Nikkor W 150mm/135mm Rear Cell Matching

[ltbphoto]

Well, I may have screwed up.

When switching lens boards around, I realized that I'd not been very careful separating the cells from my 135 and 150mm Nikkors and that the rear cells will thread interchangeably. I haven't been able to find a reference that would conclusively tell me which rear cell should go with which lens. Anyone have a suggestion on figuring out which one is which? Would a mismatched lens even focus?

Lee

[Kiwi7475]

Lucky for you it seems they have different dimensions...

Take a look at page 15 of

https://galerie-photo.com/manuels/nikkor-lenses-for-large-format%20cameras.pdf

and dust off your caliper!

hope this helps.

[aphcl84]

The 150mm rear cell is 2mm longer than the 135mm cell, take both cells out of the shutters and set them on a flat surface and see which is taller.

[Dan Fromm]

What do flange-focal distances have to do with the OP's problem? The simple solution -- check the brochure -- is that the 150's rear cell has a larger rear diameter than the 135's.

[ic-racer]

Yes they have the same diameter, so the longer one is for the 150 according to Nikon specs.

[domaz]

I bought a lens with mismatched cells long ago (for the shutter). I found the overall focal length seemed to be the same as the rear cell/ regardless of the front-cell focal length (this was for a similar Plasmat lens). This might be another quickish way to check.

[John Layton]

...very curious about the optical performance of your "franken-lens"

[ltbphoto]

Measuring the rear element was the trick - it seems I did in fact have them switched. I need to go back and double check my notes, but I'm fairly sure I did shoot a few sheets with the 135 frankenlens and I believe they came out fine.

[domaz]

Measuring the rear element was the trick - it seems I did in fact have them switched. I need to go back and double check my notes, but I'm fairly sure I did shoot a few sheets with the 135 frankenlens and I believe they came out fine.

Much the same experience when I shoot with a 150mm front element and 100mm rear element of a Rodenstock plasmat. The focal length was closer to 100mm (which meant it didn't really cover 4x5) but I didn't actually notice anything obviously wrong with the lens otherwise. Someone mentioned maybe the coma handling might not be up to snuff etc.. and it probably wasn't but you notice little of this with casual use.