Using an old Nikon 1200mm lens from 1974 for UV

[kogakunippon]

Yesterday I tested if my old Nikon 1200mm Nikkor-P.C f11 lens can capture UV or not. The results are very interesting, but check out by yourself....

 

The lens:

 

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/18302374-lg.jpg

 

 

My Baader U-Filter mounted on the backside from the 1200mm lens, with the focusing unit behind:

 

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/18302370-md.jpg

 

 

A picture from yesterday morning from our Sun:

 

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/18302372-lg.jpg

 

Nikon D7100

Nikkor 1200mm f/11.0

Baader U-Filter

 

1/8000 sec

F/16.0

 

KInd Regards

 

Wolfgang

[nfoto]

The sun is a very strong light source also for UV when one aims the lens directly towards it. Thus the result didn't come entirely unexpected. Yet nice to have the ability confirmed.

 

I own the later version 1200 mm f/11 ED-IF and used that likewise with Baader U to shoot the Venus Transit 2012.

 

Both cases exemplify the fact that almost any lens can do UV when sufficient light is forced through it. Not necessarily with any good image quality as a result though our 1200 mm optics appear to deliver acceptable output.

[kogakunippon]

The sun is indeed the strongest light source available on our planet Bjorn, but 1/8000 sec is also the shortest shutter time. This indicates that a lot of ultraviolet light came through.

[Cadmium]

Nice looking lens. :-)

[rfcurry]

With only 5 elements in 5 groups that lens should be able to transmit UV well. A very nice piece of technology!

[nfoto]

Inspired by Wolfgang, I just purchased this 400/4.5 Nikkor Q in near mint condition. It has 4 separate elements and being from the mid '60s there is no multicoating.

 

(eBay seller's ad)

 

Another advantage is of course one can rear-mount any filter on the lens head itself. Thus this opens up avenues for exploration in various spectral ranges.

 

I have a couple of these long Nikkor lens heads already, but they come either with cemented elements (600/5.6) or worse, ED glass (800/8 ED). Both would obviously work for shooting the sun in UV, but I want to broaden the long lens applicability for UV to more earthly subjects. Fortunately I also have the improved focusing adapter AU-1 to make the lens easier to handle.

[OlDoinyo]

When the lens was pointed at the sun the camera recorded something, of that there is no doubt.

 

But was it UV? I am not enough of a solar astronomer to say whether that looks like a UV image, and this sort of setup, to my thinking, bears with it a risk of out-of-band contamination--the sun emits large quantities of visible and IR, and some of that can get past the filter. Perhaps doing this with and without a yellow filter stacked on might be informative: if the image is UV, the yellow filter will extinguish it.

[nfoto]

Essentially I got a similar image of the solar disc when the Baader U was combined with a 'solar filter' to allow direct visual observation. Perhaps the surface irregularities came out better, otherwise the appearance was the same. In IR, surface details got lost.

 

Your point about the danger of out-of-band contamination is valid and one always should carry out additional tests to ensure UV is properly recorded.