The 5 Best Nikon FE10 Lenses
The Nikon FE10 is a very good film camera. This article will go over the 5 best lenses for the Nikon FE10, plus a handful of alternative lenses.
Additional info is further down, but if you’re short on time, here is the list:
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- Kit Lens - Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E
- Wide Angle Lens - Nikon Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 Ai
- Portrait Lens - Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E
- Zoom Lens - Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5
- Macro Lens - Vivitar 90mm f/2.8
The top Nikon F-mount lenses are categorized by type of photography and value. There are lots of excellent lenses to select from that are in price ranges appropriate for the value of a FE10.
Standard Prime Lens
A 50mm lens is a superb choice for a wide range of photography. The areas of photography consist of street, travel, portraits, everyday use, landscapes, and architecture. This is the most frequent focal length that is used on the Nikon FE10.
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E
- One of the most popular 50mm lenses Nikon ever made.
- Excellent value.
- Light, compact, and small.
- 52mm front filter threads.
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If you don’t already have one, a good first lens for the FE10 is the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E. The 50mm f1.8 is simple to find, has excellent image quality, is cheap, compact, and lightweight.
You’ll want to buy the second version of the lens, that has a chrome ring around the body. It is built from aluminum, whereas the first version has plastic parts.
The 50mm Series E lens is categorised as a pancake lens because of how thin it is. When mounted on the FE10 it barely sticks out. This is great for keeping the camera under a jacket to help you keep a low profile.
A variety of 50mm manual focus lenses were released by Nikon for the F-mount.
Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.4
- Superb optics.
- Optical multi-coatings to reduce chromatic aberrations.
- Widely available.
- Comparatively low-priced.
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The Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 is 2/3 of a stop faster, at the additional cost of size and weight. It is slightly more expensive than any of the f/1.8 or f/2 50mm lenses.
Voigtländer Nokton 58mm f/1.4 SL II AI-S
- Spectacular optics.
- Has a Meter Coupling Prong.
- CPU Contacts.
- Available for purchase new.
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Nikon made a 55mm f/1.2 and 50mm f/1.2, but the cost to performance is poor. Because of the age of the lenses, you should be wary of the grease in the focusing helicoid drying up, spoiling the experience of using the lens.
The Voightlander 58mm f/1.4 is all around a superior option for a premium quality lens. The focusing ring is the smoothest| I have ever used on a manual focus lens. The lens is a total delight to use.
Additionally, the lens maintains compatibility that spans all F-mount SLR cameras. It has a CPU contacts, Meter Coupling Prong, Ai Meter Coupling Ridge, and has a switch to allow for electronic aperture control. You are able to seamlessly swap the lens from a Nikon 35mm film SLR to a Nikon DSLR.
Alternative Standard Lenses
The following are several other good lenses that can be considered.
- Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
- Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/2
- Nikon 35mm f/2.5 Series E
- Nikon 28mm f/2.8 Series E
Wide Angle Lens
Nikon Nikkor 24mm f/2.8
- Great combination with a 50mm lens.
- Optical multi-coatings to improve output.
- Easy to find.
- Comparatively low-priced.
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A good option for a wide-angle lens is the Nikon Nikkor 24mm f/2.8. It is well suited for architectural or landscape photography.
There are an abundance of wider focal lengths to choose from, but they are commonly are a great deal more expensive or have noticeable amounts of barrel distortion. Third-party lenses have visibly lower image quality than Nikkor lenses.
Nikon 28mm f/2.8 Series E
- Good when used with a 50mm lens.
- Optical multi-coatings to reduce chromatic aberrations.
- Widely available.
- Cheap.
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The Nikon 28mm f/2.8 Series E lens is a lower priced option. It is appealing to use with the FE10 because of the affordable price and ease that the lens can be found.
Alternative Wide Angle Lenses
In terms of price, the relationship is straightforward. The wider the field of view, the less affordable the lens will likely be. Larger apertures also sell for significantly more.
- Nikon 8mm f/2.8 Fisheye
- Nikon Nikkor 15mm f/3.5
- Nikon Nikkon 18mm f/3.5
- Nikon Nikkon 24mm f/2
- Nikon Nikkon 13mm f/5.6
- Nikon Nikkon 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye
- Nikon Nikkon 20mm f/2.8
Portrait & Telephoto Lens
Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E Lens
- 85mm substitute.
- Excellent price to performance.
- Comparatively inexpensive.
- Many copies are available.
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85mm focal length lenses weren’t as widely used as they are today compared to when the FE10 was initially produced in 1996. 135mm or 100mm focal lengths were more prevalent thanks to their cheaper price.
Like all of the other Series E lenses mentioned, the 100mm f/2.8 hits an excellent balance of price, performance, and usability. That’s why it was favored when introduced and why so many copies are available for purchase on the used market.
Nikon Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 Lens
- 85mm alternative.
