Nikon F3 Lens Recomendations

[JADoss23]

I have a Nikon F3 that I love and use a lot with a 85mm lens. Love the lens and use it for a lot of concert photography and portraits but currently don’t have anything with a shorter focal length. Any recoendations for a 50mm lens or even smaller? Open to any suggestions. Not to sure where to look. Just looking for something that would be great for everyday, landscapes, more portable. Wide angle lenses suggestions would be nice too. Thanks!

 

[bdial]

There are lots of choices. Much depends on your taste, and lighting conditions you prefer. The camera can use just about any Nikon lens ever produced, though life is easier if you use the AI lenses.
The 50 f1.4 is popular, was the "standard issue" 50 for that camera. Great for low light, and about anything else. For wide angle, I like the 20mm but it's very wide, something like a 28 or 35 does it for a lot of people.
For just "walking around" snapshots one of the short zooms work well, they aren't quite a sharp as the primes, but you can get them for pennies. I have a 35-105 which has been great for traveling and times I want a simple kit that covers just about any situation.

 

[Marco Gilardetti]

Well, quite obviously the first suggestions that come to mind are the Nikkor lenses. The 50mm basically came in two versions: f:1,4 and f:1,8 (there was also an f:2, but let's forget about it for a while). The f:1,8 is significantly cheaper and lighter than the f:1,4 and it's a superb lens, almost unbelievably sharp and contrasty, I'd say among the best lenses ever made for 35mm cameras regardless of price. However, since you do concert photographs, where light is usually not overabundant, you may prefer the f:1,4 which at least on paper is optimised to work at larger apertures (however, if you think about it, the difference in maximum aperture between f:1,8 and f:1,4 is absolutely negligible). From this point of view, it could even make sense for you to buy a Noct-Nikkor, but these lenses are big, heavy, rare and unreasonably pricey. And again, the difference in maximum aperture is not really relevant.

Concerning the wideangle, Nikkor produced a 28mm f:2,8 with a floating element which is very "fast" for a lens of that focal lenght, very bright and easy to focus in the viewfinder, it has excellent contrast, and thanks to the floating element its sharpness is almost constant from infinity to very narrow close-ups. This lens is also quite compact, light enough, easy to find and not expensive. Some of the best pictures I've ever taken, I've taken with this lens.

In both cases, I suggest you to search for the AI or AIs versions of these lenses. Later (post-autofocus etc.) lenses look horrible (OK, this is a matter of taste) are made with cheap horrible materials (and this is not a matter of taste) and are also horrible to the touch (and this is also a fact); plus, they would degrade the look of your nice F3, the last camera of the F series which is tolerable to the eyes.

Carl Zeiss used to make a series of lenses with (among others) Nikon F mount: the "ZF" series. To be picky, these lenses were manufactured in Japan by Cosina under Zeiss' quality control and design. However, the point is that you could directly mount on your F3 the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f:1,4 ZF. Of course these lenses are over the top, possibly the best of all, but they are also quite hard to find and demand high prices.

For the sake of curiosity, which 85mm are you using?

 

[narsuitus]

When I had an 85mm f/1.8 Nikkor, I paired it with a 35mm f/2 Nikkor.

I now have an 85mm f/1.4 Nikkor and pair it with a 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor.



Nikon by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[puderse]

The 2.8/28mm NIKKOR you're looking for is the one with the .2m minimum focus. #635001-837751 & 900001-906097. Nikon's best wide angle.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

I have a Nikon F3 that I love and use a lot with a 85mm lens. Love the lens and use it for a lot of concert photography and portraits but currently don’t have anything with a shorter focal length. Any recoendations for a 50mm lens or even smaller? Open to any suggestions. Not to sure where to look. Just looking for something that would be great for everyday, landscapes, more portable. Wide angle lenses suggestions would be nice too. Thanks!

35/2 Nikkor OC. Makes a great pair with the 85.

 

[JimCee]

Another vote for the Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AI-S lens. This is one of the best wide-angle manual focus lens ever made for the Nikon mount.

Jim

 

[Cholentpot]

I've got the 28 3.5 version and it is razor sharp. Sure I'm a stop short of what would be useful but it was cheap and it just as good wide open as it is stopped down.

