Nikon Nikkor non-M 450mm f9

[Plungefrog]

Hi all, I have just acquired a Nikkor 450mm f9 lens. I have not seen this particular flavour of lens before -I am familiar with the more modern Nikkor-M version and I have seen earlier lenses marked Nikkor-Q, but my lens is simply marked "Nippon Kogaku Nikkor 450mm f9" and is single-coated, and mounted in an older-style Copal 3 shutter. Unlike the Nikkor-M, my lens has a 58mm filter thread. I am assuming (or hoping!) this lens is the same as the Nikkor-Q and therefore will have the same performance and coverage. I intend to use the lens on my homebuilt 8x10 but I have not finished the camera yet so I will not be able to test the lens for a while -so I want to make sure it will work, or I can return it if not. Any thoughts appreciated!

[David Lobato]

I have the 450mm Nikkor-Q in Copal 3S shutter, and have no complaints, and lots of praise for it on my 8x10 and 11x14 cameras. I doubt if the lens is a dog and should perform well if it's the same 4 element design as the older and newer versions by Nikon.

[Plungefrog]

Thanks for the reply. I agree that the lens is unlikely to be a dog, my only concern is if it is indeed the same design as the Nikkor-Q. It just seems a bit odd to me, as most Nikkors from the period when Nikon started dropping the element suffix were marked 'Nikon' rather than 'Nippon Kokagu'. The other oddity is the serial number, 45xx, which is lower than I would expect. None of this is important if the lens is what I think it is, I just can't quite decide if I should be returning it before its too late to do so.

[Carsten Wolff]

Thanks for the reply. I agree that the lens is unlikely to be a dog, my only concern is if it is indeed the same design as the Nikkor-Q. It just seems a bit odd to me, as most Nikkors from the period when Nikon started dropping the element suffix were marked 'Nikon' rather than 'Nippon Kokagu'. The other oddity is the serial number, 45xx, which is lower than I would expect. None of this is important if the lens is what I think it is, I just can't quite decide if I should be returning it before its too late to do so.

What are you going to do if it turns out to be "better" than a Q-version copy? I doubt that it'd be worse; Q simply means: four elements, just like the M. You probably have an earlier/or process version (although the process Nikkor was usu. f/10 AFAIK).

- Anyway, now for the pertinent question you SHOULD be asking yourself instead, since you seem to have the lens in-hand: How is it?

Have you actually tried it? - That is usually my ONLY criterion when picking lenses (Well, that and it has to be both useful and affordable in my case in the first place).

[Plungefrog]

What are you going to do if it turns out to be "better" than a Q-version copy? I doubt that it'd be worse; Q simply means: four elements, just like the M. You probably have an earlier/or process version (although the process Nikkor was usu. f/10 AFAIK).

- Anyway, now for the pertinent question you SHOULD be asking yourself instead, since you seem to have the lens in-hand: How is it?

Have you actually tried it? - That is usually my ONLY criterion when picking lenses (Well, that and it has to be both useful and affordable in my case in the first place).

I agree in principle that how a lens performs is what matters, but as stated in my opening post the camera will not be ready for some time, so I am unable to test the lens right now; if I am to return the lens I need to do so sooner rather than later, so I am attempting to mitigate the risk. Thanks for the info, but I am aware what Q means in Nikon parlance; my question was whether anyone knew if my lens is the same construction as the Nikkor-Q, in which case it is a known quantity for me, or if it is something else -in which case I might be better off returning it and saving the extra for a Nikkor-M, depending on what 'something else' actually is.

[Dan Fromm]

Pf, since you have the lens in hand you can ask it what type it is. Count reflections from the glasses. If it is a tessar type (that's the Nikkor-M), the front cell will have four strong reflections, one from each air-glass interface. The rear cell will have to strong reflections and one weak reflection from the glass-cement-glass interface. The weak reflection may be hard to see.

[Plungefrog]

Pf, since you have the lens in hand you can ask it what type it is. Count reflections from the glasses. If it is a tessar type (that's the Nikkor-M), the front cell will have four strong reflections, one from each air-glass interface. The rear cell will have to strong reflections and one weak reflection from the glass-cement-glass interface. The weak reflection may be hard to see.

Thanks for that, that's very helpful info. I can confirm that the reflections are as you suggested -it looks like I have the lens I thought I had!