I've been thinking about one of these lenses for my F and F2 for a while. Like others wrote, your video convinced me to make the purchase. Thank you! Phoenix, AZ
The colors from this lens are extraordinary. I purchased it from a member of my local Camera club. I feel like it was given to me, and I’ve got one of the biggest scores of my photography life. Great video!
I recently acquired this lens in a lot, that I bought off Craigslist. My favorite use for it is photographing mushrooms with my Sony Nex 7. They make a great lightweight combination. I also use it on my Nikon FE. The fact that the FE can use the old non ai lenses makes it a good choice.
Thanks Aly. This video convinced me to get this lens. Ordered it today from Used Camera Pro w/ the extension tube for $78. Can't wait to use it. Your images are beautiful.
Great video! The sample shots are simply outstanding. I have that lens in my arsenal (read: in my messy storage), but I have never thought about its potential. But now I must ty it. Keep it up! 😊👍🏻
Love the 55mm f3.5. It's what I use for scanning because it's so sharp. One of the things that attract me to older cameras and lenses is their wonderful industrial design.
Great review Aly! It’s funny because I’ve been looking at that lens as a setup to scan negatives and by the looks of it it’s razor sharp. Well done Aly!
Love how sharp this lens is and the colors are excellent. I have a 100mm Minolta Rokkor lens that is pretty good. I tend to use it more as just a 100mm lens than for macro though.
You do some of the best reviews, and this one is no exception! Some time before I bought my SLR, in 1979, I read an article in a photo magazine that recommended buying a 55mm f3.5 macro lens with a new camera rather than the 50mm "normal" lens that were normally sold with new SLRs at the time. Unfortunately for me, I was more interested in all the bragging that was going on among my friends over who had the fastest lenses, so I ignored that recommendation and bought an 50mm f1.4 normal lens instead. OK, to be fair, I *was* shooting a lot of pictures indoors on B&W film without a flash, and the f3.5 maximum aperture on my dad's 1956 Rolleiflex and the f1.9 normal lens on the Yashica FX-2 I had been using up to that point were making it hard to get some of the shots I wanted. So my decision at the time wasn't just about bragging rights. Still, I've always done at least some close-up photography, and starting from a few years after I bought that camera, a Minolta XG-1, I regretted not taking the magazine article's advice. You'd think that at some point I would've bought a macro lens, but somehow it just never became enough of a priority. It's been over 20 years since I last used that camera, but I do intend to start using it again, so I think I'll keep my eyes open at yard sales over the summer. Maybe I'll get lucky and pick up a nice Rokkor X MD macro lens on the cheap that way.
Hey, interesting review. I have the 1973 version of this micro nikkor which came with a nikkormat camera as a bonus buy. I remember reading about how this lens was great for shooting architecture since there it displays very little distortion on horizontal straight lines of buildings. I am following the TX400 project too, where people all over the world use the same camera ( nikon F2 ) and lens (micro-nikkor 55mm f2.8) and film (Kodak Tri-X 400). There is an IG page associated with that. Cool to see some colour & close up shots. Keep up the great work
Nice review! I have the same lens, only it has a black filter ring. It came with a Nikkormat FTN that I picked up at a flea market for $25! I love using it. Mostly I like to use for macro photography.
I have an equivalent lens, the Elicar 55mm 3.5 macro. It looks very similar, and like you, I enjoy it as both a walk-around and macro lens on my F-mount Nikons, film or digital. Good review and lovely photos!
Great review of this lens! The more I see from this lens (mostly the successors for AI and AI-S copies), the more I want one! Also, I know the Micro indication was used at least until the AF-S G-Type lenses. I looked at the new Z-Mount, and the website does say 'micro', but it doesn't say anything on the lens. Keep being awesome!
Perfect timing on this review. I just bought one of these to try out. I have the 50mm f1.4 and the 50mm f2 but thought a micro/macro would be a good addition especially as it can be used as a prime so very usable on nature/photo walks for general imaging and catching details. I will be using mine on my Nikon F, my Nikkormats and my Nikkorex. Nice that you found a black eyelevel prism. They are like gold now days and even the chrome version is getting pricy.
