It's actually for a buddy of mine, he's looking to do the sharp eyes / blurry nose / blurry ears sort of thing, but I'll pass on the recommendations and see what he thinks.
The early ones are well ugly and have a narrow focus ring later are as nice as the late AIs
It is difficult to add the rabbits ears for aperture ring coupling to early meters as the aperture ring is narrow the follower will cover the ring values.
They may need more heliciod grease, as may any early nikkors.
Tis said they are better built than modern lenses...
I've been posting this one for a couple weeks. It's a 50mm 1.8 AI-S. It's a nice, very low profile lens. Pretty sharp, narrow DOF as one would expect from a 1.8. I would be open to trade something interesting too. Maybe some 120 film?
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
Thanks again to all for your links and recommendations, I just talked with my Nikon shooting friend and he's all over the board: maybe swapping to Canon, maybe getting a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for a more modern look, maybe lying down for a nap.
I'll have to put this on pause until he knows what he wants.
If your friend is indecisive, I definitely would go for a Nikon E lens.
No reason to spend any more than necessary.
And the f/1.8 or f2.0 lens is a better deal and should save them a good bit of money over an f/1.4 lens - notwithstanding the good deals that can be found on lenses.