Thinking About Buying A Vintage Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AI-s

[P51P28]

I dunno what it is but I'm about to buy one of these. Call me crazy. Call me cheap. I'm pretty much new to the world of photography with my D700 and I don't wanna spend $500 on my first zoom lens. Are there limitations to this classic lens? Well sure. Do you have to work a little bit more to take a photo? Sure. Everything that I've read about this AI-s beast has been positive considering the current prices.

Does anyone out there still shoot with one? I'd love to hear what you think about this old classic.

 

[John Crowe]

The Nikon 80-200/2.8 AI-S is an excruciatingly rare lens and probably worth a fortune. If you found one for $500 grab it! Perhaps you mean one of the many AF versions of the 80-200/2.8. They are all excellent. The early ones are a bit clunky to use, the last AF-S version is superb.

P.S. In the fifteen years that I used Nikon I never saw an AI-S version on eBay. Right now there are many and all over $1500 USD.

 

[MJ_Photo38]

if you have a D700 (aka a full frame camera with an internal focus motor) I would highly suggest that you take a look at slightly newer glass than the AI-S 80-200 f/2.8

For how much can you get a Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 AI-S? Because the lowest price i've seena round me is upwards of 1200€ when the AF or AF-D versions of the 80-200 f/2.8 (the one touch version) are going for under 200€.

So I'm really wondering the lens you're talking about !

I had a Tokina 80-200 f/2.8 lens for my D700, and apart from being soft wide open it was a very versatile range and that was a lens that I enjoyed quite a bit. I replaced it with a Sigma 100-400 contemporary as the lack of stabilizer in my Tokina was hurting sharpness quite a bit, and the optics made me shoot stopped down to f/5.6 or tighter 80% of the time anyway

 

[Chris R-UK]

The Nikon 80-200/2.8 AI-S is an excruciatingly rare lens and probably worth a fortune. If you found one for $500 grab it! Perhaps you mean one of the many AF versions of the 80-200/2.8. They are all excellent. The early ones are a bit clunky to use, the last AF-S version is superb.

P.S. In the fifteen years that I used Nikon I never saw an AI-S version on eBay. Right now there are many and all over $1500 USD.

A specialist U.K. camera store (Grays of Westminster) had one in stock at a price of £2,950 - now sold. They say that only 1539 were manufactured and that was the first that they had seen in a decade. It was described as EXC+ and came with a hood and UV filter.

 

[P51P28]

if you have a D700 (aka a full frame camera with an internal focus motor) I would highly suggest that you take a look at slightly newer glass than the AI-S 80-200 f/2.8

For how much can you get a Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 AI-S? Because the lowest price i've seena round me is upwards of 1200€ when the AF or AF-D versions of the 80-200 f/2.8 (the one touch version) are going for under 200€.

So I'm really wondering the lens you're talking about !

I had a Tokina 80-200 f/2.8 lens for my D700, and apart from being soft wide open it was a very versatile range and that was a lens that I enjoyed quite a bit. I replaced it with a Sigma 100-400 contemporary as the lack of stabilizer in my Tokina was hurting sharpness quite a bit, and the optics made me shoot stopped down to f/5.6 or tighter 80% of the time anyway

John Crowe wrote:

The Nikon 80-200/2.8 AI-S is an excruciatingly rare lens and probably worth a fortune. If you found one for $500 grab it! Perhaps you mean one of the many AF versions of the 80-200/2.8. They are all excellent. The early ones are a bit clunky to use, the last AF-S version is superb.

P.S. In the fifteen years that I used Nikon I never saw an AI-S version on eBay. Right now there are many and all over $1500 USD.

Good morning! I know exactly what lens you're referring to and I'm little confused on the specific nomenclature of the two different ones. I'm certainly not looking at the super rare AI-S model. I'm looking at the common AF old goat version. The old goat versions can be quickly identified by the silver ring under the zoom as opposed to the gold one. Sorry for the confusion. I might just start looking at some newer glass anyhow and start off of the right foot.

 

[John Crowe]

There are four versions. I used to know everything about them. I don't recall any having a silver ring. The only one with a gold ring is the last AF-S version.

AF

AF D

AF D New - Two ring (zoom ring plus focus ring)

AF-S (also two ring)

I had the AF D and AF-S and could not tell the difference in image quality. The AF-S has superior IQ to the 70-200/2.8 VR. VRII is an improvement.

There may be variations in minimum focus distances, but all are very good.

Here are two of my "go to" Nikon links:

Nikon AF (Autofocus) Nikkor Zoom lenses 80-200mm lens group - index page

Zoom Lenses For Nikon 'F' Mount: Telephoto