Hi, I'm a newbie here and I'd like to get your opinion on nikkor manual focus lenses.

I'm concerned about picture sharpness and bokeh, mostly those were the lenses used play an important role. I have used AF lenses most of the time but have not tried MF before.

Is it true that:

1. Besides built quality, glass quality of MF lenses are superior to AF lenses (take away glass coating into consideration)

2. MF lenses are easier to focus than when you focus manually using AF lenses as the construction of the focusing ring is better than AF lenses?

3. Would Ai'd lenses perform equally with Ai and Ai-S lenses in terms of metering?I'm looking at a used pre-Ai Nikkor-H 50mm f2 and have it Ai'd. Overall, it would cost me 200sgd to make it work with my DSLR, I could get a 50mm 1.8D for almost the same amount, would it be worth it?

4. Any tips on getting used MF lenses if I intend to get one? I do not know how to check if the focus ring is still in good condition.

Thanks for your reply.

the reason why people are buying mf lenses are they are inexpensive and abundant in ebay or craigslist. the problem is its old some lenses are scratched up or the blades are sticking considering they are at least 15 or more years old. i ditched my search into using an ai/ais lens on my canon 7d and instead went with the 50mm f1.8 and threw in an adaptor. works like a charm and the focusing is smooth.
btw the pinoygrapher videos on the main wall of pg were shot by the setup i told you.

thanks for the reply.

So there is no real advantage in ising MF lenses except for the cost savings. What adaptor are you using if I may ask and what adantages doe it have? I'm using a nikon dslr.

chukchak wrote:


some old lenses are sharp, some aftermarket lenses pentax takumar are sharp as being used by one of our pg masters bong malabanan.

my question to you is that would you be comfortable using mf lenses instead of af? if a cost of an mf lens for example is $60-80 then an adaptor for your camera will be $10-20 wouldnt you agree that a 50mm nikon f1.8 $100-110 a better deal than $80-100 you spent.