12x20 lense surprise

Hi all,

Just thought you 12x20 shooters would like to know....I recently

bought a 450mm Nikon f9 and it covers 12x20 nicely as you probably

are aware. The surprise is that a 480 mm f9 apo-nikkor that I got

for free from a print shop also covers too. In fact it really looks

good on the GG even at f9. Bright and sharp! Anyway I almost wish I

had waited on the 450mm as the 480mm looks so good. I have just

eyeballed these lenses on the GG and not tested them yet. Has anyone

made detailed tests of the differences of these two different

designs at infinity and 1:1? Thanks in advance!

I tested the 480 APO Nikkor on my 12x20. The image circle is plenty big but the area of sharp definition is much, much smaller. The corners on the 480 never came into reasonably sharp focus no matter how far you stop down, the edges are always mushy. The 450M is very good in the corners when you stop down to f:45-64.

My experience same as that of Butch. The 480mm Apo-Nikkor has a very large circle of illumination but you won't get acceptable definition, even with the lens stopped down to f/64 or f/90.

 

In fact, the circle of illumination of the 420mm Apo-Nikkor will also cover 12X20, but now way to get a sharp image at the edge of the field with it.

 

On the other hand, the 600mm or 610mm Apo-Nikkor will cover 12X20 with acceptable performance at the corners, and even allows a small bit of movement.

 

Sandy King

 

 

 

Sandy King