Flowers and a Manual Nikon 55mm AI-s Macro Lens

Over the weekend, I gave my Weekly Series posts a refresh and added a few new ones. I’ve also created a landing page for all the weekly updates (linked above) with a brief explanation of each, so I can skip that formality in individual posts moving forward.

Today’s Macro Monday post is one of the new weekly-ish updates, showcasing macro photography—a topic that gets a lot of love on my website. As with many of my great ideas, this one wasn’t entirely original. A big thanks to Macro Monday – Spittlebugs for the inspiration!

Nikon 55mm AI-s Macro

The photos in today’s post are some of the first I’ve taken with a new macro lens I picked up a few months ago but hadn’t had the chance to use until now. The Nikon 55mm f/2.8 AI-s Micro-NIKKOR, an all-manual lens first produced in 1979, is still made by Nikon today (though it’s nearly impossible to find new). Built like a tank with mostly metal and glass, it’s typical of AI-s lenses from that era. It looks and feels incredible on the camera. I snagged this one used from MPB in near-mint condition for a fantastic price (for a lens).

Back in the day, this lens was often paired with the Nikon PK-13 27.5mm extension tube to achieve a full 1:1 macro ratio. You can see the tube in the background of the image below. The lens even has painted PK markings on the barrel—a cool detail, as modern lenses rarely feature painted lettering.

For the images in this post, I didn’t use the PK-13. Instead, I shot handheld with available light at a 1:2 macro ratio or greater.

The Nikon 55mm AI-s stands out for its exceptional build quality, affordability, and compact size for a high-quality macro lens. Below, you can see a size comparison with the Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 G, which is itself smaller than the newer, monstrously large Z 105mm macro lens (a clinically sharp huge hunk of plastic).

Macro Monday Photos

Since I’ve only recently acquired this lens, I haven’t shot extensively with it yet. However, from my initial experience, I love its sharpness paired with a pleasing outside edge softness that gives the images true character.

Manual focus lenses are something I’ve typically avoided, as they require practice to master. But the focus throw and movement on Nikon AI-s lenses are so smooth that they make you want to keep shooting.