Nikkor Ai/S 1200 mm f/11 ED IF

[w.a._steiner]

<p>Hi folks,<br>

I would like to know who owns nowadays a Nikkor Ai/S 1200 mm f/11 ED IF lens?<br>

I know that 544 pieces all together where built from 1979 until 1985, but i would like to know how many from this 544 piece are right now in private hands.<br>

Please contact me if you own one, or if you know somebody who owns this lens.<br>

Thanks in advance<br>

Wolfgang Steiner</p><div></div>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>I think you want to put something like this in the classifieds, not the forums.</p>

[Robert DeCandido PhD]

<p>You should contact Bjorn Rorslett - he has one - his review of this lens is below and copied from his web site:</p>

<p>http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_tele.html</p>

<p>He posts on the Nikon forum here occasionally (so look him up), or you can easily find him at NikonGear.com where he is a moderator (nfoto) and "Fierce Bear of the North."</p>

<p>Okay, these are Bjorn's words:</p>

<p> "The longest of the long refractive optics made by Nikon, and the rarest of them all as well. Probably less than 500 were produced."<br>

<br /><br>

"The lens is similarly shaped as the 800/8 Nikkor, but the barrel is significantly longer and the lens is heavier at 3.9 kg. The optics, comprising 9 elements in 8 groups, are so well colour-corrected that the lens has no IR focus mark. The tripod mount is for once excellent and the lens takes 39 mm filters in a drop-in slot. The focusing collar is situated far to the rear of the lens, an arrangement which takes a little to get used to but in practice works well with the lens attached to a tripod."<br>

<br /><br>

"Using such a long lens isn't trivial because the great magnification and long physical length both tend to amplify camera and mirror shake, and don't even bother to put this lens on a flimsy tripod. Given it is supported well by the tripod, you get very sharp and crisp images from it, and the colour saturation is excellent as far as telephotos are concerned. Colour fringing is by and large absent, too. However, be warned that the 1200 mm won't give quality results with any teleconverters unless you accept a huge increase in CA."<br>

<br /><br>

"On the FX camera (D3), corner vignetting becomes fairly obvious, even to an extent that might appear similar to a big hot-spot. Post-processing can remove some or most of this issue, but you're warned." </p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>I'm not sure the OP is trying to sell one.... He just wants to know who owns such a rare MegaBeast!</p>

<p>I do wonder whether such 'slow' aperture v.long lenses have a second lease of life with the very high ISO capabilities of modern DSLR's that allow a suitable high shutter speed to avoid <em><strong>some</strong></em> of the long lens problems...... not to mention auto CA and vignetting correction.</p>

<p>Pop this on the high pixel density D7000 and you should have an amazing long-gun!</p>

[w.a._steiner]

<p>Thats true Mike!<br>

And the most interesting thing is, that it works pretty well with the TC-300 Converter. Even my test is not in english, you can check the pics at my homepage. All pics were made with the Nikon D7000.<br>

http://www.wolfgangsteiner.com/blog-do-show-blogid-112.html<br>

http://www.wolfgangsteiner.com/blog-do-show-blogid-114.html<br>

Regards<br>

Wolfgang</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>I think it's interesting how in a time when color film used for printed magazines was ISO 64 and black and white 320, Nikon made these very long lenses with small apertures and considerable expense to buyer. I noticed there is an ad on E-bay for a 360-1200/11 (user condition) and it had a buy-it-now price of about $13k (USD). I would think also that these are today more useable than they ever were, with high-resolution digital cameras, high ISO options, and finally live view manual focus being possible. Not to mention that you get instant confirmation of whether the shot was affected by movement or focus errors.</p>

<p>Now, that being the situation, it would be nice to see some results of such lenses using current camera equipment.</p>

[w.a._steiner]

<p>Here are some results:<br>

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.wolfgangsteiner.com/blog-do-show-blogid-112.html" target="_blank">http://www.wolfgangsteiner.com/blog-do-show-blogid-112.html</a></p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Belatedly, I notice that Nicholas Camera (.com) on Camden High Street in London claim to have a 1200mm f/11 IF-ED, available for "substantial offers". That may or may not be current information. I'm now intrigued, and next time I'm in London I'll add it to my "lenses to gawp at" list (along with the 300 f/2 and 1200 f/6.3 in Aperture and the 6mm f/2.8 in Grey's). I'd be more impressed if it was a 1200-1700mm, but a curio is a curio. :-) (And Wolfgang - interesting blog; now to brush up on my German...)</p>

[kuzelphoto]

<p>So I actually came across one of these today...</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/photo/17463045</p>