The Original Lenses (1959-1965) for the Nikon F

1959

2.1cm f/4-16 Nikkor-O

3.5cm f/2.8-16 Nikkor-S Auto

5cm f/2 Nikkor-S Auto

10.5cm f/2.5-22 Nikkor-P Auto

13.5cm f/3.5-32 Nikkor-Q Auto

1960

5.8cm f/1.4-16 Nikkor-S Auto

10.5cm f/4-22 Nikkor-T Preset

8.5~25.0cm f/4~4.5-16 Zoom-Nikkor Auto

1961

5.5cm f/3.5-32 Micro-Nikkor-P Preset

13.5cm f/2 Nikkor-? Auto

20.0cm f/4-32 Nikkor-Q Auto

50.0cm f/5 Reflex-Nikkor

100cm f/6.3 Reflex Nikkor

3.5~8.5cm f/2.8 Zoom-Nikkor Auto?

1962

8mm f/8-22 Fisheye-Nikkor

43~86mm f/3.5-22 Zoom-Nikkor Auto

200~600mm f/9.5~10.5-32 Zoom-Nikkor Auto

1963

55mm f/3.5-32 Micro-Nikkor-P Auto

200mm f/5.6-45 Medical-Nikkor Auto

1964

50mm f/1.2 CRT-Nikkor Auto?

55mm f/4-32 UV-Nikkor Auto

85mm f/1.8-22 Nikkor-H Auto

300mm f/4.5-22 Nikkor-P Auto

CU-1 focussing unit

600mm f/5.6-22 Nikkor-P Auto

800mm f/8-22/64 Nikkor-P Auto

1200mm f/11-64 Nikkor-P Auto

1965

50~300mm f/4.5-22 Zoom-Nikkor Auto

28mm f/3.5-16 Nikkor-H Auto

35mm f/3.5-32 PC-Nikkor-H Preset

50mm f/1.4-16 Nikkor-S Auto

135mm f/2.8-22 Nikkor-Q Auto

135mm f/4-22 Nikkor-Q Short Mount/Bellows Preset

180mm f/2.5-32 Nikkor-H Preset

250mm f/4-32 Nikkor-Q Preset

350mm f/4.5-22 Nikkor-T Preset

500mm f/5-45 Nikkor-T Preset

Much thanks to Ted Wengelaar for supplying a steady flow of F lens information.

Nikon Lens Terminology

Nikkor
The name of Nikon-built lenses (later would change to just "Nikon")
Nikkor-X
X refers to the number of elements in the lens design:
  1. U
    B
    T
    Q
    P
    H
    S
    O
    N
    D
Note that these can be combined for prime lenses with more than ten elements, e.g. the Nikkor-UD 20mm f/3.5 (72mm filter), which has eleven elements. Note also that zooms (and other lenses with a designation prefix, e.g. Micro-, Fisheye-, etc.) do not indicate the number of elements in the lens this way.
Nikkor-X.C.
A lens which has Nikon Integrated Coating (NIC), a multicoating process dating back to the introduction of the 24mm f/2.8 in 1969; some report that NIC is a license of Pentax Super-Multi-Coating (SMC), but SMC was introduced in 1974 ...
Nikkor-X Auto
A lens with an automatic diaphragm (e.g. it automatically stops down to the taking aperture just before the shutter opens).
Nikkor-X Preset
A lens with a manual diaphragm but which has a separate aperture control to preset the taking aperture; the aperture is set wide open for focussing and then stopped down to the preset by hand just before pressing the shutter release.
Nikkor-X Short Mount/Bellows
A lens designed to be used on an adapter tube (the adapted rangefinder telephotos, for instance) or on bellows (135mm f/4, for example). When so mounted, these lenses can be focussed to infinity at their minimum extension (and without the extra mounting, they focus "beyond infinity" ...).
CRT-Nikkor
A lens optimized to take pictures of an oscilloscope screen, which are appox. 10-20cm on the diagonal, and thus take their best pictures at around a 1:4 reproduction ratio.
Fisheye-Nikkor
A lens where image size is directly proportional to its angular distance from the center of the image; otherwise famous for unusual perspective and massive barrel distortion. Nikon makes two types: one forms a circular image on the film (6, 7.5, 8, and 10mm) and the other uses the full frame (16mm). All full-frame and some circular (the f/2.8 ones) fisheyes allow SLR viewing; the rest require the mirror to be locked-up.
Medical-Nikkor
A lens corrected for close-up photography and incorporating a ringlight and some method for printing information on the film; designed for body-cavity and surgery photography (hence "Medical").
Micro-Nikkor
A lens corrected for close-up photography and incorporating a focussing mount of some sort to extend to 1:2 (manual focus lenses) or 1:1 (autofocus) reproduction ratio. 200mm lenses all incorporate IF; shorter lenses either incorporate a longer helicoid (manual focus) or a mixture of helicoid and IF (AF).
OP-Fisheye-Nikkor
A lens where image size is directly proportional to the sine of the angular distance from the center of the image; Nikon only made one, the 10mm f/5.6, which was designed for measuring illumination levels, since the Orthographic Projection formula has no light falloff to the edges when photographing an evenly illuminated field.
PC-Nikkor
Perspective Control; incorporates a shifting mechanism into a wideangle lens which allows the photographer to keep the film plane parallel to the subject. This can eliminate most converging lines; tilting (or swinging) is not possible (would allow more depth of field).
Reflex-Nikkor
A lens which incorporates a mirror system to optically fold the light path, which results in relatively compact lenses of long focal length. Generally, they have no chromatic aberrations (color fringing) because light is reflected, rather than refracted; however, some "side effects" (donut-shaped out-of-focus highlights, no aperture control, most are relatively slow) are enough to drive some people batty.
UV-Nikkor
Ultraviolet photography is possible with these lenses specifically designed to pass UV rays.
Zoom-Nikkor
A lens with variable focal length and in some cases, a variable aperture through the zoom range. Useful for reframing subjects without disturbing the relative perspective.
Nikkor*ED*
A lens incorporating ED glass, for Extra-low Dispersion, which refers to the refractive index of the glass. With longer focal lengths, convergence of light becomes a problem and so color fringing will reduce sharpness. Some manufacturer discovered that calcium fluorite crystals are able to compensate for this misconvergence; ED glass is a fluorocrown glass incorporating fluorite in a glass. Note that some Nikon lenses, most notably the 180mm f/2.8 and 400mm f/5.6, were rumored to incorporate ED glass from the beginning of their production.
IF Nikkor
A lens which focusses not by helicoid (moving all of the elements back and forth) but rather by moving selected groups internally. Benefits include a lighter focussing touch and a lens whose center of gravity does not shift. Internal Focussing is dependent on zoom technology and the focal length of the lens actually changes with the distance focussed on (although the effect is not usually noticeable, except with the autofocus Micro-Nikkors, where working distance is somewhat compromised in order to reach 1:1 without tubes or converters).
Mirror Lock-Up Lens
A lens which requires the mirror to be locked up (available only on F-series and Nikkormat cameras).
Mirror Lock-Up Lens with tab
A lens (actually, the only lens is the 21mm f/4) which not only requires mirror lock-up, but also a tab on the lensmount of the body which engages a corresponding tab on the 21 which holds the lens in the proper position. The 21's rear element is sawed-off to provide clearance for the mirror when it is locked-up and thus requires proper alignment. This tab is only on the lensmounts of the F and F2.

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