Tell me about the old Nippon Kogaku N 24mm f/2.8.

Ariston · Dec 28, 2020

I just won a bid on a body, and it comes with this lens attached. The seller says it has "cleaning marks," otherwise known as scratches. I don't expect them to impact the optics any.

Is this lens worth keeping? I already have a Sigma AF in this focal length... though it may not focus as closely. Autofocus is not that important for wide lenses, to me. I may keep this one and sell the Sigma.

I believe this is the single-coated old version. I should have it in my hands in a few days.

Dan Fromm · Dec 28, 2020

I think this is the one you're asking about:
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/6070nikkor/wides/24mm.htm

BradS · Dec 28, 2020

I have one, sans cleaning marks ca. 1970. It is amazingly good. I’m definitely keeping and regularly using the one I have. I also have the ai-s version of this lens and the difference in prints is minimal.

caveat: these are 50 years old and so, much will depend upon how the individual was cared for.

Ariston · Dec 28, 2020

Thanks for sharing your experience, Brad. I have a 50mm version that looks similar. I usually pair it with the F it came with, just because the F doesn't use AI anyway. Plus it looks cool.

Hopefully this 24mm works well. The scratches are barely visible in the listing photos. The camera was what I was bidding on, and I got a good price, even without the lens. The lens is a bonus for me... as if I needed another lens

Thanks for the link, Dan. Excellent info.

jimjm · Dec 28, 2020

I have the same lens, also circa 1970 like Brad's. Very sharp and I've found it to be very flare-resistant for a single-coated lens.
One of my favorite lenses to use on an F or F2 body.

madNbad · Dec 28, 2020

The 24 was the first Nikkor lens to use the "floating element" in its' design to help reduce distortion. This image is on Tri-X from when the lens was almost new:

New Hope, PA 1975

BradS · Dec 28, 2020

Nikon 24mm f/2.8 Nikkor-N, Fuji Superia XTra 400 rated at ASA 250

BradS · Dec 28, 2020

Nikon 24mm f/2.8 Nikkor-N, Fuji Superia XTra 400 rated at ASA 250

Ariston · Dec 28, 2020

BradS said:
Nikon 24mm f/2.8 Nikkor-N, Fuji Superia XTra 400 rated at ASA 250

Man, Brad, my Superia never scans that well. How did you digitize that?

BradS · Dec 28, 2020

Ariston said:
Man, Brad, my Superia never scans that well. How did you digitize that?

Thanks!
That's straight from the Fuji Frontier at Mike's camera in Dublin, California.

flavio81 · Dec 28, 2020

Ariston said:
I just won a bid on a body, and it comes with this lens attached. The seller says it has "cleaning marks," otherwise known as scratches. I don't expect them to impact the optics any.

Is this lens worth keeping? I already have a Sigma AF in this focal length... though it may not focus as closely. Autofocus is not that important for wide lenses, to me. I may keep this one and sell the Sigma.

I believe this is the single-coated old version. I should have it in my hands in a few days.

This is a very good lens and beautifully built. It was also one of the first Nikkor lenses to be multicoated. It is multicoated even though it doesn't say so.

If you mean, with "the sigma", the sigma super-wide II, that's a very good lens too but with noticeable distortion. I'd choose the Nikkor any day -- it is much better built.

flavio81 · Dec 28, 2020

madNbad said:
The 24 was the first Nikkor lens to use the "floating element" in its' design to help reduce distortion.

Most precisely it's to reduce deterioration of image quality at close focusing distances.

MartinCrabtree · Dec 29, 2020

I have the Ai version and find it sharp and color rendering is nice but in certain light outstanding.

CMoore · Dec 29, 2020

madNbad said:
The 24 was the first Nikkor lens to use the "floating element" in its' design to help reduce distortion. This image is on Tri-X from when the lens was almost new:

View attachment 262452

New Hope, PA 1975

Is that an original frame in your photo....one from that era.?

madNbad · Dec 29, 2020

I used a Nikon F with a FTn Photomic finder with the 24 2.8. It was my favorite lens at the time and Tri-X was still edge marked "Pan". I have a binder of old negatives and wanted to practice with my camera scanning setup. The event was the 1975 New Hope, PA Auto Show. It's amazing what modern photo editing software can do with a forty-five year old negative exposed and developed by someone with a youthful zeal and a laissze faire attatude.

Christiaan Phleger · Dec 29, 2020

The N version is stellar in black and white film. The improved coatings of the following .C, K and AI, and Ai-S make more of a difference on color/digital. The N and N.C has a slightly different optical formula than the later ones; I prefer the earlier construction for black and white.
Use a hood, no filter and watch the back light unless you're into that sort of thing; play with the f-stop there's some good range of affect/effect. Try a yellow for nice Skys. Have fun its a most under rated lens yet (I found) dreamy sharp, again especially in black and white film. A fairly easy lens to fix/clean so diy is not bad or low cost for any repair shop; this era F lens is built to last and be repaired to a very high standard so if it arrives jammed but clean you may want to have it professionally looked at first.

Ariston · Dec 31, 2020

Well, I got the lens yesterday, and it is not "cleaning marks". It looks like balsam separation, and it is right in the center of the lens, so it is impacting the image much more than a few scratches would.

Oh well, it was basically free. I can always use it for those times when I want hazy photos. I'll just say I'm being "artistic".

BradS · Dec 31, 2020

bummer. sorry to hear that.

would be curious to see the lens defects and their effect.

CMoore · Dec 31, 2020

Cholentpot said:
Conquistadors brought the disease. It spread all the way up north. Studies show that 90% of the pre contact population was wiped out.

As for the First Nations of NA living in harmony and respecting the environment. There are more trees now in NA than pre Columbus times, the bison were hunted via stampedes over a cliff, the agricultural and pastoral tribes were wiped out by the marauding and nomadic tribes time and time again. The introduction of horses and firearms accelerated this.

The issue with looking back and the American Indian is westerners like to have a romantic view of the way things were. The reality is the American Indian is as human as an Englishman or German. There were good tribes and bad tribes, good folk and rotten folk.

Ariston said:
Well, I got the lens yesterday, and it is not "cleaning marks". It looks like balsam separation, and it is right in the center of the lens, so it is impacting the image much more than a few scratches would.

Oh well, it was basically free. I can always use it for those times when I want hazy photos. I'll just say I'm being "artistic".

BradS said:
bummer. sorry to hear that.

would be curious to see the lens defects and their effect.

Yes..... he may have acquired a "Secret Weapon" that we will all be envious of.

BradS · Dec 31, 2020

CMoore said:
Yes..... he may have acquired a "Secret Weapon" that we will all be envious of.

The OP could probably sell it at a pretty premium to the guy in the other thread looking for a lens to give him that "magic glow"....LOL!

MartinCrabtree · Dec 31, 2020

Ariston said:
Well, I got the lens yesterday, and it is not "cleaning marks". It looks like balsam separation, and it is right in the center of the lens, so it is impacting the image much more than a few scratches would.

Oh well, it was basically free. I can always use it for those times when I want hazy photos. I'll just say I'm being "artistic".

Well it is 2020 after all.

Cholentpot · Dec 31, 2020

CMoore said:
Yes..... he may have acquired a "Secret Weapon" that we will all be envious of.

While the 24 2.8 is a nice lens I'm not sure what it has to do with American Indians.

CMoore · Dec 31, 2020

Cholentpot said:
While the 24 2.8 is a nice lens I'm not sure what it has to do with American Indians.

I don't know either.

MattKing · Dec 31, 2020

Some times, if you prepare a post with the intention of copying it to a thread, it can accidentally show up when you post in another thread.
Or maybe Ariston was listening to Neil Young and Crazy Horse:

Ariston · Dec 31, 2020

MattKing said:
Some times, if you prepare a post with the intention of copying it to a thread, it can accidentally show up when you post in another thread.
Or maybe Ariston was listening to Neil Young and Crazy Horse:

Surprisingly, it wasn't me.

I cannot count the times I've had to go back in to edit my responses... especially if I am on a phone.

BradS said:
bummer. sorry to hear that.

would be curious to see the lens defects and their effect.

I am going to try and post photos shortly...

Tell me about the old Nippon Kogaku N 24mm f/2.8.

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