Nikon AF-Nikkor 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 D (1995-1999)... Nikon's Tiniest Telephoto Zoom Lens

Nikon AF-Nikkor
80-200mm f/4.5-5.6D (1995-1999)

2019.11.xx - Draft

2022.07.30 - Re-written with new uploads

2022.07.31 - New uploads and first published

Nikon AF-Nikkor

80-200mm f/4.5-5.6D

"The new 80-200mm lens is less than 3.5" long and weighs just 11.5 oz. This 2.5x telephoto zoom will be a favorite among photographers who enjoy sports, scenics and portraits. Great for traveling, too. Newly designed optical formula produces sharp, crisp, high-contrast images with the depth of color and clarity you've come to expect from the Nikkor system."

Years Produced - 1995-1999

Minimum Focusing Distance - 1.5 meters

Focus Throw - 45 degrees (No distance marking)

Filter Thread Ø - 52mm

Maximum Aperture - f/4.5 (80mm), f/5.6 (200mm)

#Diaphragm Blades - 7

Optical Formula - 10 elements, 8 groups

Nikon Integrated Coating

Serial numbers

Made in Japan (200xxxx to 211xxxx)

Made in China (250xxxx to 258xxxx)

Download the lens manual here

Photo Album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RcuPYsbggmPCczhp9

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Impressions

History

The AF-Nikkor 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 D was introduced in 1995 as a cheap alternative to the bigger f/2.8 sibling -- everything is made of lightweight plastic including the mount, and the lens is about as tiny as a 100mm prime lens. It is known as Nikon's tiniest tele-zoom. It's so cheap that the markings were merely painted on the surface and decades later, my copy shows ugly faded letters. The copy I owned was an early version made in Japan; later ones were outsourced to China.

Build Quality

AF zoom lenses really look funny in a bad way, compared to those beautiful old manual zooms and primes. One reason is how huge those zooming rings are, and yet the focusing ring next to them are paper thin and hard to grip. The focusing ring on this lens is okay for manual focusing, but the quirk here is that the focusing ring sits at the top of the barrel and moves with it when you zoom. I find it easier to grip the focusing ring once the zoom barrel is extended.

The zooming ring is made of a single integral plastic with diamond texture, there is no rubber gripped dressed on the ring. This zooming ring has also earned a notoriety in the photography community, including my experience. My copy has a tendency to get stuck for a second at 80mm when zooming and it takes a bit of twisting left and right to unfreeze the zoom ring. It zooms very smoothly once you get past 80mm.

The previous incarnation of this lens, a Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/4, has a minimum focusing distance of 2 meters. This AF-Nikkor 80-200mm f/4.5 shortened this distance to 1.5 meters only and is common for tele-zooms of the time.

Compatibility

It uses the old Nikon F mount but with electronic contact pins that embed information to the photos such as focal length and f-stop. However, it uses the old-style autofocusing; it needs a motorized Nikon DSLR body (eg. Nikon D90 or Nikon D7xxx) that can turn the screw on the lens mount to do the autofocusing. It doesn't use electronic focusing within the lens like modern newer Nikkor AF lenses. If you are using a Nikon DSLR in the D3xxx and D5xxx series, then this lens can only be focused manually.

Optical Quality
The front element has a beautiful green sheen on the surface that you see in modern Nikon lenses. However, the other elements have an orange or magenta sheen. You get sharp crispy images wide open at f/4.5, and at any focal length. The colors and contrast are also rendered with a pleasant realistic reproduction, not super saturated. The output is really very pleasing, one could not ask for more.

Conclusion

The AF-Nikkor 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 D is probably Nikon's tiniest and cheapest zoom lens. There were compromises such as using plastics and a slower aperture, but the results were always spectacular wide open at any focal length, if there is ample lighting. You can also achieve a decent amount of bokeh or blurry background which is sought after feature for shooting portraits. Probably, my one big issue was the zooming ring getting stuck at 80mm, which is okay if I'm shooting stills, but not if I'm filming videos.