What?--No Half Stops on Nikon AIS Lenses?

FilmOnly · Oct 24, 2008

I just received my Nikon AIS 35/2.8 and noticed that there are no clicks for half stops. This is not what I was expecting. All of my Pentax M42 lenses (which are older lenses, too) and my Minolta MC lenses have half stops. What is going on here? What was Nikon thinking?

Glen

fschifano · Oct 24, 2008

You're right, I haven't seen any manual or autofocus Nikkors sporting 1/2 aperture increments via the aperture ring. I don't consider it a big deal anyway since you can set the aperture to 1/2 stop without the indent anyway. On the AF lenses with communications busses to the body, the aperture is set by the body and it can be done in 1/3 stop increments. What's the big deal about it anyway?

Nicholas Lindan · Oct 24, 2008

FilmOnly said:
Nikon AIS ... there are no clicks for half stops. What was Nikon thinking?

They weren't. The aperture controls on Nikon AIS lenses are awful, Lord knows I own enough of them, the movement of the ring just feels cheap. OTOH, they do work, the aperture setting is consistent and accurate.

MXP · Oct 24, 2008

FilmOnly said:
I just received my Nikon AIS 35/2.8 and noticed that there are no clicks for half stops. This is not what I was expecting. All of my Pentax M42 lenses (which are older lenses, too) and my Minolta MC lenses have half stops. What is going on here? What was Nikon thinking?

Glen

You do not need a click stop to set it between two appertures. If fact it can be difficult to set 1/3 stop if you have click stops for every 1/2 stop. Some lenses have not click stops at all. By the way the Nikkor-P 105/4 bellows lens has 1/3 click stops.

mudman · Oct 24, 2008

Its easy enough to notch the lens in between the two stops to get the correct exposure. If I'm setting an aperture, I'm thinking of a whole stop not half stops. If I need to move it to correct for shutter speed, how likely is it that a 1/2 stop will be correct anyway?

epatsellis · Oct 24, 2008

A set of screwdrivers, a needle file, and a good cleaning and relube will cure most AI lens aperture ring issues, they're smooth and nice when new, but over time they start to feel platicky and cheap. I have found that using silicone grease (from microtools), you can dial in the amount of "smoothness" you want.

kodachrome64 · Oct 24, 2008

I noticed this too when I switched from Minolta MD lenses to Nikon AF lenses. The only way I have found on the F100 to get precise 1/3 stop increments is to control the aperture from the body in aperture priority mode. Then you can dial it in with 1/3 stops. Of course this is for AF lenses only I suppose.

Nick

Dave Swinnard · Oct 24, 2008

I've never missed them, even when shooting Kodachrome. If I need to make the "needle match" when setting the exposure according the the internal meter, I just leave the aperture ring in whatever position the meter wants. When transferring a setting from an external meter, I just eyeballed the required aperture setting on the ring and went with that. Works well with what I shoot.

Dave
(my first F is on an barren island in the arctic - my brother left it there in the early '80s, if you find it, I'd like it back please)

FilmOnly · Oct 24, 2008

I appreciate all of the replies. I suppose I was a bit thrown by the half stop thing, as the FM2n I just bought (to use with the aforementioned 35/2.8) is such a nice, fill-featured camera. Hence, I was expecting a half-stop-clicking lens...

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Oct 24, 2008

I know, I moved from a Pentax screwmount system to an FM2n kit, and the first thing that bugged me was the lack of half-stops! The Nikon lenses feel a bit cheap compared to the Takumars... But I'm mostly shooting B&W negative, so sometimes I just stick to sunny f/11 and don't even look at the meter.

Bob-D659 · Oct 24, 2008

Why would you even want them? It's much easier to set the aperture by feel if you are only dealing with full stop clicks, way less clicks to count. Came in very handy way back in the days before thyristor controlled electronic flashes, flash on full power, 50 feet, 3 clicks and you're at f8, and perfect flash exposure.

John_Nikon_F · Oct 25, 2008

Went from Pentax M42 mount to the Nikon F mount in 1987. I can't say that I miss 1/2 stop detents. I like the full stop detents, and the fact that I can dial in whatever aperture I need just by moving the ring between detents. It also comes in handy when preparing to shoot something while on the road. Set the body to A mode, move the ring to f/8 (usually, I can do this without looking @ the lens - only time is when an off-brand lens is mounted), make sure that the focusing ring is at infinity, turn the meter on, raise the camera up at the opportune time, and fire the shutter while continuing to look at the road. Did that to get a shot of the fall color on a hillside north of town today.

