Nikon 80-200mm f4.5 vs f4 Ais

wolan · Joined: 30 Jun 2015 Posts: 576 Location: Zurich

Hi,

the old Nikon 80-200mm f4.5 is said to be very sharp. I have the later 80-200mm f4, which I find rather sharp, but I was wondering whether to earlier version is even better in that department.

Can you suggest me otherwise a vintage push-pull zoom in the range 70/80 - 150/200 f2.8-5.6 which is shaper than the mentioned zooms?

Thanks.
Cheers.

Ultrapix · Joined: 06 Jan 2012 Posts: 551 Location: Italy

Maybe Zeiss 80-200 1:4

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 1003 Location: Winnipeg Canada

I have had both.
From a practical standpoint, the 4.5-N with the square baffle over the rear element is a slightly better choice.
If you have the A/I f4 and like it, there is not a lot of difference.
The 4.5-N is slightly sharper, and slightly more usable in more shooting situations, especially at the 80mm mark.

The flip side is I have yet to find a 4.5 that does not have really loose zoom creep.
They also take up much bag space.

Personally, the performance of the Tamron 103-A is at least equal to the 4.5-N, in a slightly smaller configuration.

-D.S.

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2502

I don't know if it is sharper, but it is sharp. SMC Pentax-A 70-210mm F4

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 2937 Location: The Netherlands

Minolta MD 75-150mm f/4.

I had the Nikkor f/4.5 which is good but the Minolta is better.

Alsatian2017 · Joined: 05 Mar 2018 Posts: 237

What bothers me with the older Nikkor 80-200 f/4.5 AI version is the zoom creep which seems to be impossible to fix (I've read somewhere that this was a feature wanted by creative photographers such as Francisco Hidalgo who experimented a lot with zoom traveling during time exposures...). In this respect, my Nikkor 80-200 mm f/4 AI-S is nicer to handle, even though it's a little bit on the heavy side. In the early 1980s, the latter was one of the best lenses in terms of resolution and contrast and if you want improved optical perfomance, you might have to search for the Vario-Sonnar or the Canon nFD L lenses, the latter being much better corrected for chromatic aberrations.

The best 70-150 or 75-150 mm lenses are even a little bit sharper yet : the Minolta MD 75-150 f/4 is as good as equivalent fixed focal length lenses , the Canon nFD 70-150 mm f/4.5 as well, even though that one is slower and has a less interesting MFD as well as a much longer barrel. Both lenses are basically free of chromatic aberrations and offer uniform sharpness at all focal lengths and settings.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 3771 Location: Switzerland

I have compared quite a few classical tele zooms (80-200 or 70-210 f3.5, f4 and f4.5) side-by-side at f=80(70)mm, f=135mm and f=200(210)mm. All tests were doe at infinity, using 24MP FF cameras such as the Sony A900, A7, and A7II. Most of the OEM lenses are pretty close in performance, such as the Canon nFD 4/80-200 and 4/70-210mm, the Mamiya Sekor E 3.8/80-200mm, Minolta MD 4.5/75-200 and MD 4/70-210, and the Nikkor Ai 4.5/80-200 and AiS 4/80-200.

Some third-party lenses such as the Tamron SP 3.5/70-210 are nearly as good (whatever adaptall-2.com claims), and many of the older lenses such as the Konica AR 3.5/80-200 or the Minolta Auto Rokkor 3.5/80-160mm are quite a bit inferior.

Two of those vintage zooms are bit better than the bunch of good OEM lenses mentioned above:

1) Zeiss CY 4/80-200mm (clearly better corner resolution at f4, but similar level of lateral CAs)
2) Canon nFD 4/80-200mm L (clearly better color corection, but similar level of missing corner sharpness at f4 and f5.6 as the other more common tele ztooms)

Interestingly, the first two generations of AF-ED Nikkors 2.8/80-200mm weren't much better than the common MF 4/80-200mm. The Minolta AF 2.8/70-200mm APO G SSM was the first f2.8 tele zoom optimized for high res FF sensors, and even at f2.8 it outperforms all vintage MF tele zooms I own. However for the 50MP FF sensors I would recommend the newest generation of tele zooms optimized for mirrorless cameras.

S

wolan · Joined: 30 Jun 2015 Posts: 576 Location: Zurich

Thanks
Cheers.