Just got this lens in the mail 2 days ago And I am loving it! Already took it for a hike and realized I may be in over my head I have a lot to learn on going completely manual. Live view does help a little bit. I am amazed with the pictures I'm getting on this thing. Thank you for the video!
Thank you Don! I have another video that may help you getting to know manual focus: ruclips.net/video/NLsqwPWHxbc/видео.html - it is about the D750, but pretty generic and hence also relevant if you shoot with other Nikon camera bodies. Hope this helps! All the best!
Thank you for this comprehensive review. I'd just add that the later Nikkor 180mm AiS (manual focus still, made from 1981 - 2005) with ED glass uses a different optical formula - 5 elements in 5 groups (versus 5 elements in 4 groups, for the Ai version). The AiS version was optimised to excel at wider apertures, and I can confirm that is the case. A wonderful lens, built like a genuine Leica/Leitz, with truly superb optical quality. Did I say superb? It really IS outstanding even at f/2.8.
For information, for my mint copy from Japan - (where all the best copies are) I paid: US $279.99 Postage: US $39.99 Total: US $319.98 I then got hit, some weeks later, by a $110 Import Duty Bill! I was a fool to think I'd escaped the Customs hit! Still, absolutely worth it for this masterpiece of lens-making, the likes of which are made today only at stratospheric prices!
Thank you for sharing! I will seriously consider the AIS version. The reviewed version is one of my absolute favorite lenses and it sits on my D700 90% of the time. Amazing that such old technology performs so well.
@@frederikboving From the classic, official Nikon "The One Thousand and One Nights" series: imaging.nikon.com/history/story/0010/index.htm Enjoy Frederik!
Great review, thank you! I odered one today, it was in great shape and price was nice too. I have a few manual focus lenses (Helios 52mm 44-4 f/2.0 and Zenit 85mm 40-2 f/1.5) and they are du much fun to use. Can't wait to get my hands on the Nikkor. :)
Thanks again for this excellent Video. I am very big fan of yours I enjoy your calm voice, command sense attitude, details about each item you review. I have owned the Nikor 70-200mm f2.8 lens for several years originally purchase for night time Action Sports aka our American High School Sports on a the excellent Nikon D3s Camera known for its good ISO. As You note the Nikor 70-200mm f2.8 is an excellent lens . Of course at a particular focal lenght for example of 85mm, 135mm, does not match the Prime lenses of those focal lengths as i am sure applies to the 200mm you are reviewing. Watching your reviews does have pro's for me to consider as i use my zoom lens in that focal range of 200mm. In summary all of this enhances my love for photography, and always learning something new. Thank You very much again for your time, knowledge,, and review of the 200mm Vintage lens.
So I ordered the Ais ED version for 189 Euro and it is mint fondition. These go for 300-400 Euro so I think I made a good deal. Will check the lens out of course when it arrives in the store. I absolutely never buy used gear per mail order. Always try to hold and test the product before I buy something. 😊
I found your review after purchasing this lens thinking I wanted the ED version but your review is very accurate...enjoyed. I have also purchased a D700 and will be watching your tutorials of this camera, very instructive...thank you in advance.
Glad it was helpful! I am sure both the D700 and the 180mm lens will serve you very well! When you get to the D700, I have a playlist that contains all my videos plus a few more made by others that I have found useful in getting to know the D700. It is right here: ruclips.net/p/PLPjooVCTLG910wkb8TMrajbIHmA54MJ-A. I also have a post about the strength / weakness of the D700: frederikboving.com/the-legendary-nikon-d700-still-relevant-in-2020/ - hope this is useful!
Great video! I found similar bokeh results with my 180 AI. I’ve also got a Nikkor-Q 200 f4 and taking the identical picture, at the same f stop, the bokeh seemed much less angular.
Ken Rockwell writes (of the Ai-S version): "This is the legendary NIKKOR✱ED 180mm f/2.8 AI-s, a superb manual focus lens often considered among Nikon's sharpest lenses of all time. It's ultra-sharp and works brilliantly on today's newest state-of-the-art 50 megapixel cameras. It sold for the equivalent of $1900 when first released. It was introduced in 1981 to supersede the non-ED version. Its exotic ED extra-low dispersion glass reduces secondary chromatic aberration so its images are sharper and cleaner than the older non-ED 180, and offered what at the time was previously unseen performance in a very fast tele. Today this is a superb lens for portraiture, nature, landscape, architecture and any other kind of precision photography. If you've never shot with one of these masterpieces and only have shot with autofocus lenses, you're in for a treat. This lens is from back in the day when Nikon ruled the world of sports and news photography, and back when we still had real professional photographers who knew what pro gear felt like and demanded that it handle well and be built like a tank. Presuming you're using a nice sample like this one, it's a solid ingot of mechanical precision with optics to match, completely unlike the offshored plastic rubbish people accept today."