- "Vintage" portraiture rendering.
- Many copies are available.
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The “classic” look of this lens stems from the focal length combined with the lens only containing 4 elements.
The initial version of the lens was produced in 1965. There’s a total of 6 versions of the lens, only the last two versions being compatible with the FE10.
If you go to purchase a copy of the lens, the compatible versions will be listed as Ai-S or Ai.
Alternative Telephoto Lenses
There’s an abundance of alternative telephoto lenses to pick from. The 85mm lenses and focal lengths longer than 135mm will be high-priced.
| Nikkor 85mm f/2 | Nikkor 105mm f/1.8 |
| Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 | Nikkor 135mm f/2 |
| Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 | Nikon 135mm f/2.8 Series E |
| Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 200mm f/2 ED |
| Nikkor 300mm f/2 IF-ED | Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 |
| Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 | Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 IF-ED |
| Nikkor 500mm f/4 IF-ED P | Mirror Nikkor 500mm f/8 |
| Nikkor 600mm f/4 IF-ED | Nikkor 800mm f/5.6 IF-ED |
Nikon FE10 Zoom Lenses
Before cameras had autofocus, in the early 1980’s, there were a small number of lenses manufactured by third-party manufacturers that out-performed Nikkor lenses.
Many of these lenses would be released with the Vivitar brand name. Any lens that has the Vivitar Series 1 branding on it is going to have outstanding optics.
Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5
- Covers a useful zoom range.
- Great for wildlife or portrait photography.
- A rare example of when a third-party lens is the better choice.
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Alternative Zoom Lenses
Unfortunately, shorter focal range zooms have problems making them a undesirable option to use with the Nikon FE10. Age along with wear and tear has caused many Nikon zoom lenses to end up being borderline useless.
The only zoom I would advise looking for is the Vivitar Series 1 VMC 35-85mm f/2.8 (Also found on KEH). , the lens can be tough to come across.
Vintage Zoom Lens Problems
The lens that could have been the front-runner, the Nikon Zoom-Nikkor 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5, is sadly, a push-pull zoom. Instead of a zoom ring that turns, the focus ring is pushed or pulled to select the zoom range.
The grease in almost all of these lenses has broken down to the point where the zoom mechanism is unable to support itself. This means that the lens will have tiny changes in focal length when you attempt to focus. This is going to be made worse if the lens is pointed up or down.
Nikon Macro Lenses
Komine produced both of the two mentioned macro lenses in Japan. The lenses were also released under various brand names. Elicar, Quantaray, Panagor, Spiratone, and Rokunar are brands that also sold the lenses.
There is a Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Review and a Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Review.
For capturing images at macro magnification (1:1), the 90mm lens will be the superior pick because it has a larger working distance.
For close-up and table-top photography, the 55mm macro lens is the better choice.
Vivitar 90mm f/2.8
- The best vintage macro lens I've used.
- Was produced in many lens mounts.
- Incredible value.
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Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro Lens
- My second favorite vintage macro lens.
- A good choice for close-up photography.
- It doesn't need to have an extension tube to achieve 1:1 magnification.
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Alternative Macro Lenses
- Nikon Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5
- Lester A Dine 105mm f/2.8
- Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8
Used Nikon Camera Lens Prices
The prices of camera lenses change all the time based on supply and interest in older lenses. During the last several years, film photography was going through an increase in popularity, which has pushed prices higher.
Economic changes can quickly lead to large changes in prices. Even so, the difference in prices between lenses should be expected to stay similar.
Check a few sites to get an idea of what market prices look like. If you come across a great deal, be quick, because the best deals do not last very long.
What Lens Mount Does the Nikon FE10 Use?
The Nikon FE10 uses the Nikon F lens mount. The Nikon F-mount has been in use since 1959. Over time changes have been made to add autofocus, CPU contacts, metering information, and electronic aperture control.
For the FE10, you want manual focus lenses that are either Ai-S or Ai. The meter coupling ridge on those lenses allows the camera to accurately meter light.
For a complete explanation F-mount lenses, this page explains everything you need to know Nikon F-mount lens and camera compatibility.
Standard Lens Cap Size
The standard filter ring thread and lens cap size for the majority of vintage manual focus F-mount lenses is 52mm. Of course, lenses with large front elements are going to require larger lens caps and filters.
Employing a standardized filter thread diameter is great because you only need to own only a single set of lens filters.
Non Ai vs Ai & Ai-S Lenses
A Meter Coupling Prong was used on early Nikon cameras. The Nikon FE10 uses a Meter Coupling Ridge.
A bunch of lenses have both forms of meter coupling as they were made around the time Nikon changed to Ai lenses.
Lenses that only have a Meter Coupling Prong will most likely cause damage to your FE10 if you attempt to use one on the camera.
More Nikon FE10 Resources
There is no more info on the best Nikon FE10 lenses. When new info is added to the website, links can be found here.