Monthly Archives: March 2012

The Nikon D700 and geotagging – Part I

Lightroom, Nikon bodies

Where was I?

The addition of enhanced geotagging in Lightroom 4 prompted me into looking at options for recording GPS coordinates using the Nikon D700. The camera provides EXIF data fields to store latitude, longitude, altitude (!) and time. Many smart phones, like the iPhone, already record such data and the capability is increasingly making its way into point-and-shoot cameras as they desperately try to postpone the day when they will be history, trampled into the technological dust by cell phones. However, full frame Nikons, which may be around a while yet, lack this technology, so a separate device has to be used.

I looked at Nikon’s GPS receiver and immediately crossed it off the list. It’s wrong in every way. It fits in the accessory shoe where it’s waiting to be wrenched off, and the camera will no longer fit in my camera bag with the unit mounted. It uses an ungainly cable to plug in to the ten pin socket on the front and it sucks on the camera’s battery for power. Switch the camera off and the unit is switched off, meaning 30+ seconds to reacquire a GPS lock when next switched on. (First data acquisition is typically 30-40 seconds with GPS devices, with changes recorded at 1 second intervals thereafter, as long as the unit remains powered up). Try and use the built-in pop up flash with the unit in the camera’s accessory shoe and you cannot. Finally, it’s silly priced at $195. Canon users can rejoice in the knowledge that if the Nikon’s unit is silly priced, the Canon’s means you are Rockefeller, as its GP-E2 costs $270. In that case, of course, you can afford it. It works on the 5D/II, 5D/III and some of the ‘pro’ bodies whose nomenclature I forget. Doubtless aftermarket solutions exist at sane prices.

The right way to do this is to use a very small Bluetooth receiver which plugs directly into the D700’s (or D800/D3/D4) body, deriving GPS data from a separate GPS data logger. The data logger has its own battery to do the heavy lifting of acquiring coordinates from satellites, transmitting these to the receiver on the camera, the latter using modest amounts of power from the camera’s battery for the Bluetooth circuitry only. The logger can be left on all day, as it has a ten hour life, so the reacquisition problem goes away even if the D700 is turned off, as the GPS logger remains on at all times.

The only snags I can see is that you have to remember to recharge the battery in the GPS logger and that there is no ten-pin pass through port, so if you want to use any other device which needs the port, like a cable release, you are out of luck. However, the receiver does have a mini-coaxial socket for remotes so if I can find the right cable I should be able to use my wireless remote uninterrupted. Well, there is one other snag, but it’s unlikely to bother me. the software which comes with the logger will run on Windows only, displaying your journey details. It’s not a snag as it will be a cold day in hell before I ever use Windows again and and I really do not need to retrace my travels. All that matters to me is knowing where the pictures were taken.

The GPS Bluetooth receiver.

The receiver ran $60 on eBay and as the grammar-free English confirms, it’s shipped from China. The vendor is named “photohobby” and lists the device as “Bluetooth GPS adapter AK-4NII for Nikon D4 D200 D300 D300s D700 D2Xs D3 D3s D3x”.

The GPS device itself looks like this – “photohobby” lists a large range of devices which will work:

i-Blue MobileMate 886 Mini Bluetooth GPS Receiver.

I chose this one because it was the smallest and lightest out there, yet still promises a 10 hour battery life. You keep it in your pocket or in the camera bag, switched on while snapping. It cost $47 shipped from CA to CA, Amazon and many others carry it, and comes with USB and car charger cables. Weight is negligible.

Thus my total geotagging investment is $106, or almost half the price of the Nikon OEM solution with its poorly thought out design.

Now, I would love to tell you I have upgraded to Lightroom 4 and gush on about how wonderful it is but there are two reasons I cannot do so. First, I’m not some whore who adulates Adobe in print because I make a living from teaching the illiterate how to use their products. Second, Adobe’s servers are down and I cannot download the upgrade. What else is new?

However, the geotagging functions in LR4 seem easy to use and I’m of the mind that soon geotagging data will be expected, rather than just a novelty. Here’s a snap of how photo locations appear in LR4:

Geotagging in Lightroom 4.

More in Part II when the mail from the People’s Republic arrives. Hopefully, Adobe’s servers will have been fixed by then.

Alternative approaches:

As I seem to be getting a lot of emails on alternative GPS recording methods, all of which I researched before writing the above. Here’s is why I avoided them:

  • Use software to extract GPS data from your smartphone or GPS device, then sync it with your photographs, hoping that you remembered to sync the camera’s clock with the one in the GPS source as that’s the lookup field used for matching. Uh huh.
  • Hack your iPhone to unlock it using something like Cydia, which permits you to access your iPhone’s GPS data stream and Bluetooth output with like functionality to the i-Blue gadget I bought, above. And you are OK with draining your iPhone’s battery really fast? And you are OK with re-hacking it every time Apple does a software update and disables past hacks? And you don’t care if you can’t make calls when you brick your iPhone and have to restore it?

