The Nikon 55mm f2.8 Is One Of The Greatest Macro Lenses Ever

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Күн бұрын

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@paulpurpi9069 Ай бұрын

I have two 55mm f3.5s I've had for years and they are the smoothest focusing lenses I've ever used, with almost no resistance.

@ozzyhouston2535 2 күн бұрын

Years ago, I bought a nice used one, and it has always had "buttery smooth" focusing. Dunno how I got so lucky, but I'm happy. Oh, it seems to render colors better than my other lenses.

@terrygoyan 2 ай бұрын

I've owned three 55 micros. One of the f/3.5 lenses, and two of the f/2.8 lenses. One of the great things is that they are very flat field. This makes them excellent for copy work. The stiff focus helicoid is due to old grease. The seller may have been wrong about the CLA. I've seen 55 micros that are practically seized up get lubed and they work like new. Those are beautiful lenses. Other Nikkor lenses to try are: the 180 f/2.8 ED lens, the 135 f/2.8 lens and the 28 f/2.8 or if you are lucky enough to find one, the f/1.4 version. The 1.4 lens has a ground aspherical element.Really helps with coma in the edges and corners.

@ozzyhouston2535 2 күн бұрын

I got a 28mm f2.8 ais and find it sharp.

@JaapKroon 5 ай бұрын

I am still in love with my TOKINA 100MM F/2.8 AT-X PRO D MACRO for Nikon. I use the lens on my film cameras and also on my Fuji XT5. This lens is an hidden gem. There is a story about the people who where testing this lens, that they where blowing away about the results. The lens was to good.

@AlexWhitman-ep1sk 6 ай бұрын

For those with stiff focus you may have an issue of dried up grease on the helicals. Ive had two vintage lenses like that. I disassembled the lenses cleaned out the old grease and replaced with fresh. Smooth as new now.

@wayneyung1262 2 ай бұрын

The stiffness is mainly caused by the dried lubricant of the floating element. Just have it CLA will fix the issue.

@diveaddict6885 Ай бұрын

Own both lens

@enloupevin 5 ай бұрын

Dude, great review. Love the genuine approach to your videos. Great to see more Aussies on youtube, too. Ive been looking at one of these for years and i think this tipped me over the edge. Keep em coming!

@rudermanphoto 5 ай бұрын

Thank you my man! It’s a killer lens you’ll love it

@shy-guy5544 6 ай бұрын

Nice video. I have been using the original f3.5 version of this lens, which I bought in 1970 with my Nikon F, with my Fuji XT3 with an adapter. The sharpness is excellent, if you can nail the focus. I have not encountered any issues with the aperture ring.

@hurleygreen927 4 ай бұрын

TEACH AND PREACH, MY BROTHER! :) I stumbled on this lens while looking for a backup Nikkor 50mm lens, and never had a macro lens before...it took me a while getting used to the manual focus, but once I got over that, I found myself LOVING it! Great images and contrast, even if you don't use the macro settings. By the way I did also get my 50mm autofocus lens and I now use BOTH lenses in outdoor photography! Thanks again for your info, and keep up the great work...

@jorsetti Ай бұрын

I have this lens and it’s wonderful, my copy focus throw is butter, not stiff at all but, mine was well used. I love the D series lenses of the older Nikkors and the rare and pricey 28mm F/1.4 D lens is phenomenal. I like the 85mm f/1.4 D as well or for portraits the 105mm f/2 DC is a stunner!

@jammaicamarvida2578 3 ай бұрын

I have that lens and its still pretty good lookin! I love the vibe and the hues.

@randallbrander8157 6 ай бұрын

I do own the Z 50mm & 105mm macros but I had a choice between this lens and the Zeiss 50mm Makro Planar F2 and chose this one. I agree that I would rather have an aperture ring on the lens so by using an adapter the lens can be used on different camera systems. I do not mind manual focusing either but there are times when I just can't get it right. Nikkor AI-S 50mm f/1.2 and 1.4 are much lighter than the Z counterparts of 1.2 & 1.8 but they do bring a lot of character to the photo. So I still have the F mount glasses that are still great but I seem to keep the original glass on the systems I have and using the adapters less and less. Cheers!

