Nikkor Lenses Terminology

Modern Classic SLRs Series :
Nikon F - Nikon Lens Terminology

Nikon Lens Terminology

Nikkor: The name of Nikon-built lenses (later would change to just "Nikon")

Nikkor-X

X refers to the number of elements in the lens design:

U

B
T
Q
P
H
S
O
N
D

Note that these can be combined for prime lenses with more than ten elements, e.g. the Nikkor-UD 20mm f/3.5 (72mm filter), which has eleven elements. Note also that zooms (and other lenses with a designation prefix, e.g. Micro-, Fisheye-, etc.) do not indicate the number of elements in the lens this way.

Nikkor-X.C.

A lens which has Nikon Integrated Coating (NIC), a multicoating process dating back to the introduction of the 24mm f/2.8 in 1969; some report that NIC is a license of Pentax Super-Multi-Coating (SMC), but SMC was introduced in 1974

Nikkor-X Auto

A lens with an automatic diaphragm (e.g. it automatically stops down to the taking aperture just before the shutter opens).

Nikkor-X Preset

A lens with a manual diaphragm but which has a separate aperture control to preset the taking aperture; the aperture is set wide open for focussing and then stopped down to the preset by hand just before pressing the shutter release.

Nikkor-X Short Mount/Bellows

A lens designed to be used on an adapter tube (the adapted rangefinder telephotos, for instance) or on bellows (135mm f/4, for example). When so mounted, these lenses can be focussed to infinity at their minimum extension (and without the extra mounting, they focus "beyond infinity" ...).

CRT-Nikkor

A lens optimized to take pictures of an oscilloscope screen, which are appox. 10-20cm on the diagonal, and thus take their best pictures at around a 1:4 reproduction ratio.

Fisheye-Nikkor

A lens where image size is directly proportional to its angular distance from the center of the image; otherwise famous for unusual perspective and massive barrel distortion. Nikon makes two types: one forms a circular image on the film (6, 7.5, 8, and 10mm) and the other uses the full frame (16mm). All full-frame and some circular (the f/2.8 ones) fisheyes allow SLR viewing; the rest require the mirror to be locked-up.

Medical-Nikkor

A lens corrected for close-up photography and incorporating a ringlight and some method for printing information on the film; designed for body-cavity and surgery photography (hence "Medical").

Micro-Nikkor

A lens corrected for close-up photography and incorporating a focussing mount of some sort to extend to 1:2 (manual focus lenses) or 1:1 (autofocus) reproduction ratio. 200mm lenses all incorporate IF; shorter lenses either incorporate a longer helicoid (manual focus) or a mixture of helicoid and IF (AF).

OP-Fisheye-Nikkor

A lens where image size is directly proportional to the sine of the angular distance from the center of the image; Nikon only made one, the 10mm f/5.6, which was designed for measuring illumination levels, since the Orthographic Projection formula has no light falloff to the edges when photographing an evenly illuminated field.

PC-Nikkor

Perspective Control; incorporates a shifting mechanism into a wideangle lens which allows the photographer to keep the film plane parallel to the subject. This can eliminate most converging lines; tilting (or swinging) is not possible (would allow more depth of field).

Reflex-Nikkor

A lens which incorporates a mirror system to optically fold the light path, which results in relatively compact lenses of long focal length. Generally, they have no chromatic aberrations (color fringing) because light is reflected, rather than refracted; however, some "side effects" (donut-shaped out-of-focus highlights, no aperture control, most are relatively slow) are enough to drive some people batty.

UV-Nikkor

Ultraviolet photography is possible with these lenses specifically designed to pass UV rays.

Zoom-Nikkor

A lens with variable focal length and in some cases, a variable aperture through the zoom range. Useful for reframing subjects without disturbing the relative perspective.

Nikkor *ED*

A lens incorporating ED glass, for Extra-low Dispersion, which refers to the refractive index of the glass. With longer focal lengths, convergence of light becomes a problem and so color fringing will reduce sharpness. Some manufacturer discovered that calcium fluorite crystals are able to compensate for this misconvergence; ED glass is a fluorocrown glass incorporating fluorite in a glass. Note that some Nikon lenses, most notably the 180mm f/2.8 and 400mm f/5.6, were rumored to incorporate ED glass from the beginning of their production.

IF Nikkor

A lens which focusses not by helicoid (moving all of the elements back and forth) but rather by moving selected groups internally. Benefits include a lighter focussing touch and a lens whose center of gravity does not shift. Internal Focussing is dependent on zoom technology and the focal length of the lens actually changes with the distance focussed on (although the effect is not usually noticeable, except with the autofocus Micro-Nikkors, where working distance is somewhat compromised in order to reach 1:1 without tubes or converters).

