Nikon rangefinder lenses

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Nippon Kōgaku (Nikon) began the production of cameras with a line of rangefinder cameras, the first being the Nikon I (Nikon One - at the time simply called the Nikon) launched just after World War II. On this camera, Nikon copied the Contax rangefinder mount designed before the war by Zeiss Ikon and introduced with the Contax I.

Whether related to patents, differing initial engineering decisions, or by mistake, the rangefinder coupling of its lens mount is slightly different from that of the Contax. The result is that the wide angle lenses, because of their wider depth of field, can interchange between the two types of bodies, but the standard and tele lenses cannot. There are Nikon versions and Contax versions of all focal lengths above normal. This proves that there was, indeed, an acknowledged difference in coupling. Nikon apparently made an engineering decision that the disparity was not significant at wider focal lengths. However, there is some discussion as to whether the problem is also apparent for normal lenses at close distances, as discussed by Dr. Bruce E. Sirovich in a Nikon Historical Society Article. The main difference seems to arise from a 0.31mm difference in the thickness of the cameras, having a difference in inner mounted lenses such that the film to lens distance at infinity is 26.51 mm for Nikon and 26.82 for Contax.[1]

Nikon used that same mount on all its rangefinder bodies until and including the Nikon SP, and on the recent revivals Nikon S3 2000 and Nikon SP 2005.

Surprisingly, in 2002 Voigtländer launched a new rangefinder body using the Nikon RF mount, called Bessa R2S.

Nikon

The original lenses for the Nikon rangefinder cameras.

Nikon also made some these lenses for the original Contax mount. They are marked with a C on the barrel, unrelated to the red C on the front ring of the coated lenses.

Wide

25659526363_34901b5ae0_n.jpg
W-Nikkor-C 3.5cm f/3.5 lens
image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights)
  • Nikkor-O 1:4 f=2.1cm, mixed black and chrome finish[2]
  • W-Nikkor.C 1:4 f=2.5cm, chrome[3]
  • W-Nikkor.C 1:4 f=2.5cm, black[4]
  • W-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=2.8cm[5]
  • W-Nikkor.C 1:2.5 f=3.5cm[6]
  • W-Nikkor.C 1:3.5 f=3.5cm[7]


Standard

8277290202_4487f9c860_n.jpg
Nikkor-S 5cm f/1.4 lens
image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights)
  • Nikkor-N 1:1.1 f=5cm[8][9]
  • Nikkor-S 1:1.4 f=50mm 'Olympic', black (made for the Nikon S3 sold at the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but the lens not marked with any Olympic symbol)[10]
  • Nikkor-S 1:1.4 f=5cm, black[11]
  • Nikkor-S.C 1:1.4 f=5cm, black[12]
  • Nikkor-S.C 1:1.4 f=5cm, aluminium[13]
  • Nikkor-H 1:2 f=5cm, black[14]
  • Nikkor-H.C 1:2 f=5cm, chrome, collapsible[15]
  • Nikkor-H.C 1:2 f=5cm, chrome, rigid[16]
  • Micro-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=5cm, chrome[17]


Longer than standard

10397523903_d2c924f000_n.jpg
Nikkor-Q 13.5cm f/3.5 lens & finder on a Nikon S
image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights)
  • Nikkor-S.C 1:1.5 f=8.5cm[18]
  • Nikkor-P.C 1:2 f=8.5cm[7]
  • Nikkor-P.C 1:2.5 f=10.5cm[19]
  • Nikkor-Q.C 1:3.5 f=13.5cm[20]
  • Nikkor-Q.C 1:4 f=13.5cm[7]
  • Nikkor-Q.C 1:4 f=25cm[21]


Long lenses for the Reflex Housings

  • Nikkor-H 1:2.5 f=18cm[22]
  • Nikkor-T 1:4.5 f=35cm[23]
  • Nikkor-T 1:5 f=50cm[24] - 157 were made, according to auctioneer's notes at Leitz Auction.
  • Nikkor-T.C 1:5 f=50cm[25]
  • Reflex-Nikkor 1:6.3 f=100cm mirror lens[26][27][28][29] - only ten were made in black finish, according to auctioneer's notes at Westlicht; there are also grey examples.

Special

    • Stereo-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=3.5cm stereo lens pair[30]


Other makers

Fuji

  • Fujinon 5cm f/1.2

Link:

Komura

Made by Sankyo Koki.

