One of the delights for an older or legacy camera and lens enthusiast interested in vintage aesthetics is to end up with a kit that includes a vintage or retro digital camera from the early 2000s, say a Nikon D200 (2005), paired with an equally vintage legacy prime, say a Nikon AI-S Nikkor 85mm f/2 (1981).
Though the Nikon D200 itself is not a classic, its 20-year-old CCD sensor technology is known to offer a unique, film-like aesthetic and excellent color rendition that is highly valued, and the AI-S Nikkor 85mm f/2, a compact, lightweight vintage and a favored portrait lens, is renowned for its sharpness, cool color rendering, and creamy bokeh that performs well even at wide open.
Historically, the Nikon AI-S Nikkor 85mm f/2 (an update of the Nikkor AI 85mm f/2, introduced earlier in 1971) is part of the lens ensemble for Nikon F3 (with AI-S compliance), FE2, FM2, and later FA series cameras. The D200, on the other hand, with its robust magnesium alloy body and filmic CCD sensor output, is the workhorse that bridges the gap between Nikon's lower-end consumer models and the flagship D2X.
The AI-S Nikkor 85mm f/2 is a 5-element in 5-group optical design with 7 rounded blades, an all-metal barrel, and a high-precision helicoid with an aperture range from f/2 to f/22, a minimum focusing distance of 0.85 meters, measures 63mm in diameter and 52.5mm in length, accepts 55mm filters, and weighs 310 grams.
Its 'rabbit ears' coupling and AI-S metering ridge allow the lenses to be used in program, shutter-priority, aperture-priority, and fully manual exposure modes on virtually all Nikon F-mount cameras, both film and digital.
On the D200, the AI-S Nikkor 85mm f/2 is equivalent to a 127.5mm lens on a full-frame camera, a versatile telephoto prime highly revered for portrait, event and stage, land and cityscape, as well as macro and close-up photography.
The lens is a perfect fit on the D200, which has an AI aperture indexing ring that allows lenses configured in the camera's "Non-CPU Lens Data" menu to be used on all the camera's metering modes (including Matrix metering).
Nikon's Matrix Metering, incidentally, is an advanced, default exposure mode that analyzes the entire scene—brightness, color, contrast, and distance, using a multi-zone sensor and a database of thousands of scenarios to determine the optimal exposure. The matrix mimics human perception, often automatically applying the Zone System to prevent overexposure of highlights or underexposure of shadows in complex lighting situations.
The Nikon D200, launched in 2005, is a very well-built and robust DSLR camera with a magnesium alloy chassis, environmental seals, and an excellent user interface. The camera is fitted with a 10.2MP CCD sensor, a shutter speed range from 30 to 1/8,000 seconds, an ISO range from 100 to 1,600, a top LCD panel for display of operating parameters, a 2.5 inch 230,00 pixels rear LCD, 7-area AF, and operates in Program, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, and Manual modes. Images are captured in JPEG and (NEF) RAW.
