Tough week- had to unwind by taking lenses apart... I had an Ai conversion ring from a broken Nikkor-QC 135/2.8 and a mint condition Nikkor-Q 135/2.8. Went ahead and did the conversion, the only hard part is getting the aperture actuation pin back into place. This is a "trial and error", "feel as you go" process. Use 3mm flat screwdriver to line-up with the screws, they are held in place with a "rather gooey substance.".
Close-up, wide-open.
Nikkor-Q 135/2.8 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr
I ended up buying a "Nikon Grab Bag" of lenses this week, $135. About 10 lenses, 3 Nikkors, Kiron, Vivitar, Soligor, off-brand ones. "To my great disappointment" only TWO had to be taken apart for cleaning... the others were EX and better. Will post some shots, the following is from a Kiron 35~135/ F3.5~F4.5.
Kiron 35~135/3.5~4.5 Test by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr
Kiron 35~135/3.5~4.5 Test by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr
Kiron 35~135/3.5~4.5 Test by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr
The biggest difference between a Zoom and a Prime- geometric distortion is much easier to control with a fixed-focal length lens. Zooms tend to move between barrel distortion and pin-cushion distortion as you move across the range. One of my projects will be to compare some of these low-end zooms with the Zoom-Micro-Nikkor and the more traditional higher-cost Nikkors, such as the 80~200/4.5.
But for ~$10- no complaints on the Kiron! The lenses came packed in a "photographer's back-pack", and came with caps and over 20 filters. The bag probably cost more than I paid for it filled-up.