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View Full Version : Nikkor T ED lenses: 600/800 vs. 600/800/1200



Jerry Fusselman
13-Apr-2005, 17:54
I am speaking of the Nikkor T ED lenses in Copal 3 shutters for 8x10 cameras. The 600mm/800mm Nikkor is probably an older design than the 600mm/800mm/1200mm Nikkor. The latter has extra markings for 1200mm---on the shutter and on the rim of the front element. My question is this: Is the glass in the front unit of the 600/800mm of exactly the same design and materials as the front unit of the 600/800/1200mm?

Put a another way, should either front unit work equally well with any of the rear units?

Eric Leppanen
13-Apr-2005, 22:42
I have a 600/800mm-labeled Nikon T, and my 1200mm rear element seems to work just fine.

Ed Burlew
14-Apr-2005, 09:27
THe only change to this three length set is the rear cell. If you have a 600/800 then you can get a 1200 cell later and just put it on the back of the shutter. the front cell is the same for each rear cell.

Stefan88
8-May-2010, 09:53
I was looking at Nikor long lense & saw your information. What would this lens be worth today? I guess it is not sill manufactured?

lukeforeman
27-Mar-2011, 01:52
Hi,

Do you guys know were I can get a 800 or 1200 rear eliment for the Nikkor T ED lens and how much..

Cheers,
Luke

lukeforeman
27-Mar-2011, 08:16
I'm looking to buy a 600mm for 8x10.. The prints for this peace of work are going to be hand printed 60x40.. the two lenses I'm looking at are the nikkor 600mm T ED and the schneider Apo 600 which is twice the price.. Does anyone know now the nikkor fares in comparision to the schneider??? If the schneider worth that amount of money??

Appreciate your feedback..

Luke

nelson_chan
27-Mar-2011, 19:25
expensive but MPEX has a full set for sale. I just sold my 600/800 Nikkor. It was a great lens when I used it, but I just never used it enough.

http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,9512.html

Phil Hudson
28-Mar-2011, 02:45
Search the threads here and you will find that some users report that the Schneider has considerably more contrast compared to the Nikkor, although this difference may be more exaggerated in the 800mm cell rather than the 600mm. Some of this loss of contrast may be compensated for in developing (B/W) or post-processing if going that route.

Coverage of the Nikkor T-ED is not very generous on 8x10 (I think the Schneider has more) but it is eminently useable. Overall it's a great lens and more plentiful than the much newer Schneider, which may account for some of the price difference.

FWIW I recently sold my Nikkor 600/800/1200 set for £1000 GBP. Sometimes they fetch a bit more.

GPS
28-Mar-2011, 04:04
If you search the threads as suggested above don't give them any faith unless they report about rigorously made comparative tests of both lenses.
If you often use this long lenses you know how their "contrast" or "sharpness" depends on the atmospheric conditions where you use them. Humidity in the air, scattered light in the polluted atmosphere etc. it all shows in pictures taken with this focal length lenses if used at long distances.
I use the 800mm Nikkor a plenty and cannot complain about it at all but I'm well aware of its reactions at the mentioned optical air quality.

lightfootwillwalkinthecat
1-Oct-2022, 18:52
Is the 600/800/1200 even a possibility to use on a 16x20 camera if my movements are all zeroed out and I'm shooting portraits... never at infinity ? I don't mind slight vignette ...

abruzzi
1-Oct-2022, 21:10
you need a 650mm image circle for 16X20. The image circle for the 600/800/1200 is 310mm @ ƒ22 (for all the focal lengths), so you'd need to be focused fairly closely to even come close to covering. the FFD for the 600mm at infinity is 409mm from the film. with a little triangle math it looks like the lens would need to be 857mm from the film to throw a 650mm image circle. I'm not sure how to calculate how close that would be, but presumably it would be closer than 1:1.

MAubrey
2-Oct-2022, 16:37
you need a 650mm image circle for 16X20. The image circle for the 600/800/1200 is 310mm @ ƒ22 (for all the focal lengths), so you'd need to be focused fairly closely to even come close to covering. the FFD for the 600mm at infinity is 409mm from the film. with a little triangle math it looks like the lens would need to be 857mm from the film to throw a 650mm image circle. I'm not sure how to calculate how close that would be, but presumably it would be closer than 1:1.

Nikon's specs are defined by the shortest focal length, not by the whole set. The rear elements are designed in a comparable way to teleconverters, where the FL is increased by magnifying the image circle by 1.4x or 2x (cf also focal reduces by Metabones, where the focal length is reduced by .71x and the *relative* aperture is increased accordingly, both with a smaller image circle.). I shoot the 800mm on 11x14 regularly with great satisfaction.

And there was a great thread recently about the coverage of the Nikon 720mm element of the 360mm f8/500mm f11/720mm f16 set that showed how effectively the 720mm combination covers 8x10:
https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?146020-Thoughts-on-the-Nikkor-T-360-500-720-set&p=1657576&viewfull=1#post1657576

Now, whether the 1200mm could cover 16x20? That's a different story. Maybe? Or maybe not. I'd love to see that test.

senash
3-Oct-2022, 00:29
As someone who shoots 12x20 and has the 1200mm rear element for this lens, no, it doesn't cover even 12x20, let alone 16x20. At infinity focus and narrow apertures, the hard limit of coverage on my copy seems to be about 10x20. I use it on 11x14 without a problem.

MAubrey
3-Oct-2022, 10:21
As someone who shoots 12x20 and has the 1200mm rear element for this lens, no, it doesn't cover even 12x20, let alone 16x20. At infinity focus and narrow apertures, the hard limit of coverage on my copy seems to be about 10x20. I use it on 11x14 without a problem.

Thanks for the confirmation!. I'd love to have the 1200mm rear group for my 11x14.