  • 35/2.8 W-Komura, black with wide chrome stripes, N on lens barrel
  • 80/1.8 Komura, black with wide chrome stripes, finder, N on lens barrel
  • 135/3.5 Komura, black, chrome nose and mount

Soligor

  • 135/3.5, black and chrome

Tanaka

See the main article on Tanar lenses.

  • W Tanar 35mm f/2.8, black and chrome, external finder
  • Tele-Tanar 13.5cm f/3.5, black and chrome, external finder (also made in Contax mount; the Nikon edition has a small N at the rear end)

Taylor & Hobson

A Taylor, Taylor & Hobson Cooke Amotal Anastigmat 2in f/2 was sold mounted on a Nikon S body at Christies 8/6/1995, it is unknown if it was original.

Voigtländer

The range of lenses launched together with the Voigtländer Bessa R2S.

Zunow

Teikoku Kogaku, better known as Zunow, made some lenses in Nikon RF mount. Some had spectacular characteristics, and all are very rare.

  • 50/1.1, all chrome

Reflex housings

Nippon Kōgaku made its own reflex housing for the rangefinder cameras; a mirror box with attached viewfinder to allow reflex focusing with long focal-length lenses, where rangefinder focusing is not sufficiently sensitive: see also the Leitz PLOOT and Visoflex, and Astro housings. Nikon's housings exist in two models; both are rare, but Type I is more so (only about one hundred are known to have been made):

  • Reflex Housing Type I is a very square-bodied mirror-box, with the tube of the viewfinder emerging from the top.[31][32] It has a small housing on the side for cable-release attachments: the incoming cable socket on the top, for the cable with the user's plunger-release, which raises the mirror, and another underneath for the cable which passes the effort on to the camera shutter release. The Nippon Kōgaku logo and serial number are engraved on the body.
  • Reflex Housing Type II has a much rounder body.[33] The two cable release attachments are both on the top of their housing, and the maker's mark and serial number are also on the cable housing.

The reflex housings may be seen with a straight viewfinder eyepiece,[31] or with a 45° or 90° prism.[33] These have their own serial number. According to auctioneer's notes at Westlicht, only 58 of the 90° prism are known to have been made. The prism finders apparently fit either type of housing.[32]

The reflex housings made in Contax mount should be compatible with the Nikon rangefinder bodies, notably all the Zeiss Ikon models, and the Mirax-B by Orion Seiki and later Miranda Camera.

