Question about Nikkor 135mm bellows lens

[L. M. Tu]

Hello, I have the opportunity to borrow a Nikkor-Q 135mm F4 bellows lens and the associated bellows, reflex housing, camera body etc., from a friend who knows I like to play with unlikely contraptions. Now I know next to nothing about Nikon rangefinders, just that this setup is Nikon's version of the Visoflex with its short mount lenses, and would allow focusing from 1:1 to infinity. My question is, can I mount this lens with a BR-1 ring and bellows and be able to focus to infinity with an F-mount camera? (It just seems to me that a Nikon SLR is the best Visoflex ever made 🙂) Furthermore, did they do this with the contemporaneous Nikon Bellows II? Would this work, i.e. maintain infinity focus, with a PB-4, or would that have too much minimum extension?

 

[Tom A]

I use this set-up with a F body. The 135f4 is a good close-up lens - never tried it at infinity though. I use the F-bellows - not the Rf mirror housing. You should have enough "movement" to be able to focus at infinity though, kind of clumsy for scenics.
The F is indeed a very good "Viso" set-up - far more convinient than a Viso III/II - and you can stick the ultimate macro lens on it - the 55/f3.5 Micro Nikkor on it.
You should try your friends set-up and post the results here. Nothing better than some experimenting with stuff to keep the winter-blah's away.