Nikkor 45mm f2.8 P Pancake lens

[Sirius Glass]

Wow! This is an old thread. I see that I replied to it in 2009. Since then I also got the older 9 blade version of the 45/2.8 GN. I like both and was not tempted to get the P model. In the pancake or near pancake area, I have two 40/2.8 Pentax SMC-M lenses, the rare 40/2.5 Vivitar (in K mount), a number of 40/1.8 Konica Hexanons and some 45/2 Minoltas. They are all good lenses and fun to use. Of the group, the Konica Hexanons are probably the sharpest.

 

[Les Sarile]

Who's using a Nikkor 45mm f/2.8 P in 2023? I thought I'd revive this thread as I've just ordered a mint sample from Japan - very excited to try it.
It will go on my F301 body as my standard 'always with me' compact/light set up. I mulled over getting a fancy point and shoot for this purpose for a while, but they're just too overpriced at this point. I still have a Yashica T3 point and shoot, but I've never been really happy with it, and its shutter is starting to fail, so when it goes, it'll be F301 + 45mm. A few disadvantages of course, but a lot of improvements.

As for the 45mm - there's not much about it online apart from the already mentioned usual suspects (good old Ken). Most people reviewing it seem to rate it based on how it looks and performs on a digital/mirrorless camera, including DX bodies, and including Nikon Z bodies. Even the smallest DX body will be thicker than my F301. Further to that, on DX bodies, focal length becomes a 67mm equivalent. On Z bodies, this needs a fat adapter. Both types of usage kind of nullify some of the advantages of this lens, so I essentially ignored them.

As for people comparing it to the Voigtlaender 40mm f/2 - I own the Voigtlaender. It's on another Nikon film camera I use when I visit my home country. I quite like it, and it's definitely tack-sharp, but the pretty noticeable field distortion (I'm surprised nobody talks about it) makes it rather unsuitable for the kind of photography I do. Also, I have the previous model (matte black, plain design) and the new model (SL-II, styled after early pre-AI Nikkor lenses) seems to be quite a lot bigger than the 45mm P Nikkor.

Anyhow. It should hopefully make for a nice compact and versatile backpack setup. We'll see.

The Nikon site has an article about the AI Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P -> A Standard Pancake Lens for the Nikon FM3A

Fuji 100-10-17B by Les DMess, on Flickr

I am still on the hunt for one myself . . .

 

[albireo]

The Nikon site has an article about the AI Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P -> A Standard Pancake Lens for the Nikon FM3A

Fuji 100-10-17B by Les DMess, on Flickr

I am still on the hunt for one myself . . .

Fascinating insight by the original designer - thanks for sharing!

 

[Craig]

Why would you want this lens over a Series E 50/1.8? The 50 is also very small and light, plus 1.5 stops faster. I can't see the use of a standard lens that is only F2.8.

 

[albireo]

Why would you want this lens over a Series E 50/1.8? The 50 is also very small and light, plus 1.5 stops faster. I can't see the use of a standard lens that is only F2.8.

I find 50mm a little too narrow. The sweet spot for me is really 35mm/40mm. Perhaps I'll be happy with this 45mm, too. Also, I never use my prime lenses wide open, I tend to stop them down to f/4 or f/5.6.

I guess what I'm really looking for is the thinnest profile SLR+lens I can find to replace a 'point and shoot' compact camera use case.

There is that, and then there is obviously GAS

 

[ooze]

The Nikon site has an article about the AI Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P -> A Standard Pancake Lens for the Nikon FM3A

Fuji 100-10-17B by Les DMess, on Flickr

I am still on the hunt for one myself . . .

Interesting article from the designer. Towards the end he writes: "The FM3A was discontinued because it turned out to be very difficult to achieve compliance with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS 1) adopted by the EU in 2003". I wonder what hazardous material the FM3A contained considering that the directive is aimed at minimising waste from electrical and electronic equipment.
Sad that a lens as sweet as the 45mm/2.8P had such a short life.

 

[M-88]

I find 50mm a little too narrow. The sweet spot for me is really 35mm/40mm. Perhaps I'll be happy with this 45mm, too. Also, I never use my prime lenses wide open, I tend to stop them down to f/4 or f/5.6.

I guess what I'm really looking for is the thinnest profile SLR+lens I can find to replace a 'point and shoot' compact camera use case.