Mirror Lock-Up Lens

A lens which requires the mirror to be locked up (available only on F-series and Nikkormat cameras).

Mirror Lock-Up Lens with tab

A lens (actually, the only lens is the 21mm f/4) which not only requires mirror lock-up, but also a tab on the lensmount of the body which engages a corresponding tab on the 21 which holds the lens in the proper position. The 21's rear element is sawed-off to provide clearance for the mirror when it is locked-up and thus requires proper alignment. This tab is only on the lensmounts of the F and F2.

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The Eyes of Nikon:-
Nippon Kogaku KK Rangefinder RF-Nikkor lenses:- Main Index Page
Nikon Auto Focus Nikkor lenses:- Main Index Page
Nikon Manual Focus Nikkor lenses- Main Index Page
Fisheye-Nikkor Lenses - Circular | Full Frame | Ultrawides Lenses - 13mm 15mm 18mm 20mm | Wideangle Lenses - 24mm 28mm 35mm |
Standard Lenses - 45mm 50mm 58mm | Telephoto Lenses - 85mm 105mm 135mm 180mm & 200mm |
Super-Telephoto Lenses - 300mm 400mm 500mm 600mm 800mm 1200mm |
Special Application lenses:
Micro-Nikkor Lenses - 50mm~55mm -60mm 85mm -105mm 200mm Micro-Zoom 70-180mm
Perspective Control (PC) - 28mm 35mm PC-Micro 85mm
Dedicated Lenses for Nikon F3AF: AF 80mm f/2.8 | AF 200mm f/3.5 EDIF
Depth of Field Control (DC): 105mm 135mm
Medical Nikkor: 120mm 200mm
Reflex-Nikkor Lenses - 500mm 1000mm 2000mm
Others: Noct Nikkor | OP-Nikkor | UV Nikkor 55mm 105mm | Focusing Units | Bellows-Nikkor 105mm 135mm
Nikon Series E Lenses: 28mm 35mm 50mm 100mm 135mm | E-Series Zoom lenses: 36~72mm 75~150mm 70~210mm
MF Zoom-Nikkor Lenses: 25~50mm | 28~45mm | 28~50mm | 28~85mm | 35~70mm | 36~72mm E | 35~85mm | 35~105mm | 35~135mm |
35~200mm | 43~86mm | 50~135mm | 50~300mm | 70~210mm E | 75~150mm E | 80~200mm | 85~250mm |
100~300mm | 180~600mm | 200~400mm | 200~600mm | 360~1200mm | 1200~1700mm

Tele-Converters: TC-1 | TC-2 | TC-200 | TC-201 | TC-300 | TC-301 | TC-14 | TC-14A | TC-14B | TC-14C | TC-14E | TC-16 | TC-16A | TC-20E

Nikon F | Nikon F2 | Nikon F3 | Nikon F4 | Nikon F5 | Nikon F6 | Nikkormat / Nikomat |
Nikon FM | Nikon FE/ FA | Nikon EM/FG/FG20 | Nikon Digital SLRs | Nikon - Other models

MIR Supports for Photographic Community: Various Message Boards/Community Forums
Nikon F-series| Nikon F2-series| Nikon F3-series| Nikon F4-series| Nikon F5-series|Nikkormat/Nikomat-series
Nikon FM-series|Nikon FE-series|Nikon FA|Nikon Digital SLR series|Various Nikon Models|Nikkor Optic -shared

Others:- Free Trade Zone - Photography| Free Trade Zone - Business Community |Free To Zouk - Photographic Community
Apple's Mac Public Community Message Board | Windows based PC & Apple/Mac Public Community Trade Exchange Centre

Recommended links to understand more technical details related to the Nikkor F-mount and production Serial Number:
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-153.html by: my friend, Rick Oleson
http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/lhhansen/photo/fmount.htm by: Hansen, Lars Holst
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/nikonfmount/lens2.htm
http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html

Modern Classic SLRs Series :
Nikon F - Index Page

Copyright © 1998. Michael C. Liu ®
Rearranged by: leofoo ®. Credit: Hiura Shinsaku® from Nikomat Club of Japan for feeding some useful inputs on the introductory page. The great 3D logo by Kiasu; Ted Wengelaar®, Holland for his continuous flow of input of early Nikon bodies. Stephen Gandy's Cameraquest; Marc Vorgers from Holland for his additinal images on Nikon F Apollo; Hayao Tanabe corrected my Red Dot and Early F assertions. Gray Levett, Grays of Westminster publishes an excellent monthly historical look at Nikon products, from where I learned about the high-speed F's. Made with a PowerMac, broadcast with a Redhat Linux powered server.

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