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Nikon AI NIKKOR 28mm F/2

Wide-angle prime lens • Film era • Discontinued

Abbreviations

AI A manual focus lens with automatic maximum aperture indexing, which is a mechanical system for coupling the lens to the camera's exposure system.

Model history (5)

■Nikon NIKKOR-N[·C] Auto 28mm F/2A9 - 80.3m⌀52 1970 ●
■Nikon NIKKOR 28mm F/2A9 - 80.3m⌀52 1975 ●
■Nikon AI NIKKOR 28mm F/2A9 - 80.3m⌀52 1977 ●
■Nikon AI-S NIKKOR 28mm F/2A9 - 80.25m⌀52 1981 ●
■Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28mm F/1.8GA11 - 90.25m⌀67 2012 ●

Features highlight

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Fast
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CRC
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MF
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Auto
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Compact
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⌀52
filters
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TC

Specification

■ Production details
Announced:1977
Production status:● Discontinued
Original name:Nikon NIKKOR 28mm 1:2
System:Nikon F (1959)
■ Optical design
Focal length:28mm
Speed:F/2
Maximum format:35mm full frame
Mount and Flange focal distance:Nikon F [46.5mm]
Diagonal angle of view:75.4°
Lens construction:9 elements in 8 groups
Close Range Correction (CRC)
■ On Nikon D APS-C [1.53x] cameras
35mm equivalent focal length:42.8mm (in terms of field of view)
35mm equivalent speed:F/3.1 (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:53.6°
■ Focusing
Closest focusing distance:0.3m
Maximum magnification:<No data>
Focusing modes:Manual focus only
Manual focus control:Focusing ring
■ Diaphragm mechanism
Diaphragm type:Automatic
Aperture control:Aperture ring (Manual settings only)
Number of blades:7 (seven)
■ Physical characteristics
Weight:355g
Maximum diameter x Length:⌀64.5×58.5mm
Weather sealing:-
Fluorine coating:-
■ Accessories
Filters:Screw-type 52mm
Lens hood:HN-1 - Screw-type round
Teleconverters:Nikon Teleconverter TC-14 → 39.2mm F/2.8
Nikon Teleconverter TC-14A → 39.2mm F/2.8
Nikon Teleconverter TC-200 → 56mm F/4
Nikon Teleconverter TC-201 → 56mm F/4
■ Sources of data
1. Manufacturer's technical data.
2. Nikon Sales Manual (July 1977).
3. Nikkor lenses sales manual (January 1979).
4. Nikon Sales Manual (June 1978).

Compatibility

  • This AI lens was designed for Nikon F3, EL2, EM, FE, FE2, FE10, FG-20, FM, FM2, FM10, FM3A, Nikkormat FT3 AI cameras and Nikon FA, FG, N2000, N6000 AI-S cameras.
  • AI and AI-S lenses are backward compatible with Nikon F, F2, Nikkormat FS, FT, FT2, FTN, EL, ELW cameras.
  • On Nikon digital SLR cameras, the automatic exposure metering with AI and AI-S lenses will not be available on D40, D40X, D60, D70, D70s, D80, D3000-D3500, D5000-D5600 series.

Manufacturer description

The 28mm lens is considered today to be the standard wideangle lens by an increasing number of photographers. It is a favorite choice because the typical wideangle effects become obvious at this particular focal length and it has a wide variety of applications including commercial, industrial, architectural, travel, landscape and news photography. Because of the growing popularity of the 28mm lens, Nikon offers three models in different maximum lens speeds. The 28mm f/2 has the fastest lens speed of the Nikkor wideangles with picture angles of 74° and over. This speed permits easy, accurate focusing and facilitates picture taking indoors or under unfavorable lighting conditions. It features the floating element system to achieve excellent results in close-range photography.

Compared with the f/2, the newly-designed 28mm f/2.8 and f/3.5 Nikkors are smaller and more lightweight to ensure easy handling and mobility. In all three lenses, spherical and coma aberrations are well corrected, ensuring uniform sharpness - edge-to-edge - even at full-aperture.

Typical application

Class:

Fast full-frame wide-angle prime lens

Genres or subjects of photography (7):

Landscapes • Cityscapes • Buildings • Interiors • Full to mid-body portraits • Street • Travel photography

Adaptation to digital SLR cameras:

Canon EOS SLRs • Sigma SD SLRs • Sony SLRs/SLTs • Pentax SLRs • More information

Not adaptable

In order to adapt the lens, the flange focal distance (FFD) of the lens mount must be equal to or greater than the FFD of the camera mount. This lens has the Nikon F mount with a FFD of 46.5mm. This is even shorter than the FFD of Canon EOS digital SLR cameras, which have the shortest FFD of 44mm of any modern digital SLR cameras. Therefore, this lens cannot be adapted to any digital SLR camera.

