Nikon Series E lenses

[fmw]

The series E lenses were a budget line designed for amateur use. They were pretty good optically but not quite as rugged as the regular Nikkors. Most were not quite as forcefully corrected as their regular counterparts either. Think simplicity. But understand that some truly great Nikkors were relatively simple in design. The classic 105 f2.5 Nikkor was very well corrected and sharp as a tack with only 5 elements. It was one of the best Nikkors of all time. I have one so old that I took it to Nikon to have it and other lenses adapted for AI when I bought my F3. I still have it and use it when I need superior image quality.

Own or shoot any E series lenses? Otherwise, this is just the usual blow about the E series. Nikon brought them out to recapture market share lost to F-mount Tamron/Tokina/Kiron glass. Quality? They were tough enough for the largely non-pro market Nikon sold into--and still does. The 75-150/3.5 zoom? Killer. The 100/2.8? Gave nothing away to the larger, heavier, pricier 105/2.5.

I probably owned all of them. Honestly I don't remember. At one point in my life I got involved in Nikkor collecting and owned about 60 nikkors ranging from the 14mm wide angle to the 500mm f4. I sold most of them when I got involved in digital photography with a DX camera. I did mention that the E series were optically fine or did you miss that?

 

[deepfriedl]

Thanks for all of the responses. This thread has helped my learning.