Recently I came across an interesting Printing-NIKKOR 95mm F2.8 for sale in Japan. The ad gave me a really good example to share some important details that a typical buyer would miss, but would stop me from buying this copy for sure. Besides the obvious coating issues and overall rough shape there are two important details.
Rear Cover Missing
In the middle of the blue circle on the left you can see a small indention in the lens. The indention itself is normal but the fact that you can see it is the problem. The indention was created when the set screw that holds the rear sleeve in place was secured at the factory. The probem now is that the entire outer mounting sleeve that covers the rear of the lens is missing. Trying to find a replacement cover is going to be very difficult and expensive and not worth the trouble.
In the photo at the bottom of this post you can see two examples of lenses with the two knurled rings and the M45 thread mount. Printing-NIKKOR lenses have two knurled rings, one at the front for aperture control and one at the rear for mounting.
Calibration Marks
Since the rear cover of this lens is missing, this is the perfect opportunity to point out calibration marks, circled on the far right. Normally these are hidden from view. We have seen under performing Printing-NIKKOR copies sent to our office that were way out of calibration. At the rear of a Printing-NIKKOR there are two sets of calibration marks and when viewed straight on the two pairs on this lens do line up. At least this lens copy is still calibrated.
This lens is not worth the $500 asking price due to the missing rear cover and the coating issues, I would stay away even if the asking price was less than $100.
We do hope this information will help a potential Printing-NIKKOR buyer find a clean sharp copy for a fair price. The Printing-NIKKORs are very highly recommended and some of our favorite lenses of all time!
