AF-Nikkor ED-IF 200mm f/3.5 Disassembly

Matt Hall · Oct 25, 2024

I have an AF-Nikkor ED-IF 200mm f/3.5 lens used with my F3AF body. The front element has rather large scratch on it that I have always wanted to address but to no avail as I could not find a donor lens. I recently acquired one that has a busted aperture and the AF motor is shot, so it is a perfect candidate and has a pristine front element. However, I cannot seem to get the thing off the lens. There is a ring holding the glass in place which I can turn with my spanner wrench, but it only comes out a few mm and butts into the filter threads on the front of the lens. I pulled out the built-in hood and found a set screw in the side. I figured you must unscrew this and the entire front body can be removed. Once out the front glass can be removed from the rear of this assembly. But . . . . the tube will not unscrew. I have even tried a lens wrench and it won't budge. Have tried a couple of solvents to loosen the joint without success. There is absolutely NO information on the web about this lens so I am a bit perplexed. I have contacted most of the repair facilities around the country that work on Nikon F3s and none of them have ever worked on this lens. If anyone out there has any experience with this equipment I would really like to hear from you.

fstop · Oct 26, 2024

Andreas Thaler · Oct 26, 2024

fstop said:
View attachment 381896

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Andreas Thaler · Oct 26, 2024

Matt Hall said:
I have an AF-Nikkor ED-IF 200mm f/3.5 lens used with my F3AF body. The front element has rather large scratch on it that I have always wanted to address but to no avail as I could not find a donor lens. I recently acquired one that has a busted aperture and the AF motor is shot, so it is a perfect candidate and has a pristine front element. However, I cannot seem to get the thing off the lens. There is a ring holding the glass in place which I can turn with my spanner wrench, but it only comes out a few mm and butts into the filter threads on the front of the lens. I pulled out the built-in hood and found a set screw in the side. I figured you must unscrew this and the entire front body can be removed. Once out the front glass can be removed from the rear of this assembly. But . . . . the tube will not unscrew. I have even tried a lens wrench and it won't budge. Have tried a couple of solvents to loosen the joint without success. There is absolutely NO information on the web about this lens so I am a bit perplexed. I have contacted most of the repair facilities around the country that work on Nikon F3s and none of them have ever worked on this lens. If anyone out there has any experience with this equipment I would really like to hear from you.

I would ask Richard Haw, he has a lot of experience with Nikkors, as his website shows:

Lens Repair & Review Articles

Lens Repair Articles: Here’s the core the entire site. I intend to have the most comprehensive database for everything related to the repair of classic Nikkors. As of today, I believe that th…

richardhaw.com

OAPOli · Oct 26, 2024

I'm not familiar with this lens. But a general tip from similar lenses. Raise the hood and turn it around until the hole on the hood (if there is one) lines up with the set screw under. Loosen it and you should be able to unscrew the filter thread ring with rubber glove or rubber tool. That should give you access to the lens element.

RalphLambrecht · Oct 26, 2024

Matt Hall said:
I have an AF-Nikkor ED-IF 200mm f/3.5 lens used with my F3AF body. The front element has rather large scratch on it that I have always wanted to address but to no avail as I could not find a donor lens. I recently acquired one that has a busted aperture and the AF motor is shot, so it is a perfect candidate and has a pristine front element. However, I cannot seem to get the thing off the lens. There is a ring holding the glass in place which I can turn with my spanner wrench, but it only comes out a few mm and butts into the filter threads on the front of the lens. I pulled out the built-in hood and found a set screw in the side. I figured you must unscrew this and the entire front body can be removed. Once out the front glass can be removed from the rear of this assembly. But . . . . the tube will not unscrew. I have even tried a lens wrench and it won't budge. Have tried a couple of solvents to loosen the joint without success. There is absolutely NO information on the web about this lens so I am a bit perplexed. I have contacted most of the repair facilities around the country that work on Nikon F3s and none of them have ever worked on this lens. If anyone out there has any experience with this equipment I would really like to hear from you.

The main issue with small but professional repair places is that they often lack spare parts. Since you have two to make one good one, I would approach one of them to do the repair for you.

dynachrome · Oct 26, 2024

I have the 80/2.8 and I like it. It would be nice to have the 200/3.5 too. Nikon made 200/4s, which I have and 200/2s, which I don't. What's nice about the AF and AF-D Nikkors is that with their screw driver focusing, there isn't much to go wrong with them. I can say the same for the screw driver Minolta A Mount lenses. For now I am happy with my manual focus 180/2.8 Nikkors. Some time after the Canon EOS system came out, Canon made a manual focus FD version of the 200/1.8 Canon EF. Most of the FD models still work or can be serviced. Many of the EF examples no longer work and can't be repaired. Two years after the Nikon F3AF came out, the Minolta Maxxum 7000 appeared. Nikon did not have time to engineer a whole new AF lens line with built-in motors and gave us screw driver lenses instead. Canon took the big leap in 1987 with their EOS line. The 80 and 200 F3AF lenses turned out to be forward compatible with later Nikon AF cameras but were really experimental in 1983.

Kodachromeguy · Oct 27, 2024

dynachrome said:
The 80 and 200 F3AF lenses turned out to be forward compatible with later Nikon AF cameras but were really experimental in 1983.

That is interesting. I have a 200mm F3AF lens that I retrieved from the discard bin at my former office. This lens will autofocus with a later Nikon body? Which ones?

The F3AF body went to surplus, unfortunately. It was equipped with the big magazine (250 or 750 exposures?), the intervalometer, and the back with a tiny quartz clock that marked the time on each frame. Clever machinery.

benderscameracorner · Mar 19, 2025

Kodachromeguy said:
I have a 200mm F3AF lens that I retrieved from the discard bin at my former office. This lens will autofocus with a later Nikon body? Which ones?

If my understanding is correct, the 80/2.8 and 200/3.5 AF-Nikkors also autofocus correctly with the F4 and F-501/N2020 only. AF compatibility was dropped with subsequent models (F-801/601/401, F90, F5 etc.). Like the F3AF itself, both lenses were made in limited quantities and were effectively EOL'd only three years later when Nikon shifted to screw-drive AF.

AF-Nikkor ED-IF 200mm f/3.5 Disassembly

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