Fax-Nikkor 160mm f5.6 any info?

[mark e mark]

Hi Folks,
Has anyone used this lens or have any info with regard to it?
The best info I have found is this:http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_spec.html

http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00A/00AHx1-20701384.jpg

Has anyone used it as an enlarger lens?

[Ebrahiem]

Construction: 6 elements in 4 groups
Picture angle: 41°
Standard magnification: 1/30 X - 1/5 X
Working distance: 1,815mm
Image area: 64mm X 95.5mm
Corr. wavelength range: 400-650nm
Vignetting: 0 % at f/8
Resolution: 150 lines/mm
Distortion: 0.1 %
Aperture scale: 5.6 - 22
Mount: d = 72mm / p = 1mm
Dimensions diameter: 80mm
Dimensions length: 86mm
Weight: 600 g

[mark e mark]

Also I have found this info (which contradicts the above?)

http://homepage2.nifty.com/akiyanroom/redbook-e/collection/uli03.html
http://homepage2.nifty.com/akiyanroom/redbook-e/collection/uli04.html

Construction: 6 elements in 4 groups
Picture angle: 72°
Standard magnification: 1/3 x - 3 X
Working distance: 640mm
Image area: 420mm
Corr. wavelength range: 350-700nm
Vignetting: 0 % at f/8
Aperture scale: 5.6 - 22
Mount: d = 62mm / p = 0.75mm
Dimensions diameter: 70mm
Dimensions length: 53mm
Weight: 320 g

Has anyone actually used this lens?

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

I have one of these lenses, in the original box, mounted on a Speed Graphic lens board, but I have never used it. I bought it thinking I might give UV photography a try, but never got around to it. Like most Nikon lenses of its age, it is a mechanical marvel - very well made.

The image circle information above must be for 1:1. At infinity, 72 degrees of coverage works out to an image circle of 232mm, plenty for 4x5, and even 5x7 with a tiny bit left over. Of course, the lens was intended for 1:1 reproduction (it is a fax lens, after all), but according to Bjørn Rørslett (http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_spec.html):

"The design is perfectly symmetric and its optical performance hence holds up quite well towards infinity, despite the lens being designed for close-range work."

Kerry

[rjmeyer314]

I have a 210mm Fax Nikkor that I used on my 8x10 Elwood enlarger for many years (now I'm using a 180mm Repromaster). It will cover 8x10. I would expect a 160mm to cover 5x7.

[mark e mark]

rjmeyer -Is it any good as an enlarging lens?
i will come clean - I have just got one, but it is now very well mounted on a linhof board, ready to go on my Walker 57. But I need a shutter for it. It occurred to me that I could use it as an enlarger lens, but wondered if it would be any good? i don't plan to 'unglue it' off from the linhof board it is mounted on to find out.

[rjmeyer314]

I thought it was great as an enlarging lens. It was very sharp, even at the edges, and gave good contrast. It was a great improvement over the 10" Kodak Ektanon I used before it.

[mark e mark]

Folks good info on the old Nikkor Fax, Micro and Apo lens here:
http://savazzi.freehostia.com/download/manuals/Nikon%20photoengraving%20lenses.pdf