Nikkor-P 800mm f/8 (lens head + Bronica focusing unit)
Nippon Kogaku · Bronica S · 1964
Also known as: Nikkor-P 800mm f/8 Bronica · Nikkor-P Auto 800mm F8 Bronica focusing unit · Nikon Nikkor-P 800mm f8 for Bronica S2 · Tele-Nikkor 800mm f8 Bronica · Bronica Nikkor 800mm F8 · Bronica 800mm f8 Nikkor-P lens head · ゼンザブロニカ ニッコール P 800mm F8 · ブロニカ ニッコール 800mm F8 · Bニッコール 800mm F8 · ブロニカ フォーカシングユニット 800mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikkor-P Auto 800mm f/8 head on the Bronica focusing unit | Bronica S | 1964 | — | — |
- Figures: 19 m, 122 mm and 4,200 g are from the English Wikipedia table, which also gives f/8–22 and the large bayonet with 'focusing mount'. The Bronica specification list reproduced on Monaghan's page names the '800 mm Tele-Nikkor with focusing mount' without figures; Seiden gives 5 elements in 4 groups, 122 mm filter and a built-in hood. No source gives an angle of view or says whether the weight includes the unit.
- Groups: Japanese Wikipedia 5群5枚 and the English table 5e/5g against Seiden's 5 element 4 group. Two to one, but the Wikipedia tables may share a source, and the field is left empty.
- Diaphragm: Japanese Wikipedia, 'the aperture is the lens head's manual diaphragm'; the EC-TL data sheet, 'fully automatic diaphragm, except the 800 and 1200'; shiura.com, the unit's aperture left open and the head's used. Nikon's own history says only the 1200 had its own aperture because the unit's vignetted, and calls the 800 'Nikkor-P Auto', which is how Seiden lists it too. The three Bronica-side sources are the stronger evidence for how it works on a Bronica.
- Date: Nikon released the head in 1964 for the Tokyo Olympics. Monaghan's history dates the Bronica 400 and 600 to 1961–65 and does not mention the 800 or 1200; no Bronica-side date, price or end date has been found. Nikon replaced the head with an ED version in 1975, which Bronica never sold although it fits the older Bronica unit (Seiden).
How to tell them apart
- Two pieces, head and focusing unit; the Nikkor-P Auto 1:8 f=800mm head is the Nikon F product, the Bronica unit makes it a Bronica lens (Nikon; Seiden)
- On a Bronica the aperture ring that matters is on the head, and the unit's ring stays at full aperture (shiura.com)
- Not the Nikkor ED 800mm f/8 of 1975, which Bronica never sold
Nikkor-P Auto 800mm f/8 head on the Bronica focusing unit:
- A bare head screwed into the Bronica focusing unit on the new large bayonet (Seiden; camera-wiki); the same head as Nikon's own (Japanese Wikipedia)
- Stopped down with the diaphragm in the head, not the one in the unit: the EC-TL data sheet excludes the 800 and 1200 from automatic diaphragm (Japanese Wikipedia; Tamron EC-TL sheet)
- Built-in hood and 122 mm filter thread (Seiden)
- Nikkor-P Auto 800mm f/8 head on the Bronica focusing unit: Mounted and focused like the 400 and 600 but worked by hand: shiura.com says the unit's aperture must be left wide open with the 800 and 1200, because stopping it down vignettes, so the head's own aperture is used instead. Nikon's history describes this arrangement only for the 1200.
Specifications
- Formula
- Five-element telephoto head; the group count is disputed (five groups in Japanese Wikipedia and the English table, four in Seiden's listing)
- Designed by
- Shimizu Yoshiyuki — optical design of the 400, 600, 800 and 1200 mm heads (Nikon, The Thousand and One Nights No. 50)
- Construction
- 5 elements
- Aperture range
- f/8–f/22
- Min. focus
- 19 m
- Weight
- 4200 g
- Filter
- 122 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1964
- Country
- Japan
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The 800mm f/8 is the third of the Nikon F lens heads of 1964 that Bronica offered on its own focusing unit, and the first of the two that the unit cannot fully control. Nikon released the 400, 600, 800 and 1200 together for the Tokyo Olympics, all designed by Yoshiyuki Shimizu, each a bare optical block that screws into a focusing unit carrying the helicoid and the automatic diaphragm. On a Bronica the unit is Bronica’s, mounted on the new large bayonet of the C and later bodies with the standard helicoid removed, and Japanese Wikipedia confirms the head is the one Nikon sold. The English Wikipedia table gives f/8 to f/22, 19 m minimum focus, a 122 mm filter and 4.2 kg; Seiden adds the built-in hood. Bronica’s own specification list, as reproduced on Monaghan’s page, names the “800 mm Tele-Nikkor with focusing mount” without figures, and no Bronica document dates it: Monaghan’s history dates the 400 and 600 to 1961–65 and is silent on the 800.
The difference from the shorter heads is the diaphragm. With the 800 and 1200 the unit’s iris, stopped down, vignettes the corners of the frame, so it is left wide open and the head’s own aperture is used, by hand. shiura.com describes this, Japanese Wikipedia gives the 800 a manual diaphragm in the head, and the EC-TL data sheet lists fully automatic diaphragm on every lens except the 800 and 1200. Nikon’s own history tells the story only of the 1200, and names the 800 the Nikkor-P Auto as Seiden does, which suggests that on the Nikon F the unit’s iris was at least usable with it; on the Bronica, with its larger frame, the three sources agree that it is not. The construction is five elements, and whether they sit in four groups, as Seiden says, or five, as both Wikipedias have it, is not settled.
Either Bronica focusing unit takes the head once its distance scale is changed to match: the first unit was made for the D and S and later supplied with an adapter for the C and later, the second fits only the C and later. Nikon gave the 800 ED glass in 1975; Bronica never sold the ED head, though Seiden notes it fits the older unit. No review, price or production figure has been found, and the head is rarely seen offered for a Bronica. A buyer should look for the head, a unit with the correct scale, and an aperture ring on the head that works, since that is the only one that will be used.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Nikkor-P 800mm f/8 (lens head + Bronica focusing unit)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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