Nikkor PC lenses

Are there some photos they won't take? No just kidding. Was cruising thru a favorite vendor site and found an Excellent condition Nikkor 35mm F 3.5 PC. Price was very good, enough in the photo account, so off the order went. Have wanted to fool around with one of these since EPOI days. Probably be here in a week. Any experiences, suggestions, shortcuts anyone cares to share will be appreciated and probably applied.

I think the earliest ones would not clear the overhang on a Nikon Photomic when shifted up, and might have a similar issue on later bodies. The second generation had a longer barrel and worked fine. I have a pre-AI 35/2.8 and love it.

 

If you're using this on a camera with AI follower or an older AF camera with a side-moving minimum-aperture switch, you'll almost certainly need to trim back the rear skirt to avoid damage. Since this lens does not have any moving parts back there it's very easy to do. You can remove the rear part and turn, file, or sand it down a little to clear the AI follower. It only takes a millimeter or so to be safe. I turned mine and it's just fine. On the low end digitals, including the D7500, with no AI follower and either no minimum aperture switch or with a switch that pushes up and down, no conversion is required.

 

The old PC lenses can get a little slack in their shifting. There is a two-hole spanner nut on the shift knob. If you loosen that, and then tighten the knob a little, and then retighten the spanner nut, it snugs right up.

 

I think these lenses are about the epitome of fine metal lens construction. Just wonderful.

Thanks, Matthew. Particularly appreciate the tightening info, which I didn't find anywhere else. This particular lens according to research today, first version, apparently completely manual - no fork, by birth date and photo appearance not AI. There is no auto stop down for F stop - you set one ring, open another to focus, then close down to take the shot. I have plenty of camera options, DF, also D750 - will check the books, but both handle most pre AI, as will D7200 (I think) even the GXR with adapter will work even tho not FF (that could be interesting!), and my old F2 thru F5 Nikon Film. There is something compelling about the old Pro lenses! This type has been on the wish list for a very long time, exciting.

All those PC lenses are presets and completely manual, with no prong, no moving parts at all at the mount end, but for reasons known only to Nikon the skirt still extends too far back to be compatible with an AI camera, at least in the case of the 35/2.8 I have. So do not mount that lens on an AI camera without being very careful to make sure the skirt does not press in on the AI follower when you mount it.

You can add a tilt adapter for macro with DoF manipulation.

 

It will act as an extension tube so you wont reach infinity. Mine adds about 22mm.

The f/3.5 aperture indicates that this lens is very old. As Matthew says, watch that it doesn't collide with and damage the AI follower tab.

 

If it does, the removal of the mounting collar and 30 minutes careful work with a file sorts the issue!

 

The main image fault that I found with an early 35mm f/2.8 PC lens was the lack of multi-coating. The large image circle makes the lens very prone to flare and lack of contrast. So keep bright light sources well out of frame.

 

The later, multi-coated versions are much more contrasty lenses and not prone to flare as much at all.

 

I upgraded my old single-coated version and it was well worth it. But if you just want to play with this type of lens the older versions are fine when the light's nowhere near to the front element. Just watch that rear collar on your camera(s).

 

Oh, BTW, Nikon's manual recommends metering before shifting with these lenses, and the viewfinder does darken considerably when maximum shift is applied. However, I've often forgotten Nikon's advice and got perfectly well exposed pictures with the lens shifted on a DSLR.

 

Happy shifting!

Edited November 26, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

I confess that I have never used my PC-Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 (non-AI) on any of my AI mount Nikons. Never occurred to me to do so, since my favorite film Nikons are the Nikkormat EL, NIkon F, and Nikon F2. I also use it regularly with a simple adapter on my Canon EOS cameras.

 

I do remember that the early Nikon lists* of lenses they would convert to AI did not include the PC-Nikkor.

 

I strongly suspect that you should be very, very cautious in mounting either the PC-Nikkor f/3.5 or F2.8 on newer Nikon bodies.

 

Keppler's version of Nikon list with serial numbers of adaptable non-AI lenses

*__________

 

I confess that I have never used my PC-Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 (non-AI) on any of my AI mount Nikons. Never occurred to me to do so, since my favorite film Nikons are the Nikkormat EL, NIkon F, and Nikon F2. I also use it regularly with a simple adapter on my Canon EOS cameras.

 

I do remember that the early Nikon lists* of lenses they would convert to AI did not include the PC-Nikkor.

 

I strongly suspect that you should be very, very cautious in mounting either the PC-Nikkor f/3.5 or F2.8 on newer Nikon bodies.

 

Keppler's version of Nikon list with serial numbers of adaptable non-AI lenses

*__________

 

[ATTACH=full]1272817[/ATTACH]

 

- Since the lens uses a manually-operated preset aperture, there's obviously no way it can be AI converted.

 

When AI was introduced and those old P-C lenses were current, all Nikon's AI camera bodies and metering prisms had a 'flip-up' AI follower tab. So a slight overhang on the mounting collar was no problem in those days.

