Data Sheet: Nikkor Ai-s 180 mm f/2.8 ED

Pekka Buttler, 01/2026

This lens was kindly provided for cataloguing by Vladimir at #photogears

Specifications

The table below summarizes the lens’ key specifications:

Brand:	Nikon	Lens name	NIKKOR*ED 180mm 1:2.8
Focal length(s)1	180 mm	Angle-of-view2	13°40
Maximum Aperture	f/2.8	In Production	1981–2005
Lens mount	Nikon F	Subfamily (if applicable)	Ai-s
Length3	128,9 mm	Diameter4	78,2 mm
Filter ring diameter	72 mm	Weight	759 grams
Lens element count	5	Lens group count	5
Aperture blades (S/R/C)5	9 S	Focus throw	190 °
Minimum focusing distance (indicated)	1,8 m	Maximum magnification (indicated)	1: 7,5
Has manual aperture ring	YES	Has Manual focus ring	YES
Aperture mechanism type	Auto	Aperture click stops 6	2.8-4-5.6-8-11-16-22-32

Further notes:
• This is by no means Nikon’s first bright 180 mm lens, but it was the first 180 mm lens to feature an ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass element
• The lens features an integrated, pull-out lens hood that offers decent protection against oblique rays.
• When Nikon introduced it’s Autofocus system in 1986, one of the first lenses in that system was a 180 mm f/2.8 lens clearly intended to replace this lens. Even so, this manual focus version was kept in the lineup until 2005. During those 24 years a bit over 74 000 copies were made.

Versions and variants

Nikon has a long history of making 180 mm f/2.8 lenses.The table below will summarise the genealogy of Nikon’s 180/2.8 lenses:

Type	Name	Years	Copies ca.	Optical recipe	Blades	MFD	weight
F	180/2.8 P	1970–74	15 0007	5e/4g	7	1,8m	880g
C	180/2.8 P•C	1975–77	3 100	5e/4g	7	1,8m	880g
Ai	180/2.8	1977–81	18 500	5e/4g	7	1,8m	880g
Ai-s	180/2.8*ED	1981–2005	74 000	5e/5g	9	1,8m	800g
AF	180/2.8 IF-ED	1986–87	11 100	8e/6g	9	1,5m	750g
AF	180/2.8 IF-ED New	1987–95	49 500	8e/6g	9	1,5m	760g
AF	180/2.8 D IF-ED	1995–2020	30 000	8e/6g	9	1,5m	750g

A brief genealogy of Nikon SLR lens types

Nikon is undoubtedly one of the great names in 35 mm SLR photography. The Nikon F mount has been in continuous production since 1959. During that time, the mount has developed/changed in some detail, however without ever fully sacrificing compatibility.

In short (a longer version is here), the development of Nikon’s SLR lenses can be traced as follows:
• 1959–1977: Pre-Ai. Manual focus lenses that use ‘rabbit ears’ to communicate selected aperture with the camera body. Pre-Ai lenses can further be subdivided into
• F-type (1959–early 1970s: metal focus ring and single-coated),
• C-type (early 1970s–mid 1970s: metal focus ring and multicoated), and
• K-type (mid 1970s to 1977: rubber focus ring and multicoated).
A significant share of remaining Pre-Ai lenses have since been converted to Ai-spec (Ai’d)
• 1977–1986: Ai and Ai-s. Manual focus lenses that may have ‘rabbit ears’ for backward compatibility, but are designed to communicate selected aperture with the camera body through indentations in base of aperture control ring.
• 1986–today: AF and AF-D. Autofocus lenses that do not have a focusing motor within the lens, but rely on the focus motor within the camera. All AF and AF-D lenses are simultaneously Ai-s lenses (they are Ai-s lenses extended with AF) ⁸
• 1996–today AF-S and AF-P. Autofocus lenses that have an internal focusing motor and do not rely on the body having a focusing motor.

Adapting

Besides adapting, this lens can be used natively on all current high-end Nikon dSLRs and several earlier medium-to-high-end older Nikon dSLRs⁹. Likewise, if it still has its rabbit ears, it can be natively used on all Nikon F-mount film cameras ever produced (without the rabbit ears, it is limited to post 1977 bodies).

Thanks to being a fully manual lens (manual aperture, manual focus), the lens can be adapted to all mirrorless cameras using a suitable dumb adapter (and such adapters are easy to find). Moreover, a large range of special adapters (helicoid adapters, tilt/shift adapters, speed boosters) for using Nikon F lenses on most mirrorless systems are available.

Using Nikon F lenses on non-Nikon SLRs and dSLRs is likewise a distinct possibility. Thanks to the relatively generous flange focal distance of the Nikon F mount (46,5 mm), adapter rings for all dSLR mounts are available as well as for a goodly portion of film-era SLR mounts. Such rings may not allow for auto aperture, but even then the lenses can be used in stop-down metering mode.

Footnotes

1. Focal length is (unless stated otherwise) given in absolute terms, and not in Full-frame equivalent. For an understanding of whether the lens is wide/tele, see ‘Angle-of-view’. ↩︎
2. Picture angle is given in degrees and concerns the diagonal picture angle. Rule of thumb:
   > 90 ° ==> Ultra-wide-angle
   70–90 ° ==> Wide-angle
   50–70 ° ==> Moderate wide-angle
   40–50 ° ==> ‘Standard’ or ‘normal’ lens
   20–40 ° ==> Short tele lens
   10-20 ° ==> Tele lens
   5-10 ° ==> Long tele lens
   < 5 ° ==> Ultra-tele lens ↩︎
3. Length is given from the mount flange to the front of lens at infinity. ↩︎
4. Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. ↩︎
5. S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures. ↩︎
6. Numbers equal aperture values on aperture ring; • intermediate click; – no intermediate click.  ↩︎
7. The first ≈1300 copies left the factory reading “Nippon Kogaku” while the subsequent were named “Nikon” ↩︎
8. There is a further sub-class of AF-D lenses called AF-I lenses that are otherwise AF-D lenses (meaning, fully Ai-s compatible), but have an internal focus motor. Only long tele lenses were made in AF-I variants. ↩︎
9. As of this writing, the following Nikon dSLRs fully support Aperture priority and manual metered modes on Nikkor Ai/Ai-s lenses: D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D200, D300, D300s, D500, D600, D610, D700, D750, D780, D800, D800E, D810, D850, D7000, D7100, D7200 ↩︎