Hello everybody
I have the chance to get a Nikkor 450mm M f9 in mint conditions for my 8x10 work
Just like to hear your impressions about the lens
Will use for landscape mostly
Thanks
Hello everybody
I have the chance to get a Nikkor 450mm M f9 in mint conditions for my 8x10 work
Just like to hear your impressions about the lens
Will use for landscape mostly
Thanks
It's a great lens. Excellent optically and quite compact for a lens in a Copal 3 shutter. A very good focal length for 8x10 landscape work.
What karl french says. Lots of coverage, too.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I use and love mine on 11x14. You will enjoy it.
Pali
I had one that I used for 4x5. I sold it and purchased a 450mm Fujinon C. It had nothing to do with the quality of the photos. I just did not want to carry a big Copal No. 3 shutter around.
I made some very nice photos with it. They have a very nice quality to them. If I was using it on an 8x10 I would likely still have it.
Best of M 450 is weight, 650grs for 450mm focal and 440mm circle.
It is a highly regarded lens for 8x10 Pros, it is multicoated and the simple design with less groups makes it flare resistant.
Drawback is that it only has 4 elements in 3 groups, tessar design, so it is a simple design that is less refined than a regular plasmat type lens, for example, a plasmat would probably deliver a larger circle, but for 450mm a plasmat would be huge. This is seen in then 300mm focal, for example, comparing Nikkor M 300 vs W 300, just to realize the M meaning.
The 450 focal needs only 52º to cover that 440mm circle, so with only 4 elements necessary performance can be reached, and manufacturing was also cheaper.
So it is a perfectly good lens for 8x10 landscape, if wanting more circle for architecture there is Fujinon CM-W 450 f/8 with 520mm circle, but weight is 1140grs.
The M 450 it is a lens that I was to acquire, I had a good opportunity, finally I judged that having a 360mm I can always crop the 8x10 negative and still having lots of image quality, and first I should deserve a lens like this.
I think that is they key with this lens. It is smaller than a plasmat 450mm, which makes it more likely to be used. That is especially true for landscape photographers. It's why we 4x5 users love the 300 M so much. The "drawback" you mention is actually in some ways the strength of this lens. The Tessar-type design allows it to be smaller. For me, the design is probably what creates that special quality that I like so much. The Tessar-type lenses deliver images that have a very nice quality or character to them. They are sharp, but have . . . something else. I don't know how to describe it. I find this true whether using a Nikkor M, a Xenar, or a Fujinon L.
Awesome lens. I also use it on my 14x17 camera.
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Poor judgement to judge a lens by the number of elements in it's design. What matters is the results of images produced.
Most every design has trade offs, learning to used a given design's good and bad promotes a symbiotic relationship between lens and expressive image making.
Bernice
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