NIKON NIKKOR 20mm f3.5 Ai-S on D750

Apart from no AF this lens should work fine on the D750?

Being an AI-s it should work fine. Besides no AF it only works on A and M modes. It doesn't work on S or P modes. Also you have to enter the lens data.

How does the 20mm AIS perform on a crop sensor Nikon?

Works fine on a D7200 but no great gain.

It's a good lens, very compact and reasonably resistant to flare. Gives sharp and punchy results.

 

Like most of Nikon's wideangles of that era, the corners are soft on full-frame and have some fringing if you feel the need to pixel peep. With most subjects and at normal viewing sizes it's not a problem at all.

Actually, used deliberately, the flare with this lens can be very interesting.

I've used the F/2.8 version for infrared on a D70 - in manual mode, which you have to use for infrared anyway. Although the lens has light fungus the images look fine.

 

D70S, 20mm F/2.8, R72 Filter, 1.6 seconds at F/11

Kinda looking at this one for the price, looks like a decent lens for the price, But Im thinking im just going to get the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED instead

Of the three generations of modern 20mm MF Nikkor (f/4.0, f/3.5, and f/2.8), all these years later the f/3.5 arguably holds up as the best compromise of qualities for use on digital. The f/4.0 was a legend in its day, but vignettes like crazy and many surviving examples are somewhat mediocre performers due to age and abuse. The f/2.8 has the advantage of speed and floating elements, but flares more than the slower lenses and its mechanical design flaws make for difficult second-hand vetting (if you want the f/2.8, buy from a legit dealer like KEH with no-questions-asked trial period: many random eBay copies have loose front assemblies).

 

The Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 is a nifty tiny lens: barely larger than the pancake 50mm f/1.8 Series E, perfect for a small travel pack. Decent across the full FX frame for such a vintage film design (of course, it can't touch the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 @ 4x the size/weight/price: the Nikkor trades some performance for tiny size/weight). Its flaws were typical of most film era Japanese ultrawides (yes, in the 70s-80s 20mm was still considered exotically wide). One, it has noticeable field curvature, so for critical landscapes use live view on DSLRs like the D750. Two is an outgrowth from one: it isn't optimized for flat-field infinity- its wheelhouse is near-far studies, with a close or midrange subject of interest in focus and the infinity backdrop somewhat melting away. It performs surprisingly well close up even on tubes or bellows, if you can stand a working distance measured in centimeters.

 

The f/3.5 is famous for flare/ghost resistance: it can usually be shot with direct orb of the sun in frame with no significant issue (its the antimatter opposite of the 14-24 AFS). As Sandy Vongries noted, you can get it to flare in interesting ways by adjusting framing and POV: positioned just right it will give the classic sharp radial sunburst with sequential blooms (beloved by Ken Rockwell etc). In this regard it is a direct descendant of the original, excellent, huge 60s-era 20mm f/3.5 Auto-Nikkor-UD.

 

One suggestion I would make based on personal experience: skip the AIS and look for the earlier AI version. As with all the AIS lenses, Nikon made the dubious decision to shorten focus throw without regard to whether that would actually improve handling of any particular lens. The throw on the AIS 20mm f/3.5 is very very short: tolerable on a film SLR with split image screen, but irritating with bright plain matte DSLR screens and live view. I enjoyed my two AIS copies for more than ten years, but soon after migrating to digital I exchanged them (at a loss) for AI versions: the longer focus throw is greatly preferable on D800, etc. Optically the AI and AIS are identical.

 

Re using this lens on APS-C (DX) or Micro 4/3: don't bother unless you happen to have the lens for FX already and just need it for occasional small-sensor use. It performs adequately on DX, but not spectacularly, and focusing is a PITA with the tiny tunnel viewfinders. The 20mm f/3.5 is among a handful of Nikkors (85/2, 24/2.8, 28/2) that some photographers feel have a "flat, dull" look for their type of work: this is much more apparent on DX than FX. On a d3xxx/D5xxx/7xxx, the lowly 18-55 AFS kit zooms handily outperform any manual-focus 20mm.

Edited January 19, 2019 by orsetto

In addition to orsetto's excelent tekst :

I like to use the 20mm F3.5 in reverse on my (PB-4) Bellows because it gives a good magnification and it has a 52mm filter thread which in turn fits straight on a BR-2a reversal ring ..

I've used it on D200, D300 and D800.. On all: focusing is hard, image quality almost excellent and very much better than the 24/2.8.

On D800 you do get this tiny true wide-angle lens, also suitable for filming, and for macro use (on short extension, or reversed as suggested above). On the DX sensor camera's, the lens is still too long to be of much practical (wide-angle) use, as I learned some years ago.. (and then got the 12-24/4.0 much to my satisfaction).

One additional thing to note in addition to the above notes, with regards to the 20mm f/3.5 AiS: it is much better on shorter focus distances than it is at infinity. It's a lovely little lens, with good contrast, colours and a gentle pleasant rendering, but not ideal for landscapes. The drop in definition was already noticeable on a D700 for me, let alone on a D8x0. But great for getting close® and making the best of the exegerated perspective of a wide angle.

 

Never tried it on DX, has a Tokina 12-24 for that which made more sense to me for that sensor size. For small on a DX, I used a 24 f/2.8 and quite liked it, mine seems to be a nicer copy than per above.

Although the lens has light fungus the images look fine.

Someone told me fungus doesn't effect IR shooting but for UV it's a nightmare as the fungus 'glows' and kinda fogs the entire frame with internal flare.

...but for UV it's a nightmare as the fungus 'glows' and kinda fogs the entire frame with internal flare.

 

- UV also kills fungus. So maybe the 'glow' is little tiny fungus ghosts going to fungus heaven?

But that's not where I'd like to send the little b*stards!

It was one of my favorite lenses early in the newspaper days and the damn thing actually got me fired from one thank goodness. I still love it.

 

Rick H.

Do yourself a favor and get a K1 extension ring to shoot wide angle close ups.

Do yourself a favor and get a K1 extension ring to shoot wide angle close ups.

What photo_galleries said! :cool: