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] When they were released, the set retailed for ¥18,000;[2] production of the first version was limited to 5,000 sets. When they were re-released in 2000, some cosmetic changes were made.[3]
For each lens the aperture is not adjustable, although the instruction manual states that to control the degree of soft focus with the Fuwatto Soft, a Waterhouse stop could be cut out of stiff paper and applied to the front of the lens; the lens's designer, Kouichi Ohshita, suggested an opening of 15 mm (0.59 in) in diameter, equivalent to f/6.[1]
Lens Spec
|
Gyogyotto 20 (ぎょぎょっと20) | Gugutto Macro (ぐぐっとマクロ) | Fuwatto Soft (ふわっとソフト) | Dodotto 400 (どどっと400) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length (mm) | 20 | 120 | 90 | 400 | |
| Aperture | f/8 | f/4.5 | f/4.8 | f/8 | |
| Construction | Elements | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Groups | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Min. focus | 1 m (39 in), fixed at 1.6 m (63 in) |
0.64 m (25 in) | 0.4 m (16 in) | 4.5 m (180 in) | |
| Dimensions | Φ×L | 66×68 mm (2.6×2.7 in) | 60×112 mm (2.4×4.4 in) | 68×265 mm (2.7×10.4 in), L=151 mm (5.9 in) when stowed | |
| Weight | 235 g (8.3 oz) | 300 g (11 oz) | 500 g (18 oz) | ||
| Filter (mm) | — | 52 | 52 | ||
Gyogyotto 20 (ぎょぎょっと20)
The Gyogyotto 20 is a full-frame "fisheye type" lens which has an angle of view of 152° across the diagonal. The lens was designed by Kouichi Oshita with input from Haruto Sato. The front (object-facing) lens element is a plano-concave lens, followed by a cemented group consisting of a thick meniscus element and convex element.[5]
A reviewer for Watch Impress, using the lens on a Nikon D100 in 2005, was disappointed with the closest focusing distance;[2] a later review from 2023 suggested that with a mirrorless camera and mount adapter with focusing helicoid, this obstacle could be overcome.[3]
Gugutto Macro / Fuwatto Soft (ぐぐっとマクロ / ふわっとソフト)
The Gugutto Macro and Fuwatto Soft use the same lens body and front cemented lens doublet;[4] for the macro lens, the convex side faces the object, while for the soft focus lens, the doublet is reversed so the concave side faces the object.[1] The housing for the single rear meniscus element used with the macro lens is sized to be stored inside a standard 135 film cartridge container.[1]
The Gugutto Macro is designed as a classic two-group telephoto, with a positive (converging) lens arranged ahead of a negative (diverging) lens to shorten the overall length; reproduction ratios of up to 1⁄3× are possible in the standard state, when the converging lens doublet is threaded into the rear of the focusing barrel. By threading it into the front of the barrel, reproduction ratios are extended to 1⁄1.4×, which Nikon called the "even closer" configuration, or Sarani Gugutto Macro (さらにぐぐっとマクロ).[1]
The single-group meniscus lens that results from reversing the converging lens doublet for the Fuwatto Soft is similar to the configuration of an unhooded Vestan lens, which achieves its soft focus effect through uncontrolled spherical aberration.
Dodotto 400 (どどっと400)
Early prototypes of the Dodotto 400 included a complicated, two-stage mechanical lens barrel, which was dropped. The Dodotto 400 has an illumination circle adequate for the 645 frame size.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e Ohshita, Kouichi. "NIKKOR: The Thousand and One Nights: Tale 52, Nikon Fun Fun LensSet (Gugutto Macro/Fuwatto Soft)". Nikon Imaging. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ a b 折本 幸治 (November 1, 2005). "ニコン おもしろレンズ工房" [Nikon Amusing Lenses]. Watch Impress (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ a b 坂井田富三 (March 24, 2023). "【オールドレンズ】ニコンおもしろレンズ工房「ぎょぎょっと20」で楽しい魚眼風撮影" [[Old lenses] Have fun taking fisheye-style photos with Nikon's Amusing Lenses 'Gyogyotto 20']. ShaSha (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ a b Shene, Ching-Kuang (May 22, 2014). "Nikon Fun Fun Lens Set". Michigan Technical University. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ a b Ohshita, Kouichi. "NIKKOR: The Thousand and One Nights: Tale 54, Nikon Fun Fun LensSet, Part 2 (Gyogyotto 20, Dodotto 400)". Nikon Imaging. Retrieved 30 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.