Nikon 35-70mm f/3.5-4.8 Zoom-NIKKOR Macro AIS 2-Touch Manual Lens

The Nikon 35-70mm f/3.5-4.8 Zoom-NIKKOR Macro AIS 2-Touch Manual Lens is a manual-focus standard zoom lens built for Nikon F-mount 35mm film SLR cameras, holding the distinction of being the first Nikkor zoom lens to incorporate a macro focusing mode. Covering the most widely used focal lengths from wide-normal through moderate telephoto, it’s well suited to everyday shooting, portraits, and close-up work without needing a dedicated macro lens.

Optically, the lens offers a 35-70mm focal range with a variable maximum aperture of f/3.5 at the wide end narrowing to f/4.8 at full telephoto, delivering a close-to-normal perspective useful for general-purpose photography. A dedicated Macro mode, engaged at the 70mm focal length, cuts the lens’s closest focusing distance in half compared to standard shooting (27.5 in. in normal mode), achieving a maximum reproduction ratio of approximately 1:4, giving photographers genuine close-up capability without switching lenses.

As a two-touch zoom design, the lens uses a single ring to control both zoom and focus, a common handling style for Nikon zooms of this era, letting photographers slide the ring to zoom and twist it to focus. As an AI-S lens, it couples fully to the full-aperture metering systems and automatic diaphragm mechanisms of all Nikon and Nikkormat camera bodies, and supports the advanced Program and Shutter-Priority auto exposure modes available on later AI-S-compatible Nikon film cameras. As a fully manual lens, both focus and aperture are set directly on the lens barrel.

Build quality is all-metal construction typical of Nikon’s respected manual-focus era, with a 52mm filter thread and a compact, lightweight design that keeps the lens easy to carry and pair with a range of Nikon F-mount film bodies.

Key Features
– 35-70mm standard zoom lens (AI-S) for Nikon F-mount
– Maximum aperture f/3.5-4.8 (variable)
– First Nikkor zoom lens with a built-in macro focusing mode
– Macro mode engaged at 70mm (approximately 1:4 maximum reproduction ratio)
– Closest focusing distance in macro mode is half that of standard shooting
– Two-touch (single-ring) zoom and focus design
– AI-S aperture coupling (full-aperture metering; Program/Shutter-Priority AE on compatible bodies)
– Fully manual focus and aperture control
– All-metal construction
– 52mm filter thread
– Compatible with Nikon F-mount 35mm film SLR cameras