Nikon (Nikkor) 25-50mm f/4 AIS Manual Focus Wide angle to Standard Zoom. Mint-. Tested. See Test Images.

This is a near pristine example of one of the finest manual focus, general purpose telephoto zoom ever made by Nikon. It covers the very popular 25-50mm focal lengths and has a constant f/4 aperture. It's as good as a prime lens from a sharpness perspective and it combines high edge sharpness with low distortion.

See Hi res images taken with this lens on Youtube

https://youtu.be/Y1Ey4ggklJU

Key Features

ü  Super sharp at all focal lengths and apertures.

ü  Low distortion

ü  f/4 fast lens constant aperture.

ü  Relatively light and compact.

ü  Close focus to 2ft.

This last, and best, AIS model: lens number 209277, was number 8,268 of a total run of just 16,897 of the 25-50mm f/4 AIS Zoom lens manufactured by Nikon Japan between November 1981 and March 1985. We can, therefore, be fairly certain that this lens was made at some point in July 1983.

This lens is an ideal wide to standard range telephoto. It is light and compact, which makes it ideal for travel. It's better made than many of today's Nikon zooms as it's only made from glass and metal. All you miss is autofocus.

This lens is super sharp as you can see from the pictures I have attached and the link to the Youtube Hi Res images. See below.

Lens compatibility

Use on Digital Cameras

On the D810, D800,D800E, D750,D700, D610, D600,D500, D300s,D300, D200,D7200, D7100,D7000 series cameras, it can give full matrix metering and aperture-preferred auto (A) and manual (M) modes, and encodes the shooting aperture and focal length in the EXIF.

This lens works on the lesser cameras like the D80, D70 and D40, but without any metering - you'll have to use an external meter or guess using the LCD.

Use on Film Cameras

This Iens is ideal for manual focus cameras like the FA, FE, FM and F2AS.

The F100 and most film cameras offer centre-weighted metering with this lens, while the F4, F6 and FA are unique among film cameras in offering matrix metering with it.

For further reading on the subject, please visit Ken Rockwell's most instructive website on the subject.

Overall Lens Condition: Mint-

Mechanical / Cosmetic: Mint

This is a pristine lens. It is unmarked and looks almost new. The zoom ring action is nice and smooth and nicely damped. The focus action is light and smooth no play in the action. The painted lettering is bright and completely intact. The bayonet mount is in perfect condition. The aperture blades move freely and are oil free.

Optical: Near Mint

There is a tiny piece of fluff and some dust particles in the lens, although a lot less than one would expect in a lens of this age. Apart from that, the optics are flawless. This lens generates brilliantly sharp, bright and contrasty images straight out of the camera. There is no balsam separation, haze, mould or fungus. the front and rear elements are pristine.

Image quality

Image quality is excellent. The images taken with this lens show edge to edge sharpness at most apertures and focal lengths. This lens is about as good as a Nikkor prime in my view.

The lens tests attached were shot on a Sony A7RII 42.4MP Mirrorless camera. It works perfectly on my D7200, but I wanted to demonstrate the full-frame capability of this lens.

The Ebay Upload Images

The test images were taken in Birmingham, UK on November 12th 2022. The first image of the northbound tunnel entrance to the Queensway Underpass was shot wide open at f/4 at the 25mm focal length. The next image is a 100% centre crop of the first image. The next image is of the same scene, but this time it's a corner crop at f/8. This lens is insanely sharp right across the frame everywhere. In my opinion, it's as good as a Nikon prime. The next image is another f/4 image at focal length 25mm and the next (also at f/4) facing the other way at 35mm. Both are superb and I've cropped both images at 100% These images show the low distortion and great perspective that this lens produces.

The Youtube Images

https://youtu.be/Y1Ey4ggklJU

I've taken a series of f/4 to f/22 exposures of the northbound tunnel entrance to the Queensway Underpass in Birmingham, UK at 25mm, 35mm, and 50mm. I've cropped the images centre and edge at various apertures. The quality is outstanding. It's edge to edge (and corner) sharp at all apertures and focal lengths. Take a look at the 35mm sequence. On the f/4 100% centre crop, the only thing that tells us that the lens is wide open is the bluish white tinge to the car headlight typical of a Nikkor lens being deployed at maximum aperture. Note that the f/8 100% crop shows the typical 14 point Sunstars that this lens generates when shooting point light sources stopped down.

I've also taken some other images in and around the area. The 100% crops are equivalent to about an 8ft x 5ft full size image if you are looking at the image 10cm wide on your screen.

What's in the box?

Lens, front and rear Nikon lens caps.