I have the non-compensating version right after that one, and the way the compensating mechanism works is that the lens opens the aperture more as you focus closer. It's pretty cool and it saves you having to do too many "bellows factor" calculations. It tries to ensure that a similar amount of light hits the film regardless of how close you are focused. Also, with this lens, you don't actually need to use the manual M extension tubes. You can use the PK-3 (non-Ai) for this lens. This allows you to use the auto aperture and couples the rabbit ears to the photomic finder if you have that. My copy was factory Ai converted and I have both the PK-13 and PK-3. The PK-13 won't work on the one you have though since yours is pre-Ai, but the PK-3 will. It's designed for the lens and the exact 27.5 mm extension you need for this lens. With any lens you have what we call "bellows factor." As you start focusing closer to the subject, the subject gets bigger and is getting more magnified. The lens also moves farther and farther away from the film the closer your focus. The farther you have the lens away from the film or sensor plane there's less light getting to the film. With most lenses we don't have to think much about bellows factor because the magnification isn't so high and they don't extend far enough for it to be a problem. When you are at 1:1 magnification with any lens, there is only 1/4 of the light hitting the film compared to when the lens is at infinity. So, if you have a non-compensating lens, even though the lens says f3.5 on it, it's really at f7.1. For the Micro Nikkor, for best results, after you hit 1:1 magnification and want to go bigger, you can use the Nikon BR-2a which you screw to the front of the lens. You then mount the lens so that the back of it faces the subject. That will let you go bigger than life size. That's how I use my Micro Nikkor on the bellows. When I do that I use either my internal light meter (using stop down metering) or do some bellows factor calculations to figure out what my aperture really is and how much more time I need to add to my exposure. Nikon uses the MC designation now with the newer Micro Nikkors. I don't have any of the new MC lenses though. As far as compensating macro lens designs go these days, I know Olympus makes some. My Olympus 30mm f3.5 Macro for micro 4/3 adjusts the aperture iris as you focus closer or nearer so you can keep the same f number and compensate for the bellows factor. I hope that makes sense. I do a lot of macro and also large format photography using classic non-compensating lenses, and the bellows factor used to be the death of me. I made up a little card that tells me what compensation I need when I am at what extension or magnification and then I can dial it in and change my shutter speed so I can have the correct exposure. If you have some small flowers or seeds, sign me up!
I am looking to purchase a 55 mm macro Nikon for portraits. What is the best version for my needs? 55 mm 2.8, 55 mm 3.5, 55 mm 3.5 compensating lens or else? I was also considering Konica Hexanon 55 mm macro? Or any other suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thanks
@@alexandrapyatetskaya300 I wouldn't say that the 55 mm macro is necessarily the best lens for portraits, but it totally depends on what kind of portraits you are trying to do. The 55 mm macros don't really do a lot of the same foreground and background separation as other faster lenses, so you won't get the same kind of super blurry backgrounds that some other lenses have, but that is fine if you want to include the background in your photos. I know a lot of people carefully pick out their backgrounds, so you can use that to your advantage. Personally, I love the 55mm f3.5 micro Nikkor P single coated version just because of the way it looks in portraits. You can get a lot more flaring and other things because it is single coated, but that's the reason why I love it. The one I have is the non-compensating one. For portraits, I don't think it's really going to be super useful though since you're not going to be super super close. The compensating feature is mostly helpful if you're doing really close up work. I absolutely love my 55mm f3.5 micro Nikkor P, but the portraits are not like the ones a lot of people seem to think about when they think "portrait lens." As long as you're fine with that, it's an amazing lens
@@Bunnyisms I was thinking of doing Macro portraits, just some parts of the faces, body etc. Thank you for your detailed reply. It is highly appreciated.
@@alexandrapyatetskaya300 For true macro, like getting really close, the 55mm f3.5 will work very well. The problem with the faster versions is a lot of times I feel like more depth of field is better for those kinds of pictures of parts of the face. Any version of the 55mm micro-Nikkor will work well, but the 55mm f3.5 is one I really like especially close up
I have a newer example of the lens and it is a nice lens. I've only used mine with B/W but the colors you had there were just beautiful. I have just recently gotten a Z7 with the FTZ adapter and I will now for sure try it with that camera too. I have no Z lenses and have used the Z7 with my old F mount lenses only and have been very happy with those results when I have wanted color images.
Dear Ally, Canny video as always:) My macro set up is: Charlotte(Canon eos 1000fn) w/90mm f2.8 sigma macro lens. I have another Canon film body(Molly, eos 5), but I prefer Charlotte 4 macro work because it only has 1 AF point:) The Sigma I use both 4 macro work & portraits. Regards,
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley Any cheap brand will do. The focus peaking is great for all of my ai lenses. 24, 28, 50, 55 and my 135mm. I just bought the 105mm f/2.5 ai, and can't wait to try it.
I have a 1967 Rokkor (minolta) 50mm f/3.5 macro with the same similarities, what I hate the most about my Rokkor lens is the "breathing" of the lens when trying to focus. I am not sure if the Nikkor has the same problem. I tried to use it my lens with film and did not get good results, now I use it only on my digital Fuji X-T20
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley this video explain what focus breathing is and the problem it can cause with macro lens, the breathing with my Rokkor lens is so much that I have to move the camera back many time to get everything I want in the composition th-cam.com/video/yH51MYwtZz0/w-d-xo.html
I've been thinking about one of these lenses for my F and F2 for a while. Like others wrote, your video convinced me to make the purchase. Thank you!
Phoenix, AZ
I always love to hear that my video has helped! Thank you for letting me know. I hope you’re enjoying the lens.
The colors from this lens are extraordinary. I purchased it from a member of my local Camera club. I feel like it was given to me, and I’ve got one of the biggest scores of my photography life. Great video!
Thank you 🙏
I recently acquired this lens in a lot, that I bought off Craigslist. My favorite use for it is photographing mushrooms with my Sony Nex 7. They make a great lightweight combination. I also use it on my Nikon FE. The fact that the FE can use the old non ai lenses makes it a good choice.
I didn’t know that. Do you have to stop down to use them with the FE?
Thanks Aly. This video convinced me to get this lens. Ordered it today from Used Camera Pro w/ the extension tube for $78. Can't wait to use it. Your images are beautiful.
Thanks so much for watching! Enjoy the lens
Ah! that lens! She's a beauty! And your photos, divine! Thank you for sharing Aly.
Thank you!
Great video! The sample shots are simply outstanding. I have that lens in my arsenal (read: in my messy storage), but I have never thought about its potential. But now I must ty it. Keep it up! 😊👍🏻
Thank you! Yes give it a try. I’m going to get an extension tube to see what more it can do
Absolutely beautiful looking camera
Love the 55mm f3.5. It's what I use for scanning because it's so sharp. One of the things that attract me to older cameras and lenses is their wonderful industrial design.
I agree. They were made so different from lenses today
Great review Aly! It’s funny because I’ve been looking at that lens as a setup to scan negatives and by the looks of it it’s razor sharp. Well done Aly!
Thanks Davy! Yes someone commented that they use it for that
Nice work, Aly. The 55mm f/3.5 AI is one of my favorite Nikkor lenses. Thanks for showing that film is NOT dead.
Thanks so much!
Those were beautiful photos. Inspired me to dig out my macro lens, a Zuiko 50mm f3.5.
Thank You 😊
Really nice review. I was always in awe of the 105mm lenses. I have the micro-nikkor 55mm 2.8. ai
Thank you. The 105 is great too.
Love how sharp this lens is and the colors are excellent. I have a 100mm Minolta Rokkor lens that is pretty good. I tend to use it more as just a 100mm lens than for macro though.
Love this lens.
Great video, great lens, great photos.
Thanks Merlin!
You do some of the best reviews, and this one is no exception! Some time before I bought my SLR, in 1979, I read an article in a photo magazine that recommended buying a 55mm f3.5 macro lens with a new camera rather than the 50mm "normal" lens that were normally sold with new SLRs at the time. Unfortunately for me, I was more interested in all the bragging that was going on among my friends over who had the fastest lenses, so I ignored that recommendation and bought an 50mm f1.4 normal lens instead. OK, to be fair, I *was* shooting a lot of pictures indoors on B&W film without a flash, and the f3.5 maximum aperture on my dad's 1956 Rolleiflex and the f1.9 normal lens on the Yashica FX-2 I had been using up to that point were making it hard to get some of the shots I wanted. So my decision at the time wasn't just about bragging rights. Still, I've always done at least some close-up photography, and starting from a few years after I bought that camera, a Minolta XG-1, I regretted not taking the magazine article's advice. You'd think that at some point I would've bought a macro lens, but somehow it just never became enough of a priority. It's been over 20 years since I last used that camera, but I do intend to start using it again, so I think I'll keep my eyes open at yard sales over the summer. Maybe I'll get lucky and pick up a nice Rokkor X MD macro lens on the cheap that way.
