Nikon Nikkor-Q 200mm f/4 non AI

An old great lens with excellent soft-out focus backgrounding ("bokeh") for very cheap price, this a shame. People not respect this excellent lens.

Vendor name	Type name	Product year
Nikon	Nikkor	1962
Focal min (mm)	Focal max (mm)	Focus min(cm)
200	200	200
Aperture max	Aperture min	Lens size (mm)
4	32	72.5x163
Elements	Diaphragm ACTION	Weight (g)
4 elements in 3 groups	manual	630
Filter size (mm)	aNGULAR FIELD	Body mount
52	12'20	Nikon F

I read somewhere in forum, this lens is a dog, this lens has not enough details blah,blah and on other forum this is great product etc. So I decide I will buy one and let see with my eyes what is the truth. I don't know how say this a dog. I say this lens is great, bokeh one of the best what I ever seen, don't forget I have large collection on old manual focus lenses /Pentacon,Meyer,Carl Zeiss Jena see in the gallery/.Very sharp lens same sharp as other Nikkors or Carl Zeiss Jena best ones. Color rendering is not the best , but I guess not worst than Nikon D50 kit lens.Before I took this test photos /see in the gallery/ I forgot to clean back lens from dust, perhaps result would be better with clean lens. I really satisfied with the performance of Nikkor-Q 200mm f/4, it was easy to set right focus, not heavy at all. I found only one weekness, you can't set aperture on mounted lens, just if dismount from camera body. This feature comes from NIKON design, non AI lens aperture collar not works on NIKON DSLR.If you would change this, send to a camera shop , they should convert to AI and apperture settings will works fine.

User opinions:

I love the lens. Sure it is not as good as the 180/2.8ED but who cares. It is small small small, has a built in hood, takes standard 52mm filters (well standard back then =), and makes good photos. I am still trying to decide between a Nikon or a Canon DSLR. If I choose Nikon I will get this lens chipped, I like it so much.

(by Jamie W. Photo.net Nikon Forum)

I will have to consider getting this lens AI'd. Why this older version gets a "bad reputation" stumps me. I think it's a hell of a good lens. Great contrast, rich color, sharp images.

(by Myron Leski Photo.net Nikon Forum)

I have this 200 f4 and use it with an F3 also, it's a very fine lens, very compact, it's simple optical formula provides good flare resistance. I use it for closeups, with nikon's 3T and 4T diopters and plan buying the pn11 extension tube. Pk11a is quite useless with this focal length, as it is very short, you could gain a little in the closest focusing distance, wich could be good for tight portraits, but no macro with 200mm and PK11a.

(by Marco P Photo.net Nikon Forum)

Sample pictures:

Resources:

nikkor-q 200mmi

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Comments (7)

200mm f4 Q Nikkor is superb!

7Tuesday, 09 June 2015 20:38

The Hawaiian

I am a 30+ yr pro photographer. This is a superb lens. Do your own research! Testing it on a Nikon D800E, the sharpness is astounding. At f5.6-8, it is near the top of my heap of 30 old Nikkors. The 135mm f3.5 Q & 50mm f2 are close 2nd's...

nokkormq 200mm f4

6Saturday, 18 January 2014 18:53

jacques blanc , France

Hi you all yep its a great old lens one of the best 200mm telelens ever made I use it with my nikon , a pleasure, far from the cold pefection of a digital camera

manual focus?

5Monday, 12 November 2012 13:36

Hi everyone,
I'm planning on buying this lens and I just want to ask if it is manual focus?

Nikkor Q 4,0/200

4Monday, 27 August 2012 16:48

Once again and after some work with the same well-build Nikkor H 4,5/300
wich is muche more difficult to hand-held I have to honor this great lens.
The 300 is a Monster - the 200 not and it also works perfecty the same way
for pictures with a small DoF to separate something nicely from Background.

Nikkor Q 4,0/200

3Thursday, 05 July 2012 10:38

I bought one just to have some tele lens for my Nikon F.
It was cheep and just for the Case my beloved 105mm was
not able to separate good enough from Background while
I take some Portraits. As my first impresion I was suprised
how well it was made. After some shots I was not able to
different the Pictures between this lens and the much expensive
2,8/180 ED wich I also own for fast sport shots. Now I own two
of them.........

Old Nikkor lenses

2Monday, 26 March 2012 20:53

The old 200mm f4 Q lens is one of a number I use on a daily basis as a professional portrait photographer in the Peak District of Derbyshire in Britain. I also use the 135mm f3.5Q + 105mm f2.5P + 85mm f1.8H + 55mm f3.5 micro-nikkor. These are used with the correct camera bodies - the Nikon F and the Nikkormats. The weak spot here is the meters - none of mine work, so I use handheld meters for reflected and incident light readings.
Forget the plastic digital crap. If you wish to enjoy these fine old lenses to their considerable potential, get a real camera and a few rolls of film and a decent meter.

200mm Nikkor

1Thursday, 24 November 2011 01:51

This lens is merely adequate. I used one in the late 1960s, and I was never impressed.

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