Post by belgiumreporter on Jun 15, 2020 15:41:45 GMT -5
back in the sixties when electronic flash guns were taking over from flash bulbs they were found to be a relief from the need of changing a bulb for every flash shot.
But just as flash bulbs the next inconvinience was the power output by the flashes wich couldn't be controlled, you had to stick to the guide number value and change the aperture for every diffrent distance focussed on.
Nikon found a solution to that problem by introducing the 45mm 2.8 GN Nikkor, the aperture ring could be coupled to the focussing ring and after choosing the proper guide number the diafragm would mechanical adjusted to the distance focussed on. This was a rather effective method for rightly exposed flash shots but only the 45 had this feature.
Nikons view on this matter was if you are a reporter the 45mm would about be the right focal lenght for most reporting work, the reason the 45 is so small is because they wanted to save weight on an already heavy combination of camera and electronic flash gun. Due to the simple lens formula the 45 never was regarded as one of the sharpest nikkors, but it does have good contrast, sharpness wasn't that inportant for low res newspaper printing anyway.
The 45GN was introduced in 1968, in 1973 Topcon pulled the same trick with their 50mm 1.8 GN though this is a "normal" full size 50mm. These GN's were in production untill 1978. But then In 1972 Honeywell introduced the "auto" strobonar electronic flash wich has a build in photocel measuring the light reflected from the subject to control the duration of the flash pulse, thus offering auto exposure for flash shots (at any distance) This became the new dawn of flash photography, making the GN lenses obsolete.
the 45 GN nikkor
The 50 GN topcon
But just as flash bulbs the next inconvinience was the power output by the flashes wich couldn't be controlled, you had to stick to the guide number value and change the aperture for every diffrent distance focussed on.
Nikon found a solution to that problem by introducing the 45mm 2.8 GN Nikkor, the aperture ring could be coupled to the focussing ring and after choosing the proper guide number the diafragm would mechanical adjusted to the distance focussed on. This was a rather effective method for rightly exposed flash shots but only the 45 had this feature.
Nikons view on this matter was if you are a reporter the 45mm would about be the right focal lenght for most reporting work, the reason the 45 is so small is because they wanted to save weight on an already heavy combination of camera and electronic flash gun. Due to the simple lens formula the 45 never was regarded as one of the sharpest nikkors, but it does have good contrast, sharpness wasn't that inportant for low res newspaper printing anyway.
The 45GN was introduced in 1968, in 1973 Topcon pulled the same trick with their 50mm 1.8 GN though this is a "normal" full size 50mm. These GN's were in production untill 1978. But then In 1972 Honeywell introduced the "auto" strobonar electronic flash wich has a build in photocel measuring the light reflected from the subject to control the duration of the flash pulse, thus offering auto exposure for flash shots (at any distance) This became the new dawn of flash photography, making the GN lenses obsolete.
the 45 GN nikkor
The 50 GN topcon