I guess it all comes down to what your time is worth and whether you prefer futzing about to making pictures.

Nikkor-Q 200mm f/4 lens

Nikon lenses, Photographs

Another insane bargain.

This 200mm telephoto lens dates from 1971 and is the one to own if you love the early all metal designs, a broad scalloped focus collar and a similarly designed aperture ring. More importantly, how does gorgeous rendition of out-of-focus areas sound? I love the feel of this lens, so reminiscent of 1960s vintage Leitz Summicrons, but I would suggest you buy one regardless of whether you even plan to use it.

You see, this lens is the ultimate exemplar of optical and mechanical engineering. Further, as with the 500mm f/8 Reflex Nikkor, digital processing technology really brings it into the sweet spot for photographers. Forget the reviews, most dating from the film era. Processed in LR3 with my usual 86 Sharpness import setting, this lens is as good as it gets. Better still, the balance on the D700 is perfect. Sharpness across the frame is the same regardless of aperture, and there’s maybe one stop of corner vignetting at f/4, falling to nothing by f/8, and easily corrected in Lightroom. For ‘bokeh’ nuts, the out of focus bits are beautifully rendered. Contrast is a tad lower than that in more recent Nikkors, easily juiced in LR when needed. There is very modest color fringing at f/4 and f/5.6, easily and perfectly correctable in Lightroom 3, and only required if you are making large prints. Another example where modern processing technology has given new life to a very old lens.

At 6 1/4″ with the hood collapsed this is no modern resin/polycarbonate midget. I owned the Leitz Telyt 200/4 of the period for many years and it was similar optically, but inferior mechanically. I can say with comfort that this is, mechanically, the best long lens I have ever handled. I have also owned the Leitz 180mm f/3.4 Apo Telyt-R which was superior optically, if not by much, but inferior mechanically. Another 200mm I have owned is the Canon f/2.8L AF which is optically the best 200mm I have used, and mechanically OK. On a construction quality level, I would rate the Leitz 200 an 8, the Leitz 180 a 7, the Canon 200 an 8 and the Nikkor a 10. Optically the scores would be 7/9/10/8, respectively.

Shown here with built-in hood extended.

The feel of the focus collar could not be improved. Unlike the light action of lenses like the 50mm Nikkor-H f/2, this has a substantial resistance to motion which meshes perfectly with the balance, size and ergonomics of the optic.

And if you want to see how lenses were engraved before the days of chintzy screen printing, feast your eyes on this:

Engraving quality to die for.

The finish is stove baked enamel and black sheen for the most part (you can feel and hear the lathe’s tool with a fingernail drawn longitudinally across the sheen parts) and the chromed components are Leica-quality 1960s chrome. That means they are as good as it gets.

Mine has been converted to AI specifications, as the small rear aperture marker strip testifies, even though it is redundant on the D700/D800/D3/D4 FF bodies. Collectors will recoil in horror at the prospect of machining this lens, but I’m a photographer, not a museum curator.

Nothing is rushed here. The focus damping is deliberate and the focus throw long – some 180 degrees down to seven feet. Earlier models did not focus as close. Later ones started growing crappy rubber and vinyl parts. You can buy one of these for $39 (yes, thirty-nine mighty US dollars), almost mint, which is what I paid KEH.com for mine, plus another $33 to the estimable John White for AI conversion.

Goodness knows, I’m no gear collector, but in the case of this magnificent tool, I can see just putting it on display, not least for the price asked, should I become gaga and routinely start wetting myself. Further, spend an additional $30 for a CPU, glue it in place and you have a modern optic which will automatically report proper EXIF data and support matrix metering on a current Nikon DSLR body. And you still have under $100 into it.

Some snaps. The lens is distinguished by wonderfully plastic rendering of out-of-focus areas and beautiful balance on the D700 body, being easily handheld. Most of these were taken at the ghastly tourist trap known as Fishermen’s Wharf in San Francisco, and the long focal length does a fine job of separating the wheat from the chaff:

Mad men. At f/8.

Alcatraz. I added the vignette. At f/4.

Porthole architecture. At f/5.6.

Gorgeous 3D rendering of the bird. I added the vignette. At f/5.6

The Letter. A 200mm lens excels at this sort of thing. At f/4.

Umbrellas. At f/4. Thank you, Mr. Leiter.

Number Nine. I added the vignette. At f/4.

As you can see, there is every reason to use this lens at full aperture. The D700’s focus confirmation indicator helps out when needed. The only thing which leaves me mystified is that someone actually sold the almost unused one I so happily call mine. Their loss.

You can download my custom lens correction profile, for use with PS or Lr here. It removes minor vignetting at full aperture and corrects for very minor pincushion distortion at all apertures.

