Nikon Lens Scope Converter
Converts Lenses into Telescopes
Intro Specs Performance Recommendations
Nikon Lens Scope Converter (7 oz./200g, about $150 used). bigger. I'd get mine at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
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Introduction top
Introduction Specifications Performance Recommendations
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This fun accessory is no longer made, but easy to get at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
It's an eyepiece that attaches to the back of a Nikon F-mount lens to make it a telescope.
It contains an erecting prism so everything is right-side up, and also contains a 10mm focal-length eyepiece optimized for use with camera lenses.
The power of the telescope is the focal length of your lens divided by 10. A 50mm lens becomes a 5× telescope, a 400mm lens becomes a 40× telescope, and an 80-200mm zoom becomes a 7-21× power zoom telescope.
If you are an idiot you can use it to make your 16mm fisheye into a foolish 1.6× telescope, and your 8mm fisheye into an impressive-looking 0.8× reducer.
I'd get my Lens Scope Converter at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
Compatibility top
Intro Specs Performance Recommendations
I'd get my Lens Scope Converter at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
It works with any Nikon SLR or DSLR lens with an aperture ring, DX or FX. You need an aperture ring so you can set your lens to its widest aperture (like f/2.8) to give a bright image.
It works with both auto-focus and ideally manual focus F-mount lenses.
Manual focus lenses are recommended as they have much smoother and often more precise manual focus, which is of course the only way this system focuses with the Lens Scope Converter.
While it "works" with newer F-mount lenses that lack an aperture ring (the G series), they'll always be stopped all the way down and give a very dark image unless you figure out a way to block the diaphragm pin to keep the diaphragm open.
It works great with F-Mount teleconverters for more magnification.
Forget it with Mirrorless Lenses; there's no way to adapt the Z mount to this F-mount accessory.
Specifications top
Intro Specs Performance Recommendations
I'd get my Lens Scope Converter at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
Mine weighs 7 oz. (200 g).
It has a dioptometric adjustment covering about -5 to +3 diopters.
It allows the full use of up to an f/3.5 lens aperture which provides up to a 2.8mm exit pupil. Faster lenses get no brighter; 2.8mm is the maximum exit pupil.
Price
I got a deal when I got mine used in 1995 for $80.
In September 2005 one sold on eBay for $327.
In 2024 they go for about $150 at eBay.
Performance top
Intro Specs Performance Recommendations
I'd get my Lens Scope Converter at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
The Lens Scope Converter works great. The limiting factor is the definition of the lens to which you are attaching it.
The image will be fantastic with ultra-sharp lenses like the 400/2.8 AF-I and all of Nikon's long ED super-teles, and be poorer with lesser lenses like off-brand zooms.
Mediocre lenses will be on the fuzzy side.
It has enough magnification to allow you to see lens aberrations that you cannot see on film.
Recommendations top
Intro Specs Performance Recommendations
I'd get my Lens Scope Converter at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
This is a fun, useful and high performance optical device. There were discount brands like Bower that were never as good, even though they may have had the same specifications.
It only admits light up to f/3.5. Faster lenses don't get any brighter, so look for an f/3.5 or f/4 tele like the 80-200mm f/4 AIS (8-20×), 135mm f/3.5 AIs (13.5×), 200mm f/4 AI (20×), 300mm f/4.5 EDIF, AF 300mm f/4, AF-S 300mm f/4 (300mm lenses compared, all 30×), 400mm f/3.5 (40×), 500mm f/4 (50×) or 600mm f/4 (60×) for the very best results.
A 200mm f/4 has a 50mm objective diameter, a 300mm f/4 has a 75mm objective diameter.
If you have any of the ED super teles, they make superb large-aperture spotting scopes with loads of light-gathering power. A 400mm f/3.5 has 114mm objective diameter, a 500mm f/4 has a 125mm objective diameter and a 600mm f/4 has a whopping 150mm objective diameter!
The inexpensive 500mm f/8 C and 500mm f/8 N reflex lenses (both 50× with 62mm mirror diameters) work very well with this converter because, while the reflex lens is crappy for photography due to its light weight and long focal length, it has great central definition and works great with a tripod.
Make sure to set the lens to its widest aperture, and not the minimum aperture to which most AF lenses are left set with the aperture ring stop. If you don't change the lens aperture you will get a very dark image. This converter has no pin to open the automatic diaphragm of the lens.
Since the exit pupil is limited to 2.8mm and its angle of acceptance limit its light gathering to f/3.5, stop faster lenses down to f/3.5 to reduce flare.
Feel free to use teleconverters between the Lens Scope Converter and the lens for more magnification
While 50mm lenses work fine, they don't give much magnification. With longer lenses ideally pop them on a tripod for a stable image, especially at larger magnifications.
Remember that this converter doesn't use the entire image area, just a small area of the center of the lens' image.
I'd get my Lens Scope Converter at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
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