There is that, and then there is obviously GAS

There's also Series E 35 mm f/2.8 which may not be as fast as 50/1.8, but is fairly wider and cheaper than 45/2.8. Not too big/heavy either.

 

[guangong]

I have earlier version. Small size makes my Nikon F close to pocketable. Satisfied with results.

 

[Les Sarile]

I find 50mm a little too narrow. The sweet spot for me is really 35mm/40mm. Perhaps I'll be happy with this 45mm, too. Also, I never use my prime lenses wide open, I tend to stop them down to f/4 or f/5.6.

I guess what I'm really looking for is the thinnest profile SLR+lens I can find to replace a 'point and shoot' compact camera use case.

There is that, and then there is obviously GAS

Then consider the Pentax MX + pancake lens combination . . .

Size Lineup by Les DMess, on Flickr

 

[Les Sarile]

Interesting article from the designer. Towards the end he writes: "The FM3A was discontinued because it turned out to be very difficult to achieve compliance with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS 1) adopted by the EU in 2003". I wonder what hazardous material the FM3A contained considering that the directive is aimed at minimising waste from electrical and electronic equipment.
Sad that a lens as sweet as the 45mm/2.8P had such a short life.

In a previous company one of the most common ROHS issue was hexavalent chromium which is likely in everything metallic prior to this.

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

I have never used the newer version, but I also have the old 45 GN lens, an early one with the nine-blade iris.

My parents got it in 1969 for its original purpose, working with manual flashguns. And I actually used it that way a few times, including shooting a wedding and bar mitzvah... until we got a Vivitar 283.

It's my most-used Nikkor lens. I kept it mounted on a Nikon F2 (with plain DE-1 prism) for over a decade: the lightest possible F2 configuration to carry around. And I've never had any complaints with its sharpness or imaging:



These days I use my other Nikkor non-AI lenses more frequently - the 105/2.5, 135/3.5, 35/2, etc. - but I often bring the 45 GN along as an alternative to the long lenses, since it's essentially effortless to carry.

Addendum: Note that there's also a Thousand and One Nights article about the 45 GN:

NIKKOR - The Thousand and One Nights No.81 | NIKKOR - The Thousand and One Nights | Nikon Consumer

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Is this 45mm GN one of the last Tessar-type lenses ever designed in the approx. 50mm focal length? Have there been any newer ones from any company? Most the others I can think of are 1950s. The Contarex Tessar ƒ/2.8 was from 1960.

 

[reddesert]

Interesting article from the designer. Towards the end he writes: "The FM3A was discontinued because it turned out to be very difficult to achieve compliance with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS 1) adopted by the EU in 2003". I wonder what hazardous material the FM3A contained considering that the directive is aimed at minimising waste from electrical and electronic equipment.
Sad that a lens as sweet as the 45mm/2.8P had such a short life.

One of the major effects of RoHS was the move to lead free solder, which caused major changes to how electronic equipment is assembled. Obviously Nikon has managed to figure this out for other cameras with more electronics, but it is possible that reconfiguring the electronics assembly for the FM3A, a low volume item with an uncertain future that was probably assembled partly by hand, was too much of a hassle or just made it unprofitable.

Another possibility is that it had to do with the body finishing and plating, which might have involved regulated heavy metals as suggested by another poster. Or it might have been that the FM3A had a separate assembly line requiring separate certification that was expensive. I suspect all of these come down to that if they were selling hundreds of thousands of them, it would have been doable, but less so for a low volume product.

 

[reddesert]

My 9-blade 45/2.8 GN most often finds use on an FG-20. Pop on an adjustable, manual flash ala the Godox Lux Jr and shoot anywhere.

The newer AI-P version is appealing if you want to go even more modern & compact with something like an N75 that already has a built-in flash. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of Nikon cameras (any?) with built-in flashes that will handle non-chipped lenses.

Trivia: the N6006 has a built-in flash and will meter with AI, non-chipped lenses, but not a non-AI lens. (On the digital side, the D200/D300 series and the D7000-D7200 series also have built-in flash and can meter with manual focus AI lenses.) Typically among the film AF cameras, the built-in flash came on more "amateur" oriented bodies like N65, N75, N80, etc, and Nikon started leaving the mechanical AI meter coupling off those to save money; usually they were aimed at being used with an AF kit lens anyway. The one weakness of an N80/F80, lack of metering with manual focus lenses.

