Penney's 80-200mm zoom lens for Nikon SLR

please don't hurt me! I just want to know if anyone out there can

give me some info about this lens. Is it true that (shudder)

J.C.Penney made/makes(still ?) lenses, and that too for a Nikon? I

have an F2 and a 50mm lens, I have been photographing for nine years.

Somebody said they had this lens that they could give me, I don't

have the big bucks for a Nikkor, so I thought why not? Will it really

fit on my F2? And can I hope for anything good to come of this at all?

I really appreciate anything anyone could tell me.

There were many third party 80-200 zoom lenses made with a Nikon AI or AIS mount. I don't know who actually made them, but they were sold under many different names, and many were the exact same lens. I have a Hanimex 80-200 zoom left over from when I had my Nikon FM3a. I can't sell it, because nobody wants it - it's too cheap! But that lens took some very nice pictures when used properly, as any long zoom requires. In terms of functioning, it worked on the FM3a as well as any of the Nikkors I had. No problem at all.

1) Does the back looks like the back of your 50?

2) If yes, does it screw it on the camera?

3) If yes, does it take pictures?

4) If yes, do the pictures look OK?

5) If yes, the lens is OK. If no, the lens is not OK.

Next

My first rule would be if anybody offers to give you a piece of equipment, you should immediately accept it and worry about the finer points later. What's to lose? The Penney lens is probably not a great one, though it was not the very cheapest at the time either, and if you can't afford better, it beats nothing at all. I'm sure JC Penney did not make the lens, but it's anybody's quess who did.

 

You don't say which sort of F2 you have. If it has a meter head, it will be one of two types. Earlier ones use the same system as the earlier F, in which the meter is engaged with a prong screwed to the aperture ring of the lens. If yours is this early type, it will work and meter properly with ANY Nikon lens that has such a prong (even an AF-D with a prong on it). If it's a later type of F2, requiring an AI lens, the meter is engaged with a tab on the back of the aperture ring, and it disregards the prong (though most Nikon mount AI and AIS lenses retained the prong as well). An AI meter requires an AI lens to work properly. A quick way to identify an AI lens is to look at the aperture ring. If it has two sets of numbers, one very small, it's an AI. If it doesn't, it probably isn't, though occasionally you'll see an early AI compatible lens, or one that has been converted, lacking the little numbers. Some aftermarket lenses will have "N/AI" stamped on the back of the mount, also.

 

If your F2 has no meter, no worries.

Sascha

 

Try it out. If you like it, great. If you don't, let me know, and I'll give you a Kiron 80-200 f/4 which is quite good.

 

Russ<div></div>

Sascha

 

Try it out. If you like it, great. If you don't, let me know, and I'll give you a Kiron 80-200 f/4 which is quite good.

 

Russ<div></div>

Thank you all. What a great community.

Sascha