NIKKOR C 500 mm with N80

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Igor - 25 Mar 2005 16:45 GMT

I just bought f8/500mm NIKKOR C (yes its an older reflex lens). Does
anyone have any experience using it with a N80 body ? I know that the
camera will not meter with it, so the question I have is - what are my
options ? Hand held light meter ? I really dont want to start a
discussion on merits of reflex lenses or N80 bodies. I needed a long
lens and this looked like the best I can get for the price I paid for
it. Basically I will be using this lens for 2 different types of
photography - landscapes and airshows/animal shots. I understand that
landscape photography is going to be somewhat easier, since there is
more time to compose/meter. I am well aware of the possible artifacts
this lens produces, I really want to find out what people are doing
about the metering issue.

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Alan Browne - 25 Mar 2005 18:16 GMT

> I just bought f8/500mm NIKKOR C (yes its an older reflex lens). Does
> anyone have any experience using it with a N80 body ? I know that the
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> this lens produces, I really want to find out what people are doing
> about the metering issue.

Since it's an f/8 lens it is not all that useful in many situations
except well lit outdoor scenes. So, that makes it easy via recpiprocity:

In sunny conditions and let sunny-16 guide you (eg: ISO 100, f/8 1/400 -
1/500.)

In light overcast, sunny-11, in heavy overcast cloudy-8) and so on.

Your eyes are bad light meters, but your brain can be put to work:

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#Light%20Intensity%20Chart
http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#EXPOSURE%20FACTOR%20RELATIONSHIP%20CHART%20B

and you're all set.

Cheers,
Alan.

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Igor - 25 Mar 2005 19:52 GMT

Thanks for the link, this is a great article !

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William Graham - 25 Mar 2005 20:48 GMT

>I just bought f8/500mm NIKKOR C (yes its an older reflex lens). Does
> anyone have any experience using it with a N80 body ? I know that the
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> this lens produces, I really want to find out what people are doing
> about the metering issue.

I don't know about the F 80, but with my F5, the camera seems to know that
the lens is a fixed aperture f/8, and just meters it stopped down, and
"plays it as it lies", so to speak........

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David Dyer-Bennet - 30 Mar 2005 20:25 GMT

>>I just bought f8/500mm NIKKOR C (yes its an older reflex lens). Does
>> anyone have any experience using it with a N80 body ? I know that the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> the lens is a fixed aperture f/8, and just meters it stopped down, and
> "plays it as it lies", so to speak........

Yep, the pro-level bodies have the mechanical follower to pick up that
information from the old mechanical transmission method. The cheaper
bodies like the N80 do NOT have that ability; they can only get that
information from the electrical contacts and chip present only in
newer lenses.

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William Graham - 31 Mar 2005 00:12 GMT

>>>I just bought f8/500mm NIKKOR C (yes its an older reflex lens). Does
>>> anyone have any experience using it with a N80 body ? I know that the
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> information from the electrical contacts and chip present only in
> newer lenses.

Oh, thank God....I frequently wonder why I spent all that extra money!

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bmoag - 26 Mar 2005 03:14 GMT

Lessons learned the hard (=expensive) way:
There are reasons why you do not see professional sports photographers using
mirror lenses.
It is VERY difficult to focus mirror lenses, more so in autofocus cameras
because of the type of ground glass viewing screen.
It is practically impossible to focus in anything but bright light.
The f8 aperture does not provide depth of field to any significant degree in
a lens of this focal length and will not conceal off-focus results.
Since focus is often approximate the best results I can get are by
bracketing the focus (multiple exposures at slightly different focus
settings). This makes the mirror lens best used as a tripod mounted lens for
static subjects.Donuts and other harsh out-of-focus artifacts are an
aesthetic matter.

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Ronnie Sellar - 28 Mar 2005 08:59 GMT

When you mention "Nikkor C" it makes me think it's a Non AI version of
the lens which may not even mount on the F80 body because it fouls the
minimum aperture detection pin on the F80 (about 8 o'clock on the lens
mount as you look at it from the front).

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Ronnie Sellar

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Ronnie Sellar - 28 Mar 2005 11:45 GMT

> > I just bought f8/500mm NIKKOR C (yes its an older reflex lens). Does
> > anyone have any experience using it with a N80 body ? I know that the
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> --
> Ronnie Sellar

Of course this may not be relevant since it probably doesn't have an
aperture ring. Doh !

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Ronnie Sellar

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Igor - 28 Mar 2005 23:05 GMT

That is a very good point. I dont think it has an apeture ring, but if
it does have one, I am prepaired to attempt and AI conversion by
machining the ring. I am also contemplating installing a chip into this
lens, if I can reverse engineer Nikkon FLASH/EEPROM format. I am
attempting to buy a trashed AI/CPU (what they call a CPU - what a joke)
lens and see if its simply and EEPROM with lens parameters. If that is
the case, I want to see if I can duplicate this and mount it to this
"C" lens...

> > > I just bought f8/500mm NIKKOR C (yes its an older reflex lens). Does
> > > anyone have any experience using it with a N80 body ? I know that the
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> aperture ring. Doh !
> :)

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David Dyer-Bennet - 30 Mar 2005 20:26 GMT

> That is a very good point. I dont think it has an apeture ring, but
> if it does have one, I am prepaired to attempt and AI conversion by
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> that is the case, I want to see if I can duplicate this and mount it
> to this "C" lens...

From everything I've heard, it pretty much *is* just a store of lens
parameters. Of course, in addition to electrical compatibility, there
has to be mechanical mounting -- the darned chip has to go
*somewhere*.

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Igor - 31 Mar 2005 00:17 GMT

We'll see, hopefully, its a large lens with several light baffles
inside, I should be able to find room for a small EEPROM/FLASH chip,
specially since it is most likely serial EEPROM/FLASH (only 5 contacts
for all functions)... I'll post an update once I try it.

> > That is a very good point. I dont think it has an apeture ring, but
> > if it does have one, I am prepaired to attempt and AI conversion by
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/>
> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>

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David Dyer-Bennet - 30 Mar 2005 20:23 GMT

Yep, light meter.

My Fuji S2 is an N80 body underneath, as I understand it. My
Spiratone 500mm reflex mounts on it just fine (T-mount adapter, in
fact). With digital it's simpler, I just shoot test pictures and
check the preview and then the histogram when I'm close. For film,
you'll definitely want the meter. You will probably find that the
effective aperture ("T-stop") is something near half a stop smaller
than the rated F8, too.

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