Nikor Tank Question

[dynachrome]

These are photos of a Nikor tank I recently got. It is from an early series and either made in NY or made when the company was located in NY. An earlier thread shows that later Nikor tanks were made in Springfield, MA, West Springfield, MA and Japan. This older tank does not have any black anti-reflective coating on the underside of the lid or on the top of the lid under the cap. Did the original Nikor tanks not have the coating or might the coating have worn off over time?

 

[beemermark]

I never saw one with a black coating. Why would it matter? When closed it's light tight.

 

[MattKing]

I've seen them both with black inside, and stainless steel inside.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I have one (came to me with two 220 reels, but it's the same size as the 4x5 version) that has the black coating, but I can't see that it matters much -- only light that already got past the pour-through light trap could reflect in there,

 

[bdial]

The black paint seems to be pretty robust on the ones that have it that I've worked with. I've never noticed significant chipping or wear on the paint.

As others have said, it doesn't really matter whether the tank has it or not. I've used/had both versions many times over the years, with equal results. Given that there may be some slight potential for particles to come off and end up on your film, you're probably better off with the non-painted one, but I wouldn't be concerned unless you see new bare spots on a painted one.

 

[Alan9940]

Mine are 40+ years old and none have any black coating anywhere.

 

[Randy Stewart]

I bought one new in 1960 which has a black inner lid. The much later tanks I acquired have a black plastic lid, which tends to seal and open more easily, as well as be water tight. My big difference in Nikor tanks is the reels. At some point, Nikor seems to have shifted from using large gauge diameter wire for the reel spools to the small gauge wire commonly used in Japanese and other cheaper brands. When I returned to using steel tanks and reels, I made a point of buying the older reels, which are much easier to load.