Nikon Nikkor-Q 200mm Manual Telephoto 1:4 -- VERY AFFORDABLE!

justmarvin

justmarvin

Well-known member
I got this lens a while back from someone. Nikkor-Q 200mm f/4. Here is the description they gave me:

"Purchased used at a camera store in the mid '80's. It is marked: LENS MADE IN JAPAN , Nippon Kogaku Japan , No. 422058 , NIKKOR-Q , Auto 1:4 , f=200mm. Has some wear on the focus ring, and has a name and my initials barely scratched on the metal barrel, but otherwise it functions perfectly is a great long lens. So it won't win a beauty prize,(still nice though), but the lense is unmarked and has a Nikon filter protecting it. Caps on both ends.Superb example of vintage Nikkor optics, and 1:4 to boot, this lense will actually mount on your new Digital SLR, but of course the autofocus and metering won't be available. Has a lens hood attached that could use to be tightened up a bit. Snap away from a distance!"

2ai4h12.jpg


***I checked the optics and it appears to be excellent, no scratches, haze or funges. Looks like the last owner left the protective filter on as the optics seem excellent to me. Everything seems in good working order - focus is smooth, aperture clicks are snappy.

***Outside barrel has the expected used-lens wear. It seems the built in retractable hood can use a little tightening. There is a carving of the owner's name on the barrel mettalic area (the gray metal in the picture) but it's subtle- you would have to look at it under close inspection to read the carved name which is "Richard Johnson"

My asking price: $85 + shipping from Los Angeles, CA.

Or, best (reasonable) offer.


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This is the info about the lens from kenrockwell.com:

Specifications

It has four elements in four groups.

This ancient version is a little bigger and heavier than the AI versions. The Q weighs 630g and is 163.0mm long by 72mm in diameter. I measured 6-1/2" long and 18-1/2 oz.

It has a swell built-in telescoping hood (you can't get that on the 80-200 AFS) and takes normal 52mm filters. Of course it's built like they used to: all studly metal.

It focuses down to about 6 or 7 feet; not very close. That's the main optical disadvantage of these old lenses.

This ancient lens only has a six-bladed diaphragm and stops down to f/32, a stop smaller than the 80-200 AF-S that cost me over one-hundred times as much.


Performance

Optically I found mine to be as good as the newer AI and AI-s versions, even thought the Q version has only four elements in four groups while the AI versions have five.

It has no distortion, again superior to zooms.

It is single-coated in blue. This probably explains its very slightly warm color balance. I actually prefer this color balance to the neutral balance of most modern Nikkors.

It has slight magenta/green secondary lateral chromatic aberration visible in the lab but not in my photos.

It was reviewed in the May, 1962 Modern Photography magazine, page 79. They found optimum performance at f/11.

By aperture:

f/4: It's sharp all over. There is some of the usual light falloff.
f/5.6: the falloff is gone and it's sharp all over. I didn't see any improvement by stopping down.


Recommendations

Optically this is a swell lens. It's not difficult to make a sharp 200mm f/4 lens. The only things that have been improved in the past 40 years have been to make them smaller, focus closer and zoom.

This is a perfectly good lens if you want a very sharp telephoto. Heck, it's a much better performer than the 70-300 ED many amateurs are buying today; it just lacks the convenience.

Go to http://www.aiconversions.com/ if you need to have it AI converted for use on modern cameras. John converted my lens and did a very careful job.
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seanwin-
it should work if it has the nikon mount. I haven't tried this on an adapter myself, but I googled and it seems like people are using f4 speeds on the tele lenses, try searching vimeo, here's one I just pulled from a quick search http://vimeo.com/4395828 he says he used these lenses: Nikon 200mm f4 tele, Nikon 300mm f4.5 tele, 50mm f1.4, and the 16mm f2.8 fisheye. Generally though it's ideal to use the fastest speeds possible, you should aim to get the f/2.8 speeds or faster, but on 200mm for nikon the next step from f/4 is f/3.5 and then f/2... the f/2 can sell up to ridiculously high though in the $1,000-$2,000 range, it's more of a collector's item or for people who demand the best optics. I had a 180mm f/2.8 that I sold for a good deal to him of $190 here in dvxuser. You should aim to get 180mm instead of 200mm if going for faster speeds (obviously because of price), there's two versions, the regular (the one i sold) and the ED version, the ED version of the 180mm can sell up to $500. Maybe you can ask on the 35mm forum for thoughts on f/4 speed for tele lenses or do a google search adding the keyword "vimeo", "f/4", "200mm" to see video done by people who used it.

nfc565-
Ok man, let me know.

JM
 
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