CameraWorth.com

Nikon 85mm f/1.8

The Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AIs is a manual-focus short telephoto prime in Nikon's F-mount AIs line, sitting between the 50mm standard and 105mm portrait focal lengths. With its fast f/1.8 aperture it was designed for available-light portraiture, indoor sport and stage work on Nikon's manual-focus SLR bodies of the late film era.

At UK auction in today's market the 85mm f/1.8 AIs is a thinly traded lens, with the single hammer result on file fetching £90 in November 2025 — a wholesale saleroom level rather than a retail asking price. On that limited evidence a clean copy is worth around the £90 mark, though dealer-shop pricing typically sits well above what the lens sells for at auction, and condition swings the figure either way.

Variants

Select a variant to filter the sales history below.

Variant Years Edition Sales Price Range
AF Nikkor — — 5 £94 – £204
AIs — — 1 £90 – £90
Nikkor AF — — 3 £69 – £1,000
Nikkor D AF — — 4 £100 – £150
Nikkor G IF AF-S — — 1 £125 – £125
Nikkor H F — — 2 £81 – £300
Nikkor K — — 0 —
Nikkor S Z — — 0 —
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Sales History

Prices shown are UK auction hammer results — the wholesale level achieved in the saleroom. Neither buyer’s nor seller’s commission is included. Dealer and retail asking prices are typically higher.

Prices updated: June 2026

Date Price Source Variant
Jun 2026 £69 Flints Auctions Nikkor AF
Jun 2026 £81 Flints Auctions Nikkor H F
Jun 2026 £125 Flints Auctions Nikkor G IF AF-S
Nov 2025 £90 Special Auction Services AIs
May 2025 £138 Flints Auctions Nikkor AF
Oct 2024 £110 Harper Field Auctions Nikkor D AF
Apr 2024 £100 Special Auction Services Nikkor D AF
Feb 2024 £100 Flints Auctions AF Nikkor
Nov 2023 £125 Flints Auctions AF Nikkor
Nov 2023 £138 Flints Auctions AF Nikkor
Oct 2023 £120 Special Auction Services Nikkor D AF
Mar 2023 £94 Flints Auctions AF Nikkor
Jun 2022 £150 Flints Auctions Nikkor D AF
Jun 2019 EUR 300 Leitz Auction Nikkor H F
Apr 2019 £204 Flints Auctions AF Nikkor
May 2011 EUR 1,000 Leitz Auction Nikkor AF

Frequently asked questions

What is a Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AIs worth today?

On the limited UK auction data available, a copy sold for £90 hammer in late 2025, so a similar clean example is worth roughly that at saleroom level.

How much does a Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AIs sell for at auction?

The only recorded sale in our data is £90, so the current auction price for this lens sits near that figure, with condition and completeness of caps and hood pushing the value up or down.

Will it work on a modern Nikon DSLR?

As an AIs lens it mounts on Nikon F-mount bodies and meters on cameras that support AI/AIs indexing, but you focus manually and stop down via the aperture ring.

Is the price likely to rise?

With only one recent hammer result on file, any trend call would be speculative; the value reflects a niche manual-focus portrait lens rather than a collector grail.

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