Nikon AF21985

History

Nikon released the L35AF in 1983 as one of the first practical autofocus 35mm compacts from a major Japanese manufacturer. It used the then-novel Honeywell Visitronic active autofocus system and set the template for the Nikon consumer compact line: Nikkor optics, AA batteries, program AE, and pocketable polycarbonate construction. The AF2 arrived two years later in 1985, following a standard mid-1980s update cycle. The Pikaichi II nomenclature continued the Japanese marketing tradition; the North American One Touch name was retained.

The 1985 introduction overlapped with the launch of the Action Touch (L35AW), a weatherproof variant sharing the core L35 specification. The AF2 and Action Touch together represented the extent of Nikon's fixed-35mm compact offering at that point. By 1989 Nikon discontinued the fixed-focal-length L35 line as zoom compacts became commercially dominant; no direct successor to the AF2 was produced. The compact line evolved into the TW Zoom and Zoom Touch series.

Why It Matters

The AF2 is the more affordable sibling of the original Pikaichi. The first-generation L35AF carries a collector premium on the strength of its historical position - first-to-market AF compact from Nikon, original Pikaichi branding - that the 1985 revision does not share. For photographers, this distinction is irrelevant: the optical formula and autoexposure system are the same. The 35mm f/2.8 Nikon Lens produces results competitive with other quality compacts of the 1980s, and the AA battery system makes field use practical without proprietary cells.

The AF2 is a rational entry point to the Nikon 1980s compact line for users who want the imaging capability of the Pikaichi without paying the collector premium attached to first-generation examples. It lacks the cache of the Contax T2 or even the later Nikon 35Ti, but delivers a genuine Nikkor-equivalent optic at substantially lower cost.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• Served the Japanese domestic consumer market under the Pikaichi II name; used by the same broad audience of travel and family photographers who adopted the original L35AF.
• No prominently documented professional or artistic attribution specific to the AF2 has been identified; the camera operated in the same context as the L35AF but without the first-generation distinction.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Nikon L35AF2 - specifications and model identification
• Wikipedia: Nikon L35AF - L35 family history covering the AF2 as a series member