Guide Number Nikkor

[farlymac]

I could have put one of these to good use fifty years ago. Found one for dirt cheap in the original box with both caps (no hood or instructions) at an antique mall one day when I was killing time.


DSC_0790_2 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

I went on a search for the hood and found the little buggers are 1) rare, and 2) expensive, so I decided to come up with an alternative. It works well, but because I wasn't exactly sure what the hood opening size was, I broke down and got a second lens that had the hood (was actually cheaper than any of the hoods I saw by themselves). The lens has a bit of fungus in it but does well enough in lower contrast light situations. Or maybe I just had issues focusing the Z5 I had it mounted on. Anyway, here is the first album of what I came up with for a replacement hood.

GN Auto Nikkor∙C 45mm 1:2.8 Lens and Hood

I got one of these lenses really cheap at an antique store, but it didn't have the hood, so I went on a quest to find a replacement.

flic.kr

I'll post the test photos tomorrow.

PF

 

[Ken Ford]

I love mine - I started using them in the late 70s when I was a PJ, it’s wonderful for fire scene and MVA work where water and glass confused the primitive flash automation at the time. Stick my Honeywell in full manual, set the GN, focus and go. After that an unmetered F2 and a GN was my daily carry.

 

[farlymac]

The test results are in! Well, at least I posted them today on Flickr. In conclusion it would appear the older lens could definitely stand a good cleaning to improve its contrast. Still not a bad performer though. First image below is the lens mounted on my Nikon Z5 via the FTZ adapter, and the second one is one of the four comparison images from both lenses.


Test Lens on the Nikon Z5 with FTZ Adapter by P F McFarland, on Flickr


Test_3 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

See the rest of the test photos plus commentary at GN Auto Nikkor 45mm 1:2.8 Lens Test

PF