Zeiss-branded ZF 50mm f/1.4. Made in Japan by Cosina.

It feels like an off-brand lens from the 1970s, and it sort of is! Cosina made a lot of the off -brand lenses of the 1970s, thus the uncanny similarity.

The Zeiss-branded lens has no rubber focus ring, just ribbed (not knurled) anodized aluminum. It's not even scalloped like the first Nikkors of the 1950s. It's the hardest to focus of any of these. You have to use at least two fingers and grab it. It feels a little uneven as you spin the focus ring. It does not feel anywhere near as precise as any of the manual focus Nikkors.

There's too much drag from grease and friction to allow one-finger focusing as one can do with the Nikkors.

The aperture ring has clicks at half stops. That drive me up the wall! I set aperture by feel, one stop per click. Half stops are terrible: I lose count, and it's confusing when used along with Nikkor lenses with full stop clicks.

It has no good place to grab it for mounting and unmounting.

Here's a look at the depth of field scale. It's less elegant than the Nikkors' color coding.

The AI coupling flange seems to be chrome plated. On AI-s Nikkors it's superior stainless steel. The taller screws keep more light from the ADR scale (little f/numbers) than the smaller, staggered screws used by Nikon.

The chrome plating on the brass filter ring is uneven. I've never seen this on any Nikkor.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D. Made in China by Nikon.

The entire outside is made of plastic! Rubber focus ring. The mount is metal and the internals feel like metal, too. This would feel dinky, but since the internals are weighty and the plastic is very good and precise it feels fine, except for having to worry about cross-threading a filter.

Grab the middle of the barrel near the focus window for mounting and unmounting.

Like most Nikkor AF lenses, there is a lot of play in the focus helicoid. This is normal.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF. Made in Japan by Nikon (c. 1986).

Also all plastic on the outside, mount and insides of metal. For years I thought the focus ring was metal, but on this sample it's very good plastic.

Grab the middle of the barrel near the focus window for mounting and unmounting.

Like most Nikkor AF lenses, there is some play in the focus helicoids.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI. Made in Japan by Nikon (c. 1980).

This lens sets the standard. it's another reason I went to Nikon instead of Canon in 1980. It's all metal except the rubber focus ring. It is so precisely made that it can be focused with the touch of just one finger. There is no play in the focus mechanism. It works great even with all the crud it's collected.

Grab the ribbed silver ring for mounting and unmounting.

Nikkor 18 - 200mm VR. Made in Japan by Nikon, 2005. In 2006 Nikon moved production to Thailand.

It's all plastic on the outside. I'm unsure if the zoom cams are plastic or metal. The mount is metal. It's very well made. Read my formal 18-200mm Drop Test for details.

Grab the middle of the barrel near the focus window for mounting and unmounting.

Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s. Made in Japan by Nikon, 1992.

Like the f/1.4 AI lens, this AI-s lens sets the standard for mechanical quality and precision. There is no play in the focus mechanism.

Grab the ribbed silver ring for mounting and unmounting.

Nikkor-S Auto 50mm f/1.4. Made in Japan by Nikon, 1969.

To my surprise, this is a jewel of the machinists art. It's at least as smooth and precise as the newer AI and AI-s lenses. I thought rubber rings were a big deal when introduced (my first lenses in the 1970s had simple rings like the Zeiss ZF), but the scallops in this focus ring make it just as easy to focus with one finger. The scalloped ring is even easier to use with wet hands than rubber.

Grab the big ribbed silver ring for mounting and unmounting.