In article <4ses17$2pl@news1.t1.usa.pipeline.com>, baldycotton@skiamerica1.co says...

>I recently bought an FE-2 in good working order along with a Vivitar
>Series-1 70-210.
>I'm not completely happy with the lens. The one I had years ago on a
>Minolta X-700 was much more satisfying. I'd like to get a few basic Nikon
>lenses, but I'm ignorant to all the suffixes used. Obviously, I can spot
>the diff between auto and manual focus, but the other stuff tends to be
>confusing.
>Looking for INFO only right now. What are good choices for used lenses?

>28mm for scenics

The 28mm f2.8 AIS (NOT AI, E, or AF!), or 28mm f3.5 AI/AIS (NOT non-AI)
are the best, with the 28mm f2 (all versions) being very fine, also.
(All versions will fit the FE-2, except unmodified non-AI lenses.)

>50 or 55 mm for portraiture

(This focal-length is generally considered too short for close portraiture.)
All of the Nikkor 50-55mm lenses are excellent (except the non-AI 50mm f1.4
at wide apertures, maybe).

>70 - 210 zoom (or in that range) wildlife, etc.

The 70-210mm f4 E and AF (not the f4-5.6 AF version) are excellent, as are
the 80-200mm f4 and f4.5. The 80-200mm f2.8's are superb, but large/heavy/expensive.

>AI, AIS, [E,] and others, what do they mean?

Nothing, in terms of the FE-2 (and most other bodies) - they date series,
and, like AF, have some features that some bodies can use, but as long
as the lenses are AI (all are that do not have a smooth rear edge on the aperture ring [but do have ridges that engage the AI tab on the body]
are AI).

>I read Shutterbug, and the ads, but I don't want to call a dealer and say
>"I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but I want to spend some money. Can
>you help?" Please Email. Thanks, Dave

I do happen to have several of the lenses that you are looking for for sale
- e-mail me, if you are interested..... And you may find this interesting:

D. Ruether's "SUBJECTIVE Lens Evaluations (Mostly Nikkors)", version
5a, which includes a listing of all Nikon SLR lenses ever made (with a
subjective evaluation of many of them, a general description of Nikkor
lens performance characteristics by lens-type groups, and comments on
particular lenses when the general descriptions plus the subjective
evaluation numbers are not sufficient to describe performance),
can be found at these sites:

-- Jan-jaap Aue: (nice text format)
http://www.phys.rug.nl/mk/people/aue/nikon/david.html
-- Quang-Tuan Luong: (nice text format)
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/35mm/nikon-neuman.html
-- Niklas Nikitin: (nice table format)
http://www.cs.hks.se/~nicke/private/photo/lenstest/david.html
-- Bo-Ming Tong: (plain text format)
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/people/bmtong/nikon/c.html
(Appendix C+, number 13 in table of contents)

Hope This Helps