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• Combining high speed with high resolution. Nikkor lenses for Nikon cameras, and other fine 35's booklet.

Manufacturer description #1

Provides 10x magnification with its 5° angle of view. Features 3 elements; stops to f/45; pre-set diaphragm; focuses to 25 feet. Accepts 110mm filters.

Manufacturer description #2

Picture angle: 5". Click-stops to f/45. Preset diaphragm control. Focuses to 25ft. or 8m. in meter calibration. Attachment size: Slip-on outer diameter 112mm. Screw-in diameter 108mm, P=1.0. Tripod socket provided. Supplied with slip-on front cap K-126, screw-on rear cap L, screw-in hood AN-108 and fitted wooden case. Wooden tripod for use with this lens is available on special order.

From the Classic Camera magazine (No. 26, May 2003)

At the end 1952, a second long telephoto lens was also put into production with a 500mm focal length comprised of 3 elements and with maximum aperture of f/5 that stopped down to f/45. The long 500mm Nikkor T telephoto weighed eight and a half kilograms, focused from seven and a half meters to infinity and used 110mm filters. It would seem that very few of these lenses were produced, perhaps as few as 300.

From the Nikon Journal (Vol. 4, No. 2, December, 1986)

We now come to what may very well be the rarest SM Nikkor of them all. It is the massive three element three group 500/f5.0 Nikkor. With a minimum aperture of f45, it was the first N-K lens to be sold with preset diaphragm. Near focus was 25 feet. The SM version was designed to be used with the VISOFLEX I. It was a special order item and sold in its own wooden carrying case. It came with a special screw-in reversing 110mm black lens hood and a massive push-on front cap. The weight of the lens dictated the use of a central tripod collar. Today the 500/f5.0 in SM is an extremely rare and expensive lens due to the astronanical selling price of nearly $600 in 1955!!

From the Nikon Journal (Vol. 21, No. 4, September 30, 2004)

Nippon Kogaku (N-K) probably released its 500mm/f5 Nikkor-T in short mount for their first reflex housing sometime in late 1954 or early 1955. It is possible that N-K showed prototypes earlier, but we have found no mention of this lens in contemporary literature prior to 1955. The earliest pictures show a lens with a preset diaphragm, and apparently they all came this way, making this the earliest preset lens that N-K manufactured.

Preset lenses were still rare in 1955. Nikon's first short mount lens, the 250mm/f4 Nikkor-Q of 1954, came with a manually set diaphragm. But then so did many other long lenses from other makers, including Leitz's similar 200mm/f4.5 Telyt. Not until 1959, following the introduction of the Nikon F, did N-K upgrade its 250mm Nikkor to a preset design.

It appears that the 500mm Nikkor used the same optical formula that N-K pioneered in 1932 as an Aero-Nikkor for the Japanese Navy-also an f5 triplet. Certainly this large, heavy optic is capable of covering a much greater area than the 24x36mm or even 6x6cm, formats. N-K was trying to compete directly against the leading German optical firms and the extra 100mm in focal length over the Leitz 400mm Telyt and other 'Big Bertha' lenses, gave the company temporary boasting rights.

N-K insisted on offering only drop-in filters for its short mount Nikkors. Since series filters did not come in a size large enough to fit the 500mm, N-K made drop-ins in a unique 110mm size, just large enough to go in the combination hood/filter holder and clear the 108mm threaded front attachment size. Very few of these huge filters must have been manufactured since they never appeared on any Nikon, Inc.'s price list, and this was the only lens that ever used that size. Unlike the other short mount Nikkors, the front lens cap does not screw into the reversed lens shade, but friction fits over it. The effect is the same; all the short mount Nikkors required their lens hoods be reversed on the lens in order to mount their caps.

Without the housing or hood, the lens measures nearly 20 inches (490.3mm) long. Add the huge hood, the housing and a camera and you have something that stretches across a desk. The lens weighs 19.5 pounds (over 8 kilos). Published weights vary and later units might have been slightly lighter. The lens hood and cap add another 2 pounds. The focusing helix alone weighs 5 pounds!

The first 50 to 100 lenses (Type I) use 'INF' for the infinity mark, indicating that they were made before 1957. The remainder appear to be all marked with the more modern 'lazy 8' symbol. Both the preset and aperture rings are milled on Type I lenses. The preset rings on later samples are cut in a cross-diamond pattern to facilitate both pulling the rings back against their spring and turning them. As is true of all the early short mount Nikkors, the lens hoods on these first lenses have no markings. Their filter holder step-up rings have 'JAPAN' engraved in small, unfilled letters. Most of the Type II lenses came with hoods engraved and white filled as: 'f=50cm 1:5,' followed by a small, unlettered N-K logo and 'NIPPON KOGAKU JAPAN'.

