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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 5 £75£170
AIs 1 £90£90
D AF 13 £60£187
G IF AF-S 6 £100£209
H F 3 £65£267
K 0
Nikkor AF 3 £55£878
Nikkor-H 8 £72£174
S Z 5 £344£415

Sales History

Prices shown are realised prices — auction results and completed eBay sales, never asking prices. Most saleroom figures are hammer prices, before commission; some houses publish a premium-inclusive figure, and we do not adjust for condition. Dealer and retail asking prices are typically higher. How this figure is calculated.

Prices updated: August 2026

Date Price Value GBP Source Variant
Aug 2026 USD 233 £174 🇺🇸 eBay Nikkor-H
Aug 2026 USD 128 £96 🇺🇸 eBay Nikkor-H
Aug 2026 £70 £70 🇬🇧 Special Auction Services
Aug 2026 £189 £189 🇬🇧 eBay G IF AF-S
Aug 2026 EUR 175 £149 🇪🇺 eBay D AF
Aug 2026 USD 215 £161 🇺🇸 eBay D AF
Aug 2026 £94 £75 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions
Aug 2026 £180 £180 🇬🇧 eBay G IF AF-S
Aug 2026 USD 150 £112 🇺🇸 eBay Nikkor-H
Aug 2026 £400 £400 🇬🇧 eBay S Z
Aug 2026 £172 £172 🇬🇧 eBay G IF AF-S
Aug 2026 £209 £209 🇬🇧 eBay G IF AF-S
Aug 2026 USD 202 £151 🇺🇸 eBay H F
Aug 2026 USD 250 £187 🇺🇸 eBay D AF
Aug 2026 USD 460 £344 🇺🇸 eBay S Z
Aug 2026 USD 525 £393 🇺🇸 eBay S Z
Jul 2026 USD 550 £411 🇺🇸 eBay S Z
Jul 2026 £209 £209 🇬🇧 eBay G IF AF-S
Jul 2026 USD 175 £131 🇺🇸 eBay D AF
Jul 2026 USD 110 £82 🇺🇸 eBay D AF
Jul 2026 USD 80 £60 🇺🇸 eBay D AF
Jul 2026 USD 180 £135 🇺🇸 eBay Nikkor-H
Jul 2026 £415 £415 🇬🇧 eBay S Z
Jul 2026 £100 £100 🇬🇧 eBay D AF
Jul 2026 £155 £155 🇬🇧 eBay D AF
Jul 2026 £169 £169 🇬🇧 eBay Nikkor-H
Jul 2026 £178 £178 🇬🇧 eBay D AF
Jul 2026 £88 £70 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions
Jun 2026 £138 £110 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions
Jun 2026 £125 £100 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions G IF AF-S
Jun 2026 £81 £65 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions H F
Jun 2026 £69 £55 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions Nikkor AF
Jun 2026 £160 £160 🇬🇧 eBay Nikkor-H
May 2026 £79 £79 🇬🇧 eBay Nikkor-H
May 2026 £72 £72 🇬🇧 eBay Nikkor-H
Nov 2025 £90 £90 🇬🇧 Special Auction Services AIs
May 2025 £138 £110 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions Nikkor AF
Oct 2024 £110 £110 🇬🇧 Harper Field Auctions D AF
Apr 2024 £100 £100 🇬🇧 Special Auction Services D AF
Feb 2024 £100 £80 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions AF
Nov 2023 £138 £110 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions AF
Nov 2023 £125 £100 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions AF
Oct 2023 £120 £120 🇬🇧 Special Auction Services D AF
Mar 2023 £94 £75 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions AF
Jun 2022 £150 £120 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions D AF
Jun 2019 EUR 300 £267 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction H F
Apr 2019 £204 £170 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions AF
Jan 2017 £150 £150 🇬🇧 Special Auction Services (archive)
May 2011 EUR 1,000 £878 🇦🇹 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.