Outstanding very sharp lens. Used it adapted on Fujifilm X-T1 & Nikon Z7 ,and photos was very sharp with outstanding colours. Easy fit Z7 with its 45 megapixels,while other zooms was just ridicously looking on this camera by magnification this lens is truly sharp.
Thank you for this review with picture examples. I had the ED version. It was nice to bring outdoors at an art show and pont at some random people. The quality was noticeably nice. I guess that was because I was stopped down to F5.6 and F8. Big, heavy, bulky to carry. AF not real great with a couple of switches to get to manual focus. Kind of special to have this lens. I might get another.
Nice review 👍 I have a copy of the 180 AF-D ED version, bought it three years ago for 300 Euro, decent conditions. I think it's a bit sharper at 2.8 and yes, better flare control. Great colours and lovely bokeh. It's also lighter then the AIS version at approx 750 grams remaining very well built. BUT I find it not ideal for moving subject, the AF is by far the slowest I tested among Nikon lenses.
Great review, one to put on the list. I have made an upgrade with a recent purchase of Nikon D3 3000 clicks. I use this camera with the f2 50mm and the 135 mm f 3.5. Outstanding results. I would say better than with the D700 which is not possible because they share the same sensor. However, the shutter click is that much better that it is a big improvement to me. Try it and you will see. D700 will be a holiday camera because of its light weight.
@@frederikboving If set up with e series primes and of course no zoom lenses on your holiday which we again saw demonstrated in the review of this great prime lens. No heavy, big unsharp, so called travel zoom but a 28 mm, 50 mm and 100 mm e series and then the D700 is quite light, robust, and takes excellent pictures.
I have the Nikkor 180mm 2.8 ED AI-S version. It’s very sharp wide open, great contrast and with 9 blades aperture make very fine stars. Newer zoom 70-200mm 2.8 lenses are much sharper at smallest apertures and would have liked the hood to stay in position with a click or to be tighter. Not even my classic Zeiss ZF.2 lenses are made like this Nikon. Highly recommended. The 180mm 2.8D may be slightly better, but it’s certainly not better for manual focus. I actually think it’s a compact lens for such focal length, it’s not much bigger or heavier than the Zeiss 2/100 Makro Planar ZF.2, though that lens focuses quite close.
Thank you for sharing! I have just on e-bay ordered a copy of the Nikkor AF 180mm f/2.8 ED lens, and I am looking forward to testing it wide open, and see if the ED glass is sharper.
@@frederikboving I tested the 180mm 2.8 ED AI-S on a Df vs the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS II set around 180mm on a 6D. While the colours seem colder on Nikon, at normal viewing distances, I can’t tell which lens is sharper both set at 2.8. I think it’s a great result because the 70-200mm 2.8L IS II has one of the highest DXO scores of any zoom lenses, rivalling that of many primes.
My wife is a huge fan of the storm chasers on RUclips, in particular Pecos Hanks. We are thinking of getting either the Nikon D700 or the D7100 but what Lens would you recommend for large skies with big storms.
Uh, tough question. Guess it to a large extend depends upon how close you will get to the storms! First of all, if you mount a lens on the D7100 (great camera, APS-C), then the crop factor means that the lens is 1.5 times longer than on a full frame body. So your 180 mm is now suddenly 270mm! You can also ask the D700 to crop the picture to match an APS-C, but then the drop in resolution is too much IMO for a 12MP sensor. If you have an idea of the distance to the storm, and hence the angle of view you need, then I would let that be a big factor in lens choice. If you are unsure, then maybe a zoom would be the way to go, and in that case Nikon has many e.g. 70-200 lenses that are known to be excellent. Especially the more modern versions with vibration reduction, which I could imagine would be helpful when chasing a storm. imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/f-mount/zoom/telephotozoom/af-s_70-200mmf_28e_fl_ed_vr/index.htm - you can find this lens used in less modern versions where the price tag is less eye watering. Hope this helps!
Hi, unfortunately no. The D500 body has the motor, but the AI-S lacks the mechanical parts in the lens to give you AF. If you want AF, you need the younger AF-version of this lens; you can find my review of it here: ruclips.net/video/nQp7OTvvKQo/видео.html
Nikon AI and AI-S lenses are fantastic, I used it only in my fuji, so because I had some I decided to bauy a Nikon FX cam in used market to use those in it´s full potential, no regrets. Your chanel is good, indeed.
Hej Frederik Har lige googlet min fars gamle Nikkor linser og så er du dukket op og denne her video. Jeg har netop denne linse (+ en del flere af de gamle) i perfekt stand og er også fra København. Glæder mig til at bruge dem! Har du erfaring med dem fra til video? Glæder mig til at bruge dem! Tusind tak for videoen!!
Hej Kenni - som du nok kan se fra mine videoer så er jeg mere fotograf end video mand, så nej, jeg har ikke brugt den til video. Det ændrer ikke ved at det er en fantastisk linse til prisen og at jeg hver dag takker Nikon for at have lavet så mange klassiske linser der kan købes på nettet for en slik! Det er lidt som at gå rundt i Beatles bagkatalog og vælge sange!
Thank you for the detailed review. Do you think this lens has enough resolution for a d750? I found a pretty good looking one (af-d version) on eBay. I intend to use it for outside portraits wide open.
Yes, absolutely! It will be a killer combo, lots of compression for beautiful portraits and a lens that - given its length - is very fast. Only issue is that you will need to back up a lot, so you may find you'll need to shout to the model :-D
@@Jeff-zc6rrED glass I believe came with much later glass such as AF and AF-S lenses and by then the design of the lens had undergone significant changes. Hope this helps!
Just got this lens in the mail 2 days ago And I am loving it! Already took it for a hike and realized I may be in over my head I have a lot to learn on going completely manual. Live view does help a little bit. I am amazed with the pictures I'm getting on this thing. Thank you for the video!
Thank you Don! I have another video that may help you getting to know manual focus: ruclips.net/video/NLsqwPWHxbc/видео.html - it is about the D750, but pretty generic and hence also relevant if you shoot with other Nikon camera bodies. Hope this helps! All the best!
@@frederikbovingthank you,I have watched it a few times and I'm sure a few more times before the weekend ends! 😃
Thank you for this comprehensive review. I'd just add that the later Nikkor 180mm AiS (manual focus still, made from 1981 - 2005) with ED glass uses a different optical formula - 5 elements in 5 groups (versus 5 elements in 4 groups, for the Ai version). The AiS version was optimised to excel at wider apertures, and I can confirm that is the case. A wonderful lens, built like a genuine Leica/Leitz, with truly superb optical quality. Did I say superb? It really IS outstanding even at f/2.8.
For information, for my mint copy from Japan - (where all the best copies are) I paid:
US $279.99
Postage: US $39.99
Total: US $319.98
I then got hit, some weeks later, by a $110 Import Duty Bill! I was a fool to think I'd escaped the Customs hit!
Still, absolutely worth it for this masterpiece of lens-making, the likes of which are made today only at stratospheric prices!
Thank you for sharing! I will seriously consider the AIS version. The reviewed version is one of my absolute favorite lenses and it sits on my D700 90% of the time. Amazing that such old technology performs so well.
@@frederikboving From the classic, official Nikon "The One Thousand and One Nights" series: imaging.nikon.com/history/story/0010/index.htm Enjoy Frederik!
@@AntPDC Thank you - interesting read! Have added the link to the description of the video! Will need to get an ED copy now :-D
Great review, thank you! I odered one today, it was in great shape and price was nice too. I have a few manual focus lenses (Helios 52mm 44-4 f/2.0 and Zenit 85mm 40-2 f/1.5) and they are du much fun to use. Can't wait to get my hands on the Nikkor. :)
Thank you! I am sure that if you get a good copy, you'll be very happy with the performance of this lens for many years to come!
Thanks again for this excellent Video. I am very big fan of yours I enjoy your calm voice, command sense attitude, details about each item you review. I have owned the Nikor 70-200mm f2.8 lens for several years originally purchase for night time Action Sports aka our American High School Sports on a the excellent Nikon D3s Camera known for its good ISO. As You note the Nikor 70-200mm f2.8 is an excellent lens . Of course at a particular focal lenght for example of 85mm, 135mm, does not match the Prime lenses of those focal lengths as i am sure applies to the 200mm you are reviewing. Watching your reviews does have pro's for me to consider as i use my zoom lens in that focal range of 200mm. In summary all of this enhances my love for photography, and always learning something new. Thank You very much again for your time, knowledge,, and review of the 200mm Vintage lens.
Thank you 🙏🏻 for your kind words Tom!
So I ordered the Ais ED version for 189 Euro and it is mint fondition. These go for 300-400 Euro so I think I made a good deal. Will check the lens out of course when it arrives in the store. I absolutely never buy used gear per mail order. Always try to hold and test the product before I buy something. 😊
Sounds wise to me 👍
I found your review after purchasing this lens thinking I wanted the ED version but your review is very accurate...enjoyed. I have also purchased a D700 and will be watching your tutorials of this camera, very instructive...thank you in advance.