D700 dream trio

Nikon lenses

What the well dressed FX snapper is wearing.

Flash back to my youth and the snapper’s dream outfit was a Leica M2 with 35mm and 50mm f/2 Summicrons and the 90mm f/2.8 Tele Elmarit. The 90mm Summicron at that time was simply too big to carry around, with the compact and outstanding ApoSummicron only coming along much later. I owned and used all of those and they were simply the best the film world had to offer. SLRs changed all of that and DSLRs changed it further, with modern makers boasting zoom lenses of extraordinary quality, range and …. price, bulk and weight.

In planning my little D700 outfit it was not lost on me that the Dream Team for most Nikon pros consisted of:

  • 14-24 f/2.8 AF ED zoom, $1,997, 2.1 lbs.
  • 24-70 f/2.8 AF ED VR zoom, $1,887, 2.0 lbs.
  • 70-200 f/2.8 AF ED VR zoom, $2,397, 3.4 lbs.

I have used none of these but the large number of test reports suggests that each is superior to prime lenses at its respective focal lengths. But there are drawbacks. While quite possibly the most extraordinary design triumph in modern optics, the pregnant, distended front element of the 14-24mm zoom precludes the use of filters and invites damage. And the bulk and weight of all three is non-trivial, with the trio weighing in at no less than 7.5 lbs and costing $6,300 in total. Add in one body and a carrying case and you are close to 12 lbs of dead weight.

I took a more modest approach. I very much tend to a wide angle view of the world so was prepared to splash out on the best wide zoom I could afford, as a broad range here obviates the need to carry many lenses. AF would be nice to have, but not essential as most everything is sharp most of the time, VR no big deal for a wide lens but no option to delete it. Shame, as it adds a lot of bulk and adds little for wide angle photography. Fixed maximum apertures are nice to have and generally denote a lens made to a standard, not to a price. So I ended up with this combination:


My economy Dream team.

  • 16-35 f/4 AF ED VR zoom – new $1,140. 1.5 lbs.
  • 35-70 f/2.8 AF D AI-S zoom – used, mint $400. 1.5 lbs.
  • 75-150mm f/3.5 Nikon Series E zoom – used, mint $85. 1.1 lbs.

The 16-35 is a current model, is one stop slower than the 14-24 but has a flat front element which allows the use of filters. You lose 2mm at the wide end but gain 11mm at the long end and VR is thrown in, if not really necessary. I spent big on this as it replaces the 16mm, 18mm, 21mm, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm lenses, which also makes sense of the bulk and weight. The 35-70 was the pro zoom of the 1990s – push-pull zoom, outstanding optics and a very useful true macro range, with definition to match down to 25% of life size, at 35mm. AF is nice on a lens which sees a lot of use, build quality puts the current 16-35 lens to shame. The lens was strongly recommended to me by a photographer whose work I love – what better way to choose? More on this optic later. And the 75-150, while MF and ‘only’ Series E (Nikon’s attempt at a budget line a couple of decades back) is light, has a fixed maximum aperture and is so compact that it’s not something you hesitate to take along. I’ll add a CPU chip to it for proper EXIF recording for another $30, a simple DIY job. Total weight is 4.1 lbs, almost half the weight of the first outfit and cost was $1,624 in aggregate for one stop less, 2mm lost at the wide end and 50mm sacrificed at the long end, for a saving of over $4,600. To make the comparison fair, used lenses should be substituted in the first example but these premium Nikkors sell for very modest discounts used, so maybe the true amount saved is more like $4,000. Non-trivial however you look at it.

Best of all, despite the frugal approach, there are no compromises when it comes to optical quality. All three are outstanding with maybe the best being that little sleeper the 75-150, an optic with a deserved reputation amongst Nikon fans in the know. And at $85 a replacement will be cheaper than repair in the event of damage.

Adding a CPU to MF Nikkor lenses – Part I

Nikon lenses

Feature enhancement.

Background:

Manual Nikkor lenses lack a CPU, distinguished by 5 (AF D lenses with aperture ring) or 8 (AF-S G lenses with no aperture ring) electrical contacts on the back of later lenses. The CPU (really just a simple EPROM, hardly a CPU) confers a lot of modern functionality on the hardware when the CPU’s contacts meet like connectors in the body of the camera.

