Decision on Getting a Lens AI'd

well the resale value after a conversion is less. Unless you keep the original parts intact and don't lose them next time you move.

a series E lens from a charity shop is pretty cheap and they are all AI-S, you need to look if you disbelief this. The early all plastic ones look a bit ugly but take the same pics as the later ones with metal rings.

What you need is an early single coated non AI and a series E for their different signature, the early one is digital friendly but that is heracy -

With respect to resale value, if the AI conversion is either done with factory parts, or done properly, the value typically goes up, at least here in the states. Collectibility value not so much. But, if I remember correctly, APUG is more about using the gear than letting it sit on the shelf collecting dust.

It looks like the lens the OP has is the last 50/2 pre-AI lens, just before the AI lens came out. So, rubber focusing ring, black barrel, and multicoated glass. In which case, I still think it'd be a good idea to find a parts 50/2 AI with the five screw mount and swap both the aperture ring, plus the rear element baffle piece to his lens. Once that's done, the lens will be AI, except for two things. The color and softness of the focusing ring grip and the serial number.

Both lenses would be digital friendly. For that matter, the E lens will produce pretty much the same results as the AF version, maybe with a little more flare and less contrast, since it's single coated. Otherwise, same formula.

-J

John_Nikon_F said:

Both lenses would be digital friendly. For that matter, the E lens will produce pretty much the same results as the AF version, maybe with a little more flare and less contrast, since it's single coated. Otherwise, same formula.

-J

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My series E seems to be multi coated it has the vestigial green colour..,
What I tried to say was that an earlier single coated Nikkor and a Series E give a different signature the single coated lens having less contrast less likely to get digital highlight burn note even in C41 mono the effect is useful.
The E and the AF were decades apart and even if the same double Gauss scheme unlikely to be same glass the glass catalogue changes.
I take SC and MC on a shoot even with retained Ag

Re: John_Nikon_F and Xmas...some PRE-AI "K" lenses were available with factory AI aperture rings...e.g. 135mm/2.8 Q.C and 85/1.8K, both of which I have...I think they are less available than their non-AI versions, so they'd be worth more I should think...

...and I would think that the market value of lenses converted with the "cut" notch at the rear of the aperture ring (I have one of those too) would likely be worth less than OEM...but its value to the owner/user is another matter of course....

In some cases it may be cost-effective to convert a lens...in other cases it may be cheaper to get the factory-AI version and sell the non-AI lens.

I also would leave a Non-AI alone. I run away from conderted or AI'd lenses as the conversion might be a partial one. There is an element of the AI specification that many conversions left behind: the max aperture signal post. And that is the reason why AI'd lenses will not work in Matrix mode on a F4, or so says the manual.

I had a 50/1.4 converted by John White and it came out great. I wanted to be able to use it on my Nikomat FTn or my F3 without having to remember to fold down the AI sense tab.

John does nice work and the lens was back here within the week. Well worth the money.

I agree with the last post, John did a great job on my three lenses, with fast turnaround.

Yes, but, for the most part, they were installed by repair shops or by a Nikon service facility. So, they were still not really AI. Even the final batch of 85/1.8 K version Nikkors were still not real AI lenses, even though they all came with a #37 ring attached from the factory. They don't have the lens speed sensing post.

The only "real" AI lens I now own happens to be a factory AI'd 28/3.5 Nikkor-H that I had someone modify the rear element baffle so it wouldn't damage my previous F4 body. Turns out that the modified section correctly engages the cam inside the mirror box and registers a max. speed of f/3.5... It's still not a real AI lens, since it wasn't made between 1977 and 1982, instead dating from the 1969-70 time period.

Re: value, KEH seems to value even the milled aperture ring AI converted lenses higher than the unmodified lenses. Granted, anything with a factory style AI ring is called a "real" AI lens by them. Even when it's blatantly obvious that the lens isn't.

I usually troll evilBay and KEH, looking for ugly condition factory AI'd lenses (or in the case of K-version lenses that had an AI version, factory AI lenses). Then, I find a nice condition pre-AI lens in the correct serial number range and do the switcheroo. Takes about 10 minutes to do on the more complicated lenses, and maybe 3-5 minutes on the easy ones. Sometimes less, like on the 135/3.5 late model Q and Q.C lenses.

-J

kitanikon said:

Re: John_Nikon_F and Xmas...some PRE-AI "K" lenses were available with factory AI aperture rings...e.g. 135mm/2.8 Q.C and 85/1.8K, both of which I have...I think they are less available than their non-AI versions, so they'd be worth more I should think...

...and I would think that the market value of lenses converted with the "cut" notch at the rear of the aperture ring (I have one of those too) would likely be worth less than OEM...but its value to the owner/user is another matter of course....

In some cases it may be cost-effective to convert a lens...in other cases it may be cheaper to get the factory-AI version and sell the non-AI lens.

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From what i see it's just better to buy a 50mm ai lens then to monkey around with buying a beater and doing the switcharoo. Shipping will get you in the end on the long way around.

John...
RE: lens speed sensing post
Isn't that the AI-S Speed indexing post? I.E. The S in AI-S? I've always been a bit confused with AI/AIS aperture rings...with the 3 differences...the notch/slot, the "ridge", and the post...not to mention the concave/slot cut into the mount at the rear...
All must have different functions, but I have little experience with the more advanced Nikon bodies that make use each of these features...
Thanks for clarifying them...if you would...

Wayne...Yes...if you're not in a hurry or in a MUST-HAVE situation, then patience is a money-saving virtue...
over a 1 year span....of circumstance, happenstance, and just plain luck...
When I had to sell my 85/2 I found a beater 85/1.8 for less than 1/2 the price, and
Then found another pristine 1.8 for only a few $$$ more than I got for selling the beater...(both of which were local purchases...)
I sold THAT beautiful "H" for 1.5x$ my cost when I found the AI'd 85-K I always wanted...which ended costing what I paid for the beater...

7 if my AI MF lenses (50-300) each cost less than $70...@ $120, only the 180ED cost more...My 60/2.8 AF was only $30 because the AF/MF switched is locked (glued?)...but I use it as an MF lens anyway...

Kitanikon
The lens max aperture signal post is like a block on the 6 o'clock position. It is part of the AI spec. The -S specification adds the lens focal length notch at the 9 o'clock position and a linearity to aperture range.
The only Nikon that was made to take full advantage of an AIS lens is the FA. The FG, F301 and possibly the F501 use some elements to provide the Program mode. Only the FA is capable of Shutter priority and Matrix metering with those lenses.
The F4 uses the max aperture signal post to allow Matrix metering with AI lenses.

Ricardo Miranda said:

Kitanikon
The lens max aperture signal post is like a block on the 6 o'clock position. It is part of the AI spec.

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The post...Ah, the post IN THE MOUNT at the rear...I had forgotten all about the post...Thanks....

kitanikon said:

The post...Ah, the post IN THE MOUNT at the rear...I had forgotten all about the post...Thanks....

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Yep, the same piece that I've been talking about in my past few posts...

-J