Nikkor lenses at B&H

ilovekodachrome · Dec 28, 2008

Almost all Nikon manual focus AIS lenses are backordered at B&H. I don't find any recent posts about the availability of these lenses. Are they being discontinued?

Nick Zentena · Dec 28, 2008

Does Nikon actually sell an manual focus camera anymore?

It's not just the AIS lenses that have been hard to get. Even the 1.8 AF can be hard to find at times. I guess Nikon is mostly selling AF zooms these days.

Have you checked used prices on KEH? The higher grades can be hard to tell from new. The bargain grade are very good user lenses and even these at times are fairly nice cosmetically.

If you check the Nikon Europe website it usually lists what the current lenses are and what has been dropped.

ilovekodachrome · Dec 28, 2008

My real interest is the future of film. My speculation is that film is still viable but that the economy is taking its toll on marginal products: Nikon discontinued its Coolscan V ED; Canon discontinued its Rebel K2 and T2 film cameras. Perhaps Nikon is discontinuing its manual focus film lenses and "outsourcing" them to Zeiss (They are now offering some very nice manual focus lenses in the F-mount.).

Nick Zentena · Dec 28, 2008

There are so many good quality used products that must weigh on all the new makers. I don't know what volume Nikon needs but all the 40+ year of used gear must make it hard to make and sell new.

mikebarger · Dec 28, 2008

I agree with Nick.

Pro's they buy new for professional use. But the hobbyist, I'd guess 90% would buy used to lower their hobby expense. Or have the extra for film.

There may be as many Nikon's selling as ever, but a bunch of them are in the used market.

Mike

keithwms · Dec 28, 2008

I don't know whether they are being discontinued, but I suspect that the recent emergence of the Nikon full frame dslrs has caused a surge in interest of the (very good) old AIS lenses.

PhotoJim · Dec 28, 2008

Perhaps this is the wrong website to use to ask the question, but I wonder how many people bought a new manual-focus Nikon lens last year. I imagine the number would be in the hundreds worldwide, at best. Conversely, there are consumer zooms where Nikon probably sold tens of thousands or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of units.

The last brand-new manual focus lens I bought was ... (thinking here...) my 400/5.6 for my Yashica/Contax system (and it was on a serious sale as a clearance item at my local camera shop - they offered it to me because I think they realized they had little chance of selling it to anyone else ). Every new lens I have bought since then has been autofocus. Indeed, I haven't bought a new manual-focus camera body since then either (unless you count my 10-year-old new-old-stock Fed 5c for $40 ).

It's not that I can't buy new lenses - I could if I really wanted to - it's that good-quality used lenses are available so much less expensively that the marginal return on the new lenses is terrible. That's true of film camera bodies in general, too. Why buy a brand-new Nikon F6 for $1,700 when I can have a like-new Nikon F5 for $400?

keithwms · Dec 28, 2008

Jim I betcha that the wide manual nikkors are selling briskly, even new. I think they were the first to incorporate floating elements and the design holds up very well against very best modern lenses, even the ZFs. Their prices, on the used market, are also holding up quite well.

I am thinking specifically of the 22, 24, and 28mm manuals in their various versions.

PhotoJim · Dec 28, 2008

keithwms said:
Jim I betcha that the wide manual nikkors are selling briskly, even new. I think they were the first to incorporate floating elements and the design holds up very well against very best modern lenses, even the ZFs. Their prices, on the used market, are also holding up quite well.

I'd be surprised if you're right (but frankly I'd also be very pleased). I really think that manual-focus lenses are a tiny niche.

Unfortunately I doubt we can ever have closure on the issue because I'm certain Nikon would consider the numbers to be proprietary information.

Oren Grad · Dec 28, 2008

Last year, Nikon discontinued almost all of the AIS lenses. Only the following remain current:

20/2.8, 24/2.8, 28/2.8, 35/1.4, 50/1.2, 50/1.4, Micro 55/2.8, Micro 105/2.8.

One possible reason for the stock situation at B&H is that although these lenses are readily available in Japan, Nikon USA no longer imports them regularly. They are still listed on the Nikon USA site, but the pages for these lenses say "Available through special order only against confirmed and non-cancelable orders. Allow 60 to 120 days for delivery. Subject to limited availability."

keithwms · Dec 28, 2008

Oren, I do hope you realize that when you your "only" is followed by a list of some of the finest 35mm lenses ever!

Anyway, Jim, regarding the ongoing popularity of the AISes, it would not shock me to learn that some of the wide Nikon AISes are finding use on other camera makes [which I shall not name]. In that case, people don't care about AF anyway. Also, who needs AF for wide angle? Pretty useless. So... I suspect that a reasonable number of photographers are still giving the AISes a hard look. Finally, I like the scales and the general build of the older AIS lenses and I assume that others do too.

Now, does Joe Q. Public care about these issues? Maybe not. It seems to me that a lot of people are gaga over the new crazywide zoom, never mind that the damn thing is a G design, is very easy to damage, can't be front-filtered (and has no filter slot!), is enormous compared to the AIS primes, and costs, what, $1500 even though it isn't appreciably better than the far less expensive AIS primes over its range. I mean, it's not night and day and if Nikon updated those primes in terms of coatings and glass QC, they'd be right up there at the top of the heap. <end of mini rant>

gr82bart · Dec 28, 2008

These are the lenses they still make: http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/lens/mf/index.htm. A very small selection.

Scroll down below, you'll see they are all available in the US: http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Camera-Lenses/index.page

Here's a guess as to why B&H and others aren't stocking up, as much as they should, on film based equipment and products: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Regards, Art.

AgX · Dec 28, 2008

PhotoJim said:
Perhaps this is the wrong website to use to ask the question, but I wonder how many people bought a new manual-focus Nikon lens last year. I imagine the number would be in the hundreds worldwide, at best.

Jim,

I’ve got some figures (all brands) from Germany:

(Seemingly for the first 9 months of this year.)

431,000 new DSLR’s at a an average of 720 €

2,000 new SLR’s at an average of 400 €

SilverGlow · Dec 30, 2008

I suspect those wide primes listed earlier in this thread are not selling very well, and one reason (I suspect) is that they're too slow aperture wise. Wide primes is where Canon eclipses Nikon. Canon has wide primes at F1.8, F1.4, although Canon's 14mm F2.8 is too slow IMHO...I really don't understand why any company would make a wide prime at F2.8 or slower...

Peter Black · Dec 30, 2008

Grays of Westminster are the big Nikon-only dealer in the UK and I've linked their current manual focus lens page below. I don't know what their stock position might be on these, but I understand they will sometimes import direct from Nikon if it is an item that Nikon UK don't list.

http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/products/lenses-manual.php

TheFlyingCamera · Dec 30, 2008

Another reason for slow delivery - Nikon is the only one of the big name camera makers to stand as an independent company - they're really quite small. Canon is, well, Canon, and they have a whole host of other product lines. Minolta is now Sony, and they have a whole host of other product lines to support them, and they don't make their own glass anymore anyway. Olympus I believe is also part of another Japanese industrial conglomerate. Nikon has always had a hard time delivering product in a timely fashion - I can remember from my years in photo retail that whenever a new product came out (body OR lens), we could have folks waiting for six months or more to get it.

Nikkor lenses at B&H

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency