I started writing a review of this lens about two years ago, shortly after I became an epinions member. Then I decided against it (and deleted it from my draft), based on my reason that it is such an old lens and not many people would be interested in it. Two years later, it came back haunting me. I was wrong...
I have owned the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS for more than four years now. During that time I have owned other 50mm lenses such as the Auto focus (AF) 50mm /f1.8, manual focus (MF) 50mm f/1.4 and 1.8. As time went by, I got rid of those lenses, one by one, and kept just the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8. The decision was simple: The Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 was the sharpest lens in the pack; it could provide more services where the others could not. With a focal length of 55mm, the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 can be regarded as the standard (50mm) lens, because it does not manipulate an image. And because it has the ability to provide an extremely close focusing distance, the lens is quite versatile.
Nowadays, the super impressive lenses (or zoom lenses) are constructed with the aid of computer technology with precision and special materials and coatings, such as Aspherical, Extra-low Dispersion, Apochromatic, and so forth. The Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 did not have the benefit of all that. Its construction was based on optical design and ray diagrams drawn by hand. The optical elements are simple, no special glass, just the special multicoating to provide superb and vivid color and eliminate internal reflections. With only a few optical elements in its construction, the lens could be "easily" made to achieve the ultimate sharpness in optical quality that even modern lenses cannot come close.
The blue print (or repair manual) of the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 is available from the manufacturer, written in English and Japanese. However, I don't think it was made available officially. I had the opportunity to obtain a copy for study.
The Design and Camera/Mount Compatibility
The original production of Micro-Nikkor 55mm dates back to 1966 (with non-AI, none Auto-Indexing type). However, its famous appearance began in late 1979. This one had an aperture scale of f/3.5-32 and of AI (Auto-Indexing) type. Shortly there after, Nikon introduced the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 with AIS type (early in 1980).
The difference between AI and AIS type is that AIS lens can be used on cameras with automatic programmed exposure, such as N2000, N8008, F4, etc. Both lenses have the meter coupling on the aperture ring so that they can be used on older cameras, such as F2AS, F2A, FM, FE or Nikkormat FT3, etc.
Nikon also produced a special 55mm f/2.8 lens for NASA. The AF version was also produced (and was an ugly one), but it only made a short appearance, and was immediately replaced by the new design with a larger front barrel (62mm filter thread): Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 (1989) and updated with a D-chip in 1993. The Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D is considered by many to be Nikon's legendary lens.
The Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS is a manual focus lens, but it can be used on virtually all auto focus cameras (except entry-level auto focus ones) in manual focus mode. I regularly use this lens on my Nikon F4 auto focus camera. And because of its AIS type, the lens enables an automatic programmed exposure mode on my F4. This means that I can use F4's Matrix metering. Unfortunately, only Nikon F4 has this special ability to use its Matrix metering on all AIS lenses. Nikon F5, F100, N90/S, D1-series, etc., cannot make use of their 3D color or Advanced matrix metering on AIS lenses. They can only provide Center-Weighted or Spot metering.
The Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS is constructed using 6 optical elements in 5 groups. Its front barrel accepts 52mm filter thread. It provides a close focusing distance of 10 inches. At this distance, image is only one-half real life size. In other words, it can only provide a close focus to 1:2 ratio. With its dedicated PK-13 tube, the lens can give a 1:1 ratio for real life size.
The focusing mechanics of the lens is of helical type, where the barrel increases in length during close focusing. It features a floating elements in the rear lens group to help correct and achieve superb sharpness even in close range. The lens has aperture scale from f/2.8 to f/32. There are special markings for close-focus ratio on the barrel for its dedicated PK-13 extension tube.
Unlike modern lenses that are mostly built using plastic, the Nikon Micro-Nikkor is constructed using pure metal. This translates to durability and long lasting. This lens is a symbol of Nikon's built quality.
Handling
With its all-metal construction, the lens feels solid. It is not heavy for a lens its size, and balances very well on my Nikon F4. Because of its built-in tube, the lens is a little longer than the standard 50mm lens. Focus action is smooth but very firm. This firmness provides extra protection that guards against "focus creep" during precise focus on close-up photography. This means that once focus is achieved and the desired image is in sharp focus, the lens will stay focused. I like that a lot.
There is a dedicated lens hood NH-3. To me, the lens' front optical element is recessed very far into the barrel (almost 1.5 inches!) that it seems unnecessary to get the hood to help guard against flares. I have used this lens for a long time without the hood and have never seen any flares.
As I mentioned earlier, this lens has a meter coupling shoe on its aperture ring that can be used on older cameras (such as F2). For nature photography, my primary camera is Nikon F4. So I remove this meter coupling shoe to help make the lens more user friendly on handling.
The front barrel does not rotate during focusing, thus making the use of a polarizing filter a pleasant experience.
The lens can focus down to 10 inches (from film plane to subject) by itself, producing a magnification of 1:2 ratio, half real life size. With its dedicated PK-13 (27.5mm) tube will bring down to 1:1 ratio. I don't have a PK-13 tube, but I have a Vivitar extension tube set consisting of a 12mm, 20mm and 36mm. I use the 20mm tube on this lens and focus distance decreases quite rapidly, allowing me to achieve magnification near 1:1 ratio.
Optical Performance
I already gave away this information at the beginning of my review. To say this further, I believe this is the sharpest lens in my humble and limited fixed focal-length lens collection, that includes this lens, Nikon AF 180mm f/2.8 ED-IF and Tokina 300mm f/2.8 AF-II (which I recently replaced my old Tokina 300mm f/4 for pure practical and budget reason). I personally believe this is the perfect lens; it couldn't be made any better than this.
Optically, this lens is a first rate. It shows no signs of linear distortion. Flare is virtually nonexistent. When shooting sunset, some fixed focal-length lenses and virtually all zooms suffer greatly from flares, producing ghosting in the image. In some rare occasions, flare can be used to a certain advantage to help produce some creative images with aesthetic effects. But most of the time, flare is a negative thing that invades the beauty of an image; and many photographers will try to avoid a lens that flares, at all costs. The Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS hardly suffers from flares.
With this lens, I have shot using virtually all its available apertures from f/2.8 to f/32. And quite frankly, they all produce sharp images. Only f/2.8 shows a faint sign of softness on the edges and a tad of light fall-off. Sharpness increases rapidly from f/4 to f/8 and stays super sharp all the way to f/16. Based on my data, I believe this lens is sharpest at f/8 and with great contrast. At f/22 and f/32, it is still quite sharp, but contrast seems to decrease a tiny bit.
One great thing I like about this lens is its unrivaled picture definition. It not only produces super sharp images, but also with great color fidelity. Its great contrast and saturation are perfectly balanced, and they never spoil its neutral colors.
Most importantly, since it is a special type lens, designed for macro photography, it makes the illusion that that's what it is best for. On the contrary, this lens is sharp throughout its aperture range and at all shooting distances; that's why it weeds out all my other 50mm lenses.
Advantage and Disadvantage?
Since I use this lens to replace my standard ones that have a wider aperture of, say, f/1.4 or f/1.8, it appears that the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 lacks a few things. This is the area that I believe every photographer must make his/her own decision. For a shallow depth of field, I personally don't use a 50mm f/1.4 shoot at wide open. For that reason, I don't miss my 50mm f/1.4 at all. Secondly, the 50mm f/1.4 can surely provide a much brighter viewfinder. But the f/2.8 of 55mm lens is not much dimmer compared to most consumer zooms today that have a maximum aperture of f/4 or f/5.6, or even f/6.3.
Beside dropping an f-stop to f/2.8 compared to a fast 50mm f/1.4 lens, the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS has the rest of the advantages. One inherent special characteristic feature of Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 (and virtually all macro lenses made by any manufacturer) is its plane of sharpness. Macro lenses, such as Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm /f2.8, are specially designed with optical correction for flat field.
I will propose a simple test to compare image sharpness produced by Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 and Nikon 50mm f/1.4. With a sheet of text printed paper, photograph as close as the 50mm lens can allow. Shoot the 50mm f/1.4 at f/2.8 (stop-down) and 55mm at f/2.8 (wide open). In fact, the two lenses should be compared shot at wide open. It goes without saying that special care such as a tripod to help stabilize the camera and lens and a remote trigger and slide film should be used. Then compare image sharpness from center to corner. No doubt, you will discover that the image produced by Nikon 50mm f/1.4 is only sharp at the center, whereas that produced by Nikon 55mm f/2.8 will yield greater sharpness throughout the film plane. Why? Because 50mm f/1.4 does not have a specially corrected optics, not designed for flat field sharpness. It will render sharp images across the film plane when you stop down the aperture; but that's because it now has a greater depth of field.
The advantage of Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 goes on and on.
Availability
I believe as long as Nikon still produces manual focus cameras, the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS will always be available. The Nikon FM2n has been selling for almost forever; and the FM3A is not going to show signs of "discontinued" any time soon. That said, the lens is still available new from Nikon, sold along side its bigger brother Nikon Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D AF-D.
But you don't need to have a Nikon manual focus SLR camera to take advantage of this lens. I use it exclusively on my auto focus SLR Nikon F4.
A number of times, I was tempted to buy the AF 60mm f/2.8D, simply because I wanted to eliminate the hassle of carrying too many different filters. In my nature photography camera bag, if I use the 55mm lens, I would have to put three different types of filters: 52mm, 62mm (for my 70-180mm or 75-300mm zoom) and 77mm (for my 17-35mm zoom). If I had the 60mm lens, then I would have to carry just two. But I figured it would be cheaper to get a step-up ring (52-62mm) and then use the 62mm filter on my 55mm lens. It works out find.
Problem
As mentioned earlier, the moving mechanism of Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 is of helical in design. The inner tubes have threads that provide movement between the outer tube like screwing/unscrewing a hollow tube inside a tube. There is grease in between those threaded tubes. I use this lens throughout the seasons, and have found that during extreme cold whether, the movement between the tubes gets tighter, making focusing a little bit more difficult. In hot climate or normal temperature, the lens operates normally without focus difficulty.
Conclusion
For optical quality, this lens without a doubt is one of a kind. Many people have said that the Nikon AF Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 IF-ED lens can easily compare its optics with that of the famous German-made Leica lens. Even though it is difficult to compare the 55mm's optics with that of the 180mm, due to differing image ratio, I'm often inclined to think that my 55mm in a certain way is sharper than my 180mm lens. What does that make the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 when it compares to Leica?
For the traditionalists or purists who prefer to use the Nikon manual focus cameras over the AF ones, I think the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS will add a special treat to your lens collection.
Those who simply look for great optics in a lens, need look no further.
*******
Specifications: Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS
Focal length: 55mm
Angle of View: 42 degrees
Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/32
Optical Construction: 6 elements in 5 groups
Close Focusing: 10 inches (1:2 ratio)
With PK-13 tube: magnification is 1:1
Filter Thread: 52mm
Lens Hood: NH-3
Weight: 10.2 oz.
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