Data Sheet: Nikkor F 105 mm f/2.5 (Nippon Kogaku Nikkor-P) (Sonnar)

Pekka Buttler, 12/2022

Specifications

The table below summarizes the lens’ key specifications (measurements based on pictured sample):

Brand:	Nikon Nippon Kogaku	Lens name	NIKKOR-P Auto 1:2.5 f=105mm
Focal length(s) 1	105 mm	Angle-of-view 2	23°20
Maximum Aperture	f/2.5	In Production	1959–1971
Lens mount	Nikon F	Subfamily (if applicable)	Pre-Ai (F-type)
Length 3	65,5 mm	Diameter 4	66,0 mm
Filter ring diameter	52 mm	Weight	379 grams
Lens element count	5	Lens group count	3
Aperture blades (S/R/C) 5	6 S	Focus throw	180 °
Minimum focusing distance	1,2 m	Maximum magnification	1:9,6
Has manual aperture ring	YES	Has Manual focus ring	YES
Aperture mechanism type	Automatic	Aperture click stops6	2.5-4-5.6-8-11-16-22

Further notes:
• There are several versions of the early (F-type) Nikon 105 mm f/2.5:
• 1st version (1959–63): “Nippon Kogaku”, Sonnar design, chrome rings, focal length in centimeters, ribbed aperture ring, 6 blades (in earliest samples 9 blades)
• 2nd version (1963–66): “Nippon Kogaku”, Sonnar design, chrome rings, focal length in millimetres, ribbed aperture ring, 6 blades
• 3rd version (1966–≈69): “Nippon Kogaku”, Sonnar design, chrome rings, focal length in millimetres, scalloped aperture ring, 6 blades (Pictured sample)
• 4th version (≈1969–71): SNs 234011–286451, “Nippon Kogaku”, Sonnar design, chrome rings, as above, but compatible with Ai kit, 6 blades
• 5th version (1971–1973): SNs > 400 000, “Nikon”, Gauss design, all-black, min. aperture f/32, 7 blades
• On early Nikkor lenses, the letter following “Nikkor-” denotes the number of lens elements. In this case the P stands for ‘Penta’ (five).
• Nikon offered a dedicated lens hood: the HS-4, a filter thread mounted, snap on steel hood.

A brief genealogy of Nikon SLR lens types

Nikon is undoubtedly one of the great names in 35 mm SLR photography. The Nikon F mount has been in continuous production since 1959. During that time, the mount has developed/changed in some detail, however without ever fully sacrificing compatibility.

In short (a longer version is here), the development of Nikon’s SLR lenses can be traced as follows:
• 1959–1977: Pre-Ai. Manual focus lenses that use ‘rabbit ears’ to communicate selected aperture with the camera body. Pre-Ai lenses can further be subdivided into
• F-type (1959–early 1970s: metal focus ring and single-coated),
• C-type (early 1970s–mid 1970s: metal focus ring and multicoated), and
• K-type (mid 1970s to 1977: rubber focus ring and multicoated).
A significant share of remaining Pre-Ai lenses have since been converted to Ai-spec (Ai’d)
• 1977–1986: Ai and Ai-s. Manual focus lenses that may have ‘rabbit ears’ for backward compatibility, but are designed to communicate selected aperture with the camera body through indentations in base of aperture control ring.
• 1986–today: AF and AF-D. Autofocus lenses that do not have a focusing motor within the lens, but rely on the focus motor within the camera. All AF and AF-D lenses are simultaneously Ai-s lenses (they are Ai-s lenses extended with AF) ⁷
• 1996–today AF-S and AF-P. Autofocus lenses that have an internal focusing motor and do not rely on the body having a focusing motor.

Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s Nikon’s main emphasis in short tele lenses was on the various designs of 105 mm f/2.5 lenses. The development of these is summarised below:
• 1959–1971 105mm f/2.5 (5 elements in 3 groups, 6(9) blades, 1,2 m MFD, “Nippon Kogaku Nikkor-P”) (F-type) [this lens]
• 1971–1973 105mm f/2.5 (5 elements in 4 groups, 7 blades, 1 m MFD, “Nikon Nikkor-P”) (F-type)
• 1973–1975 105 mm f/2.5 (5 elements in 4 groups, 7 blades, 1 m MFD, “Nikon Nikkor-P•C”) (C-type)
• 1975–1977 105 mm f/2.5 (5 elements in 4 groups, 7 blades, 1 m MFD, rubber focus ring) (K-type)
• 1977–1981 105 mm f/2.5 (5 elements in 4 groups, 7 blades, 1 m MFD, rubber focus ring) (Ai-type) [data sheet]
• 1981–2005 105 mm f/2.5 (5 elements in 4 groups, 7 blades, 1 m MFD, rubber focus ring) (Ai-s-type)

Adapting

There are good chances this lens can still be used natively:
• If the lens has been AI’d, this lens can be used natively on all current high-end Nikon dSLRs and several earlier medium-to-high-end older Nikon dSLRs ⁸ as well as all post-1977 Nikon Film cameras.
• If it is in its original Pre-Ai form, it can be used natively on the Nikon Df and on all Nikon F-mount film cameras produced before 1977.

Thanks to being a fully manual lens (manual aperture, manual focus), the lens can be adapted to all mirrorless cameras using a suitable dumb adapter (and such adapters are easy to find). Moreover, a large range of special adapters (helicoid adapters, tilt/shift adapters, speed boosters) for using Nikon F lenses on most mirrorless systems are available.

Using Nikon F lenses on non-Nikon SLRs and dSLRs is likewise a distinct possibility. Thanks to the relatively generous flange focal distance of the Nikon F mount (46,5 mm), adapter rings for all dSLR mounts are available as well as for a goodly portion of film-era SLR mounts. Such rings may not allow for auto aperture, but even then the lenses can be used in stop-down metering mode.

Footnotes

1. Focal length is (unless stated otherwise) given in absolute terms, and not in Full-frame equivalent. For an understanding of whether the lens is wide/tele, see ‘Angle-of-view’. ↩︎
2. Picture angle is given in degrees and concerns the diagonal picture angle. Rule of thumb:
   > 90 ° ==> Ultra-wide-angle
   70–90 ° ==> Wide-angle
   50–70 ° ==> Moderate wide-angle
   40–50 ° ==> ‘Standard’ or ‘normal’ lens
   20–40 ° ==> Short tele lens
   10-20 ° ==> Tele lens
   5-10 ° ==> Long tele lens
   < 5 ° ==> Ultra-tele lens ↩︎
3. Length is given from the mount flange to the front of lens at infinity. ↩︎
4. Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. ↩︎
5. S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures. ↩︎
6. Numbers equal aperture values on aperture ring; • intermediate click; – no intermediate click. ↩︎
7. There is a further sub-class of AF-D lenses called AF-I lenses that are otherwise AF-D lenses (meaning, fully Ai-s compatible), but have an internal focus motor. Only long tele lenses were made in AF-I variants. ↩︎
8. As of this writing, the following Nikon dSLRs fully support Aperture priority and manual metered modes on Nikkor Ai lenses: D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D200, D300, D300s, D500, D600, D610, D700, D750, D780, D800, D800E, D810, D850, D7000, D7100, D7200 ↩︎