Thanks Mark. Yes definitely go for it. It’s not too late!
Hey, interesting review. I have the 1973 version of this micro nikkor which came with a nikkormat camera as a bonus buy. I remember reading about how this lens was great for shooting architecture since there it displays very little distortion on horizontal straight lines of buildings.
I am following the TX400 project too, where people all over the world use the same camera ( nikon F2 ) and lens (micro-nikkor 55mm f2.8) and film (Kodak Tri-X 400). There is an IG page associated with that. Cool to see some colour & close up shots. Keep up the great work
Thanks. I’m going to have to check out that project. I didn’t know about it.
Nice review! I have the same lens, only it has a black filter ring. It came with a Nikkormat FTN that I picked up at a flea market for $25! I love using it. Mostly I like to use for macro photography.
Thank you!
I have an equivalent lens, the Elicar 55mm 3.5 macro. It looks very similar, and like you, I enjoy it as both a walk-around and macro lens on my F-mount Nikons, film or digital. Good review and lovely photos!
Thank you 🙏
Thank you so much for your video!! I really love it and it's really helpful! I also have a 55mm f3.5 pc lens, but it's ai back which is surprising.
That means a lot to me! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Great review of this lens! The more I see from this lens (mostly the successors for AI and AI-S copies), the more I want one! Also, I know the Micro indication was used at least until the AF-S G-Type lenses. I looked at the new Z-Mount, and the website does say 'micro', but it doesn't say anything on the lens. Keep being awesome!
Thank you Alex I appreciate it!
Perfect timing on this review. I just bought one of these to try out. I have the 50mm f1.4 and the 50mm f2 but thought a micro/macro would be a good addition especially as it can be used as a prime so very usable on nature/photo walks for general imaging and catching details. I will be using mine on my Nikon F, my Nikkormats and my Nikkorex. Nice that you found a black eyelevel prism. They are like gold now days and even the chrome version is getting pricy.
Incredible images too. Love the color, the composition and the effects of this lens. As always thanks for sharing what you are up to.
Thank you! I appreciate it.
I have the non-compensating version right after that one, and the way the compensating mechanism works is that the lens opens the aperture more as you focus closer. It's pretty cool and it saves you having to do too many "bellows factor" calculations. It tries to ensure that a similar amount of light hits the film regardless of how close you are focused.
Also, with this lens, you don't actually need to use the manual M extension tubes. You can use the PK-3 (non-Ai) for this lens. This allows you to use the auto aperture and couples the rabbit ears to the photomic finder if you have that. My copy was factory Ai converted and I have both the PK-13 and PK-3. The PK-13 won't work on the one you have though since yours is pre-Ai, but the PK-3 will. It's designed for the lens and the exact 27.5 mm extension you need for this lens.
With any lens you have what we call "bellows factor." As you start focusing closer to the subject, the subject gets bigger and is getting more magnified. The lens also moves farther and farther away from the film the closer your focus. The farther you have the lens away from the film or sensor plane there's less light getting to the film. With most lenses we don't have to think much about bellows factor because the magnification isn't so high and they don't extend far enough for it to be a problem. When you are at 1:1 magnification with any lens, there is only 1/4 of the light hitting the film compared to when the lens is at infinity. So, if you have a non-compensating lens, even though the lens says f3.5 on it, it's really at f7.1.
For the Micro Nikkor, for best results, after you hit 1:1 magnification and want to go bigger, you can use the Nikon BR-2a which you screw to the front of the lens. You then mount the lens so that the back of it faces the subject. That will let you go bigger than life size. That's how I use my Micro Nikkor on the bellows. When I do that I use either my internal light meter (using stop down metering) or do some bellows factor calculations to figure out what my aperture really is and how much more time I need to add to my exposure.
Nikon uses the MC designation now with the newer Micro Nikkors. I don't have any of the new MC lenses though.
As far as compensating macro lens designs go these days, I know Olympus makes some. My Olympus 30mm f3.5 Macro for micro 4/3 adjusts the aperture iris as you focus closer or nearer so you can keep the same f number and compensate for the bellows factor.
I hope that makes sense. I do a lot of macro and also large format photography using classic non-compensating lenses, and the bellows factor used to be the death of me. I made up a little card that tells me what compensation I need when I am at what extension or magnification and then I can dial it in and change my shutter speed so I can have the correct exposure. If you have some small flowers or seeds, sign me up!
