Nikon Series E Lens

Absolutely.

Some of them turned out to be pretty good lenses.

if you find a 75-150 f3.5 Series E, grab it!

If you live in the UK, I've got one for sale.

Combining Nikon's more than 25 years old cheapo lens line with an excellent dslr like the D300? What a weird idea. I think there is enough modern and better glass in the market - even for a low price.

Series E was decent glass with cheap construction much like the "kit" lenses being offered today.

"Series E was decent glass with cheap construction much like the "kit" lenses being offered today."

Some people seem to forget that worn out mounts of a lens kill the image quality even if the glass is decent. I wouldn't use even better built AIS-lenses on a D200/300 after heavy using these lenses. The tolerances of a dslr are much more narrow than the tolerances of a film slr.

I think 75-150 Series E will give you better picture than all modern kit lenses (I have compared it just with 18-200) especially if you consider important corner sharpness and boke.

Some of my favorite images I've shot were with older lenses on my D70 and D200. And some of those were with an E Series lens.

Don't let Frank talk you out of trying older glass on a newer body. Be creative and use your imagination.

Never heard of worn out metal mounts on lenses. If you don't even use AI-S lenses on your DSLR then your loss. Old classics like my 180/2.8 are awesome on digital bodies. I use lenses from the 1950s on my M mount cameras and have never seen metal mounts wearing off (and yes, people use them on their digital M bodies too).

Why do you say tighter tolerance? An old lens may not be worn out. The older AIS lenses where made to be changed. Some of the glass is better than what is offered today or its just not available. One example is the AIS 28mm f2. Its a keeper for me. The AIS 20mm f2.8 according to Bjorn is also a very good lens. I have the AF-D version.

Since we (well, a few of us anyway) are doing an other round of how good the 75-150mm f3.5 Series E is, I just gotta post this image - shot wide open and at 150mm.

The lady is my 70 year-old neighbor who works from dawn to dusk 7 days a week.

What a gem of a lens! And I only paid US$ 30 for it.

Andy I think you have the reason people buy older glass!

I've the Nikon 50mm f1.8 Series E lens and have taken some pretty nice photos with it. Despite the coatings not being the same as a normal Nikkor, they can still be great performers. You can however find the Nikkor version for the same price on the auction site. My current 50mm f1.8 Nikkor lens was purchased for $27 and is amazing.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Andy, that is an awesome picture of your neighbor lady!

I use a E series 135mm on my D70. It looks "special" compared to today's lenses.

If you happen to already have an E series lens by all means go ahead and use it. A good photographer can make good pictures with just about anything, within reason. But if you're looking to buy a lens, I would stick with AI, AI-S or other standard-quality Nikon lenses. The E lenses came with the EM body, which was Nikon's first big move into the consumer market and was a major step down in construction quality from their Nikon F/F2 bodies, FM bodies or even Nikkormats. Older manual focus lenses are being almost given away today, so I would stick with the better lenses and avoid E lenses.

Yes, they fit. Yes, there were some gems among this now VERY affordable lens series: 50/1.8, 100/2.8, and as mentioned the 75-150 zoom. Just keep the crop factor in mind, i.e, x1.5 on any focal length on your D300. Andy's shot should utterly discredit any of the "urban legend" naysaying about E series lenses. Despite their "plasticky" and "cheaper" build quality, mine--all bought used--are in great shape.

Galen Rowell shot the famous "Rainbow Over Potala Palace" with Nikon 75-150 E seriens.

http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=502

If he was going around with 75-150 I think he rated the lens a good one.

While the E series was considered a "cheap" lens in the mid 1980s, it has better build quality than the consumer grade "kit" lenses on many peoples bodies today. Now, some of those kit lenses can perform quite well, even with plastic mounting surfaces, but I wouldn't consider an E lens a cheap lens by todays standards.

I have two I use on my D40x - a 50mm f/1.8(owned since new in 1982) and a 36-72 f/3.5(bought off Ebay). The 50mm is my walkaround lens now - IMHO the build quality is much better than the kit lenses and give the camera a better feel. Granted, focus and exposure are all manual, but in the OP's case, you can meter with them. Don't know how you manage programming the zoom though. Just my two cents:)

Matt

In response to the question as to why to use an "old E Series lens" on a D200/300 , this photo was taken with the E 75-150 on a D200, hand-held through a chain link fence. Of course it is manual focus and I'm way too close to 70 years old. End of discussion!

Try the link again, Larry.

I shoot a 50mm f/1.8 E-series on a D300. Results have been excellent. The 50mm goes for about $50 Canadian. I see the 75-150mm E-series selling for about $110. Not bad for really tack sharp lenses.

One downside I've run in to: focusing these lenses with a modern DSLR is difficult. The D300 I use doesn't have a split screen, microprisms or any other aid to focus. All you get is a green "in focus" dot which isn't overly precise.

Further reading: http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/slrs/5d/focus-screens.htm

Sadly, my E-series 50mm will be shelved most of the time. I bought it for low-light photography and those are situations which make focus more difficult. I would recommend the E-series for anyone looking to save money on a fast prime lens for static subjects but for anything dynamic, go AF.

After reading the glowing statements for the E series I wonder why so many people around the world spend a lot of money for modern glass for their D200/300. Are they all blind? Do they have the strange desire to burn money? Sorry guys, but buying a D200/300 and saving money by using antique glass because it is at least as good as today's glass is just a dream. Ever heard of the lens manufacturers enhancements in the last let's say 15 years? The fact that there is a photographer cited in this thread who made a nice pic with a series E 70-150 makes me laugh. (Besides the fact that every pic like "Rainbow over Potala Palace" looks nice on the internet. Did anyone of you see a 16x20 inch print of this pic? On the internet even the worst Russian glass looks like Zeiss.) And according to your logic Leica could have been stopped improving their lenses in the fifties of the last century. Cartier-Bresson's pics were good enough, weren't they? BTW, today there is something in between a cheap "kit lens" and an expensive "pro lens". So the comparison between a "series E" and a kit lens is not really convincing. And using a series E lens with a 6 MP dslr like a D70 with its aggressive algorithm is not comparable with 10 or 12 MP of the D200/300. Final point: Why buying a D300 with a super fast AF and a lousy screen for manual focusing when you intend to use old MF-Nikkors? (rhetorical question). Look at the Zeiss homepage. These guys know exactly why they recommend third party developer like Katzeye Optics for good manual focusing screens.

I think all people using sometimes old MF Nikkors lenses on high resolution digital camera own good AF lenses too and use them most of the time. Sometimes, when fast focusing is not important, is nice to use old MF Nikkor lenses and they can produce very high IQ.

I love using both my 50mm f1.8 and 36-72 f3.5 E's on my D40x(I also have a 35mm f2 Nikkor-O - pre-AI). I bought a Katzeye, and just started practicing...major difference is that you can meter with a D300...I have to go full manual, which I am starting to get the hang of. Took this today at the park... http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/2815468581_1cc5b4fed9.jpg I think the IQ on the older lenses is better than the kit glass...and since financial contraints prevent me from upgrading to better AF glass, I'm convinced the older stuff is the way to go.

Old lenses are great, I use a 50mm f/1.8E (replaced mostly by a 50mm f/1.8D now..) a 135mm f/2.8 Nikkor-Q, a 55mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor (pre-AI, about to trade it for a 35mm f/2.8 Nikkor-S) on my D40.