need an extension ring for macro images but I could be wrong
• price – Nikkor-P or either K lens
• Performance – obviously the AF 1990, good price too

58mm – Bokeh Only – f/1.4 & f/1.2

The 58mm lens is known for one lens only, the NOCT-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2. It was a very very limited release lens, usually only made to order, with the intention for use for night photography. It was made originally as an Ai lens, then went to Ai-S, up to 1998 or 2005, depending on the source. From there it just gained a lot of reputation of being Nikon’s most magical & legendary lens. Although some would argue that Canon’s 50mm f/0.95 “Dream Lens” is better when it comes to performance & bokeh blur, it’s just simply a Nikon vs Canon stan thing. The NOCT name is coming back for the Z Mount, & other than those, there are two f/1.4 lens to nab.

• Right now the ‘brightest’ brand new lens you can get, is the AF-S 58mm f/1.4 until the Z Noct comes out in… 2020?
• I’m not sure the legacy of the 5.8cm f/1.4, but I believe Nikkor went to 50mm as the successor to that lens, then the 55mm f/1.2 (can be wrong
• Price – Nikkor-S 5.8cm, because its $300 max…
• Practicality – AF-S 2210, although there are possibly other better lens, this is still pretty good at f/2, even if the Noct is sharper.
• The Z Noct is massive, like BROLY MASSIVE, so far it looks as wide as a 600mm lens end, for the entire barrel & just as heavy.
• Which is better, the Ai or Ai-S Noct? Basically it boils down to 7 aperture blades vs 9.
• Unlike the 50mm they are super similar optically/focusing throwing, some argue 9 blades have better blending bokeh

60mm Macro f/2.8

There are only two lenses here, both autofocus. They are the successor to the AF 58mm f/2.8 Macro. Not sure why Nikon did this, perhaps justify its price with a separate depth of field vs the 55mm & 50mm lens?

• Price – AF 1987, mostly because its older
• Performance – AF-S 2177, because newer & quieter.

Soooo yeah, thats all the Prime Portrait lenses, well most of them… I’m probably missing more than 3 or maybe up to 10. :O

I skimmed this quite a bit, in comparison to my laptop/cpu price guides. I’m not an authority at all when it comes to Nikon gear. I’m barely getting into this stuff, there are plenty of websites, reviewers & photographers who can speak quite a bit about the lens performance & plenty of help threads out there in forums. Anyways, hope this information was useful, I had more originally posted on this blog but… wordpress didn’t save the original stuff and I’m not going to re-write the 5 paragraphs I didn’t save.