@dylans6958 6 ай бұрын

Great video man, super interesting. Love the bokeh from this lens and I had no idea it existed before this video!

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

Definitely get one, it’s so bloody good!

@ovidijuspocius6336 2 ай бұрын

I used this lens on a dead bug , I did some focus stacking. This is lens is a beast

@polskat6226 6 ай бұрын

Cool video 👌 love the shots you made with this lens, might have to get this to pair with my Nikon ZF, sounds like a perfect match 😬

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

It would be perfect on the ZF!! The manual focus assists on it with like the eye detection for manual focus would make it a match made in heaven haha

@classic.cameras 6 ай бұрын

I was going to by the official extension tube for this lens. Then I had the realization that I am adapting this to my Sony Fullframe. So I just bought a E mount extension tube set (10mm & 16mm) and it did the same for this lens as the original extender plus they work on all my other lenses. Worth buying. Cost me like $40 on Amazon.

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

Yeah that also works, but the original one is so cheap and I like the complete set nature of it haha

@ijlo-b 5 ай бұрын

Love the 55mm Nikkor I would highly recommend the nikon 20mm f3.5ai lens especially on full frame and the 135mm nikkors are great mines an f3.5

@tsdelaney 2 ай бұрын

The focus stiffness sounds exactly like dried grease in the helicoid. A tech told me that cranking it around can wear the helicoid. I’d spend the money and have it CLA’d by a competent tech. I’ve bought a couple of lenses from eBay that were stiff and after a professional CLA, they’re like butter. Thanks for the video… I’m going to pick up a 55 2.8.

@rudermanphoto 2 ай бұрын

Yeah I plan on getting it properly CLA’d, just annoying that I bought it having thought it was freshly CLA’d and it clearly wasn’t :(

@tsdelaney 2 ай бұрын

@@rudermanphoto I get it… I bought a Nikkor Q 135/2.8 and a Micro Nikkor 105/4, both of which were sold as “excellent” or “mint” and both were quite stiff focussing. After a proper CLA, they’re fantastic!

@classic.cameras 6 ай бұрын

I find if you just zoom in and out on the focus ring while watching a tv show, you wear it in and it gets looser. I had a stiff helicoid and did this for about 20 mins and it got much better.

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

It’s certainly improved a lot since I first got it but it’s still noticeably stiffer then the 105 is

@gerardneedham 6 ай бұрын

Nice Ricoh gr shirt, This would be a good cheap film scanner macro

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

Thank you Uniqlo - I think I bought 3 of these and stocked up lol Yeah it would make for an awesome film scanning lens!

@KenmontRental 6 ай бұрын

Bought one new in the 1980's. Still a daily user. Focus ring has always been...and remains...butter smooth. I'm a Leica user as well Nikon - but this lens gives Leica glass a run for its money. Enjoy...but maybe get that CLA redone?

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

Yeah I may need to get it redone - maybe they used the wrong grease or something, it does work and it was so cheap I’m not too bothered, maybe it’ll ease up over time!

@classic.cameras 6 ай бұрын

My Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AIS (greatest 28mm IMO) was sold to the guy I bought it from in 2018. Its gem mint and hopefully I live another 50 years and wear it out. The AIS version focuses 20cm and has extra elements then any others. They are worth the price and probably will go up in value (the f2 version sucks in comparison)

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

I’m looking at picking one of these up next! Ive heard really good things and I love 28mm lenses, plus it’ll mean I finally have a solid 28mm prime for my S5ii haha

@tonywhitmarsh 6 ай бұрын

May be your copy or how it was CLA’d, I’ve had mine for 7 years now and the focus is the smoothest out of all my Nikkor glass. Although the aperture ring is getting a tad stiff, so it may vary from copy to copy. Great video though, Nikkor AI lenses deserve more appreciation and you did it justice, keep it up!