Advantages of a CPU:

  • Correct automatic recording of lens focal length in EXIF file data, except for zoom lenses.
  • EXIF data for focal length is posted in a searchable field in Lightroom, unlike the case where a non-CPU lens is keyed in manually.
  • The limitation on nine non-CPU lenses keyed manually into the camera’s body disappears.
  • The user cannot forget to dial in the right lens, as is the case when using non-CPU lenses. Correct EXIF data are assured.
  • Lenses which focus incorrectly, as indicated by the focus confirmation light in the viewfinder, can be fine tuned for optimal focus.
  • Ai and Ai’d lenses can be set so that aperture control reverts to the aperture ring on the lens, not the control dial on the camera, permitting correct exposure in ‘A’ and ‘M’ modes. ‘P’ and ‘S’ modes require the lens be set to its minimum aperture and control reverts to the body, but correct exposure in these modes is not guaranteed, owing to the non-linear design of the aperture cam.
  • Ai-S lenses can be set so that aperture control is either with the aperture ring on the lens or the control dial on the camera, permitting correct exposure in ‘A’, ‘P’, ‘S’ and ‘M’ modes. ‘P’ and ‘S’ modes require the lens be set to its minimum aperture and control reverts to the body; correct exposure in these modes is retained, owing to the linear design of the aperture cam.
  • Exposure automation is no longer limited to Aperture priority.
  • Full matrix metering becomes available and I confess I am becoming a devotee given how good it is. Non-CPU lenses use matrix metering only if the ‘non-CPU’ lens data is entered using the LCD on the rear of the camera.
  • Program and Shutter Priority exposure automation are added; non-CPU lenses support Manual and Aperture Priority only. Shutter Priority would seem especially useful for sports photographers.
  • Focus lock is an option – the picture cannot be taken unless the lens is correctly focused when focus lock is programmed ‘On’.
  • Enhanced fill-in flash capabilities are added.
  • On ‘pro’ bodies like the D700 the Command Dial wheels can be used to set aperture (in aperture priority mode) in preference to the aperture ring on the lens, the latter being left at minimum aperture at all times, like with an AF D lens. I confess I prefer to use the aperture ring as I support the lens with my left hand from below, but it’s an option.
  • A lens with CPU fitted permits the appropriate lens profile to be automatically applied on import in Lightroom 3/4/5 when using custom lens profiles.
  • Certain earlier Nikon DSLRs, which do not provide auto exposure when no CPU is fitted, will now do so, allowing the use of MF lenses on these bodies with full exposure automation.
  • One reader has reported that chipped lenses (programmed on a D700, for example) can be used with bodies – such as the D40 – that don’t allow input of non-CPU lens data.
  • Bodies with electronic aperture readouts in the viewfinder which do not otherwise report the aperture to which the lens is set will now report it if aperture control is passed from the body to the aperture ring on the lens.

I am a huge fan of early Nikkors – Ai and pre-Ai with Ai conversion as, in my opinion, the construction and operating ‘feel’ of these lenses have never been surpassed, and the optics are outstanding on my D700. They are generally incredibly inexpensive, too, with near-mint copies easily found. As I never use ‘S’ or ‘P’ exposure modes, the limitations on auto exposure for these pre-Ai-S lenses, above, do not trouble me.

What I am aiming to accomplish with these articles:

Having had a couple of really old Nikkors converted for AI operation on my D700, I began to realize some of the shortcomings of not having a CPU in those lenses, so I did some investigating. My due diligence disclosed that there is a substantial body of knowledge relating to updating old manual focus Nikkor lenses by adding a CPU, that this knowledge is not to be found in one place, and that a programmable CPU could be purchased for $30 from a Singapore eBay vendor. What I have done in this piece, and in the article which follows, is put simple instructions in one easily accessible place and added a substantial amount of detail based on my practical experience of installing CPUs in both Ai, Ai’d and Ai-S manual focus Nikkor lenses. I address aperture non-linearity issues in Ai and Ai’d lenses and how to avoid these. I illustrate the differences between aperture control approaches. All of this was done using my D700, but much of it likely applies to other Nikon DSLR bodies.

Finally, I integrate the CPU installation and programming process with the use of custom tailored lens correction profiles for use in Lightroom and Photoshop, as the icing on the cake when a lens with a CPU installed is used.

Who can do this?

Anyone with two hands, one eye, an MF Nikkor, $30, maybe a screwdriver and jeweler’s file/Dremel/milling machine, some patience and some glue can install a CPU in most MF Nikkors. An engineering degree is not required. Some exotic lenses like the 55mm/1.2 and Noct cannot be easily adapted as there is simply insufficient room to install the CPU. But most Nikkors can be easily converted.

Red oval denotes the 5 CPU contacts on this AF D Nikkor.
Green line denotes alignment of the fourth contact on the CPU with the focus mark.
Non CPU Nikkor on the right; this is my 50/2 converted to AI operation.

Corresponding contacts in the camera body. AF-S lenses use all eight; AF D use only five.

Source for the CPU:

Here is the information on the eBay seller – the price includes shipping. The reference to Leica in the listing is irrelevant:

The vendor says that the CPU comes with an alignment template but if you follow this article all should be well even if you do not use it.

