How does everyone like the 360 APO Nikkor? Are movements really adequate for 8x10?

-- Jonathan Smith (jonathan@musicstudents.com), May 21, 2002

Answers

Since no one has yet answered your question, I will venture an answer. I have no experience using this lens. Nikon rated most Apo-Nikkors as covering 46 degrees. The 360 mm Apo-Nikkor was rated at 46 degrees and 600 mm diameter of coverage at 1:1. "1:1" means that the object and image have the same size, which was a typical magnification for the intended use of the lens on process cameras. Simple optical reasoning (which isn't perfectly correct) says that the coverage when the lens is focused on infinity would be 300 mm. This means that the lens will probably cover 8x10, and if it does cover 8x10, you can expect it to be capable of little or no front movements. But this all depends: the image quality that will be judged excellent in a print depends on how much the negative is enlarged. If might allow movements if you make contact prints, but not if you make billboard size prints. It also depends on how conservative Nikon was in rating the coverage. A definitive answer will have to come from someone who has used the lens to photograph distant objects.

-- Michael Briggs (MichaelBriggs@EarthLink.net), May 24, 2002.

I dont use 10x8 so I cannot give a definitive answer but I have a Apo Nikkor M 300 f9 and I think it is a 'Tessar' type design so I would expect it to cover a wider field of around 60 degrees.

-- Tim Hicks (thickstp@aol.com), May 26, 2002.

The Nikkor-M series, 200 mm f8, 300 mm f9 and 450 mm f9, appear to be Tessar-type lenses, based upon the cross-section diagrams. There coverage at f22 is rated by Nikon as 55, 57 and 52 degrees, respectively. These are marketed for LF photography.

The Apo-Nikkors were sold for process (printing industry) cameras and Nikon rated the coverage as 46 degrees, or even less for the longer focal lengths. The cross-section diagrams show a symmetrical construction usually referred to as the Dialyte or Celor design. This is the same design used in Apo-Artars and Apo-Ronars.

-- Michael Briggs (MichaelBriggs@EarthLink.net), May 26, 2002.