Get a 50. I have an E series 50 1.8 and it's excellent. I have a pre AI 50 1.4 and it is not as nice, although it has very nice character and makes for nostalgic looking photos when used with color.

 

[adelorenzo]

The 35mm f/2 is my go-to lens on the F3 as well.

 

[narsuitus]

The 2.8/28mm NIKKOR you're looking for is the one with the .2m minimum focus. #635001-837751 & 900001-906097. Nikon's best wide angle.

I agree !

I compared the images of a Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 (serial #638169) that I compared to a Zeiss 28mm f/2 and was surprised that at the same f/stops, there was little difference in image quality. Both had excellent image quality.

I had expected the Zeiss to have superior quality.

 

[phrons]

For the 50 do not spend your money on the 1.4 or 1.2 unless you absolutely need to shoot handheld in low light. Unless of course you want a character portrait lens. Then I would suggest that the 1.4 pre AI (or factory AI'd) versions have some of the best character, like someone said already especially with color. But, it's performance isn't great sharpness and contrast wise until f8.

The e series 1.8 or the 50 f2 are the best lenses you can get in reality for the 50mm range. They both perform exceptionally well by f4, and are pretty good at f2.8. The 50 f2 is slightly better wide open.

If I had a choice I would go with the e series because of the smaller profile.

 

[JADoss23]

Well, quite obviously the first suggestions that come to mind are the Nikkor lenses. The 50mm basically came in two versions: f:1,4 and f:1,8 (there was also an f:2, but let's forget about it for a while). The f:1,8 is significantly cheaper and lighter than the f:1,4 and it's a superb lens, almost unbelievably sharp and contrasty, I'd say among the best lenses ever made for 35mm cameras regardless of price. However, since you do concert photographs, where light is usually not overabundant, you may prefer the f:1,4 which at least on paper is optimised to work at larger apertures (however, if you think about it, the difference in maximum aperture between f:1,8 and f:1,4 is absolutely negligible). From this point of view, it could even make sense for you to buy a Noct-Nikkor, but these lenses are big, heavy, rare and unreasonably pricey. And again, the difference in maximum aperture is not really relevant.

Concerning the wideangle, Nikkor produced a 28mm f:2,8 with a floating element which is very "fast" for a lens of that focal lenght, very bright and easy to focus in the viewfinder, it has excellent contrast, and thanks to the floating element its sharpness is almost constant from infinity to very narrow close-ups. This lens is also quite compact, light enough, easy to find and not expensive. Some of the best pictures I've ever taken, I've taken with this lens.

In both cases, I suggest you to search for the AI or AIs versions of these lenses. Later (post-autofocus etc.) lenses look horrible (OK, this is a matter of taste) are made with cheap horrible materials (and this is not a matter of taste) and are also horrible to the touch (and this is also a fact); plus, they would degrade the look of your nice F3, the last camera of the F series which is tolerable to the eyes.

Carl Zeiss used to make a series of lenses with (among others) Nikon F mount: the "ZF" series. To be picky, these lenses were manufactured in Japan by Cosina under Zeiss' quality control and design. However, the point is that you could directly mount on your F3 the legendary Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f:1,4 ZF. Of course these lenses are over the top, possibly the best of all, but they are also quite hard to find and demand high prices.

For the sake of curiosity, which 85mm are you using?

Thanks for all of the info everybody. I currently have the 85mm f/2 on my Nikon f3. I also have an F2 and it has a 135mm f/3.5 on it as well as a nikomat with a 50mm f/1.4 but I believe this is the non-ai version? it seems like a tight fit on the f3 and is also bulky so I sort of forgot I even had it!

Should have also been clearer that I will stick to using the 85mm for concert photography and was wanting something more portable for everyday use.

Is there a big difference between the 50mm f/1.4 and the E Series lenses? I know the E Series seems to be more compact. Still a sharp lens? thanks so much everyone. Really appreciate it!

 

[narsuitus]

Is there a big difference between the 50mm f/1.4 and the E Series lenses? I know the E Series seems to be more compact. Still a sharp lens?

I own and use both the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 D AF lens and the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E lens. Both produce sharp images.

The Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 works best for me when...
1. I need auto focus
2. I need the extra 2/3 f/stop of light gathering

The Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E works best for me when...
1. I need to put a low-cost and expendable lens on a low-cost and expendable body
2. I need to carry a small lightweight lens with a small lightweight Nikon SLR.