Recommended slowest shutter speed when shooting static subjects handheld:

1/30th of a second

Alternatives in the Nikon F system

Sorted by focal length and speed, in ascending order

Lenses with similar focal length

Sorted by manufacturer name

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Pros and cons
Nikon AI Nikkor series lenses (58)
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Nikon AI Nikkor series lenses

The AI line was created by Nikon in 1977. It was a new system for coupling the lens to the camera's exposure system. A cam on the lens' aperture ring, known as the Meter Coupling Ridge, indicates the maximum as well as the preset aperture directly to the camera. AI Nikkors provide automatic maximum-aperture indexing (AI) and full-aperture metering, their secondary aperture scale also provides Aperture Direct Reading (ADR). Each AI-Nikkor also incorporates a meter-coupling shoe providing full-aperture metering with all pre-AI Nikon/Nikkormat meter systems.

Diaphragms - automatic, preset, or manual - of non-AI and AI lens types function in an identical manner with all Nikon-system cameras.

The mechanics of the AI lenses were improved. In earlier lenses the double helix that moves the optical system away from the film plane when focusing at close range distances causes the focusing ring to move forwards as well. To improve handling the two helixes in the AI lenses have different thread pitches. So, whilst the optical system is moved forward, the focusing ring is only displaced by a fraction of a millimeter. The depth-of-field scale is now located on the chrome ring between the focusing and aperture rings.

For a while Nikon offered a service to convert earlier pre-AI lenses to the new AI-system standard.

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35mm full frame

43.27 24 36
  • Dimensions: 36 × 24mm
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Diagonal: 43.27mm
  • Area: 864mm2

MF

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Image stabilizer

A technology used for reducing or even eliminating the effects of camera shake. Gyro sensors inside the lens detect camera shake and pass the data to a microcomputer. Then an image stabilization group of elements controlled by the microcomputer moves inside the lens and compensates camera shake in order to keep the image static on the imaging sensor or film.

The technology allows to increase the shutter speed by several stops and shoot handheld in such lighting conditions and at such focal lengths where without image stabilizer you have to use tripod, decrease the shutter speed and/or increase the ISO setting which can lead to blurry and noisy images.

Original name

Lens name as indicated on the lens barrel (usually on the front ring). With lenses from film era, may vary slightly from batch to batch.

Format

Format refers to the shape and size of film or image sensor.

35mm is the common name of the 36x24mm film format or image sensor format. It has an aspect ratio of 3:2, and a diagonal measurement of approximately 43mm. The name originates with the total width of the 135 film which was the primary medium of the format prior to the invention of the full frame digital SLR. Historically the 35mm format was sometimes called small format to distinguish it from the medium and large formats.

APS-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the film negatives of 25.1x16.7mm with an aspect ratio of 3:2.

Medium format is a film format or image sensor format larger than 36x24mm (35mm) but smaller than 4x5in (large format).

Angle of view

Angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.

As the focal length changes, the angle of view also changes. The shorter the focal length (eg 18mm), the wider the angle of view. Conversely, the longer the focal length (eg 55mm), the smaller the angle of view.

A camera's angle of view depends not only on the lens, but also on the sensor. Imaging sensors are sometimes smaller than 35mm film frame, and this causes the lens to have a narrower angle of view than with 35mm film, by a certain factor for each sensor (called the crop factor).

This website does not use the angles of view provided by lens manufacturers, but calculates them automatically by the following formula: 114.6 * arctan (21.622 / CF * FL),

where:

CF – crop-factor of a sensor,
FL – focal length of a lens.

Mount

A lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a camera body and a lens.

A lens mount may be a screw-threaded type, a bayonet-type, or a breech-lock type. Modern camera lens mounts are of the bayonet type, because the bayonet mechanism precisely aligns mechanical and electrical features between lens and body, unlike screw-threaded mounts.

Lens mounts of competing manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony etc.) are always incompatible. In addition to the mechanical and electrical interface variations, the flange focal distance can also be different.

The flange focal distance (FFD) is the distance from the mechanical rear end surface of the lens mount to the focal plane.

Lens construction

Lens construction – a specific arrangement of elements and groups that make up the optical design, including type and size of elements, type of used materials etc.

Element - an individual piece of glass which makes up one component of a photographic lens. Photographic lenses are nearly always built up of multiple such elements.

Group – a cemented together pieces of glass which form a single unit or an individual piece of glass. The advantage is that there is no glass-air surfaces between cemented together pieces of glass, which reduces reflections.

Focal length

The focal length is the factor that determines the size of the image reproduced on the focal plane, picture angle which covers the area of the subject to be photographed, depth of field, etc.

