LF APO El Nikkor 480mm useful?

[JDTC]

I have a 480mm F/5.6 APO El Nikkor process lens (in wood box) but no longer have the large format equipment to use it.
Can anyone try to estimate the value or if it would even be useful anymore?
This is a monster. I do not have the mount flange, but have had one precision made before and could do this again if needed

Thanks for any help

[Dan Fromm]

They are good lenses. Depending on presentation and luck, yours should bring between $150 - 300 on eBay. Go to eBay and search completed auctions to get a better idea of where the market for them has been recently.

[Chauncey Walden]

A 480mm f/5.6 APO EL Nikkor? Is this one of the super duper expensive enlarging lenses instead of a process lens (like f/9 or something)?

[Dan Fromm]

Oh my. I missed the "El" and skated over the "F/5.6" Not a 480/9 Apo Nikkor. Read in haste, blush in leisure.

Super duper expensive means around $10k. These things are quite uncommon and supposed to be superlatively good.

[Toyon]

are there any vertical enlargers that can handle such a sasquatch?

[resummerfield]

I have a 480mm F/5.6 APO El Nikkor process lens ......

The 480 APO El Nikkor is huge, and would need something like an 8-inch lensboard to mount it. You can check the specs at Jensen's site. I think Dan Fromm hit the price pretty accurately; I've seen the 105mm APO El Nikkor sell in the $2500 range.

[Turner Reich]

I'll give you $200.00 for it.

[Arne Croell]

Christopher Burkett uses one for his Ilfochrome prints from 8x10 slides. There is a picture on his web site: http://www.christopherburkett.com/pa...rkroom9lg.html

[Nathan Potter]

The 480 is used in horizontal setups due to the lens to copy distance requirements of 8 to 20 feet. Super color correction over the visible range makes it ideal for color separations or for color work as Arne points out above. Burkett is ecstatic over the performance of this lens as can be attested to by studying a few of his very large Ilfochromes. The monster lens weighs on the order of 16 lbs.! Not too handy for home applications. Ahhh. but I'd love a 210mm.

OTOH after using an Ultra Micro Nikkor at 365 nm. for a fun project in an industrial environment, that 480 kind of pales to the 800 lp/mm. delivered by the Micro Nikkor, albeit with monochromatic light.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Drew Wiley]

10K is realistic if in good shape. Nonetheless market is limited. It's actually overkill for
enlargement work. I doubt one could detect the difference between an EL-nikkor, an
Apo-Nikkor, or an Apo EL-Nikkor at the specified magnification ratios for each. I't has
been cheaper for me to own a set of lenses rather than acquire the more versatile
Apo-EL. Once MTF gets too high, you start picking up AN pattern and other micro issues in the enlarger glass. But I'd be happy to trade a Nikon camera body for it!