Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 @5.6
No, that 50mm f/1.8 is not a long lens by any stretch of the imagination. But it will give you an idea of scale when you see the test crops from the long teles I’m looking at here. Here’s the 100% from the shot above:
Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 @5.6 - 100%
The crops will focus on the tugboat’s superstructure. Look to the right and slightly above the dark green patch– the boat’s name plate is there and that’s where I tried to keep the shot centered. So which lenses am I looking at? A Nikon AF EDIF 80-200mm f/2.8 (the one that came out second sharpest in my 200mm lens comparison), an old manual focus Nikon AIS EDIF 300mm f/4.5, an old manual focus Nikon AI 400mm f/3.5 and combinations of these used with two teleconverters: the current Tamron SP AF pro 2X and an old Nikon TC300, which is a 2X converter made for the 400 3.5. The 80-200 is available through Amazon. The Tamron converter is also available through Amazon. The others you’ll have to look for used, at places such as Adorama and eBay.
Here’s the AF 80-200 with the Tamron 2X converter:
Nikon AF EDIF 80-200mm f/2.8 @200 w/Tamron 2X, f/5.6
And here’s the manual focus 400 f/3.5:
Nikon MF AI 400mm f/3.5 @5.6
The old 400 3.5 has an excellent reputation and it’s clearly sharper and shows more contrast than the modern 80-200 mated with the Tamron 2X converter. I’m sparing you the results at other apertures — some showed poor tripod technique on my part probably coupled with a bit of motion from the boat. For my purposes, this shows me enough.
The old manual focus 300mm f/4.5 obviously isn’t a fair match for the 400 because of reach but just out of curiosity I tried it on the same scene:
Nikon MF EDIF 300mm f/4.5 @5.6
It holds up pretty well. It would be interesting to see how it competes with the others with a 1.4 converter but unfortunately I don’t own one.
I also tried the 400 3.5 with the TC300 and then with the Tamron 2X. First with the TC300:
Nikon MF AI 400mm f/3.5 @11 w/TC300
And here it is with the Tamron 2X:
Nikon MF 400mm f/3.5 @11 w/Tamron 2X
The difference is obvious. The modern Tamron can’t keep up with the relic from the early 1980s.
My emphasis in these comparisons is generally going to be on economy. I can’t afford $7,500 for the current Nikon 400mm lens. The old 400 does just fine at a fraction of the cost (I’ve seen them advertised for about $1,100, depending on condition). The AF EDIF 80-200 is available well under $1,000 now and can you beat the 300mm 4.5? You can find them used for well under $300 and they’re small enough to use without a tripod. And that old TC300 cost me about $50 on eBay — it’s beat-up but functions.
As I do more of these comparisons I’m struck by how poorly some of the modern lenses compare to these 20+ year-old lenses, at least in terms of sharpness in the center. It’s as if Nikon realized they didn’t have to be as good as they were so they stopped trying. Of course, what the modern AF lenses take away in basic sharpness they may well give back in focus-accuracy under normal, non-tripod conditions. In that sense the tradeoff may be a wash at worst and may actually help the folks using them for family snapshots and the kids playing soccer.
The 80-200 is available through Amazon. The Tamron converter is also available through Amazon. The others you’ll have to look for used, at places such as Adorama and eBay.
