So, i got a Nikkor 28 f/2.8 AIS for £5. What a deal! Well not really - the lens is full of scratches and internal dust. But I imagine, getting a lens for £5 is a good deal anyway. But how does it perform with all these scratches? Is it up to any good? There is one way to find out.
My very unscientific test is thought out like this: I will shoot some pictures with the scratched and destroyed 28 f/2.8 AIS and i will shoot the same ones with the immaculate Nikkor 28-70 and compare the pictures. I developed the film - a FOMA 200 - in Rodinal 1:50 and scan the negatives with an old Canoscan 8600F at 4.800 dpi and see which lens performs better. Of course, a 28 AIS performs much better than the Nikkor Zoom, although the 28-70 is a very well respected zoom lens. I shot four sets of pictures at apertures f/4, /5.6 and f/8.
No unsharp mask or any adjustment done, all settings on the scanner have been set to default. These are the scans straight out of the scanner.
Here are the results:
This picture is taken on f/4. Here is a detail of this picture.
Now, here is another picture. This one is taken at f/5.6 and the sun is in the background, inside the frame.
And here is a detail from these pictures.
Now, next one is a picture in high contrast. Sorry about the messy background. Both pictures taken at f/5.6
And here are the details.
A few more.
Here is one taken outside with the sun just behind the subject. Any lens would suffer under these conditions. This one is taken at f/8
and here are a detailed scan of them.
Finally, the same newspaper taken in less contrasty environment. Again at f/8
These pictures are exactly the same scan details as the ones above.
and a scan from the bottom left corner.
Conclusion
Nothing that we didn't know already. A scratched lens can still produce more than acceptable pictures. Yes, sure, maybe the unscratched 28 f/2.8 AIS performs much much better but for the price the scratched lenses fetch, it is too difficult to ignore. I don't suggest that you go to that auction site and buy all scratched lenses you can find - but if you come across one, dirty cheap as I did, then maybe it will be wise to buy it. These pictures show that the almost scratched to death 28 AIS performs just as good as the pristine 28-70.
Here are some pictures taken with it.