Nikon 38-95mm zoom lens

aniramca · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 66 Location: Canada

I saw this old MF zoom lens - NPC 38-95mm at a store with a Nikkormat FT. I could not find any information about this Nikon zoom lens. Anyone ever used it? It is not a push and pull and it has the "bat ear" on it (as required for Nikon FT camera). I don't know how old is Nikon FT, but it may be pre 1970? I believe it is not a pre-AI lens, as I tried to mount it on a Nikon D300 and it does not meter (although when you adjust the speed, the diode moves to the center.
Thanks for info, as I may want to grab this camera/lens ($50)

aniramca · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 66 Location: Canada

Correction
I don't think it is a Nikon lens. It is made by N.P.S (Made in Japan)
It has a relatively unusual zoom range 38 to 95mm, f/3.5
Who made this lens? I could not find any info on the web
Thanks

Dream Merchant · Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 92 Location: Singapore

I may be wrong, but I don't recall any Nikon lens in that range. Could it have been a 43-86mm? If it is, it was an average lens at best, but was apparently a huge sales success.

aniramca · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 66 Location: Canada

As I indicated, it was not a Nikon lens. It came, however, with the Nikkormat FT, which was produced around 1965-1967.
I tried the lens using a DSLR, and it works nicely. However, the camera does not seem to work (does not meter properly). It looks like that the switches is on and off, and all over the place. Therefore, I am thinking about returning it. Unfortunately, I seem to like the pictures produced from this lens. Furthermore, I don't even know whether I should use this old lens (pre-AI?) lens on a DSLR (although it worked and it did not damage my camera). So I have a lot of questions to ask whether I should return the camera and the lens.

Firstly, here are 2 photos of the lens
(1) From the top - it is not a push and pull, and not a macro lens

(2) From the front - The writing is not rather uniquely position, unlike the regular lenses in the 1970-90s, i.e. it has a silver ring with the writings.

I like the photos that were produced using my DSLR. See samples and please let me know if they have good enough quality and sharpness

(3)Close up - bench

(4)Landscape

(5)Building/Architecture

(6)Close up of building

(7)Sculpture details/close up

(8)High end zoom (95mm lens - equivalent to 150mm)

Could anyone comments about the quality of the above photos? Do you think I should keep this "mysterious" lens

My questions are as follows:
(a) I still could not find much info about N.P.S lens. Even when you queried Google for 38-95mm zoom, there is not much info available. After digging more, I came up with zoom lens made by Zivnon (but it was a push and pull zoom, for Olympus SLR), Cambron or Komura or Sankyo Kohki lens, and a TMC lens (Takenaka System).
What is NPS stands for? How come no info on this lens? Google kept showing up NPS as Nikon Professional Service, or something related to Fuji film, or National Park Service (USA).
So, who made this lens?
(b) I assume this is a non-AI or pre-AI lens. I just found out that you should not use non AI lens on a Nikon D200. It will damage the camera. I found this later on, after I used over 100 shots with this lens. I quickly switched back to my other AF Nikkor lens, and so far it works fine. So, I assume that there is no damage from this lens. However, I am worried whether I should use it again. Anyone can comment about usage of pre-AI lens on Nikon D200? The lens mount is simple.. no automatic indexing, and no electrical terminal. It looks straight forward. So, I DK whether this can damage the D200.
(c) The Nikkormat FT did not work on the meter. At least, I change the battery, but the original PX27 battery (1.35V) is not available. The previous owner appears to use alkaline 625A battery (1.5V), as it was scratched in writing near the battery compartment. What is the issue of using a battery with slightly different voltage? Anyone care to comment? I realized that it is getting difficult to use original type batteries for cameras made in the 1960s-1980s. There are outfit who made conversion batteries, but I don't think you can get it in North America. People here seems to enjoy using NEW DSLR and did not care much about old MF cameras and lenses ( I may be wrong, but this is the impression that I have - MF lenses appears to be more popular in Europe?)

Thanks for the info and discussion.

walter g · Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 2463 Location: NC, USA

Are you sure you posted the right battery numbers. PX27 was a 5.6 volt
not a 1.35volt battery. The repacement is a 6 volt battery.

http://www.photobattery.com/PX27.html

aniramca · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 66 Location: Canada

Walter
Sorry, the battery is supposed to be Mallory PX13 or Eveready 625 (as per manual). It is a 1.35V.

Dream Merchant · Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 92 Location: Singapore

My apologies for missing that bit of crucial info. Must be getting old!

The results look GREAT though!