 

It was only when the FE2, FM2, etc. were introduced with a fixed plastic AI follower that it became an issue. The seeds of Nikon turning away from a commitment to complete backward compatibility were being set!

 

Anyhoo. After attacking my 35mm f2.8 P-C Nikkor with a file (cringe), it now fits any Nikon body yet made!

My 28mm f4 PC Nikkor, that I bought new, is one of the sharpest lenses that I have ever owned. It was crazy expensive at purchase, but quickly paid for itself. I routinely made 16x20 prints that were beautiful. I used it on Fs, f2s, and f3s.

Since the lens uses a manually-operated preset aperture, there's obviously no way it can be AI converted.

 

The AI conversion is not only for the indexing, but also requires the

 

attacking my 35mm f2.8 P-C Nikkor with a file (cringe),

 

It's the unmodified, original condition lens that requires caution.

The DF will take the lens, as that was one of the selling points - it will take nearly every Nikkor F mount lens with the tab folded back. The lens has no diaphragm tab that is preset on one ring, then opened for focusing with another, and stopped down to the preset with the same ring. There is neither need or reason for AI conversion If there were, I would do what I invariably have done in the past - contact John White at AI conversions to have quick, excellent and affordable conversion work done.

Just to make it clear, though, because JMDvW's post seems to have been accidentally truncated, we're speaking here of the skirt that surrounds the mount, and even though it does not move or do anything, in unmodified form it extends far enough behind the mounting flange to hit an AI follower (or a minimum aperture tab on AI-less cameras - no issue for newer ones but a no-go on older ones).

 

Just so I didn't have to bother to fold the tab back, I turned mine down when I was using it with an F3. Painted afterwards, it hardly shows. If I had no lathe, I'd just take a sheet of sandpaper, lay it on a table face up, and sand the ring down by a millimeter or two. Here's my 35/2.8, which will mount safely on any Nikon F-mount camera ever made:

 

Just to make it clear

Thanks!

Just got the lens this morning - absolutely pristine. It almost looks unused. The F stop ring is spring loaded - you press back lightly to turn it. It does fit on the DF with the tab folded back. Not a very nice day here, so any fooling with the new toy will be indoors.

You can do multiple shift and then stitch so you ended up with a wider angle lens and a larger sensor.

Yes indeed, although the old shift lenses aren't quite as nice for this as the new TS ones, because they only shift in one direction, if you rotate the lens, so you get right, center and left, the result will be just a hair less than twice the horizontal field of the lens, and if you're careful not to jiggle the tripod when you rotate, the image will be rectangular and horizon lines, buildings, etc. will be straight.

 

It's also fun to be able to take yourself out of reflections, or to eliminate your shadow when the sun is behind you.

It's also fun to be able to take yourself out of reflections, or to eliminate your shadow when the sun is behind you.

........or photograph mirrors, pseudo square on.

 

But never forget it is a pseudo, impossible-to-get image. It's not from the same View Point.

 

If you shift whilst photographing a framed painting to get yourself and/or camera and/or light reflections out of the image, the result will have a 'thicker' frame on the edge you shift from.

 

If you T&S a house, the view you get appears to be as if you were half way up the height of the building. But you can't see the top of the porch!

 

You need a cherry picker for that.....;)

 

..........and without getting philosophical, capturing a true elevation of a normal building is impossible. Very long lens shooting from infinity....:D

Another, not so obvious use, is to use the lens 'dropped' when shooting low angle landscapes. This not only saves crawling on your knees, but exaggerates the foreground in an unusual way. For example: carpets of flowers are made to appear 'thicker' than if you simply lower the camera viewpoint.

 

Difficult to explain the effect, but it's definitely different from an unshifted view.

Weather is supposed to improve later in the week. For now, I'll have to see what it will do indoors.

But never forget it is a pseudo, impossible-to-get image. It's not from the same View Point.

As to that, the only images that aren't "pseudo" are those captured by your eyes and translated by your brain, and there is even argument about that! What is real? :D

A very strong argument indeed!

 

They're all upside-down for a start... how real is that?

 

There is no spoon.....:cool:

As to that, the only images that aren't "pseudo" are those captured by your eyes

 

Plato's allegory of the cave (ca. 410 BCE - idea's been around a long time)

 

Allegory of the Cave

I've found the 35/3.5 PC extremely sharp, great for quick handheld architecture shots. I use it on an FE (meter coupling released) and a Nikkormat FT3; stop-down metering on both of course. Mine looks well-used but works well.

A fun lens - have been too busy to wring it out, but here is a sample from a few quick grabs when I first got it. Fully manual, so the exposure could be better - this a vertical panorama - two max shift up & down merged.. A slight crop, since I was a touch off horizontally between the two hand held pics. Edited December 8, 2018 by Sandy Vongries