-J

marsbars · Oct 25, 2008

I would have to agree that I don't like counting the 1/2 stops either. Plus I find it easy to adjust the aperture to right where I need it as opposed to falling into the 1/2 stop detent. I have some pentax lenses for another camera and although nice, I find that I can get a more precise result from my Nikkor lenses. I don't know the truth of it all or not but I remember reading that on the Nikkor lenses the aperture is infinitely adjustable within reason. I do know that with my lenses I can get some pretty subtle meter movement by just tweaking the aperture.

budrichard · Oct 25, 2008

I've been using Nikon lenses the 1960's when I purchased my first Nikon F with the FTn finder. I have found the aperature rings to work smoothly, keep the setting between full detents and allow fine aperture adjustment.
Other then not being used to lenses without 1/3 stops, you will have no problems with AIS lenses and your Fm, one of the best SLR film cameras ever made!-Dick

André E.C. · Oct 25, 2008

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:
...so sometimes I just stick to sunny f/11 and don't even look at the meter.

You mean, cloudy f/11?

André

fschifano · Oct 25, 2008

André E.C. said:
You mean, cloudy f/11?
André

Depends on how far north or south of the equator you are, and what time of year. Right now at about 40 degrees N latitude, f/11 is just about right. In July it's f/16, and sometimes f/22.

Paul VanAudenhove · Oct 25, 2008

Full Stop clicks make sense, easy to use if you are using dof scales. Otherwise the aperture is infinitely variable, as marsbars says. I would think having more clicks between full stops would make it harder to set the right f-stop.
Just my .02

dynachrome · Oct 25, 2008

I just looked at some of my Nikkors. My oldest ones are CM models, a 2.8 and a 13.5. I also have MM lenses,C lenses, 'K' lenses, AI, AIS and early AF lenses. I don't think any of them have half stop settings. This is something I never thought of until now. It does look to me like the pre-AI lenses are more strurdily built. The smoothest aperture rings I have must be the ones on the Canon FL lenses. I don't have the less expensive 35/3.5, 135/3.5 or 200/4.5 lenses so I can't talk about them. After a certain point the camera manufacturers thought most photos would be taken in some kind of automatic exposure mode and that the aperture ring wouldn't be turned much. The rings on the Canon FD lenses aren't nearly as nice as those on the FL lenses and the rings on the New FD lenses are one step down from the ones on the FD models.

Of the Nikkors I find the AI and AIS models least appealing when it comes to turning their aperture rings. The C and 'K' lenses are my favorites.

skahde · Oct 26, 2008

One click one stop. Fractions are continous. Very straightforward and Chuck-Norris-like approach! Coming form Minolta MD (half stops) I never looked back.

best

Stefan

Erik Ehrling · Oct 26, 2008

Zeiss lenses in Nikon mount have the half stop clicks and are comparable with the Nikkors in optical quality (even if they are manufactured by Cosina).

Regards,
Erik Ehrling (Sweden)

Nicholas Lindan · Oct 26, 2008

Bob-D659 said:
It's much easier to set the aperture by feel [with full stop detents]

Modern Nikons all have the aperture displayed in the viewfinder. I'd love 1/3 or 1/2 stop detents. I think the earliest Nikon F lenses, c 1959, did have 1/2 stop detents along with tick-marks on the aperture ring.

I like the aperture feel on M-Series Leicas - 1/2 stops which I do have to set by feel - and which I don't have any problem counting. The shutter speed dial on an M5 is another great feeling control, why it can't be emulated/copied is beyond me.

Nicholas Lindan · Oct 26, 2008

Erik Ehrling said:
Zeiss lenses in Nikon mount ... are manufactured by Cosina

If only they were priced like they were made by Cosina. The only one I ever handled reminded me of 1960's 3rd party lenses - $29 Lentars and such. That's not to sneeze at, those old lenses feel pretty good compared to modern lenses.

Richard Kelham · Oct 26, 2008

The new G series AF lenses don't even have an aperture ring so consider yourself lucky! As a long time Nikon user I would find half stop clicks a real pain in the backside as it would make it damn near impossible to set 1/3rd stops.

Bob-D659 · Oct 26, 2008

Nicholas Lindan said:
I think the earliest Nikon F lenses, c 1959, did have 1/2 stop detents along with tick-marks on the aperture ring.

Not my very early 5.8cm f1.4, and it is one of the first 420 produced.

HerrBremerhaven · Oct 29, 2008

The Nikkor 35mm f2.8 PC shift lens I have has no clip stops at all. There is a second aperture lock ring to stop rotation at a pre-selected minium aperture, though that allows rotation from maximum aperture to the set aperture. In usage, I find little to no advantage with partial aperture settings, and with an aperture priority camera like the Nikon FE or F4S, there is no advantage.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography

What?--No Half Stops on Nikon AIS Lenses?

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