Nikkor 43-86mm zoom

I have just bought a Nikkor 43-86mm F3.5 zoom, #890xxx.

 

Does anyone have any experiences or comments on this lens.

 

Thank you.

 

Peter.

Your serial number indicates a later version of this lens, which is

good, as the earlier versions were not rated very high.

 

I had one for a while, using it on an F2 Photomic, and was

pleased with it. Used it to shoot B&W. Sharp when stopped

down, but a bit soft when opened up much. Nice contrast though.

A much maligned lens, especially the later AI version. I have a #90XXXX and like it for casual shooting when a single lens is all I want to carry. It's not pin sharp wide open but is quite acceptable by f5.6 with good contrast.Naysayers, most never having shot it, pan the late 43-86 on the strength of its non-AI ancestor's rep as a dog.

I have one that I bought in the late 70's. A very good lens. I used it for lots of commercial shooting and always found it sharp and contrasty. Mind you I never use a lens wide open unless I'm looking for limited DOF. Hey maybe if you shot it wide open for portraits you might get some of the famous "Leica glow" LOL.

I owned one "early model" and some years later a "later model". Both were bought new. The only thing I liked about either was the price. At the wide angle end (43mm), both were the absolute worst Nikon quality I have ever observed bar none. At the tele end (86mm) it was a tie for the worst Nikon lens I ever owned with maybe the old 35mm f2.8 wide angle of early Nikon vintage. Might be good for soft portraits at 86mm, but that's it. At the wide angle end, the corners were VERY soft wide open and improved very little stopped down. I should have learned my lesson with the first one! Stay far away unless you want a soft portrait lens!

 

Robert Johnson

I had one in Japan decades ago. It was sharp enough but had very

noticeable barrel distortion. Too much so. The store let me return

it even for this reason.

I probably have an earlier AI version, serial 54XXXX. Bought it 15 years ago, second hand

with my first Nikon, an old FE. For Nikon, its an average quality lens. I use it a lot for its

compactness and zoom range. It is far better quality than some much later 35-70 zooms

which nikon made.

 

The comments made by others about the soft focus and edge distortion is fair, but the

problem is not a disaster. I also think that the lens is of variable quality - sometimes you

get a good one, somtimes you don't.

 

Here is an example of its use. The image is full frame, not cropped, at max zoom.

 

Hope this encourages you,

 

Andrew<div></div>

I have a very late (serial number over one million) AI model and use it often. It is a good lens in my opinion for portraits of people (usually female) that have less than perfect skin. Unlike a more modern lens, this lens has a very good balance of sharpness without being cruel in the rendering of details. I use this lens at full aperture to exploit this effect.

 

To be honest, this lens is my last choice for most other types of photography, mostly due to the distortion, both barrel and pincushion, but for people photography, it can flatter the subject in ways that a sharper lens can't.<div></div>

I have one I bought new in 1977. It is multi-coated and I had it converted to AI. During three years of travel with the USN in the Western Pacific area (and two diversions to Kenya), I loved the lens and took thousands of photos. I was shooting Kodachrome 64 slides and could not have wished for more quality for travel slides, it was the perfect mate to my Nikkormat FTN.

 

I became a convert to single focal length lenses later and have not used the 43-86 in years, but I'd never sell it.

I bought one of the last ones made and it has been one of my favorite lenses for years, especially for portraits. It has been around almost forever with one version of the early Nikkorex bodies having it permanently affixed...the old ones had a bad (and deservedly so) reputation for softness. The later ones like you got are very nice lenses that get knocked all the time by people whose only experience with them is "something they read somewhere".

 

George

The 43-86 looks really cool on a Nikon F with Photomic prism. That's reason enough to own the lens.

<I>The 43-86 looks really cool on a Nikon F with Photomic prism. That's reason enough to own the lens.</I><P>

 

It look really cool sitting next to a Nikon F with photomic prism too.<div></div>

Like Al already said, portraits of folks with skin imperfections won't show like they would with a sharper lens.

 

So, you don't need to have a makeup artist standing by to get nice photos of mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, etc.