Nikon 50mm by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[etn]

What do you guys think of the 50 1.2 AI-S? I agree with Phrons that it might not be worth paying $600 for it when a 1.4 costs $200. But I am currently in Tokyo and they go for a song here, around $300 in excellent condition.

 

[BrianVS]

The 50/1.2 Ais has more blades than the older Ai version. It is sharper at F1.4 than the 50/1.4 is at F1.4.

I bought one for my Nikon Df- it's a great lens. I paid $400 for one in LN condition, with box and caps. Very happy with it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/90768661@N02/albums/72157662884681752

https://www.flickr.com/photos/90768661@N02/albums/72157659566184920

If you shoot concerts- would make focus easier even if stopping down for actual use.

 

[etn]

Thank you Brian, great pics. You sold me on that lens - although I already have the 50 1.4 AF-D (and pretty happy with it).

 

[darkosaric]

50mm/f2 nikkor-H.
Cheap, as sharp as you want it to be, it has already lens shade by design, and nikon F3 is really small with this lens. But really small and light, joy to carry and use.

 

[Paul Howell]

I used a F3P when working as a PJ in the 80s, I found the 28 2.8 to be a very good all around wide, although tempted by a fast 28 the papers were moving towards color and flash was returning, just stuck to the 28 2.8 I don't see enough of a difference between a 35 and 50mm to warrant carrying a 35. I had both the 50 1.4 and 1.8, although heaver I liked the 1.4 better than the 1.8. What may make a difference is I had non AI lens that I had converted, newer designs my be sharper and have better coatings. No experience with a Nikon 1.2, knew a few PJ of the time who used them, at one time I had a Konica 1.2, razor sharp at 1.2 and 1.4, still think it was second best 50mm ever had, the best being the Konica 1.7, sharper than the 1.2 at F4 to F16. These were really 57mm.

 

[Chan Tran]

This is a thread about the F3 yet I only pictures of the F4.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

I've got the 28 3.5 version and it is razor sharp. Sure I'm a stop short of what would be useful but it was cheap and it just as good wide open as it is stopped down.

Get a 50. I have an E series 50 1.8 and it's excellent. I have a pre AI 50 1.4 and it is not as nice, although it has very nice character and makes for nostalgic looking photos when used with color.

Another vote for the f:3.5 Nikkor, I bought one for $40, pre-ai with a factory ai conversion and it's become one of my favorites. The 50/2, 35/2.8( I wasn't too imrpessed with mine, could have been just me or just that lens but the 35/2 I now have has more even illumination and is sharper) and 28/3.5 pre-ai lenses are all roughly the same size and weight and balance perfectly on Nikkormats, F & F2, and FM.

 

[Cholentpot]

Another vote for the f:3.5 Nikkor, I bought one for $40, pre-ai with a factory ai conversion and it's become one of my favorites. The 50/2, 35/2.8( I wasn't too imrpessed with mine, could have been just me or just that lens but the 35/2 I now have has more even illumination and is sharper) and 28/3.5 pre-ai lenses are all roughly the same size and weight and balance perfectly on Nikkormats, F & F2, and FM.

Mine is an AI version but it has rabbit ears, not sure when it is from.

 

[Alan Gales]

I shot Contax instead of Nikon. My two favorite lenses were my 25mm and 100mm. I'd personally look at the Nikkor 24mm lens. It's wide but not too wide. Anything wider may get less use in my opinion. I also owned a 35mm lens between my 25 and 50 focal lengths.

For a long lens I owned a 180mm f/2.8 Zeiss. The Nikon 180 f/2.8 is said to be as good as my Zeiss lens was if you decide you want a long lens. My Zeiss was excellent!

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Mine is an AI version but it has rabbit ears, not sure when it is from.

Ai would be post 1977. Mine is from 1971, so is single coated, yours of course is multicoated.

 

[faberryman]

Your obvious choices are 28mm, 35mm or 50mm. Which one is right for you is anybody's guess. You'll just need to try them all to see which one best fits your vision.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Your obvious choices are 28mm, 35mm or 50mm. Which one is right for you is anybody's guess. You'll just need to try them all to see which one best fits your vision.

You can get all three for less than $150 with a little patience.