No other variations are known. In addition, a few lenses were made in Leica screw mount and Bronica mount. Serial numbers begin at 647001 and run as high as a recorded 647285, indicating a probable production of 300 total. The lens appeared in Nikon, Inc. price lists as late as 1962 and most of the last 100 were probably sold for use on the new Nikon F with the N-F adapter. Nikon specifically advertised the non-rotating version of that adapter as being for this lens. The compact and less expensive 500mm/f5 Reflex Nikkor, introduced in 1961, wiped out what little market there ever was for this special purpose optic.

***

TYPE 1P: As Type 1, except: Preset ring, aperture ring and focusing ring are all milled. Aperture closes by turning to the left. Lens hood does not step out at retainer but approximately one inch (25mm) forward.

TYPE 1: Focusing ring is scalloped, but both the preset and aperture rings are still milled. Aperture closes by turning to the right - same as other Nikkors. Focusing ring marked as "INF". Infrared "R" is pink with white dot and pink line. Lens hood has no markings except for small, engraved "JAPAN" cut into the step up ring with no white fill. Hood steps out immediately beyond threads. S/n ~647001 to ~647100? (Manufactured from February 1955 to October 1956 +/- a few months).

TYPE 2: As Type 1, except the preset ring cut in a diamond-shaped pattern. Focusing ring marked with the 'lazy 8'. Infrared "R" and line are filled in red (?). Lens hood now engraved 'f=50cm 1:5', NKT logo without lettering and 'NIPPON KOGAKU Japan'. Step-up ring appears to be much deeper than the Type 1. S/n ~647101 to ~647285 (300?) (Manufactured between 1957 and 1961).

From the Nikon Journal (Vol. 31 No. 2, March 31st, 2014)

Both Zeiss and Novofiex took a quite different approach to the design of longer focal length lenses than their Japanese competitors. NK, attempting to compete with speed, based their 500mm/f5 Nikkor-T on an aerial lens triplet that features a huge, thick and heavy front element At almost 20 pounds weight, the lens is certainly not hand-holdable and barely transportable.

In contrast Zeiss' 500mm/f8 Fernobjektiv and all the longer Nofiexar optics feature achromat doublets that reduce their weight to a few pounds. While an achromat formula can offer only limited optical corrections and apertures, the central images can be quite sharp-which is often all that is important when doing sports and wildlife photography.

COMPARISON OF THE 500MM LENSES FOR THE NIKON RF HOUSING

500MM/F5 NIKKOR-T:

• Three elements in a triplet long-focus design
• 19.5 pounds (lens only - without housing or camera)
• 23 & 3/8 inches long (57cm)
• 6 & 1/2 inches at largest barrel diameter
• 108mm screw-in or 110mm drop-in filters
• Closest focus distance is 25 feet
• F5~F45
• Production: Probably in 4 lots averaging about 60 lenses each for a total of about 250 from 1954 to 1959 (last few were in direct Bronica mount only).

500mm/F8 FERNOBJEKTIV-T:

• Two elements in a single component, achromat, long-focus
• 4.5 pounds (lens only - without housing or camera)
• 19 inches long (47.4cm)
• 3 & 3/4 inches at largest barrel diameter
• 77mm screw-in filters
• Closet focus distance is 6 meters (19.1 feet)
• F8~F45
• Production: Unknown. In mounting for Panfiex, post-war, maybe 6 to 12 in one lot in 1948.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE TWO 500MM LENSES FOR NIKON RF HOUSING

These two lenses are a study in contrasts. The Nikkor is so heavy that even tripod-mounted operation becomes a challenge. However, the focusing is smooth and the placement of the focusing helicoid close to the camera makes operation comfortable. The F5 opening yields a bright and easy to focus image.

The Femobjektiv is light and compact enough to allow hand-held shots using a pistol grip and/or brace. It also focuses closer, a plus for some wildlife photography. However, the placement of the focus ring toward the front of the lens requires an awkward reach that makes rapid focusing difficult even under the best of conditions.

So each lens has its points. Both vignette badly when used on an RF camera with a reflex housing, the Fernobjektiv more than the Nikkor. This is the consequence of the distance of the rear glass from the focal plane and the small size of the camera's lens throat. Both are capable of producing sharp images in the center of their fields. It is probable that an owner of both lenses would use the Fernobjektiv more often simply because it is easier to carry around.

From the editor

For additional manufacturer description, please refer to the page dedicated to the NIKKOR-H 180/2.5.

FACTORY PRODUCTION NUMBERS:

• 157 units for the Nikon Prism Reflex Housing;
• 30 units for the Leica VISOFLEX.

TOTAL: 187 units.