Older style Nikkor lens in AI form

abruzzi · Sep 6, 2018

When I look at the big online list of Nikkor lenses the pre-AI Nikkor-S 50mm ƒ1.4 has the old design with the scalloped metal focusing ring, and any of the AI 50mm ƒ1.4 lenses have the newer look with rubber focusing ring. I just saw a Nikkor-S 50mm ƒ1.4 in the pre-AI livery, but it looked factory AI, including not only the AI notch, but even the second ring of ƒ-numbers for visibility in the viewfinder. Is this a factory Nikon AI conversion, or a weird in-between lens?

(The historical Nikon lens lineup is a lot more complicated and obtuse than the Pentax lineup, and is taking me some time to wrap my head around.)

BradS · Sep 6, 2018

That is a typical factory AI conversion. Kits to do this were commonly available but no longer are.

Vincent Peri · Sep 6, 2018

abruzzi said:
When I look at the big online list of Nikkor lenses the pre-AI Nikkor-S 50mm ƒ1.4 has the old design with the scalloped metal focusing ring, and any of the AI 50mm ƒ1.4 lenses have the newer look with rubber focusing ring. I just saw a Nikkor-S 50mm ƒ1.4 in the pre-AI livery, but it looked factory AI, including not only the AI notch, but even the second ring of ƒ-numbers for visibility in the viewfinder. Is this a factory Nikon AI conversion, or a weird in-between lens?

(The historical Nikon lens lineup is a lot more complicated and obtuse than the Pentax lineup, and is taking me some time to wrap my head around.)

It sounds like an AI conversion by Nikon. As I recall, you'd send them $35 per lens and they would factory convert your lens(es).

abruzzi · Sep 6, 2018

Got it. That’s what I figured was most likely, but I had never seen a converted lens before, except homemade hack-job conversions. This obviously looks much cleaner, and the second row of f numbers would be nice in a camera like my F4.

Fin · Sep 6, 2018

Funnily enough, I was looking at Mr Haw's page about these lenses earlier. I need to service mine at some point soon.

https://richardhaw.com/2016/01/23/project-nikkor-s-50mm-f1-4/

It really is a great lens!

Chan Tran · Sep 6, 2018

Yes it's a converted lens because I believe that Nikon stopped making the scallop focusing ring before they introduced AI lenses. Some of the pre AI lenses don't have the scallop ring.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 6, 2018

Then there are the "K" lenses: these are pre-AI lenses in function and construction, but with AI-style cosmetics for focusing and aperture rings.

cooltouch · Sep 10, 2018

I have the exact lens you're describing. It came with a Nikkormat FT3 I bought a while back. I found it curious that the FT3, with its AI meter coupling, came with a late pre-AI lens that had the Nikon aperture ring conversion. It's not that difficult to tell this lens apart from its AI equivalent. The pre-AI lens is bulkier than the AI lens is, all other things being more or less equal.

Nikkormat FT3 by Michael McBroom, on Flickr

darkroommike · Sep 16, 2018

Jimmy Koh at KOH camera has (had?) factory kits for some lenses, a few years back I bought one from him for my absolutely pristine K-type 50mm/1.4 (the last pre-AI version). The ring swap out took about ten minutes.

cooltouch · Sep 16, 2018

Back when I lived in Southern California, I lived about a half hour's drive from Nikon's Torrance repair facility. I was a camera dealer back in those days, and whenever I'd acquire a pre-AI Nikkor, I'd call them to see if they had an AI kit in stock. Usually they did. So I'd go down there, buy the kit, and install it myself. Then I'd sell the lens for a premium because it had the kit, plus I included the old parts in the sale, just so they could convert back to original if they wanted to, for originality's sake. Then in about 1990 or so, there was a repair guy from Nevada who found out about the kits at the Torrance facility and he bought all of them. And from that point forward, if you wanted an AI kit for your lens, he was one of the few sources that had them -- installed, of course, in his case.

abruzzi · Sep 16, 2018

I bought the lens in the picture. It’s a 50/1.4 and it’s attached to my new (to me obviously) F2 Photomic. While the F2 only needs the bunny ears, buying in AI format means I can more easily throw it on my F4 if I want. It was still cheaper than an “AI from birth” 50/1.4 so I’m happy since I’m mostly broke this month. I did some research (ok, googling) and found there are a few places that still sell the conversion kits, but stock has dwindled mostly to less common/popular lenses. Nobody has the kit for the 50/2 lens I’ve had for a couple decades. Some searching found other converted lenses for pretty cheap like the 135 Nikkor-QC and similar. Thanks everyone for the info.

RalphLambrecht · Sep 17, 2018

BradS said:
That is a typical factory AI conversion. Kits to do this were commonly available but no longer are.

White in Michigan still does these conversions and a gapped job at it.

Older style Nikkor lens in AI form

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