When my father passed away, I inherited his large cache of negatives from 50+ years as a professional photographer and a few equipment odds and ends. One peculiar find involves a Nikkor-W 210mm f5.6 lens. I never recalled dad having this lens, but there it was in his old Linhof case. I also have the same lens but immediately noticed a difference. My Nikkor-W 210 has a front mount attachment size of 67mm. That is consistent with my copy of 'Nikon's Nikkor Lenses for Large Format Cameras' brochure. The mystery involves my father's copy of the Nikkor-W 210mm. His front mount attachment size is 77mm. It is physically a much bigger front element that my 210. To be clear, both rear elements appear to be the same size.
My 210 and dad's has the same identification engraved on the barrel - NIKKOR-W 210mm 1:5.6. My 210's serial number is 753XXX and dad's is 741XXX.
Did Nikon's earlier versions of this lens initially have a larger front element?
I'm hoping to get some input on why this difference? I love a mystery. Especially when it involves Nikkor glass.
Thanks in advance;
Jeff
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