Nikon 6T closeup lens

[Galah]

Boy, is this forum quiet or what?

OK, this is a post about close focusing not really macro, as such.

Last week I managed to stumble on a Nikon 6T close focus lens. I have been vaguely looking for something like it for some time.

Aparently, close focus lenses come in a variety of styles and this is one of the better ones; a chromatically corrected doublet rather than a simple meniscus. Compared to the simple meniscus types, it is massive!

A description of it may be found here: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/N...p-lenses-68725

I have a lot of "vintage" gear, so -being a sunny day- I fitted mine to an SMC Takumar 4.4/85-210 zoom mounted on an Asahi Pentax SP-F and took it for a run in the local Botanic Gardens with some Fuji Superia Extra, ISO 400 film.

Alright, the magnification was only aroound 0.25x to 0.6x, but for flower-sized objects (hand-held) it was plenty good enough.

Now to have the film D&Pd

It seems to me, such a lens could be very handy as an adjunct to a DSLR (though I don't have one myself).

[Joachim_I]

If available, try to use the 6T with a fixed focal length lens. I would expect much better results. I sometimes used the 6T many years ago with the Nikkor 1.8/105mm. This combination worked very well. Today I am using another achromatic lens (Pentax T132) to increase the maximum magnification of my 2.8/165mm lens from about 1:7.7 to 1:3.7. Again, the results are very good.

[Galah]

Joachim, thanks.

Yes, I do have several suitable prime lenses (including a 105mm).

On this occasion, I just wanted to play around with the zoom, as it would give me variable magnification.

Thanks.

BTW, what diopter is the Pentax T132? I tried to google it, but couldn't get an easy answer to this question.

Or is this a set of three individual supplementary lenses, T=telephoto (for using with a telephoto lens), 1 is for one diopter, 2 is for 2 diopters, 3 is for three diopters?

[Joachim_I]

BTW, what diopter is the Pentax T132? I tried to google it, but couldn't get an easy answer to this question

The T132 has a focal length of 1320mm (0.76 Diopters) and fits a 67mm filter thread. I guess it has been out of production for some years. It still has the "Asahi Pentax" name on it.

[Galah]

OK,, thanks.

I also did-just now- find a reference to it giving the +.76 diopter rating (on a page by Chuxter -a forumsDpreview poster).

[CGW]

If available, try to use the 6T with a fixed focal length lens. I would expect much better results. I sometimes used the 6T many years ago with the Nikkor 1.8/105mm. This combination worked very well. Today I am using another achromatic lens (Pentax T132) to increase the maximum magnification of my 2.8/165mm lens from about 1:7.7 to 1:3.7. Again, the results are very good.

5T and 6T diopters were killer on the Nikon AF 80-200/2.8, just like 3T and 4Ts were on the older 80-200/4.5--great results from each. Primes work fine but zooms are way more convenient for macro.

6T diopters have become pricey and hard to find after Nikon dumped them a few years ago. Lucky you, Galah.

[Galah]

5T and 6T diopters were killer on the Nikon AF 80-200/2.8, just like 3T and 4Ts were on the older 80-200/4.5--great results from each. Primes work fine but zooms are way more convenient for macro.

6T diopters have become pricey and hard to find after Nikon dumped them a few years ago. Lucky you, Galah.

Thanks for responding .

I have the prints and I was most impressed. So impressed in fact, that I have, subsequently, had two (of Eucalyptus flowers) enlarged to 8"x12" and framed to hang on the wall in my house, and they look very good (to my eye, at least) .

This last weekend I put the 6T on the end of a Pentax-M 4.5/80-200 zoom (on an Asahi Pentax MX) and used up another two rolls.

Can't wait for the prints to return!

[CGW]

Great! Here's a chart for Nikon and Canon diopters:

http://www.earthboundlight.com/photo...-diopters.html

[Galah]

Great! Here's a chart for Nikon and Canon diopters:

http://www.earthboundlight.com/photo...-diopters.html

Thanks for the link.

[dynachrome]

The linked website puts the Nikon single-element 0,1 and 2 close-up lenses in the not-so-good category. In about 1976 Modern photography tested a number of macro lenses. The 50/2 Nikkor with one of the single element Nikon close-up lenses was sharper when closed down a little than some of the purpose-built macro lenses. I just bought a set of three 49mm 2-element Minolta close-up lenses for a very modest price. They are apparently NOS. I already had a set of the Minolta close-up lenses in 55mm. Konica made a two piece set of 2-element close-up lenses. Other interesting close-up lenses were made by Topcon and Olympus. Minolta made a close-up lens which was sold with its old 80-160 zoom. I use it with a 400/5.6 Konica UC Hexanon. The combination gets me close enough for a tightly cropped portrait.