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View Full Version : Nikon Nikkor AM 210mm f/5.6 ED -Experiences?



Ray Marrero
23-Jun-2017, 17:55
I'm looking for a macro lens for my 5x7 and noticed the Nikkor AM 210mm is priced pretty competitively compared to the Schneider or Rodenstock versions. I googled the Nikkor but came up empty handed. Has anyone here had personal experience with the lens? I would appreciate any thoughts, positive or negative.

Thanks!

Ray

Dan Fromm
23-Jun-2017, 19:04
No experience, but I have the brochure and I can read. At infinity the lens barely covers 4x5. At 1:1 @ f/5.6 the image circle is 310 mm, much more than 5x7 needs. At f/22, 400 mm. What more do you need to know?

Ray Marrero
23-Jun-2017, 19:15
Thanks Dan, I have the specs. Like my post says, personal experience with the lens. Thanks

EdSawyer
24-Jun-2017, 08:06
I have one, it is fabulous, based on the formula of the legendary apo el nikkor. There is a nice 120mm version also. Easily the best LF macro lens ever made, IMNSHO.

Mark Sawyer
24-Jun-2017, 11:51
210mm is a bit long for a dedicated macro on 5x7. At just 1:1, you'll use 420mm of bellows, and at 2:1 you'll need 630mm.

Ernest Purdum has a good article on macro lenses on this sites home page that's worth going through if you haven't read it:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/macro.html

Ken Lee
24-Jun-2017, 12:51
Bellows draw aside...

210mm is roughly the same length as the diagonal of a 5x7 negative, and is therefore a "normal" focal length for that format. If we use a lens much shorter, our photographs can suffer from foreshortening.

Hence, some people prefer to use slightly longer lenses for close work: the perspective we get is often more flattering, just as it is with portraits.

In my experience the 210mm length is great for close work with 4x5 and OK with 5x7. These are not the greatest photos, but you can see some made with a 210mm Macro Sironar on 4x5 here: http://www.kennethleegallery.com/html/macroSironar/ and others made with a 240mm APO Nikkor on 5x7 film here: http://www.kennethleegallery.com/html/aponikkor240/index.php

Taija71A
24-Jun-2017, 13:28
Bellows draw aside...

210mm is roughly the same length as the diagonal of a 5x7 negative, and is therefore a "normal" focal length for that format. If we use a lens much shorter, our photographs can suffer from foreshortening.

Hence, some people prefer to use slightly longer lenses for close work: the perspective we get is often more flattering, just as it is with portraits.

In my experience the 210mm length is great for close work with 4x5 and OK with 5x7. These are not the greatest photos, but you can see some made with a 210mm Macro Sironar on 4x5 here: http://www.kennethleegallery.com/html/macroSironar/ and others made with a 240mm APO Nikkor on 5x7 film here: http://www.kennethleegallery.com/html/aponikkor240/index.php

Agreed 'In full'... 110%.

Ray Marrero
28-Jun-2017, 10:03
Thank you all that contributed something constructive, as well as endorsements. I have since purchased a Nikkor AM 210mm from a fellow member. It's in the mail!

Best regards,

Ray

foen
30-Jun-2017, 23:13
Does the Nikkor AM 120 cover at infinite? However, could I use it as a 'normal' lens? Thank you

Dan Fromm
1-Jul-2017, 06:31
The 120? 4x5, no. 2x3, yes. Image circle @ infinity @ f/22 is 125 mm.

Thalmees
2-Jul-2017, 00:45
I'm looking for a macro lens for my 5x7 and noticed the Nikkor AM 210mm is priced pretty competitively compared to the Schneider or Rodenstock versions. I googled the Nikkor but came up empty handed. Has anyone here had personal experience with the lens? I would appreciate any thoughts, positive or negative.
Thanks!
Ray
Hello rayograph,
Planing to add a macro lens, but my primary concern is the distance from the lens to the subject, then what Ken mentioned in post#6.
Still could not decide between 180mm and 210mm, though the later can cover 8X10 format as well.

xkaes
2-Jul-2017, 06:13
For my macro work, I can use my Fujinon A 180mm f9 -- not because it covers 5x7 at infinity -- but because it is designed for 1:5 to 1X work. I can only get to 1X due to my 360mm bellows limit, however. So my favorite macro lens for my 4x5 turns out to be a Minolta 100mm f4 Bellows Macro -- fast aperture, plus it was designed for swings and shifts so it has a larger than expected image circle.

xkaes
4-Jul-2017, 12:54
I just did some measuring on my Minolta 100mm f4 Bellows Macro lens on my TOKO 4x5 -- to confirm what I already knew. My Fujinon A 180mm f9 lens runs out of bellows at 1:1, so that's where I switch to the Minolta 100mm f4 Bellows Macro lens if I want to get closer. At 200mm of extension with the Minolta 100mm f4 Bellows Macro lens (1:1), the 4x5 film is fully covered. Of course I would not normally expose the film at f4. I would typically use f16-32 (the minimum for the lens). I don't use the diaphragm in the #1 Copal because the f-stop scale is irrelevant and stopping it down, at all, immediately results in light cut-off, not fall-off. But at my taking apertures of f16-32 on the Minolta 100mm f4 Bellows Macro lens, the film is fully covered -- even though this is a "35mm" lens. It's basically like putting a microscope lens on a 35mm camera -- works fine.

However at 1:1, there is little room for shift or rise/fall. Small swings and tilts are OK, and that is more important -- in order to get the razor thin DOF where I what it. And if I focus to a magnification greater than 1X, which I would normally be doing, larger movements are not a problem at all.

FYI

Tom Monego
23-Dec-2021, 14:31
The 120 AM ED Macro Nikkor is a fabulous lens on 4x5 at 1:1 and closer optimized for 1:1 to 5:1, you'd need a long bellows for the latter. I have used it at 1:1 quite a bit. Just a fantastic macro lens.

neil poulsen
24-Dec-2021, 11:30
Bellows draw aside... 210mm is roughly the same length as the diagonal of a 5x7 negative, and is therefore a "normal" focal length for that format. If we use a lens much shorter, our photographs can suffer from foreshortening. . .

What is "foreshortening?" I've not heard that term previously.

Tin Can
24-Dec-2021, 12:05
Just got the 210 AM

Still testing, with X-Ray

I have plenty of bellows with very square standards

JMO
24-Dec-2021, 14:28
This is an example of what the 210mm Nikkor AM can do with a 4x5 studio camera.

222727
Vignoli (Faenza) ceramic with various bijoux (Linhof Master Kardan GTL 4x5; 210mm Nikkor AM ED, f32.5, 21s; TXP film)