One reader advised this vendor is out of stock so try this one – look for ‘Dandelion Chip’. I do not know whether this Leitax CPU includes the ’60’ option to switch aperture control to the lens. If that’s important to you – meaning you are using pre-Ai-S lenses or prefer to use the aperture ring on the lens to the control dial on the camera – you should check before spending your money. See Part II of this article to understand what the ’60’ option does.

CPU alignment:

This CPU is simply glued into place on the rear of the lens’s internal barrel with the fourth pin aligned as shown by the green line in the picture above. However, the five contacts must not protrude beyond the periphery of the adjacent chrome bayonet mounting ring if proper fit in the camera’s body is to be assured. Likewise, they must not be too far recessed or no contact will be made.

Green circle denotes correct protrusion of the five contacts.
This is on an 85mm f/1.8 AF Nikkor D.

So there are four scenarios:

  • The contacts protrude just so when the CPU is positioned on the barrel. Just glue the CPU in place, aligned as shown.
  • The contacts do not protrude enough. Glue a shim in place first to confer the appropriate stand-off, then the CPU, thus ensuring electrical contact.
  • The contacts protrude too far, risking damage to the camera and/or CPU. Remove metal from the barrel to ‘countersink’ the CPU appropriately.
  • There is insufficient room for installation of the CPU. (e.g. 55mm f/1.2, 58mm f/1.2 Noct). Delegate the job to an expert.

In the first two cases, no lens dismantling is needed. Glue only. In the third case, the internal baffle must be removed (generally requiring removal of three radial, countersunk Philips screws in the chromed bayonet flange), removing excess metal from the baffle with a Dremel cut-off tool, until the CPU is sufficiently recessed. It seems a modicum of material can also be removed from the base of the CPU but care is needed not to trash the CPU when doing this, so I do not recommend that approach. In the fourth case DIY is not recommended – seek out an expert. The idea of butchering a $3,000 Noct-Nikkor and getting it wrong is not one I want to contemplate!

Here are the key dimensions – the protrusion of the contacts and their distance from the outside edge of the bayonet flange:

Dimensions, as measured on a factory AF D lens.

Here is the key longitudinal measurement – the contacts are centered between the green lines but, once again, it’s not that critical – look how broad the contacts in the camera body are, above:

Longitudinal protrusion. Just look how shoddily made the CPU on this 85mm f/1.8D prosumer lens is!

Precision vs. accuracy:

I do not want to overemphasize the need for precision here. Reasonable accuracy is all that is called for. The contacts on the CPU are sprung for 0.05″ of travel, allowing for radial error, and as you can see from the above picture of the mating contacts in the camera body, you would have to be way off on axial placement to get it wrong. Looking at the above, if your Nikkor has 0.18″, give or take 0.01″ say, of clearance between the barrel and the outside edge of the bayonet flange, you should be able to simply glue it in place. Any less and you need a shim; any more and you will have to use a file on the barrel. As an example, my 50mm Nikkor-H of 1971 vintage measures a total of 0.16″, so 0.02″ of barrel would have to be removed before gluing the CPU in place.

General dimensional rule:

Based on my experience in adding CPUs to several lenses, any lens whose rear baffle external diameter is in the range 1.355″ through 1.426″ (34.62mm through 36.22mm) permits a simple glue-on CPU installation, with no need for machining. The ‘rear baffle’ referred to is the black ring protruding from the rear of the lens, inside the chrome bayonet mounting flange. Lenses with baffle diameters larger than this will need metal removed from the baffle to avoid damaging the CPU and/or camera’s contacts. Tow examples in my collection which needed such surgery – a few minutes with a Dremel cut off wheel and a file after removing the baffle – are the 100/4 Micro Nikkor Ai-S (1.621″ diameter – 41.17mm) and the 300/4.5 ED IF Ai-S (1.613″/40.97mm). Two others, the 28mm f/3.5 Ai’d and the 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor-S Ai’d are much trickier.

Choice of adhesive:

Which adhesive? I am no fan of Super Glue (cyanoacrylate). It is extremely dangerous should you get it on your fingers (two fingers become one), runs far too readily (though ‘gel’ consistencies are available) and has far too short an ‘open time’. I propose to use a two-part epoxy which has none of these drawbacks and also is far more reliable than the fussy Super Glue variants, working with a broad range of surfaces. The glue used must work with plastics and metal. The very last thing you want is for the CPU to become detached and get whacked by the camera’s mirror or trapped in the focal plane shutter, either scenario guaranteed to spoil your day. And what with the occasional whack from a rear lens cap when the lens is removed for storage, you really want this to last for the long-term, without having to baby it. Waiting 24 hours for the glue to cure seems like little to ask for peace of mind.

