Lets talk adapters for old piece of Nikon glass...

[crimbfighter]

***Edit*** After a really close inspection of the lens mount (with a micrometer and a caliper) I couldn't find a difference, dimensionally. Sooo, I worked up the balls, and veeery slowly put it on my D5000, and "click" it mounted right up!!! So, disregard the rest of the post, and I guess now I'm just sharing the pics of the lens to brag! ****

So, I have this lens, which belongs to my dad. It's a Nikkor 8mm f/2.8 fisheye. My dad purchased it between 1970-71 in Hong Kong. He purchased it when he was in the Vietnam War, and even though it broke the bank at the time, he didn't think he was coming back anyway, so he splurged. He doesn't remember what he payed for it then. I thought I would pull it out of the case, dust it off and see if we can get it back in use! So, here's my questions:

1. Which lens mount if this?

2. Is there an adapter made that will fit this lens to modern Nikon DSLR's. He has a D90, and I've got the D5000. If not, can anyone recommend someone who can modify the lens?

3. How good of a lens is this? Is it an ok lens, good lens, great lens?

4. Can anyone tell me, roughly, the value of the lens? I'm not interested in selling it, but would be curious to see what it's worth.

Here's a bunch of pictures of the lens:

Both the front and rear lens elements are in perfect condition!

Notice the built in filters. It's got an L1A, Y48, Y52, O56 and R60. Though I did notice they have a bunch of dust and dirt on them, so they would have to be pulled out and cleaned.

 

[Derrel]

I think that modifying it would be a mistake, since it is a very clean example of a highly collectible older Nikkor lens that was made in pretty limited numbers, comparatively speaking.
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/6070nikkor/fisheyes/8mm28.htm

As you found out,the lens WILL MOUNT and will shoot pics on a baby Nikon, but its fatter-than-modern-Nikkor aperture ring will potentially damage the minimum aperture sensing tab on the D90 and other modern consumer Nikons, as well as on most of the higher-level Nikon bodies. That small tab is located at around the 7 o'clock position of the lens mount, when looking at the camera from the front. The aperture ring's outside diameter can also interfere with the AI indexing tab, which is up at the top of the lensmount, at the 1 o'clock area. The baby Nikons have NEITHER the minimum aperture sensing tab, nor the AI-indexing system, so ANYTHING in F-mount will click into place and work on a baby Nikon!!!

Nikon Ai Fisheye-Nikkor 8mm f2.8

Judging from the serial numbers, this is an early production sample of this model variant. I would definitely NOT have it AI-converted. Yours was about the 58th sample produced, making its collectibility higher than a higher,later run sample to a serious collector who might value a "Low-digit" sample much more highly than a later one. Production began with #230011. There's a clean one on eBay right now for $1700 Buy-It-Now. A more-motivated buyer might go to $2,500 for a really clean, low-digit model like yours. Depends on the buyer and how much he wants it.

 

[crimbfighter]

**Edit. I found a website where this lens was used on a D3, so I guess I'll proceed with mounting it on other camera, just veeeery slowly. Unless there is something else I'm missing. The sample pictures at the bottom of this web page are amazing!
http://www.momentcorp.com/review/nikon_fisheye-nikkor_8mm_f2.8.html ***

Thanks a lot for the info, Derrel. I'm really glad you mentioned the possible conflict with the aperture sensing tab and AI indexing tab. I shall proceed with caution! I probably would have gone ahead and tried to mount it to the D90... Guess it may be reserved for the D5000!

I was so excited to snap a couple photos, I couldn't wait. I also wanted to test its sharpness and IQ. Here are three photos, taken sequentially from f/2.8, f/5.6 and f/11. Followed by each one is a 100% crop. They're the inside of my apartment, so I know the photos themselves suck, but this was just a test. Also, the difference in color from one side of the frame to the other is due to two different light sources.

I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this lens!! Unfortunately, and I think this is because of the DX sensor, the top and bottom of the image are cut off I really wish I could get the great round image!

f/2.8

f/5.6

f/11

 

[djacobox372]

That lens appears to be MINT, which makes it worth around $1500--if it has the original box/case, it's could sell for more then $2000.

Even if it mounts correctly on your crop-body dlsr, you won't get even close to the same effect it has on a full-frame dslr or film body.

 

[djacobox372]

Here's a thought, if you're worried about the depth of the mount, you could mount it first to a narrow extension tube... this typically would cause you troubles with infinity focus, but with such a wide angle I doubt that would be an issue.

 

[crimbfighter]

Here's a thought, if you're worried about the depth of the mount, you could mount it first to a narrow extension tube... this typically would cause you troubles with infinity focus, but with such a wide angle I doubt that would be an issue.

I'm glad you mentioned this. The thought had actually crossed my mind, but wasn't sure about trying it. When you use extension tubes, does it change the size of the image that is projected on the sensor? What I mean, is will the top and bottom of the image be cut off more, less, or stay the same if I mounted it on an extension tube? Even if it did cause minor issues with the focusing at infinity, I would still be willing to try it.

I also noticed my above post about the lens being mounted on a D3 was not entirely correct. When I looked at it again, it was the Ai model that was used on the D3... Guess I just saw what I wanted to see!

 

[crimbfighter]

Ok, so this lens has become a bit of a project for me. Here's a couple updates and a couple more questions that hopefully someone can help me answer. Also, there are questions thrown about in the post, so read thoroughly

I've explored the extension tube option. I tried two different brands, both from my local camera shop, and neither of them worked. The only reason they didn't work, was because both brands had steps on the inside diameter that were still too shallow to allow clearance for the length of the tabs protruding off the lens... So, I'm betting if I really searched, I could find an extension tube that had the appropriate clearance, but there's another issue. The extension tube causes the image to effectively be "magnified" or "enlarged" on the sensor, kind of like what the crop sensor did in comparison to the full frame... When I was testing what the added distance from the extension tube would do, it looked to me like it reduced the angle of view from a true 180deg, to probably around 130-140deg (that's a number I derived after using the highly calibrated and scientific method of setting it up then moving my hand around the periphery until it came into the frame) . I think it sorta ruins the effect for me. A huge draw, for me, with this lens is the circular image it produces.

Now, for me, the extension tubes are out. So, that leaves me with two options. One, have the tab on the back machined down so the clearance will allow it to fit. Two, replace components on the lens to update it to a later version which will have the appropriate clearance. This way I could change it back to factory configuration if I ever wanted/needed to.

Since I am desperately trying to find a non-destructive method to modify this lens, I'm going to explore option two, for the time being.

That leads me to my question. Is it possible to replace just the necessary part of the back plate, mounting plate, what ever it's called, the one surrounding the rear lens element and that contains the actual mounting ring. See this image for clarification (It's a crude edit, but it gets the idea across):

After researching this lens, everything I've found indicates the three different versions made (F, Ai, Ai-s) were all optically identical. Soooo, is it possible to purchase an old beat up crappy Ai lens (that still has a good mount), harvest the parts I need, then swap them onto the lens? I would think this would only work if the donor lens was from the same era and used the same generic, components. Does anyone think this could work?