On 7/14/2011 10:02 AM, Bruce wrote:

I agree, it is the worst feature of the 75-150mm. However, it doesn't
affect the Nikon 70-210mm f/4 Series E, when it might be expected to.
I have a well-used AI converted 80-200mm f/4.5 Nikkor and the zoom
creep is nowhere near as bad as the 75-150mm E, plus the overall build
quality is in a different league.

The 70-210mm suffers from zoom creep as well, but why Nikon chose to
use the felt strip approach on some lenses and not on others I can't
even begin to speculate. The point is that Nikon _did_ use this
approach for both Nikkors and non-Nikkors, and the competing but similar
portrait zooms from did not.

I can't speak to the non-AI copy you claim to have, but it's irrelevant.
Nikon totally redesigned the lens in 1977, including a new optical
formula, and used felt strips in the new design.

I have a long history of contact
with two Nikon designers, one going back to the 1970s, who have been
clear as to how the Series E project was managed.

Ah yes, the "appeal to anonymous authority" fallacy. How very typical.

Let us not forget that the whole point of Series E was to
produce optically good but inexpensive lenses. Kino Precision was
never a cheap manufacturer, and not a company with which Nikon has had
extensive dealings in any case.

Kino did provably produce lenses for other budget manufacturers,
including Vivitar. Whether Nikon had dealings or not merely assumes
your conclusion, and like Tokina, Kino was founded by former Nikon
engineers.

To quote one Tony Polson from rec.photo.equipment.35mm, "The lens was
made for Nikon by Kino Precision of Japan, who also made some
outstanding optics for Vivitar, as well as their own Kiron range."

The fact that the Series E zooms had full multi-coating (but which was
not fully up to NIC standards) is not in any way relevant to where the
lens elements were manufactured.

The Nikon Compendium and other sources disagree. And to quote one
Tony Polson from rec.photo.equipment.35mm, "The Series E zooms had the
same multi-coating to the full standard (NIC or SIC?) that was applied
to all Nikkors at that time."

--
Mike Benveniste -- (Clarification Required)
Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles
everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain