nikon 13.5cm f/4 lens

[gary chao]

Hi, Does anyone had experience with the very early 13.5cm f/4 lens for the Nikon I and M's?? What would be the value today in mint condition? Thank You!

 

[NIKON KIU]

Hi there,
Welcome to RFF

I watched the last one sell for just over $500 on 'ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEDW:IT&viewitem=&item=230138803482&rd=1&rd=1

There are two batches of serial numbers,the earlier ones are more valuable.

Does it have the shade,caps,case? Is it Nikon mount or LTM?

Hope this helps,

Kiu

 

[gary chao]

Hi Kiu, Thank you very much for the information. It's the later version, and does come with hood, cap and case. I've done some research and most of the sites indicated that this is an extreme rare lens. I was just curious because I was offered to one of these in mint condition and wandering if there is any collectibility to this lens. I don't use 13.5cm much! Thank you! Gary.

 

[rich815]

Ok, something must be up. I have a 135 Nikkor-Q in LTM with hood and caps that I think I paid $75 USD for. Very nice lens, I love it's rendition but HEAVY! Very well-built, BTW. I'm guessing the older ones are the rare ones that go for $500 plus and mine must be some common one that goes for $100 or less, right?

 

[jonmanjiro]

Ok, something must be up. I have a 135 Nikkor-Q in LTM with hood and caps that I think I paid $75 USD for. Very nice lens, I love it's rendition but HEAVY! Very well-built, BTW. I'm guessing the older ones are the rare ones that go for $500 plus and mine must be some common one that goes for $100 or less, right?

Take a look at http://cameraquest.com/nr13545.htm 🙄

 

[VinceC]

About 900 chrome 13.5cm f/4 lenses were made between 1947 and early 1950. The lens was then redesigned to a 13.5cm f/3.5, and about 30,000 of these were made. The numerous f/3.5 version is optically excellent and the best buy among Nikon RF lenses. The f/4 is chiefly a collector's lens. I don't know anything about its optical properties, but David Duncan, the LIFE photographer who put Nikon on the map, preferred the Nikkor to his Leitz telephoto.

 

[ZeissFan]

I believe this lens (as were many of the early Nikon rangefinder lenses) was based on a Carl Zeiss design.

In this case, it's nearly identical to the f/4.0 135mm Sonnar.

A company has to try hard to make an optically poor 135mm lens.