I love Nikon's manual focus F-mount lenses. But there are a lot of them!
My goal here is to sort these lenses into sets, mostly based on type. As always all this data and more is available on Photosynthesis but sorted in a different way.
Early non-AI Lenses: CM marked
Circa 1959 - 1966
These are the lenses that made the F mount a huge success! Unfortunately several of these lenses are rare and expensive. In addition, some require extra care because the back of the aperture rings projected further than modern lenses, or they require mirror-lock-up, or they require using preset apertures.
There are many variations in these early lenses, some that bear mentioning are the very rare tick-marked lenses, lenses with 9-bladed apertures, and lenses that are only marked in feet or only in meters. Photosynthesis and Uli Koch's book are good references.
The Weird Years
Circa 1961-1966
Some lenses are marked in mm (like the 35mm f/2.8, f/2, f/3.5 P.C., 50mm f/2 and f/1.4, 43-86mm f/3.5, and 100mm f/11), some are still marked in cm (2.1cm f/4, 2.8cm f/3.5, 13.5cm f/4 bellows, 20cm f/4, 8.5-25cm f/4-4.5 and 20-60cm f/9.5-10.5). Some transitioned in this period (105mm f/2.5 (older), 135mm f/3.5 (older), 500mm f/5).
Classic non-AI Lenses
Circa 1967-1973
As you may be able to tell, I love these lenses. They are common, usually inexpensive, and modern enough to not have the issues of the earlier CM marked lenses. I've gotten many of mine cut to AI to use on modern cameras. I think they fit a very happy medium of having older designs that work well but still have enough character to distinguish them from more sterile modern designs.
Early lenses are marked "Nippon Kogaku Japan", around 1971 they started to be marked "Nikon". I actually prefer the Nippon Kogaku branded versions because it fills the identity rings nicely, however Nippon Kogaku branded versions can be very rare depending on the lens.
Some of the later designs (the newer 105mm f/2.5, the 28mm f/2, and the 35mm f/1.4) stuck around for decades and it can save you a lot of money to buy them in the older styles and have them cut to AI.
Multicoated non-AI Lenses
Circa 1973-1977
These are classic non-AI lenses with multicoating, and have a "·C" marking to distinguish them from the older single coated versions. The 28mm f/2 N and 35mm f/1.4 N were multicoated since their release in 1970, but they did not have the "·C" marking.
Last non-AI Lenses: "K" style
Circa 1974-1977
K lenses are like mullets: AI in the front, non-AI in the back.
These are interesting transitional lenses. They drop the letter marking for the number of lens elements, and they are multicoated but they drop the "·C" marking. They are non-AI lenses, but besides the old style aperture rings they are styled like the later AI lenses with rubber focus rings with the modern rectangular nubbins. I get the sense that people who collect older non-AI lenses don't like the modern aesthetics, and people who like the later lenses don't like the non-AI mounts. In any case they are often a cheap way to get the same optics as later AI lenses. When they are cut to AI, or even better, upgraded with a factory AI kit, they are basically indistinguishable from the AI lenses unless you check the serial numbers.
Some lenses have both C and K versions, some lenses only have C versions (usually because they were discontinued, like the 45mm f/2.8 GN·C and 200mm f/4 Q·C), and some lenses only have K versions (usually because they were a new design). A few lenses (mostly fisheyes) skipped both versions, probably because they came multicoated but predated the C marking. However, the 180mm f/2.8 had single coated, multicoated and AI version with no K version, and the 300mm f/4.5 has single coated versions and K versions with no C marked versions.
AI Lenses
Circa 1977-1981
I've already written some about the differences between AI and AI-S lenses. By and large the differences are not worth worrying about, but typically AI-S lenses have shorter focusing throws for some reason. Sometimes AI-S lenses have newer (and usually better?) designs (the 18mm, 20mm, 24mm, 28mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.8, and 105mm macro e.g.) or different cosmetics (the 35mm f/1.4 and 105mm f/2.5 e.g).
Series E Lenses
Circa 1979-1985
Nikon's budget series of lenses. There are two cosmetic variations: older (and, in my opinion, more unsightly) versions with black plastic grab rings and square-nubbined grips (circa 1981-1985). The Series E lenses have simpler optical designs, some are single coated instead of multicoated, and they are somewhat more plastic-y than the AI and AI-S lenses of the time. Several of these lenses were converted in to early AF-D autofocus lenses.
AI-S Lenses
Circa 1981-present
For me these are the gold standard for manual focus lenses (Leica and Zeiss lenses are out of my price range). Amazingly you can still buy some of these new today! However, many lenses were discontinued in 1998 and in 2005.
F3AF Lenses
Circa 1983-1986
These are Nikon's first production autofocus lenses, and so they are pretty rare and unusual. I believe that they only autofocus with the F3AF and F4 bodies so I pretty much consider them manual focus lenses.
EL-Nikkor Enlarging lenses
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