Speed

The largest opening or stop at which a lens can be used is referred to as the speed of the lens. The larger the maximum aperture is, the faster the lens is considered to be. Lenses that offer a large maximum aperture are commonly referred to as fast lenses, and lenses with smaller maximum aperture are regarded as slow.

In low-light situations, having a wider maximum aperture means that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed or work at a lower ISO, or both.

Floating element system

Provides correction of aberrations and ensures constantly high image quality at the entire range of focusing distances from infinity down to the closest focusing distance. It is particularly effective for the correction of field curvature that tends to occur with large-aperture, wide-angle lenses when shooting at close ranges.

The basic mechanism of the floating element system is also incorporated into the internal and rear focusing methods.

Closest focusing distance

The minimum distance from the focal plane (film or sensor) to the subject where the lens is still able to focus.

Closest working distance

The distance from the front edge of the lens to the subject at the maximum magnification.

Magnification ratio

Determines how large the subject will appear in the final image. For example, a magnification ratio of 1:1 means that the image of the subject formed on the film or sensor will be the same size as the subject in real life. For this reason, a 1:1 ratio is often called "life-size".

Manual diaphragm

The diaphragm must be stopped down manually by rotating the detent aperture ring.

Preset diaphragm

The lens has two rings, one is for pre-setting, while the other is for normal diaphragm adjustment. The first ring must be set at the desired aperture, the second ring then should be fully opened for focusing, and turned back for stop down to the pre-set value.

Semi-automatic diaphragm

The lens features spring mechanism in the diaphragm, triggered by the shutter release, which stops down the diaphragm to the pre-set value. The spring needs to be reset manually after each exposure to re-open diaphragm to its maximum value.

Automatic diaphragm

The camera automatically closes the diaphragm down during the shutter operation. On completion of the exposure, the diaphragm re-opens to its maximum value.

Fixed diaphragm

The aperture setting is fixed at F/2 on this lens, and cannot be adjusted.

Number of blades

As a general rule, the more blades that are used to create the aperture opening in the lens, the rounder the out-of-focus highlights will be.

Some lenses are designed with curved diaphragm blades, so the roundness of the aperture comes not from the number of blades, but from their shape. However, the fewer blades the diaphragm has, the more difficult it is to form a circle, regardless of rounded edges.

At maximum aperture, the opening will be circular regardless of the number of blades.

Weight

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

Maximum diameter x Length

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

For lenses with collapsible design, the length is indicated for the working (retracted) state.

Weather sealing

A rubber material which is inserted in between each externally exposed part (manual focus and zoom rings, buttons, switch panels etc.) to ensure it is properly sealed against dust and moisture.

Lenses that accept front mounted filters typically do not have gaskets behind the filter mount. It is recommended to use a filter for complete weather resistance when desired.

Fluorine coating

Helps keep lenses clean by reducing the possibility of dust and dirt adhering to the lens and by facilitating cleaning should the need arise. Applied to the outer surface of the front and/or rear lens elements over multi-coatings.

Filters

Lens filters are accessories that can protect lenses from dirt and damage, enhance colors, minimize glare and reflections, and add creative effects to images.

Lens hood

A lens hood or lens shade is a device used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order to prevent glare and lens flare. Flare occurs when stray light strikes the front element of a lens and then bounces around within the lens. This stray light often comes from very bright light sources, such as the sun, bright studio lights, or a bright white background.

The geometry of the lens hood can vary from a plain cylindrical or conical section to a more complex shape, sometimes called a petal, tulip, or flower hood. This allows the lens hood to block stray light with the higher portions of the lens hood, while allowing more light into the corners of the image through the lowered portions of the hood.

Lens hoods are more prominent in long focus lenses because they have a smaller viewing angle than that of wide-angle lenses. For wide angle lenses, the length of the hood cannot be as long as those for telephoto lenses, as a longer hood would enter the wider field of view of the lens.

Lens hoods are often designed to fit onto the matching lens facing either forward, for normal use, or backwards, so that the hood may be stored with the lens without occupying much additional space. In addition, lens hoods can offer some degree of physical protection for the lens due to the hood extending farther than the lens itself.

Teleconverters

Teleconverters increase the effective focal length of lenses. They also usually maintain the closest focusing distance of lenses, thus increasing the magnification significantly. A lens combined with a teleconverter is normally smaller, lighter and cheaper than a "direct" telephoto lens of the same focal length and speed.

Teleconverters are a convenient way of enhancing telephoto capability, but it comes at a cost − reduced maximum aperture. Also, since teleconverters magnify every detail in the image, they logically also magnify residual aberrations of the lens.

Lens caps

Scratched lens surfaces can spoil the definition and contrast of even the finest lenses. Lens covers are the best and most inexpensive protection available against dust, moisture and abrasion. Safeguard lens elements - both front and rear - whenever the lens is not in use.