EL-Nikkor photo-enlarging lenses
A small selection of EL-Nikkor enlarging lenses (courtesy Eugenio Demmenie)
In the early 1930's Nippon Kogaku K.K. produced its first photo-enlarging lens, the - nowadays extremely rare - Hermes 3.5/5.5 cm. Many EL-Nikkors - as they were marked later - would follow, in focal lengths from 40 - 480 mm. All of them are excellent lenses to be used on any enlarger. As you may see from the picture above most lens bodies are identical. Early lens bodies have scalloped grip, later bodies have a straight body with larger aperture numbers for improved visibility. EL-Nikkors with a focal length up to 75 mm. can be used for enlarging images on 35 mm. film or smaller. Lenses with focal lengths of 75 - 135 mm. are used for images on 70 mm. film, while lenses with longer focal lengths are for images on wider films or plates. It is possible to use a lens with a focal length of e.g. 135 mm. for 35 mm. film, but the distance between lens and photo paper will be to large, hence exposure times will increase. As the smaller EL-Nikkors have a thread mount of 39 mm. they can be used on a any SLR camera via an appropriate adapter (Nikon BR-15 or Nikon BR-16) for macro-photography. The larger lenses have a thread mount of 50 mm.
Most lenses have an optical design based on an improved triplet (4 lenses in 3 groups) or have 6 elements in 4 groups.
Some lenses listed below are/were available in an apo-chromatic version: Apo-EL-Nikkor. All these lenses - extra corrected to avoid chromatic aberration - have an optical design of 8 elements in 4 groups.
The following lenses are known:
EL-Nikkor 2.8/30 mm.
EL-Nikkor 4/40 mm.
EL-Nikkor 2.8/50 mm.
EL-Nikkor 3,5/50 mm.
EL-Nikkor 4/50 mm.
EL-Nikkor 3.5/55 mm.
EL-Nikkor 2.8/63 mm.
EL-Nikkor 3.5/63 mm.
EL-Nikkor 4/75 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/80 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/95 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/105 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/135 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/150 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/180 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/210 mm.
EL-Nikkor 5.6/300 mm.
Apo-EL-Nikkor
Apo-EL-Nikkor 5.6/105 mm
Apo-EL-Nikkor 5.6/170 mm.
Apo-EL-Nikkor 5.6/210 mm.
Apo-EL-Nikkor 5.6/300 mm.
Apo-EL-Nikkor 5.6/480 mm.
More info will follow soon.