Thanks for the info! You caught me just as I was shopping for an M tube. I’m going to look for the PK-3 now instead. Thanks again.
I am looking to purchase a 55 mm macro Nikon for portraits. What is the best version for my needs? 55 mm 2.8, 55 mm 3.5, 55 mm 3.5 compensating lens or else? I was also considering Konica Hexanon 55 mm macro? Or any other suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thanks
@@alexandrapyatetskaya300 I wouldn't say that the 55 mm macro is necessarily the best lens for portraits, but it totally depends on what kind of portraits you are trying to do. The 55 mm macros don't really do a lot of the same foreground and background separation as other faster lenses, so you won't get the same kind of super blurry backgrounds that some other lenses have, but that is fine if you want to include the background in your photos. I know a lot of people carefully pick out their backgrounds, so you can use that to your advantage.
Personally, I love the 55mm f3.5 micro Nikkor P single coated version just because of the way it looks in portraits. You can get a lot more flaring and other things because it is single coated, but that's the reason why I love it. The one I have is the non-compensating one. For portraits, I don't think it's really going to be super useful though since you're not going to be super super close. The compensating feature is mostly helpful if you're doing really close up work. I absolutely love my 55mm f3.5 micro Nikkor P, but the portraits are not like the ones a lot of people seem to think about when they think "portrait lens." As long as you're fine with that, it's an amazing lens
@@Bunnyisms I was thinking of doing Macro portraits, just some parts of the faces, body etc. Thank you for your detailed reply. It is highly appreciated.
@@alexandrapyatetskaya300 For true macro, like getting really close, the 55mm f3.5 will work very well. The problem with the faster versions is a lot of times I feel like more depth of field is better for those kinds of pictures of parts of the face. Any version of the 55mm micro-Nikkor will work well, but the 55mm f3.5 is one I really like especially close up
Aly, I got the M2 extension tube pretty cheap from Used Photo Pro in case you're interested.
The extension tube for the Nikon F micro 55? Sorry I made this video a little while back so you have to refresh my memory.
I have a newer example of the lens and it is a nice lens. I've only used mine with B/W but the colors you had there were just beautiful. I have just recently gotten a Z7 with the FTZ adapter and I will now for sure try it with that camera too. I have no Z lenses and have used the Z7 with my old F mount lenses only and have been very happy with those results when I have wanted color images.
Thank you. I want to get an adapter so I can do the same with my Fuji xt4
Dear Ally,
Canny video as always:)
My macro set up is:
Charlotte(Canon eos 1000fn) w/90mm f2.8 sigma macro lens. I have another Canon film body(Molly, eos 5), but I prefer Charlotte 4 macro work because it only has 1 AF point:) The Sigma I use both 4 macro work & portraits.
Regards,
Thank you Marcus! I love the names of your cameras.
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley Named after my cousin's 2 eldest daughters 😎
I have the Nikkor 55mm Micro 3.5 ai, and I love it! Do you put yours on the Fuji?
I haven’t yet but I’ve been wanting to get an adapter. Which one do you use?
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley Any cheap brand will do. The focus peaking is great for all of my ai lenses. 24, 28, 50, 55 and my 135mm. I just bought the 105mm f/2.5 ai, and can't wait to try it.
@@davecrissinger8967 I’m definitely going to give it a try soon. Almost all of my Nikkor lenses are pre ai though so not sure if they would work.
I have a 1967 Rokkor (minolta) 50mm f/3.5 macro with the same similarities, what I hate the most about my Rokkor lens is the "breathing" of the lens when trying to focus. I am not sure if the Nikkor has the same problem. I tried to use it my lens with film and did not get good results, now I use it only on my digital Fuji X-T20
I’m not familiar with that term so I’m not sure if mine does it or not.
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley this video explain what focus breathing is and the problem it can cause with macro lens, the breathing with my Rokkor lens is so much that I have to move the camera back many time to get everything I want in the composition th-cam.com/video/yH51MYwtZz0/w-d-xo.html
Nikon used to make Micro lenses with greater than 1:1 hence micro.
Careful - Pre-Ais lenses can damage some new digital camera mounts... 🦘
👍🏻
Hi, I have a Nikon D7100, I could use the Non Ais version of this lens with rabbit ears on this camera. Would you know this info? thank you