In article <19970705201301.QAA17874@ladder01.news.aol.com>, mcrouch999@aol.com says...

>I am planning on purchsing a zoom lens for my FE (had to sell primes for
>grad school) what are the problems likely to be encountered using AF
>zooms such as tokina 28-70 pro or nikon 35-70 2.8 on my FE?

None, other than those that tend to go along with midrange zooms in general...;-) (slower, harder to focus, bigger, heavier, more expensive,
often with inferior sharpness [especially at wider stops, and near the
field limits], more linear distortion, and greater flare tendency than
midrange primes - and often without enough range to warrant putting up
with the problems...

>Secondly: are there any optical differences between AiS versions of the
>180 2.8 Nikkor and the newer AF versions of the same lens?

Yes - the AF is a complete redesign, and unequivocally SUPOIB! ;-)
BTW, you may be interested in my "SUBJECTIVE Lens Evaluations (Mostly
Nikkors)" - on my web page under "Ritingz" or "I babble..."
Hope This Helps
(David Ruether - http://www.fcinet.com/ruether )