Programming:

The beauty of this CPU is that it is programmable using the camera! Once the CPU is in place, the lens is mounted on the body and the programming instructions are followed. The programming step serves to tell the generic CPU the maximum and minimum apertures of the lens and the focal length. Additionally, you can switch on focus lock (though I don’t see doing this with an MF lens) which will operate in ‘S’ shutter mode only, just as with any modern AF Nikkor. ‘C’ mode disables it.

This ‘CPU’ is a simple EPROM (Erasable, Programmable, Read Only Memory) meaning that if you make a mistake you can simply redo your work and your latest settings will be saved. The CPU has no variable or moving connections to the lens. It simply sits there, like a lump on a log, waiting to tell the camera body which lens it’s attached to, and the camera’s battery provides the power to do this.

Further, if your MF lens front focuses or back focuses (meaning the focus confirmation light does not come on at the optimal focus sharpness), you can correct for this when programming the CPU. For regular AF Nikkors you do this using the LCD panel and the Menu system. For CPU-modified lenses it’s done as part of the CPU programming step.

Non-OEM lenses and zooms:

The programming instructions are relatively well written and easy to follow. However, I hope to improve on them in Part II of this article, based on my practical experience. It is clear that Zeiss (and other non-OEM) lenses in Nikon mounts can be programmed to work correctly so long as there’s room to glue the CPU in place, but it’s unclear how one programs zoom lenses’ focal lengths. As the CPU is a passive device, it cannot report the correct focal length with zoom lenses, and there appears to be no way to state a focal length range in the programming instructions, so I expect I would enter the 75-150mm lens as ’75mm’ for identification purposes in EXIF data. Note also that my zoom is a fixed maximum aperture lens. I would expect that variable maximum aperture zooms would run into exposure problems as the CPU can only program one maximum aperture.

Coming in Part II:

To cut a long story short, I have ordered several of these CPUs and when they arrive I’ll write about my experience in installing and programming. As a first pass I’ll try it on the newly AI-converted 50/2 H, 105/2.5 P and 200mm f/4 Q as the barrels are easily accessible even without removal of the rear chrome ring on the lens, and I should be able to do a dry run to confirm positioning and programmability using just two-sided 3M Scotch adhesive tape (very carefully!) for a temporary fit. If all is well, epoxy will be the next step.

The CPU will not, of course, add AF or VR, but it does add a lot of value to some great classic Nikkors for little time, effort and cost.

More in Part II.

Nikkor 500mm f/8N AI Reflex lens

Nikon lenses, Photographs

Not easy to use, but with massive promise.

Warning: This article could end up costing you money. It debunks all the myths about a much derided class, the mirror reflex lens.

Background:

Name the two photographic themes which were overdone in the 1960s and most lists would prominently feature fish eye images and those taken with mirror reflex lenses. Opposite ends of the focal length spectrum – 8mm and 500mm. The distortion of the former is well known, though I suspect the peculiarities of the latter may be largely forgotten.

Indeed, read about mirror lenses and their objectionable out of focus ‘doughnuts’ in an age obsessed with ‘bokeh’ (The out of focus bits really matter that much? You paid how much for that?) and you have no reason to question Nikon’s decision to discontinue the last of theirs, the 500mm f8, in 2005.

And that is a massive shame, as the post processing wonders of digital have finally conferred the fix for what ails reflex lenses. And what ails them is poor contrast, a small fixed aperture, the need for high ISOs to avoid camera shake and modest resolution. Plus those doughnuts. Digital fixes all of those. f/8 is no longer especially slow, ISO 3200 is no biggie and sharpening in post processing is a given in the world of anti-aliasing sensors and Lightroom.

Doughnuts:

If you want to get those objectionable out of focus doughnuts prominent in your snaps, then be sure to photograph low key subjects against bright backgrounds. But it does not have to be that way. Select your subjects and compositions with a modicum of care and you can largely avoid the doughnuts with this compact tool, a 4″ long 500mm lens, weighing in at some two pounds in your gadget bag, challenging your skills to the utmost. What’s left of the doughnuts, if unwanted, is easily removed in Photoshop, as I show below.

Nikon’s offering:

The best known mirror lens is probably the 500mm f/8 Nikon Reflex-Nikkor. It’s small and light, with exceptionally good mechanical construction. The focus collar is feather light, the fit and finish as good as it gets and all the markings are paint filled engravings. The tripod collar has detents at 90 degrees – why aren’t all collars like this? – and I have fitted a Manfrotto QR plate to mine for use on a tripod or monopod. The latter is a recommended adjunct for street snapping as it takes out the major source of movement blur, vertical motion.

500mm Nikkor f/8 AI N Reflex lens.

