Scanner-Nikkor

[houstontx]

This could be the lens assembly on ebay?

361965814836

[ray_parkhurst]

I've never seen one but looks like it could be.

I've tried buying a couple scanners but they were missing the lens. I guess this is what happened to them.

[Lou Jost]

Yes....keep an eye on that. I'll be in the US checking out my scanner lens in about three days. Unfortunately I doubt I will be able to mount it easily there, I will have to wait until I am back in Ecuador in June to make a good mount. Still, I might have some rough results.

If that example hasn't been banged around, I suspect it would be worth buying.

[Lou Jost]

I'm dissecting my Coolscan 8000 now. The line sensor is approx 60 mm long and the distance from the rear flange of the lens to this sensor is about 130 mm. [Edit-- I bought a decent ruler and I find that the flange-to-sensor distance is 128mm.] The distance from the front flange to the subject is very roughly 152 mm. So this lens has a huge image circle and is working at close to 1:1 since medium format film is 60mm wide.

The element of the lens on the side of the sensor is 10% larger than the element on the side of the subject. [Edit: Front element is 36mm diameter, back element 38mm diameter.]

It is a very heavy lens for its size. The distance between the front and rear elements seems to be slightly less than the corresponding distance for the Printing Nikkor A.

Unfortunately the only ruler in the house where I am staying is in inches, with only half-inch ticks, so these measurements are approximate. [Edit: Measurements have now been updated with accurate numbers.]

I hope to test it tonight alongside a Printing Nikkor.

[Lou Jost]

I tested it last night and I am very impressed. Will post the results in a separate thread, and I will try to take more careful pictures this morning. But the take-home message is this:

If that Scanner-Nikkor on eBay right now is in good physical condition, it is worth more than a thousand dollars and it is as good as a known-good Printing Nikkor, with one caveat: it has no diaphragm.

I highly recommend people watch eBay for Coolscan 8000 and 9000 models that are sold as "For parts or not working". If the scanners show no signs of physical abuse (dents, etc), you should buy them. They are by far the cheapest way to get a magnificent highly-corrected wide-image-circle 1:1 lens, perhaps the best one ever in mass-production. IF you can live without a diaphragm!

[ray_parkhurst]

I tested it last night and I am very impressed. Will post the results in a separate thread, and I will try to take more careful pictures this morning. But the take-home message is this:

If that Scanner-Nikkor on eBay right now is in good physical condition, it is worth more than a thousand dollars and it is as good as a known-good Printing Nikkor, with one caveat: it has no diaphragm.

I highly recommend people watch eBay for Coolscan 8000 and 9000 models that are sold as "For parts or not working". If the scanners show no signs of physical abuse (dents, etc), you should buy them. They are by far the cheapest way to get a magnificent highly-corrected wide-image-circle 1:1 lens, perhaps the best one ever in mass-production. IF you can live without a diaphragm!

Can you make any estimate of the aperture?

[Lou Jost]

Ray, it has roughly the same size lens elements as the PN 105 and it seems to have the same effective aperture when it is placed at the same distance to the subject. I need to test it more carefully in order to be sure.