Did Pre-AI Nikkors have more hand assembly than AI & AIS?

[chip j]

Comparing my 200 4 ais w/my 200 4 pre-ai makes me sick at the downgrade in quality (yes the pre-ai weighs a LOT more).

 

[darkosaric]

I find also Pre-Ai nicer in design.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Comparing my 200 4 ais w/my 200 4 pre-ai makes me sick at the downgrade in quality (yes the pre-ai weighs a LOT more).

Most any lens will require mostly hand assembly. This has nothing to do with the general build quality, crappy parts are hand assembled into crappy lenses.
As Nikon moved into the Ai and Ais lenses, they were "simplified" into less meticulous designs, my favorites by far are the late pre-Ai with multicoating. The early Ai lenses, even if "simplified", were still very high quality. But I do have a thing for the scalloped focus and aperture rings

 

[blockend]

The clunky mechanical indexing that became outdated and Nikon moved away from, is the thing people like about them. Completely over the top compared to subsequent systems, especially with a metered head, but kinda steampunk. They should have made a clockwork advance with a key on a fob chain for the full effect.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

The clunky mechanical indexing that became outdated and Nikon moved away from, is the thing people like about them. Completely over the top compared to subsequent systems, especially with a metered head, but kinda steampunk. They should have made a clockwork advance with a key on a fob chain for the full effect.

I thought that was a modern aberration, glue some nuts and a gauge to a toaster and call it "steampunk". Reminds me of little kids playing with superglue and a box of miscellaneous nuts, bolts, bits & pieces.
Personally, I wish I could have 60s scalloped rings and auto indexing on all my Nikkors, but alas not with factory parts. I do have an idea for an Ai coupler that mounts under the screws for the prong and gives me the best of both worlds, but I don't think it can be done on all lenses.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... But I do have a thing for the scalloped focus and aperture rings

Oh, yes. The M42 Super Takumars were the best of this style (I think) - the damping of the focus helicoid and the smooth movement as each aperture setting clicks into place is just perfect.

 

[Marco Gilardetti]

my favorites by far are the late pre-Ai with multicoating. The early Ai lenses, even if "simplified", were still very high quality. But I do have a thing for the scalloped focus and aperture rings

I agree with your tastes and I wish they never moved from the early "F" design and materials, however I also had to consider that many optical schemes were radically re-designed and greatly improved in performance later, so I had to come to a compromise with my aesthetics and welcome many AI lenses in my setup!

 

[blockend]

I thought that was a modern aberration

To modern eyes it's steampunk. I'm old enough to remember steam and punk, and forked tongues as Nikon's metering connection and an accusation in Western movies. To millennials the pre-AI system is as quaint as a falling plate camera.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

To modern eyes it's steampunk. I'm old enough to remember steam and punk, and forked tongues as Nikon's metering connection and an accusation in Western movies. To millennials the pre-AI system is as quaint as a falling plate camera.

"Steampunk" makes me want to call Huey.
I must be an old fart...

 

[blockend]

"Steampunk" makes me want to call Huey.
I must be an old fart...

I'm not a fan either, it makes me think of large ladies in Victorian underwear, but each to their own. However, a yearning for the past without the past's inconveniences didn't do Fuji's accounts any harm when they introduced the X-Pro and X100. Or Olympus with their OMD. The F2 looked dated compared to the competition of the time, and Canon mopped up the enthusiast market of FTb, SRT, 'Mats and Spotmatics with their plastic bodied, electronic shutter A-series, which sold by the million. "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there".