Nikkor M 450 F9 - Question

[Rscaboy]

Hello,

First some presentation, I'm Dominique from Belgium and photography is my second job.

I worked with a mix of analog and digital camera and use them depending the project.

My main focus is "Portraiture and Urban Landscape"

I already work in the past with 4x5 camera (Chamonix, Shen Hao, Toyo) and now decide that it was time to move for another journey so I've ordered an Intrepid Camera 8x10 MII and will use it mainly for "Portrait" work and a bit of urban landscape too.

And I will do "Contact Print" only.

So here is my question :

I have the opportunity to buy an Nikkor M 450mm F9 but would like to know if :

1. Does this lens will work with the Intrepid 8x10 ?
2. Does this lens will be ok for my "Portraiture" project ?

I've read that the Intrepid can support lens from 150mm to 600mm so I suppose that this should be ok for this lens ?

Many thanks in advance for the advise.

Dom./

[Corran]

The Nikkor-M 450mm is a somewhat big / heavy lens in a Copal #3 shutter - not that there are too many options for that focal length in smaller sizes. You'll have to decided whether or not the 8x10 Intrepid is up to the task of that large lens with that much extension. I don't own one, but you can find lots of comments about the Intrepid here on the forum in the "Cameras & Camera Accessories" subforum. I believe some would say that lens is a bit much for the Intrepid. It will certainly work in terms of extension.

As for your "Portraiture" project, the question is what kind of portrait? Full-body environmental portraits? Head and shoulders portraits? Myself, when I do take portraits, tend towards environmental and full-body or 3/4 portraits, which lends itself to a shorter (300 or 360) lens. Also, what kind of depth-of-field do you want? In other words, do you need a faster aperture, or do you plan on stopping down? This will affect lens choice. What are you using on your 4x5 now?

Don't forget bellows compensation.

Perhaps try a 240mm on your 4x5 and see if that's really the focal length you're interested in.

[Alan9940]

The Intrepid 8x10 is questionable even with my much smaller and lighter Fuji 450C lens. I'm willing to bet that the Nikkor 450M would be much too heavy for this camera; but, then, again, I'm basing this comment on a MK I version of this camera. Maybe the MK II is stronger in this regard. Since the max bellows extension is 560mm (which IMO is pushing that spec), you can't focus a 600mm, unless it's of telephoto design. But, then you're running into that weight issue, again. Bottom line with the Intrepid and lenses is that they should all be relatively light glass.

[neil poulsen]

I've owned a Nikon 450mm M, and it's a terrific lens. Very sharp, it's multi-coated, and it has a large image circle.

Compared to similar focal lengths, it is not a heavy lens. If I thought that this lens was a little heavy for a given 8x10 camera, I would keep the lens and swap out the camera.

Since my other 8x10 lenses were single-coated, I sold my 450mm M, bought a Nikon 450mm Q, and pocketed the difference in price. (The 450mm Q is the single-coated version of the 450mm M.)

[Rscaboy]

The Intrepid 8x10 is questionable even with my much smaller and lighter Fuji 450C lens. I'm willing to bet that the Nikkor 450M would be much too heavy for this camera; but, then, again, I'm basing this comment on a MK I version of this camera. Maybe the MK II is stronger in this regard. Since the max bellows extension is 560mm (which IMO is pushing that spec), you can't focus a 600mm, unless it's of telephoto design. But, then you're running into that weight issue, again. Bottom line with the Intrepid and lenses is that they should all be relatively light glass.

Hi,

I'm planning to do mostly "Head and Shoulders" portraits.

Intrepid Team told me that the biggest lens they have tried in term of Weight on the 8x10 MII was 1.4KG so they advise me to not use lens with more than 1.4KG.

Here is the specs that I found for the Nikkor M 450 F9

The Nikkor M 450 F9 is 640g
The Copal 3 is 340g (Found the info on internet)
The lens Board +- 80g

So in total this lens with the Copal 3 and the lens board is around 1.060Kg

So based on the Intrepid answer weight should not be a problem...

Am I wrong with this interpretation ?

[Pere Casals]

1. Does this lens will work with the Intrepid 8x10 ?

It will work, 640grs, this should not be a problem in a 8x10 device.

Flange Focal Distance is 435mm, so with the 560mm max extension of the Intrepid it will focus at 2070mm, and closer with the DOF you want to allow, and closer if you make a tilt. Calculation is 1/D = 1/450-1/(560+15). You have 15mm of free bellows entension because the FFD is 15mm shorter than the Focal Length.

You may use a custom lens board with tube extension to focus even closer.

2. Does this lens will be ok for my "Portraiture" project ?

YMMV.

It is a Tessar design, regarding bokeh, see examples in Flickr, etc to see if its Out Of Focus rendering suits your taste, you may also review 300mm shots that would have a similar nature in the bokeh. To me all depends on the bokeh you want.

See if the OOF disks are soft enough for you or if they build a distracting background for your taste.

It has a bit of field curvature that would not be a problem.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/antoni...-s2kLfx-M7gBES

The Nikkor M 450 F9 is 640g
The Copal 3 is 340g (Found the info on internet)
The lens Board +- 80g

So in total this lens with the Copal 3 and the lens board is around 1.060Kg

I guess that 640g is with shutter !!! so lighter than you expected.

[neil poulsen]

The best response would be from someone who owns the same camera. I can only speak to the lens.

Another consideration that's additional to weight is focal length. At a point in time, I owned both a solidly built, tight Deardorff (even by Deardorff standards), and a 600mm Fujinon C lens. With the Deardorff stretched out that far, I thought that the arrangement was subject to vibration. A 600mm Fujinon C is not that heavy a lens.

[pepeguitarra]

The Nikkor M 450 F9 works perfectly on my 8x10 Intrepid Mk II. It is an excellent lens, especially on the Intrepid. Here is a shot with the set:

Glowing in the Forest by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

A similar shot with the G-Claron 305/9 and the 8x10 Intrepid for reference:

jpg-RileyModel1-Arista100Rodinal by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

[Rscaboy]

The Nikkor M 450 F9 works perfectly on my 8x10 Intrepid Mk II. It is an excellent lens, especially on the Intrepid. Here is a shot with the set:

Glowing in the Forest by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

A similar shot with the G-Claron 305/9 and the 8x10 Intrepid for reference:

jpg-RileyModel1-Arista100Rodinal by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

Hello,

That is exactly the kind of info that I was looking for :-)

This is exactly the kind of portrait that I plan to take and now that I get the confirmation that this lens will fit the Intrepid 8x10 MII it's decide I will buy the lens.

Many thanks to all for the shared infos.

Dom

[Louis Pacilla]

I doubt that you'll have an easy time doing head/head & shoulders with this long a FL and this camera as you'll be at around full extension at those close focus range.

So you may want to look into a 300mm FL as well. Just a thought

Bear in mind Pepes shots are not that close (They are full standing figure landscape not tight head shots / head & shoulders) so way less extension needed.