Old Nikkor 105/2.5 vs. 200/4 as tube lens?

[ChrisR]

There is confusion here about which lens is which and what causes damage, if anything. I have a few odds and ends of old Nikkors, and several bodies.
Regarding filing the aperture ring, some lenses, cameras, rings etc, will miss each other while some jam.
That seems to be down to tolerances in manufacture.

AFAIK the only change in "converting" a Pre-AI lens is that aperture ring, so Pre-AI can't mean further damage inside. I'd have to check, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing on any of mine.

[mawyatt]

There is confusion here about which lens is which and what causes damage, if anything. I have a few odds and ends of old Nikkors, and several bodies.
Regarding filing the aperture ring, some lenses, cameras, rings etc, will miss each other while some jam.
That seems to be down to tolerances in manufacture.

AFAIK the only change in "converting" a Pre-AI lens is that aperture ring, so Pre-AI can't mean further damage inside. I'd have to check, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing on any of mine.

Chris,

There's the mod for the Nikon 200mm F4 Q I did. The black flange interferes with the F mount on DSLRs and may or may not be able to squeeze by on some camera bodies. The raw aluminum ring about 90 degrees arc is what I filed away from the flange to get the lens to fit without any interference. Richard Haw has a great tutorial on performing this modification. I used a file on one lens after removing the flange, but could not get one screw loose on the other lens in spite of using the Japan special cross point drivers (Vessel). So I had to make the mod with the flange intact, did so by taping everything up and sealing the optics against any filings. Used a Dremel like tool with a diamond tip to carefully grind away the flange. Worked fine and no filings got into the lens, well at least none that I've found, now that I've opened myself up to Sir Edsel Murphy

Just a note on the Nikon 200mm F4 Q lens when used in a vertical setup. It has a tendency to creep away from infinity. I lost a couple long stacks when Zerene went crazy and I found the source files were OOF later in the stacks. I taped the focus ring and secured it with a rubber band which fixed the problem.

Best,

Mike

[ChrisR]

Yes Mike, that's the ring which "misses" on some cameras so isn't a problem. Most things miss, on my D700. Some old-series tubes catch though.
I did this modification on one. Razor saw and a file, 10 minutes.
One late film body caught everything I remember.

The point I was making was that Mr Haw goes on about AF contacts etc getting damaged.
If this mod alone makes a Pre-AI lens OKAY to use on modern cameras, he must be referring only to an earlier-than-just-pre-AI mount with an EXTRA problem.
I have about 3off 55mm micros, one very old, I'll see if I can find it.

"YMMV"!