nikkor m 300 mm f9- good lens for 8x10?

[william kirchoff]

Greetings everyone-

I wanted to use my nikkor 300 mm f9 with an 8x10 burke & james I purchased. Is this a good lens for this format, or should I keep it for my 4x5?

Thanks- Will

[Andrew O'Neill]

Yes, it's a very good lens for 8x10. I use it a lot.

[Brian Ellis]

It was my favorite lens for 8x10 when I owned 8x10 cameras.

[Dave Wooten]

I use it on my 7 x 17. A nice little lens for 4 x 5 also.

[Dave Aharonian]

Is this lens one of those that increases the image circle as you stop it down? According to the numbers the circle is only a bit larger than 8x10, but it seems its used on larger formats as well?

[IanG]

I have one of these lenses, I bought it for my 5x4 15-20 years ago thinking I might later move up to 10x8. Now I have a 10x8 I hardly use it at all because it's coverage is nowhere near as good as my 12" Dagor.

It is a very good lens small & light-weight, it's coverage is adequate, & does increase slightly with stopping down, I very much doubt it would cover any larger format than 10x8.

If my Agfa-Ansco 10x8 hadn't come with an excellent coated Dagor I'm sure I'd be using the Nikon 300mm f9, and it will become the standard lens on my 2nd Agfa Ansco.

Ian

[Luca Merlo]

How does it compare in 8x10 with the g-claron 305 in terms of coverage and resolution ?

[IanG]

The 300mm Nikon has far better resolution at all apertures because it is designed and optimised for camera use.

The G-Claron is a process lens designed specifically for close focus, if you read the manufacturers data sheet you will find all the details including the statement that it can be used at infinity but needs stopping down to avoid vignetting and improve sharpness. That is not to say a G-Claron is not usable rather that a properly designed View camera lens is going to be a far better lens.

Ian

[Luca Merlo]

Thanks for your post and best regards from Italy.

[John Kasaian]

I have a 300mm Nikkor M which I use on an aerial camera, which is fixed focus at infinity and has no provision for movements. It works fine for that purpose. Mine I feel lacks an adequate image circle to be useful if much movements are required, but others have indicated that they have an acceptable amount of image circle. My suggestion would be to try it on your 8x10 camera and see. It would be a superb lens on a 5x7 or 4x5 though!

[sanking]

The 300mm Nikkor M is a great lens for 5X7 or 8X10 IMO. It does improve a lot in performance as you stop down. I use the 300mm Nikkor M with 5X7 format, and love it.

The 300mm Nkkor M will actually cover 7X17 ok for contact printing when stopped down to f/45 or f/64. But for 7X17 the 305 G-Claron or 305 Computar are far superior to the 300 Nkkor M.


Sandy King