A quick trial session here for vintage enthusiasts, featuring the Nikon D200 and a series of introductory close-ups with a newly acquired Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5 Ai. While I have had the Nikon D200 for quite a while now, the Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5 is a new arrival, and I have not had the chance to do anything more than just mount the lens for these shots.
The Nikon D200, introduced in 2005, is an advanced enthusiast model fitted with a notable 10.2MP CCD APS-C sensor, positioned as an intermediate model between the entry-level D80 and the professional D2Hs and D2Xs. The Nikon D200, which won the TIPA award for Best Digital SLR in the Expert category in 2006, has a robust build with a magnesium alloy chassis and body with environmental seals.
The Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5 Ai, an all-metal and glass construction with 5 elements in 4 groups, is part of a highly acknowledged trio of Micro-Nikkor lenses. The 55mm 1:3.5 Ai and the 105mm 1:4 Ai were introduced in 1977 as updates of the previous pre-Ai series lenses. The third, the Micro-Nikkor 200mm 1:4.0 IF, is a true native Nikkor Ai lens.
The lens series' product development includes the introduction of the Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5 in 1961, a simplified and user-friendly Micro-Nikkor Auto 55mm 1:3.5 in 1963, the Micro-Nikkor P Auto 55mm 1:3.5, the multi-layered coating Micro-Nikkor P•C Auto 55mm 1:3.5 in 1973, the Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5 in 1975, and the Ai Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5 in 1977.
Though designated as a 'macro,' the lens is ideal for both close-ups or used as a standard normal. It has an aperture range of f3.5 to f32, a body diameter of 66 mm, measures 90.5 mm fully extended, a double-helicoid focusing system that focuses from infinity to down to 1:2, is lightweight at 240 grams, and takes 52mm filters. The lens requires the PK-13 extension tube or bellows to magnify to 1:1.
As a guide to its use, the focal ring of the Micro-Nikkor is engraved with 4 (four) magnification and distance scales, the upper two representing the magnification scale, for magnification with and without the PK extension tube. At the same time, the lower two are the imperial and metric distance scales, graduated in meters and feet from 0.241 m (9-l/2 in.) to infinity. A set of depth-of-field distance markers is also engraved on the holding barrel.
The Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5 Ai is adaptable and can be used even on cameras designed for the earlier non-AI lens mount, including the Nikkormat FT3, Nikon EL2, FM, FE, Fm2, FE2, later F2, F3, EM, and FG20. The same goes for all later manual-focus Nikons that do not have a program or shutter-priority exposure automation.
The lens can also be used on digital cameras with the F-mount without an adapter, with the caveat on vintage D80s and below, D3xxx and D5xxx models which are not fitted with an aperture link arm, making the lens usable only in fully manual mode. For cameras like the D7xxx and higher, light metering can be used in A and M modes, with the maximum aperture of the lens indexed manually.
