PC-Nikkor Options

First of all, I have been a Nikon user for several years. Trying

other things out right now though. My father uses two Nikkormat FT2s

and I would like to get him a PC-Nikkor lens for Christmas since he's

an Architect and shoots his own designs. I don't know a lot about

them, but understand it can be had in three focal lengths, 28mm,

35mm, and 85mm. 35mm seems to be the least expensive and there seem

to be more than a couple available used. However, I wonder if the

28mm would be more useful for interiors. My other concern is that

while I have an F3HP and can switch my focusing screens, he can't

switch the screens in his FT2s. Also, are the PC lenses even

compatable with the early non-AI bodies? I'd like to keep this as

simple as possible, so any experiences and advice would be greatly

appreciated.

 

John

The PC Nikkor's have no aperture coupling, so they are mechanically compatible with all Nikon bodies that will work with a reversed lens or bellows (e.g. other situations where there is no aperture coupling).

 

You have to manually stop down these lenses via controls on the lens to meter and for the actual exposure. The K style screen in the FT2 split image and microprism will go dark when stopped down and/or shifted unless you have an extremely bright scene.

 

Base your choice between 28mm and 35mm on what non-PC focal length lens you would use.

 

This is one area where it is worth considering switching to the Canon EOS system. Canon's TS lenses are all electronically coupled and controlled.

The 85mm is a tilt/shift lens primarily intended for macro,

where the tilt is useful to tilt the plane of focus, and

shift is useful to re-center the image circle after tilting.

It's not a great architecture lens, mostly because its

focal length isn't very suitable for most architectural

photography. So consider only the 28mm and 35mm for the

use you describe.

<p>

The wideangle PC lenses aren't meter coupled, so they

work equally well with AI or pre-AI cameras. They

don't even have an automatic diaphragm. They're

a bit slow to use, but since buildings don't move very

fast, that's generally not a big problem. The Nikkormat

will work well with these lenses.

My experience is with the 28mm and 35mm PC-Nikkors. <P>Get the 28mm f/

3.5 PC-Nikkor. it is sharper and more generally useful in my experience,

especially for interiors. Ican't think of any reason for switching focusing

screens. Better than a grid screen is a dual axis bubble level to fit in the flash

shoe of the camera. <P> I know where a used one is that looks to be in

excellent shape. Write me if you are interested. (it isn't my lens by the way, I

just frequent the store that is selling it.)

Probably the 35mm is good for outdoors of small buildings; and the 28mm for interiors. A level; even a torpedo level on the tripod head is equal or better than the grid. The grid allows one to space off the 35mm frame; its brightness is not super.The 35mm F2.8 oldie PC of mine has an 11mm movement; thus it covers more than a normal 35mm frame. With this in thought; I placed it on my 4x5" old Speed Graflex; an interesting experiment................<IMG SRC="http://www.ezshots.com/members/tripods/images/tripods-296.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.ezshots.com/members/tripods/images/tripods-297.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.ezshots.com/members/tripods/images/tripods-298.jpg"><BR><BR>The PC Nikkors are a timeless set of lenses; they hold value well and are very usefull to use.

A PC Nikkor would be a nice lens for an an Architect to use. They want their buildings to look correct; and not falling over! The PC shift can be used sideways too; this allows one to remove an offending telephone pole many times.

Thank you all. I'll be sure to let you know how the hunt goes. Have a wonderful weekend.

 

John

The early 35mm f3.5 PC lens is not as well coated as the later f2.8 versions.

 

The early 28mm f4.0 PC lens nudges the AI ring on my N90s, but it can be used with caution on it and some other modern bodies. It is a great lens with fully coated optics, and it sometimes goes for considerably less than the f3.5 version. You can have one modified to fully clear the AI ring for a nominal charge, maybe $50-75. So if the deal is good enough certainly consider the 28mm PC f4.0 version. It is my standard lens for cityscapes, and I don't use my 35mm PC f2.8 nearly as much now. I haven't noticed a difference in optical quality between my 28mm f4.0 PC lens and my 35mm f2.8 lens, but I certainly haven't done a controlled comparison either.

 

Neither the early 35mm f3.5 nor the 28mm f4.0 PC lens are as rugged as later versions, particularly with regard to the shift lead screw. So check to make sure the shift knob doesn't bind or wobble before buying these or any shift lens, or else you may be in for a $100 repair.

I take my 28/3.5 PC lens whenever I travel, despite it being slow to use. I think even 28mm is barely wide enough for architectural interiors, but your father will enjoy this lens. It's also good for landscapes because the tops of mountains that you're looking up at do not recede.

 

I took this in Sienna cathedral, with the camera clamped to the back of a pew. The crowd parted for a moment. f8 and about 2 sec.

To add to the above, I didn't quite get the verticals to not converge. Maybe I didn't have enough shift.

I should add that there are plenty of scenes where a 28mm PC lens can't completely correct the perspective. Even so, a partial perspective correction is almost always better than none.

 

Also, someone should add the caveat to this discussion that for formal architectural photograpy, you need a LF view camera instead of a PC lens. But I think you probably knew that already.

Charles; the 35mm F2.8 PC nikkor on my 4x5" works well. It has a coverage much wider than a 35mm PC nikkor on a 35mm camera. With the Grafloc back vertical; the buildings will appear correct; as long as the lens is horizontal; ie no tilts. This combo will give an easy 58mm ++ diameter image circle. The corners of a 58mm square will be dark. A 41 mm square is well illuminated.

Whatever you do, be sure to get a Multicoated lens. The early, single coated P.C.s had really terrible flare. I have a 35mm PC Nikkor (my third), and a 28mm PC Pentax. The 35mm PC is probably the sharpest 35mm lens that Nikon has ever made, and for years I used it as my prime on an EL, which didn't have changable screens. For an Architect I would definitely recommend the 28mm jobbie.