Nikon Pronea lenses

[philslizzy]

I have a bunch of APS films and was wondering which camera to buy. I discovered the Nikon Pronea models had the normal AF F mount and would accept most chipped lenses. More interestingly the lenses specifically made for the Proneas were small and light. and pretty wide (compared to full frame). So I purchased a 600i model (the same as the 6i in some markets). It came with a lovely 24-70, I had wanted to try the 20-60 but couldn't find that anywhere (outside the US).

Even though the lens mount is regular Nikon, the lenses have a smaller back focus meaning you can't use them on a DSLR or on my old Nikkormat because they would interfere with the mirror. They will of course fit on my Sony A7 via a Nikon G adaptor as there is no aperture.



My Pronea and a couple of AF lenses that I use on my Sony. It's a lovely camera to use and these lenses cover just about every situation.

Ok so I took the 24-70 with me to an empty office building that I look after and took some pics to see how sharp the lens was, how much of the full frame sensor it covered and how sharp it was. I was pleasantly surprised, there is a little vignetting at the 24mm end but at just under 28mm that had gone. It's difficult to estimate the aperture using this type of lens but I can guess looking at the shutter speed compared to wide open.



24mm full aperture



70mm full aperture



Again at 24mm, full aperture. Showing less vignetting - possibly because it was lighter?

The lens is pretty sharp even at the edges. The crop factor is 1.25 Even though it's for APS. I learned something - digital sensors are APSC C meaning 'classic' in APS film so 1.5 crop factor. But the entire APS film frame is called H (HDTV [16:9]) which is a wider format.

A couple of pics shot on a film found in the camera with this lens. Film expired in 2001 and developed in well used Tetenal C41 at ROOM TEMP (23c). Auto color corrected.

[Gardener]

Here's a link to page of a guy hacking Pronea lenses for DSLR use. Saved it years ago.

[philslizzy]