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View Full Version : 120mm Nikkor AM-ED as an enlarging lens



Henry Yorke
22-Apr-2015, 19:34
Hi, everyone.

I've got a chance to acquire a 120mm Nikkor AM-ED - and while I don't need a lens like this for field work, I have read that some have raved about the Nikkor AM-EDs as enlarging lenses.

My question - what's involved in using a 120mm Nikkor AM-ED as an enlarging lens? Would it require a specific kind of lens adapter to work on an Durst L1200? Do I take the lens out of the Copal 0 shutter and mount it to....what?

Apologies for the naive questions - I've only ever used regular enlarging lenses and Lapla rinsg for the Durst - and so am trying to figure out how this would work.

Old-N-Feeble
22-Apr-2015, 20:32
I can't answer most of your questions but it seems logical it could make a good enlarging lens within limits. What I will state is I think you should leave it in the shutter and use the focus lever to keep the shutter open.

Sal Santamaura
23-Apr-2015, 01:08
The 120mm Nikkor AM-ED makes a superb enlarging lens for small magnifications. With 4x5 negatives, I've found it to cover sufficiently up to approximately 1.75X at f/16 and 2X at f/22. The eight element design affords sharpness unequaled by my 150mm El Nikkor A version at those same magnifications. While enlarging lenses such as the El Nikkor perform best at around f/8, the AM-ED is optimized for f/22.

The physical method used is to obtain one of these adapter rings:


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/46485-REG/Schneider_92_010711_0_to_Leica_Mount.html

Remove the rear element from the shutter, remove the retaining ring, screw the Copal 0 shutter into the adapter ring, screw that assembly into your Durst lens board designed to accept 39mm Leica-thread enlarging lenses, replace the rear element and install the lens board in your enlarger. Keep the shutter open with its focus lever and set the shutter's aperture lever to your desired opening.

EdSawyer
23-Apr-2015, 13:01
Is there verification from Nikon that these were optimized for f/22? I think they were optimized for wider than that, personally.

Good choice for enlarging lens, agreed. I have one, and the big-brother 210, but haven't used them yet.

Is there a good substitute for the shutter? E.g. a copal-0 or copal-1 sized barrel? I have seen them before of course, but it would be nice to find a place to buy barrels for not large money, and repurpose the shutters for something else.

Sal Santamaura
23-Apr-2015, 15:57
Is there verification from Nikon that these were optimized for f/22? I think they were optimized for wider than that, personally...The only indication I've seen from Nikon is that, like all its other camera lenses, characteristics are specified at f/22. I've tested my 120mm AM-ED at various apertures; results showed f/22 to provide the most balanced performance in this application as well as when using it on-camera for macro work. Of course, extrapolating from a single sample could be misleading, but Nikon's been pretty consistent in my experience.


...Is there a good substitute for the shutter? E.g. a copal-0 or copal-1 sized barrel? I have seen them before of course, but it would be nice to find a place to buy barrels for not large money, and repurpose the shutters for something else.I've neither seen nor sought such a barrel. The Schneider adapter ring is so inexpensive and Nikon's aperture scales so integrated to its Copal shutters there didn't seem much advantage in a more elaborate approach.

Henry Yorke
25-Apr-2015, 09:46
Thanks, everyone, for the great info - I"m looking forward to trying out this lens.

quine
25-Apr-2015, 23:52
Copal 0 shutters will also screw directly into the LAPLA 32.

ic-racer
26-Apr-2015, 08:24
I've found it to cover sufficiently up to approximately 1.75X at f/16 and 2X at f/22..

If the OP already has a six-element 150 or 135 enlarging lens, I'd probably forget about using the 120 to enlarge based on those results. Schneider does not even provide MTF data for enlarging lenses at those small apertures for its 4x5 enalrging lenses (due to the fact that the results would be pretty similar among almost all similar lenses).

Don't mistake the above comment for a recommendation of printing aperture. I use 11, 16, and 22 for 4x5.

Sal Santamaura
26-Apr-2015, 12:37
...With 4x5 negatives, I've found it to cover sufficiently up to approximately 1.75X at f/16 and 2X at f/22...


If the OP already has a six-element 150 or 135 enlarging lens, I'd probably forget about using the 120 to enlarge based on those results...My posts on the subject of using a 120mm Nikkor AM-ED as an enlarging lens have always been made with the caveat that its superior performance is evident at small magnifications. Whole plate size prints (around 1.75X from 4x5) are the closest I've ever come to having an enlargement approximate the look of a contact print. As it turns out, that appears to be the sweet spot (for greater than 1X) with the 120. Printing 1.75X at f/16 it's noticeably better than my 150mm El-Nikkor A version using the latter at any aperture.

When printing at 2X, differences between the macro and enlarging lenses are hard to see, probably because the 120 must be used at f/22.