Nikon made a few versions of these and the one to get is the last one made, the ‘N’, as it has ultra-close focusing and the lowest weight and bulk. It’s distinguished by an engraved orange arc (for the close focus range) on the focus collar. They usually sell for $650 or so, though prices seem to fluctuate over a wide range; mine came for about half that from the estimable Fred Miranda forum, the sole defect being a smudge of grease on the front glass, easily removed with a Q Tip, lightly moistened in isopropyl alcohol. It seems like most owners take a snap or two, conclude it’s not so good, and sell, making these abundantly available, most having seen little use. The earlier version, slightly bulkier, typically sells for half as much. I have not used it so cannot comment on definition, but I’ll bet that the build quality is comparable, meaning superb in every way. That version weighs a few ounces more, focusing down to 12 feet rather than 5 feet in the last model.

This lens is certainly not easy to use. If you do not use a support your snaps will likely be blurred. Further, even with focus confirmation in the D700, getting the point of focus right is not easy. Nikon says focus confirmation in the D700 needs f/5.6 or faster, yet it works perfectly with this f/8 optic, a lens with immense promise. A truly creative lens, well worth the effort of scaling the steep learning curve.

Processing:

I have found that my default Sharpness import setting of 86 in LR3 has to be increased to 125 with this lens, at which point the images start to perk up. Add some contrast and they start to sing. At ISO 800 and up a bit of luminance noise starts to creep in and is easily corrected in LR3. None of these options was available in the days of film when these lenses were sold new, nor was LR’s Clarity slider, which also helps greatly when more micro-contrast is called for.

As is common with mirror lenses, this optic suffers from ‘hot spotting’ wherein a central circular zone is brighter than the remainder of the image and also from light pincushion distortion. Download my tailored Lightroom lens correction profile here to correct for this, making a great lens even better.

The images in this article were processed without applying this profile and you can clearly make out the ‘hot spotting’ in one or two. In those situations where this detracts from the image, use my profile.

Some snaps:

I have never owned or used a mirror lens so what follows is literally from my first ‘roll’. These were all snapped handheld with ISO varying from 800 to 3200 on the D700. I left the monopod at home just to see what the lens could do handheld, and mostly used 1/500th or faster shutter speeds. Maybe 30% of my pictures were incorrectly focused or showed unacceptable camera shake. A monopod will greatly help to improve the success rate. Used in like conditions with my 300mm Nikkor I had no camera shake down to 1/60th. Without some form of support, it makes sense to use continuous shooting to take several frames of each subject, in the hope that one comes out best.


The magnificent Oakland Bay Bridge.


Viva California!


An artist sketches his subject.


Blurred, yes, 1/60th second handheld does that. But the passion is there.


Umbrellas. Face.


Hair!


Young love.


Tan.


Gandhi. I actually like the out-of-focus effect here.


Red.


San Francisco – America’s finest city.

Photoshopping the out-of-focus bits:

If the appearance of the out-of-focus area is not to your liking, a quick round trip from LR3 to Photoshop and the magic lasso and lens blur filter make things look more orthodox – and more boring:


Orthodox looking blur, conferred using Photoshop CS5.

Doughnuts be gone!

Debunking myths:

‘Experts’ have it that catadioptric lenses of this kind are inherently aberration free. This, of course, is pure rot. Ask the fellows at Hughes/Perkin-Elmer who cost the US taxpayer millions of dollars when their faulty Hubble telescope was blasted into orbit. The subsequent fix requiring replacement of the mirror and software enhancements did not do anyone’s reputation any good and likely hurt NASA’s dwindling prospects of surviving. That said, I have found no evidence of chromatic aberration when pixel peeping my snaps from this Nikon lens. This is not some warmed over, cheap aftermarket imitation. (Note to NASA: Have Nikon make your mirrors next time.)


1/500th, hand held, ISO 800. LR3 sharpening = 125, Clarity = +29, Luminance Noise reduction = +30.

Here’s a magnified version of the top left corner, consonant with a print sized 30″ x 45″:

In use:

The diminutive size of the lens makes it very ‘stealthy’ – here it is compared with the gargantuan 16-35mm current auto-everything zoom (I call the latter my cuckoo lens because it looks as silly on the D700 as a cuckoo does in a warbler’s nest):

The 500mm focuses past infinity – as here – to allow compensation with changing temperature.
The tripod collar, with my QR plate, is rotated 90 degrees in this photograph.

Closest focus is an astonishing 5 feet, or 40% of life size, at which point the length of the lens is a mere one third of an inch or so longer than at infinity. That focus distance is comparable to a standard 50mm lens at 6″. The focus collar rotates well over 360 degrees, but there’s sense in that. The long focus throw greatly aids in critical focusing, and that is a key dictate with this lens. Incredible engineering, thoroughly thought out.