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

Thank you!! Interesting to hear, seems like there’s plenty of variation between these, I guess a 45 year production run there’s bound to be some differences in each individual lens re focus ring stiffness haha

@cameraprepper7938 6 ай бұрын

A Macro Lens are THE most versatile Lens you can get ! Some even very old Macro Lenses are still very good to use today, the Micro-Nikkor 55mm 2.8 are one of them. The Tamron SP 90mm 2.5 Tele-Macro Super Portrait Model 52B (with original Lens Hood !!!) are other. Some of the very best are Contax Macro Planar 60mm 2.8 and Leica Macro Elmarit R 60mm 2.8 (Late version !).

@SirLJC30 6 ай бұрын

Definitely be careful with second hand copies, I bought one recently and the focus throw is so stiff I have to use most of the strength in my hands and arms while also twisting the camera body to get the focus to move at all! This is fine for my use as a film scanning setup but completely unusable for anything else. I suppose you could zone focus but not exactly optimal.

@rudermanphoto 6 ай бұрын

Ah damn, yeah mine isn’t anywhere near that stiff - but the seller did tell me that these lenses have a tendency to seize up unless you store them fully extended in their focus position due to the grease inside them hardening over time, but hopefully a freshly CLA’d one won’t have that issue

@davidclippinger3987 4 ай бұрын

I started watching this video and had to pause it when you talked about stiff focus ring. It took me a while to find my 55 and just as I thought silky smooth focus. I’ve had this lens for years and it’s never been serviced. So maybe your lens has an issue.

@rudermanphoto 4 ай бұрын

It probably is my lens, I have another friend who got a copy off eBay and it was silky smooth. Will need to CLA it or something properly I think

@davidclippinger3987 4 ай бұрын

@@rudermanphoto I understand. If it wasn’t for the long focus throw it might be easier to live with. Sometimes you need to use a lighter or heavier grease to get the desired feel. So I have been told.

@Muhammedamid 14 күн бұрын

just got one for 60$ for my fuji s5 pro

@musiqueetmontagne 2 ай бұрын

It shouldn't be that stiff, that's why I don't buy on Ebay. It will have dried greese in the helicoils... Easily remidied..

@TCMx3 5 ай бұрын

The comment section revealing the issue with lens advice online. Yes this is one of the best lenses ever made optically. But it has a straight up design flaw which causes oil to leak onto the aperture blades and will eventually impact the optics. *My copy doesn't..." Yes it does, it just hasn't started showing symptoms yet. But I'd you left it in a hot summer car it likely would. Sadly, most folks should buy something else. Try the OM 2.0 instead, or Nikon's 3.5, unless you're willing to write off a 2.8

@rudermanphoto 5 ай бұрын

Interesting, I hadn’t heard of this - is this not something you could fix in a CLA? The lens is fairly cheap so I guess you’d probably just be better off buying a new one though

@TCMx3 5 ай бұрын

@@rudermanphoto it cannot be fixed, no. At least not in the "it won't happen again sense". At some point Nikon changed the grease they were using in the lens and that _helps_ but the lens is fundamentally flawed. You can no more make an old rotary car engine not burn oil with a tuneup than you can change the design of the 55/2.8, which is a shame. If your lens starts to display problems, you can get it cleaned up and the new lubricant put in as long as you catch it before anything bad happens to the optical elements, essentially you're resetting the ticking time bomb.

@pedrova8058 Ай бұрын

Nah, that's an exaggeration. It's been my main macro, in the field, for about 10 years now (rainforest, desert, beach, mountain, etc), and it hasn't failed. It's true, on several lenses oil on the blades can be a problem, but any competent technician or advanced DIYer can easily clean and fix it. But obviously, if you leave it inside the car, fully sun and over 50° C inside, it's very likely that the grease will liquefy (and it happens with other lenses too, it's natural .That's why NASA lenses had different specifications, the rest of us mortals must make do with "normal" lubricants lol).