Glad it was helpful! I am sure both the D700 and the 180mm lens will serve you very well! When you get to the D700, I have a playlist that contains all my videos plus a few more made by others that I have found useful in getting to know the D700. It is right here: ruclips.net/p/PLPjooVCTLG910wkb8TMrajbIHmA54MJ-A. I also have a post about the strength / weakness of the D700: frederikboving.com/the-legendary-nikon-d700-still-relevant-in-2020/ - hope this is useful!
Great video. Thank you.
RS. Canada
Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻!
Great video! I found similar bokeh results with my 180 AI. I’ve also got a Nikkor-Q 200 f4 and taking the identical picture, at the same f stop, the bokeh seemed much less angular.
Hi Tim, thank you & thank you for sharing!
Ken Rockwell writes (of the Ai-S version):
"This is the legendary NIKKOR✱ED 180mm f/2.8 AI-s, a superb manual focus lens often considered among Nikon's sharpest lenses of all time. It's ultra-sharp and works brilliantly on today's newest state-of-the-art 50 megapixel cameras.
It sold for the equivalent of $1900 when first released.
It was introduced in 1981 to supersede the non-ED version. Its exotic ED extra-low dispersion glass reduces secondary chromatic aberration so its images are sharper and cleaner than the older non-ED 180, and offered what at the time was previously unseen performance in a very fast tele.
Today this is a superb lens for portraiture, nature, landscape, architecture and any other kind of precision photography.
If you've never shot with one of these masterpieces and only have shot with autofocus lenses, you're in for a treat. This lens is from back in the day when Nikon ruled the world of sports and news photography, and back when we still had real professional photographers who knew what pro gear felt like and demanded that it handle well and be built like a tank. Presuming you're using a nice sample like this one, it's a solid ingot of mechanical precision with optics to match, completely unlike the offshored plastic rubbish people accept today."
KR isn't a good source of information
Depends, often he is, other times not so. But a legend of his own I owe him much.@@fredriksvard2603
Outstanding very sharp lens. Used it adapted on Fujifilm X-T1 & Nikon Z7 ,and photos was very sharp with outstanding colours. Easy fit Z7 with its 45 megapixels,while other zooms was just ridicously looking on this camera by magnification this lens is truly sharp.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for this review with picture examples. I had the ED version. It was nice to bring outdoors at an art show and pont at some random people. The quality was noticeably nice. I guess that was because I was stopped down to F5.6 and F8. Big, heavy, bulky to carry. AF not real great with a couple of switches to get to manual focus. Kind of special to have this lens. I might get another.
Hi William, thanks for sharing! Yes, big and heavy it is - indeed!
A sweet, sweet lens indeed. This will be today's shooting inspiration!
Nice review 👍
I have a copy of the 180 AF-D ED version, bought it three years ago for 300 Euro, decent conditions. I think it's a bit sharper at 2.8 and yes, better flare control. Great colours and lovely bokeh. It's also lighter then the AIS version at approx 750 grams remaining very well built. BUT I find it not ideal for moving subject, the AF is by far the slowest I tested among Nikon lenses.
Thank you for sharing 🙏🏻
Great review, one to put on the list. I have made an upgrade with a recent purchase of Nikon D3 3000 clicks. I use this camera with the f2 50mm and the 135 mm f 3.5. Outstanding results. I would say better than with the D700 which is not possible because they share the same sensor. However, the shutter click is that much better that it is a big improvement to me. Try it and you will see. D700 will be a holiday camera because of its light weight.
Thank you Je Bo! "D700 will be a holiday camera because of its light weight." - that one will go on my list of quotes to remember :-D
@@frederikboving If set up with e series primes and of course no zoom lenses on your holiday which we again saw demonstrated in the review of this great prime lens. No heavy, big unsharp, so called travel zoom but a 28 mm, 50 mm and 100 mm e series and then the D700 is quite light, robust, and takes excellent pictures.
Tip for zoomusers: e series 75-150mm
I have the Nikkor 180mm 2.8 ED AI-S version. It’s very sharp wide open, great contrast and with 9 blades aperture make very fine stars.
Newer zoom 70-200mm 2.8 lenses are much sharper at smallest apertures and would have liked the hood to stay in position with a click or to be tighter.
Not even my classic Zeiss ZF.2 lenses are made like this Nikon.
Highly recommended.
The 180mm 2.8D may be slightly better, but it’s certainly not better for manual focus.
