360mm f/9 WA Apo Nikkor

[Steve Hamley]

Folks,

I picked up a 360mm f/9 WA Apo Nikkor a while back and was wondering if anyone who had experience with both it and the 355mm G-Claron had any comments about one versus the other in terms of coverage, image quality or characteristics, usage warts, etc. I know from the archives that Dagor77 seems to prefer one over the G-Claron and Emile deLeon uses one and thinks well of it.

Any more opinions?

TIA, Steve

[Joerg Krusche]

Steve,

no systematic study G-Claron 9/355 vs W.A. Apo-Nikkor, I have both, but just the G-Claron in a shutter, the Nikkor as barrel only. The G-Claron behaves well, i.e. coverage well beyond 8x10, good sharpness when stopped down to f=22. Since the Nikkor is in barrel only and does require extra work to fit into a #3 shutter, which I have not done yet, I checked both on a 8x10 Bossscreen with a 6x loupe (Nikon DW-2 viewfinder). My impression is that both behave very similar with regard to coverage and improving sharpness when stopping down. Both lenses appear to be very similar in design and coating. You do not find the Nikkor very often which may be of interest for collectors, performance-wise I would not see a difference, the G-Claron has one definite advantage i.e. it screws right into any standard #3 shutter, while the Nikkor requires extra work/money to make it fit, and getting the front and rear cells out of the Nikon barrel is an extra issue. Just my two cents.

Joerg

[Steve Hamley]

Joerg,

Thanks! The cells on the 360mm f/9 WA Apo Nikkor I have unscrew from the barrel normally, unlike the 260mm f/10 etc. Is your WA Apo Nikkor a 360mm? The design of the 360mm WA Apo Nikkor seens the same as a plasmat, same reflections.

Steve

[Joerg Krusche]

Steve,

yes I have the 9/360, and I believe you are right as for the plasmat. If cells unscrew easily might be worth to make adapters if spacing allows.

Joerg