Indeed, when I was snapping the other day on San Francisco’s beautiful Embarcadero, a fellow photographer, toting a Hasselblad no less, stopped to ask me about the strange looking lens on my D700. I gave him the camera and as he pointed it I suspect he was expecting a portrait lens kind of focal length. The look on his face was priceless, and I explained that two of the great motorcycling roads in America are those winding their way up to the mirror telescopes at Mount Wilson in Los Angeles and Mount Palomar in San Diego. The Reflex-Nikkor uses the same technology, though Palomar’s 200 inch mirror will not fit in your bag.

Use on a tripod and why MLU helps:

Another myth says that it’s not possible to properly steady this lens. In tripod use the critical shutter speed range is generally 1/8th to 1/60th, regardless of the lens fitted. That’s where the period of vibrations caused by the DSLR’s flapping mirror and shutter is the highest as a percentage of total exposure time. With shorter exposures the vibes don’t have much of a chance to have a say in the matter and with longer ones they will have long died when the bulk of the exposure time commences. It’s when and how long things shake that matters.

This is easily proved. Using my solid, cantilevered Linhof tripod with a good ball head, I pointed the lens at the Dow Jones chart in my office (Hey! A guy has to eat!) and after focusing using the focus confirmation feature, fired the shutter four times, varying the ISO to get two snaps at 1/25th and two at 1/5th second. In each pair of pictures I let the mirror operate normally in the first but used the Mirror LockUp (MLU) feature in the second. In all cases a wireless remote was used.

The results confirm two things:

  • That shutter speeds around 1/25th are the most likely to suffer definition loss
  • That vibration induced by mirror slap is very significant at these speeds

Without and with MLU at 1/25th second,

Without and with MLU at 1/5th second.

The lesson is to avoid speeds in the 1/8-1/60th range if possible, by changing ISO. Better sharp grain than blurred continuous tone. And if you must use these shutter speeds, use the MLU feature for best definition.

The above enlargements are from 30″ x 20″ print sizes. Pixel peeping the two sharp ones where MLU was used shows that, indeed, the one at 1/5th is the sharper of the two, vibes from the release of the shutter being a smaller percentage of the overall exposure time. The slower shutter speed delivers the sharper result. As the ISO used was 800 and 200, the essentially grainless nature of the D700’s sensor is not a material variable in the comparison.

But if anyone tells you that you cannot get sharp results from this lens on a tripod, you need to read someone else and make sure you use a solid tripod and a wireless shutter release. Proper technique wins every time when it comes to definition. In the two sharp originals taken using MLU, the very finest 6 point text on the chart is sharp and easily read in a photograph taken from fifteen feet distance, confirming the quality of the lens and the accuracy of the focus confirmation feature in the D700’s body.

Use with other makers’ cameras:

For all you envious Canon digital owners out there, adapters are available at very low cost for the current EF mount (EOS – 5D, 5D/II etc.) cameras, and as the lens is MF and fixed aperture, you will have the same operational issues as Nikon fans. I don’t know whether Canon’s focus confirmation beeper works with this lens on the body.

For those suffering from brand loyalty, Canon made a 500mm f/8 Reflex for the discontinued FD mount but even if you can find one, it will not focus to infinity on the current EF mount Canons with a regular adapter. Adapters which permit this interpose a poor quality negative lens element, which is guaranteed to destroy the definition of this fine Canon optic. The same goes for Minolta adapters for Sony Alpha bodies and Pentax K body adapters. Avoid.

Minolta/Sony used to list a 500/8 mirror with autofocus, but I can’t find it at B&H any more. Sony is expert at making a superior product and then discontinuing it before anyone notices. The next Kodak.

Adapters for use of Nikon lenses on Sony NEX and on Panasonic/Olympus MFT bodies are readily available and no negative lens is required, owing to the thinness of these bodies. On APS-C the effective focal length is 800mm, and 1000mm on MFT. One significant advantage of bodies using electronic viewfinders is that the small f/8 aperture will be automatically compensated, rendering the usual, bright image in the finder.

Zeiss once listed both 500mm and 1000mm reflex Mirotar lenses for their long discontinued Contarex bodies, but the cost of those exceeded Greece’s national debt and used copies remain exorbitantly priced and very rare.

Lens correction profile:

As is the case with most mirror reflex lenses, the Nikkor suffers from ‘hotspotting’ – the central area of the image is brighter than the periphery. Accordingly, I have made a tailored lens correction profile, for use with LR or PS, and you can see the fairly dramatic difference when this is applied in the pair of snaps below.

Before and after applying my lens correction profile.

Usage instructions and profile download can be found here. All the pictures above were reproduced before applying the profile, as is clear from those with continuous tone backgrounds.

Conclusion:

It’s ironic that now, when camera and processing technology exist to make the best use of the capabilities of reflex lenses, that all except a few crappy aftermarket brands have been discontinued. A used Nikon Reflex lens is a superb bargain for those willing to work at making it sing and easily the most exciting lens I have used in ages.

Installation and use of a CPU is addressed in a follow-up piece here.