 

[KinoGrafx]

Trivia: the N6006 has a built-in flash and will meter with AI, non-chipped lenses, but not a non-AI lens. (On the digital side, the D200/D300 series and the D7000-D7200 series also have built-in flash and can meter with manual focus AI lenses.) Typically among the film AF cameras, the built-in flash came on more "amateur" oriented bodies like N65, N75, N80, etc, and Nikon started leaving the mechanical AI meter coupling off those to save money; usually they were aimed at being used with an AF kit lens anyway. The one weakness of an N80/F80, lack of metering with manual focus lenses.

To add to this, the n6006 won’t even mount non-ai lenses, and doesn’t do balanced fill flash with ai/ais lenses. But It’ll do ttl flash and center weighted and spot metering with ai/ais but not matrix. And most of all they are great, under appreciated grossly undervalued cameras! So much fun to use

 

[KinoGrafx]

Oops, so a 45mm f2.8 gn ai or ais would work great on a n6006. Back on track…

 

[albireo]

The lens is here. It's tiny. Even smaller than I had imagined. Smaller and lighter than my Voigtländer 40mm f/2. Very well dampened focus ring, nice click to the aperture ring. Came with a 'barnacle' hood and caps.

Couple of pictures, including a comparison with a 50mm f/1.8 Ai-s pancake.

Ready to try it out. Roll of Kentmere 400, light yellow filter, D23 1+1 just mixed. Life is good!

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

The lens is here. It's tiny. Even smaller than I had imagined. Smaller and lighter than my Voigtländer 40mm f/2. Very well dampened focus ring, nice click to the aperture ring. Came with a 'barnacle' hood and caps.

Couple of pictures, including a comparison with a 50mm f/1.8 Ai-s pancake.

Ready to try it out. Roll of Kentmere 400, light yellow filter, D23 1+1 just mixed. Life is good!
[...]

Slick as hell. No glamour shots with the hood?

Spoiler: Digital

The other Nikkor pancakes, apart from the GN & AI-P, are the 10mm CX & 26mm Z with flange distances of 17mm and 16mm respectively.

 

[images39]

The 45mm 2.8P is my most used lens for 35mm. I've read online reviews both trashing it and praising it, and none of that matters... I love the results from this lens. Also makes a Nikon SLR nice and compact. I think you'll like it.

Dale

 

[Sirius Glass]

The 45mm 2.8P is my most used lens for 35mm. I've read online reviews both trashing it and praising it, and none of that matters... I love the results from this lens. Also makes a Nikon SLR nice and compact. I think you'll like it.

Dale

Either one likes the slightly wider than normal lens or not. It is a religious following, like which end of a hard boiled egg one opens first.

 

[images39]

Either one likes the slightly wider than normal lens or not. It is a religious following, like which end of a hard boiled egg one opens first.

It's nothing religious on my part, I just think the 45mm focal length is versatile, and like the image quality from this lens. The OP had asked for feedback on it.

Dale

 

[albireo]

Nikon N2000 Review - a Stunningly Cheap Film Camera

James review the Nikon N2000, a superb value 35mm film SLR that's as good today as it was when it first released in 1985.

casualphotophile.com

A blogger, James Tocchio, posted a review of the F301 + 45mm f/2.8P combo, which is the exact one I shared pictures of a few months ago in this thread. What a fantastic coincidence! Hey James Tocchio! How about acknowledging you got inspiration from here in your blog so Photrio gets some traffic?

For everyone else - if you want a 45mm f/2.8P get it now - the bloggers are on it (next will be the youtubers). I anticipate a 100% markup within 1 year.

 

[M-88]

Hey James Tocchio! How about acknowledging you got inspiration from here in your blog so Photrio gets some traffic?

Pff. Tht blog went downhill around a year ago. Guess they've run out of stuff to review. Photrio member Huss was a frequent guest of comment section there.

 

[skahde]

Now that everything is said but not yet by me I also had this lens for just a short period of time as I could not find any benefit in it beside being "not so special". Not sharp in comparison, no interesting characteristics whatsoever. Just the boring Tessar-signature to be had from about any decent 60s snapshooter.