Nikon af Nikkor 20mm f/2.8

Last lens for a long time. This one was a bit of a doozy as I had a lot of things to consider. Ultimately, the af Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 made it into my inventory and filled the last lens case that I'd bought for no apparent reason. I guess this was that reason.

af Nikkor 20mm f/2.8

20mm

• A wide-angle lens
• Always consider your camera's crop factor because its focal length might not actually be 20mm
• A full-frame camera, however, shoots a true 20mm because there is no crop factor
• Example: due to the D7200's 1.5x crop factor, it shoots like a 35mm
• Wide field of view
• Great for landscapes, cityscapes, skyscapes, etc.
• Coatings on the glass is nice, but there is no degradation in photo quality if it's not there or if it's chipped

Story

Another day, another trip to the Nakano junk camera shop. After a date with my boyfriend, I met up with Omi and his friend, Leon, to check out more camera goodies. That ended up being a mistake on my part, as I spotted an af Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 for $80. Why so cheap? Because some of the anti-glare(?) coating on the glass was coming off.

Coating is chipping away

In Japan, people take extraordinarily good care of their belongings, which is why I'd been able to snag my previous two lenses for so little. However, any defects are anathema to resale values, and a few smudges and chips to the lens coating was apparently enough to warrant a substantial lowering of price.

Still, I'd just purchased two lenses in the last week. Surely that would be enough to satiate my photographic appetite. But this was a 20mm lens, and I'm a landscape photographer. And it was $80!

Widest aperture

Narrowest aperture

I decided to ignore the wails of my wallet. I asked the shopkeeper, "Would you take $70? It's in pretty rough condition, after all." Hey, any little bit helps, right?

"No, I'm sorry. The prices are set at the main branch. I don't have any authority to change the prices. And I've never seen one this inexpensive before." Darn.

I made a show of himming and hawing while Omi and Leon decided whether or not to buy the lenses they were interested in. (Leon did; Omi didn't.) I put the lens on the counter: "I've decided to get this." The shopkeeper was supremely pleased. "Thank you very much," he said with a deep bow. That was a little much to me, but oh well.

After excited chatter about our purchases, we all went to a pub for a quick dinner and then off to the Bic Camera Outlet so Omi could buy some headphones. When we got to the outlet, I asked a store attendant in the camera section if they had back and forward lens covers. (Though I was a little put out that the lens didn't come with the covers. beggars can't be choosers and $80 was a fantastic price.) The attendant told me that the outlet didn't have covers but that the main branch, about 400m away did and that it closed in about an hour.

We went to main branch when Omi was done with his shopping, and I picked up some covers. Not that I needed them immediately because I put the lens on Omi's camera and started taking photos of Ikebukuro.

Lens with its new fore and rear covers.

The city lights were so beautiful, and they came out wonderfully because of the 20mm. Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to thoroughly clean the lens before shooting, so the lights were a bit smudged, but, hey, for a junk lens right out of the shop, I was just happy it worked like it should.

Sunshine City, Ikebukuro; Nikon D850 af Nikkor 20mm f/2.8