Nikon Amusing Lenses
The Nikon Amusing Lenses (ニコン おもしろレンズ工房) are a limited production set of four toy lenses for the Nikon F mount sold exclusively in Japan. The Amusing Lenses were introduced in 1995 and discontinued in 1996; they were re-released in 2000 as the Fun Fun LensSet, which was discontinued again in 2003. The lenses included are:
- Gyogyotto 20 (ぎょぎょっと20), a f=20 mm f/8 fisheye lens
- Dodotto 400 (どどっと400), a f=400 mm f/8 telephoto lens
- Gugutto Macro (ぐぐっとマクロ), a f=120 mm f/4.5 macro lens
- Fuwatto Soft (ふわっとソフト), a f=90 mm f/4.8 soft focus lens
Design and history
The concept for the lens set started from a meeting in 1994 led by Masaaki Tsukamoto, who had developed the Nikonos RS and was seeking ideas for new lenses. One of the participants suggested a soft focus lens, as the two-element, one-group meniscus lens from the Vest Pocket Kodak had influenced photography in Japan, which was warmly received as a potential method to teach photographers about basic lens construction; after discussions with management, Tsukamoto was given permission to proceed with the project, expanded to the four basic lens types (fisheye, soft focus, macro, and telephoto) with a retail price target of ¥5,000 and sufficient optical performance to support prints at up to 2L size, 127×178 mm (5×7 in).[1]
The aperture is not adjustable for each lens, although the instruction manual suggests that to control the degree of soft focus, a Waterhouse stop could be cut out of stiff paper.[1]
The Gugutto Macro and Fuwatto Soft used the same lens body and front lens group.[2]
References
- ^ a b Ohshita, Kouichi. "NIKKOR: The Thousand and One Nights: Tale 52, Nikon Fun Fun LensSet (Gugutto Macro/Fuwatto Soft)". Nikon Imaging. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Shene, Ching-Kuang (May 22, 2014). "Nikon Fun Fun Lens Set". Michigan Technical University. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
External links
- "ニコン おもしろレンズ工房" [Nikon Amusing Lenses (brochure)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Nikon Inc. November 1995.
- "ニコン おもしろレンズ工房" [Nikon Amusing Lenses (manual)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Nikon Inc. October 1995.
- "ニコン おもしろレンズ工房" [Nikon Amusing Lenses (stickers)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Nikon Inc. 1995.