One of those old gems: the Nikkor 105 f1.8 - there is no equivalent in the current offering.
The old Nikkor AIS lenses are manual focus lenses which can easily be used on the Nikon semi-pro and pro camera's (D200, D2X(s), D2h(s)). I am using a number of those lenses on my D200. There is an option in the menus to define the type of lens you are using (you have to set the focal length and the maximum aperture) - that option can be assigned to the function button on the camera - this is what I have done to make lens switching very easy. When this is done, you can use the aperture ring on the lens and the camera will detect the selected aperture and display it on the camera display. The camera will be able to measure and to expose correctly in aperture priority mode. Full manual mode is of course available as well.
Those lenses are then working very well and give a good old times feeling (using focus and aperture rings on the lens).
The biggest advantage is that those old lenses are relatively cheap and that you can find super fast, pro quality glass at a reasonable price. A number of very fast lenses were available in AIS version and have not been converted to AF.
The ones I have been using and I highly recommend are:
24mm f2 - faster than the 24mm f2.8 currently available -
excellent low light semi-wide
35mm f2 - excellent general purpose lens (equivalent to the good old 50mm
on a film camera)
the recent AF version is not as good
optically speaking (Just my opinion)
35mm f1.4 - super fast version, excellent lens, some flare - nothing equivalent
available
85mm f1.4 - an incredible fast portrait lens - also usable to isolate subjects
thanks to the super thin DOF
also excellent for low light shooting
(concerts, indoor sport)
105mm f1.8 - very fast tele (no AF equivalent available) - one of my favorites
for concerts
More info and an excellent scoring on Bjorn
Roslett's website.
A few examples:
105mm 1.8 @ f2 ISO 1600
85mm 1.4 very thin DOF
35mm 2