I actually think it’s a compact lens for such focal length, it’s not much bigger or heavier than the Zeiss 2/100 Makro Planar ZF.2, though that lens focuses quite close.
Thank you for sharing! I have just on e-bay ordered a copy of the Nikkor AF 180mm f/2.8 ED lens, and I am looking forward to testing it wide open, and see if the ED glass is sharper.
@@frederikboving I tested the 180mm 2.8 ED AI-S on a Df vs the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS II set around 180mm on a 6D.
While the colours seem colder on Nikon, at normal viewing distances, I can’t tell which lens is sharper both set at 2.8.
I think it’s a great result because the 70-200mm 2.8L IS II has one of the highest DXO scores of any zoom lenses, rivalling that of many primes.
@@TheGreatLoco Thank you for sharing! I look forward to testing the 180mm f/2.8 AF that should be with me any day soon!
My wife is a huge fan of the storm chasers on RUclips, in particular Pecos Hanks. We are thinking of getting either the Nikon D700 or the D7100 but what Lens would you recommend for large skies with big storms.
Uh, tough question. Guess it to a large extend depends upon how close you will get to the storms! First of all, if you mount a lens on the D7100 (great camera, APS-C), then the crop factor means that the lens is 1.5 times longer than on a full frame body. So your 180 mm is now suddenly 270mm! You can also ask the D700 to crop the picture to match an APS-C, but then the drop in resolution is too much IMO for a 12MP sensor. If you have an idea of the distance to the storm, and hence the angle of view you need, then I would let that be a big factor in lens choice. If you are unsure, then maybe a zoom would be the way to go, and in that case Nikon has many e.g. 70-200 lenses that are known to be excellent. Especially the more modern versions with vibration reduction, which I could imagine would be helpful when chasing a storm. imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/f-mount/zoom/telephotozoom/af-s_70-200mmf_28e_fl_ed_vr/index.htm - you can find this lens used in less modern versions where the price tag is less eye watering. Hope this helps!
@@frederikboving Thank you so very much.
Will AI-S manual lens have autofocus capabilities on a D500?
Hi, unfortunately no. The D500 body has the motor, but the AI-S lacks the mechanical parts in the lens to give you AF. If you want AF, you need the younger AF-version of this lens; you can find my review of it here: ruclips.net/video/nQp7OTvvKQo/видео.html
Nikon AI and AI-S lenses are fantastic, I used it only in my fuji, so because I had some I decided to bauy a Nikon FX cam in used market to use those in it´s full potential, no regrets. Your chanel is good, indeed.
Hi Eduardo, thank you for your kind words! Glad you enjoy Nikon FX :-D
Hey I was very curious to see how this lens woked for potraits, would be really awesome if you could share a few images! Thanks :) amazing video
Uh, I don't know that many photo models! But using a 180mm for portraits - that is a big studio you got :-D
in another video, a Vogue portrait photographer uses this lens.
If the best in the world find it enjoyable, so do we :D
Hej Frederik
Har lige googlet min fars gamle Nikkor linser og så er du dukket op og denne her video. Jeg har netop denne linse (+ en del flere af de gamle) i perfekt stand og er også fra København. Glæder mig til at bruge dem! Har du erfaring med dem fra til video? Glæder mig til at bruge dem! Tusind tak for videoen!!
Hej Kenni - som du nok kan se fra mine videoer så er jeg mere fotograf end video mand, så nej, jeg har ikke brugt den til video. Det ændrer ikke ved at det er en fantastisk linse til prisen og at jeg hver dag takker Nikon for at have lavet så mange klassiske linser der kan købes på nettet for en slik! Det er lidt som at gå rundt i Beatles bagkatalog og vælge sange!
Thank you for the detailed review. Do you think this lens has enough resolution for a d750? I found a pretty good looking one (af-d version) on eBay. I intend to use it for outside portraits wide open.
Yes, absolutely! It will be a killer combo, lots of compression for beautiful portraits and a lens that - given its length - is very fast. Only issue is that you will need to back up a lot, so you may find you'll need to shout to the model :-D
Very nice. Thank you.
Thank you too!
It is truly sharp but I had to go with the AF version. Awesome video!!!👊🏾
Thank you! Much appreciated!
The only difference between the AI and AI ED is the flare control?
Not sure there is such a thing as an AI ED lens?
@@frederikboving so just an ais Ed version?
@@Jeff-zc6rrED glass I believe came with much later glass such as AF and AF-S lenses and by then the design of the lens had undergone significant changes. Hope this helps!
Great review.
Thanks! Much appreciated Hachewie!
Not Zoom...Telephoto!
👍
ED version is much better..
Thanks for sharing!