Notes

  1. ↑ Zeisscamera article about Nikon to Contax differences by Henry Scherer
  2. ↑ Nikkor-O 1:4 f=2.1cm serial no.621181, sold with matching finder at the 42nd Leitz Auction.
  3. ↑ W-Nikkor C 1:4 f=2.5cm, chrome serial no.402718, sold with matching VF at the 43rd Leitz Photographica Auction, in November 2023.
  4. ↑ W-Nikkor.C 1:4 f=2.5cm, black serial no.403845, sold at the 42nd Leitz Auction.
  5. ↑ W-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=2.8cm, serial no.717222, sold as part of a Nikon SP outift at the 36th Leitz Auction].
  6. ↑ W-Nikkor.C 1:2.5 f=3.5cm, serial no.248289, sold with a Nikon S2 at the 38th Leitz auction.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Nikon M outfit comprising W-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=2.8cm serial no.713740, W-Nikkor.C 1:3.5 f=3.5cm serial no.426284, Nikkor-S.C 1:1.4 f=cm serial no.50051755, Nikkor-P.C 1:2 f=8.5cm serial no.80159, and Nikkor-Q.C 1:4 f=13.cm serial no.611127; camera with mis-engraved serial no. Sold at the 35th Leitz Auction.
  8. ↑ Nikkor-N 1:1.1 f=5cm, serial no.140949 sold at the 31st Westlicht Auction.
  9. ↑ Nikkor-N 1:1.1 f=5cm, serial no.142108, sold with a Nikon SP at the 35th Leitz Auction.
  10. ↑ Nikkor-S 1:1.4 f=50mm 'Olympic', black serial no.140551, sold at the 43rd Leitz Auction.
  11. ↑ Nikkor-S 1:1.4 f=5cm, black serial no.407978, sold with a Nikon S3M half-frame camera at the 40th Leitz Auction.
  12. ↑ Nikkor-S.C 1:1.4 f=5cm, black serial no.331242, sold with a black Nikon S at the 43rd Leitz Auction.
  13. ↑ Nikkor-S.C 1:1.4 f=5cm, aluminium (according to the auctioneer, a trial of just 300 lenses made in this finish) serial no.358232, sold at the 42nd Leitz Auction.
  14. ↑ Nikkor-H 1:2 f=5cm, black serial no.755392, sold with a black Nikon S2 at the 42nd Leitz Auction.
  15. ↑ Nikkor-H.C 1:2 f=5cm, chrome, collapsible barrel, serial no.70818, sold with a Nikon One at the 40th Leitz Auction.
  16. ↑ Nikkor-H.C 1:2 f=5cm, chrome, rigid barrel, serial no.50080101, sold at the 39th Leitz Auction.
  17. ↑ Micro-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=5cm, chrome, serial no.523105, sold with a Nikon S3 Olympic at the 34th Leitz Auction.
  18. ↑ Nikkor-S.C 1:1.5 f=8.5cm, black, serial no.264847, with EP mark, sold at the 42nd Leitz Auction.
  19. ↑ Nikkor-P.C 1:2.5 f=10.5cm, serial no.916867, with EP mark, sold at the 37th Leitz Auction.
  20. ↑ Nikkor-Q.C 1:3.5 f=13.5cm, serial no.259419, sold with hood and matching finder as part of an outfit with a Nikon S2 at the 32nd Westlicht Auction.
  21. ↑ Nikkor-Q.C 1:4 f=25cm, serial no.271993, sold at the nineteenth Westlicht Auction, in May 2011.
  22. ↑ Nikkor-H 1:2.5 f=18cm, serial no.474094, sold at the 28th Westlicht Auction, in November 2015.
  23. ↑ Nikkor-T 1:4.5 f=35cm, serial no.354609, also sold at the 28th Westlicht Auction.
  24. ↑ Nikkor-T 1:5 f=50cm, serial no.647249 with hood, wooden case (stamped 'Sample') and adapter to Nikon F-mount (SLR mount), offered for sale at the 38th Leitz Auction, in June 2021.
  25. ↑ Nikkor-T.C 1:5 f=50cm, serial no.647085 (earlier than the uncoated 'sample' above), sold at the eighteenth Westlicht Auction, in December 2010.
  26. ↑ Reflex-Nikkor 1:6.3 f=100cm, serial no.100631, black finish, sold at the eighteenth Westlicht Auction, in December 2010.
  27. ↑ Reflex-Nikkor 1:6.3 f=100cm, serial no.100632 in grey finish with off-white hood, sold at the 26th Westlicht Auction, in November 2014.
  28. ↑ Reflex-Nikkor 1:6.3 f=100cm, serial no.100634, black finish, with hood and metal case, sold at the 30th Westlicht Auction, in November 2016.
  29. ↑ Reflex-Nikkor 1:6.3 f=100cm, serial no.100678 in grey finish, sold at the 22nd Westlicht Auction, in May 2012.
  30. ↑ Stereo-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=3.5cm outfit, serial no.241833, sold at the 41st Leitz Auction.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Nippon Kōgaku Reflex Housing Type I serial no 371118 with straight eyepiece tube, sold at the fifteenth Westlicht Auction, in May 2009.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Reflex Housing Type I serial no.371169 with 90° prism serial no.77019, normally supplied for the Type II housing, sold at the 27th Westlicht Auction, in June 2015.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Reflex Housing Type II serial no.471675 with 45° prism serial no.67587, sold at the 20th Westlicht Auction, in November 2011.

Links

  • Nikon Rangefinder Lens Guide at www.antiquecameras.net
  • Nikon Rangefinder Lens Price Guide
  • Lens patents held by Nippon Kōgaku, at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office:
    • US Patent 2896506, High aperture wide-angle ojective lens, filed in 1956, acknowledging Hideo Azuma as the inventor, describing a seven-element f/1.8 lens (with a notional unit focal length).
    • US Patent 2828671, Wide aperture photographic objectives, filed 1957, acknowledging Saburo Murakami as the inventor, describing a nine-element f/1.1 lens, with a 100mm example.
    • US Patent 2906174, Photographic objective, filed in 1957, acknowledging Zenji Wakamoto as the inventor, describing a six-element f/2.5 lens, with a 100mm example.
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