Chipping a Nikkor - A Walk-through

[richardHaw]

maybe we should discuss about the price this in private 

[Edgy01]

Thank you, Bjørn, for such clear, lucid explanations of this process. 

Dan
Santa Barbara, CA

[John G]

Hi Bjorn
            I am interested by the comments on the dandelion chip, as to the fragility of them when on a Nikon Lens.
I have witnessed two destroyed on the same lens. The first one had a collapsed wall exposing all the pins after about one year of use, the second had the single pin dislodge and break of after a couple uses. I am not sure if the D800E camera body or TC 16A is the culprit.
I really enjoy the way the Lens / camera interacts with a CPU modified lens, so at present I would like to find a more robust chip that will offer longer life and user confidence.

Will the chip you offer fit into a dandelion cut out, or will further modification to the lens be required.

John 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

My chips are mounted into Nikon stock contact blocks, which have a metal backing and are retained by dedicated screws. Thus they have the same longevity and robustness as any current Nikkor coming with factory CPU.

Nearly all lenses will require a cut-out in the black stray light baffle. The rim of the bayonet mount also have to be the correct thickness, 0.8 to 0.9 mm, in the area where the contact block is to be seated (this seating is already present in all modern bayonets). Thus it is likely additional metal work will be required. One also has to drill and countersink the two holes for the retaining screws.

Depending on the lens to be modified, the installation can take anything from a few minutes to hours for the really tricky ones.

[John G]

Hi Bjorn
              The immediate lens I would like to have a CPU fitted to is a 300mm f2.8 ED IF AIS.
               If you have a CPU that will work with this lens, please let me know.
              I would also like to put one into a 85mm f1.4  and a 200mm f4, as I already own these.
               As these are used hand held or on a monopod.
              I am not sure of the benefits for a 24mm f2.8 as this is usually on a tripod mount set to infinity focus
              with a remote shutter release . 
              I am at present actively looking to purchase a 800mm f5.6  and a Micro Nikkor 105mm.
               each I feel would be enhanced in their use by the focus trap option.   

[Bjørn Rørslett]

My CPUs are programmable to fit virtually any lens, also those way off the limits of Nikkor specifications ... (camera read-out will only work for f/1 to f/95, because only two digits are used).

Perhaps an idea to start with the 300/2.8, as this is a very easy one to modify?

[tdoan]

Good morning Bjørn

(crossing my fingers )Do you have the cpu for the 75-150 series e available for order? Have read your lens survey over so many times that if it was a paperback, I would have been on my 3rd edition at least. 

Thank you Bjørn

[golunvolo]

Bjørn, after reviewing this, putting the chip on the BR2A I used for the Heligon, should be little more than two holes with countersunk  and tightening the screws. Am I wrong?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Good morning Bjørn

(crossing my fingers )Do you have the cpu for the 75-150 series e available for order? Have read your lens survey over so many times that if it was a paperback, I would have been on my 3rd edition at least. 

Thank you Bjørn

No problem. Just order. Do you need the entire kit (ie CPU, contact block, screws)? I also recommend renting a drill jig template so as to ensure a precise positioning of the screws.

Send me a PM. The 75-150 is a very easy lens to modify and over the years I have delivered dozens of CPU kits for it.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Bjørn, after reviewing this, putting the chip on the BR2A I used for the Heligon, should be little more than two holes with countersunk  and tightening the screws. Am I wrong?

No you are not. Just ensure the material thickness in the region touched by the contact block is 0.8-0.9mm and all is fine. Do note that the older bayonets were typically slimmer than the newer ones and the thinnest of them all were the M/M2 bayonets from the original Nikon F era. These mounts usually don't need any further trimming.

The retaining screws are the acid test here at the correct rim thickness they 'bite' completely into the rear metal guard and hold the entire package firmly in place. They should not protrude more than a tiny fraction of a mm outside the guard plate at most.

[Peter McLennan]

Amazing that this is even possible.
Also amazing that those documenting images are all hand held!

[Peter_S]

Hi All,
I'm new in this Forum and it seems to be the most interesting photography forum.
Thanks a lot for the possibility to choin.

I chipped more than 10 lenses with Dandelion Chips. Programming is perfect BUT mechanics are as Bjorn said. If they are mounted to far away from the Center/outside of the bayonette they will die after a certain time.
The latest lenses I chipped all work fine, but the beginning was hard.
The solution of Bjorn is clearly the better way, I'm always afraid a Dandelion could die in my D800 or other cam.....
Working with old non AI, AI and AIS lenses is real fun. Mechanically and optically they are superb and chipped they are perfect.

Peter

[Stefan-G]

I don't think Bjørn's CPU's are expensive, especially since they are same quality/identical to Nikon parts
They come highly recommended!

Dandelion CPU's are very fragile, and really the only application where I can say they work on a heavily used lens is for the 50mm 1.2 Ais, where it can be integrated into the F-Mount.

Hi Erik, I know this post is over a year old, but I'm very interested in what you mean by 'integrated into the F-mount'. Do you mean integrated into the camera? Or do you find space for the chip in the 50/1.2? How are you doing that? I gave up on chipping the 50/1.2, after trying to thin (by sanding from the inside) a Dandelion chip and have it fall apart before it was thin enough to fit.

Otherwise, the Dandelion chips in my AI/AIS lenses have held up very well so far, but I'm not a heavy user. Mine are simply super-glued.

PS: I'm glad I can finally post here! Last time I registered (several years ago), I was disappointed that the free accounts didn't have access to the hardware forum, but that policy seems to have changed now. My account had disappeared, so I was able to register the same name again.

Update: just seeing you started a thread on that very topic! Too bad, so you still have to cut into the rear element, if I read your thread correctly. That's what I found last time I looked into this topic on photo.net (see https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/rotate-rear-element-of-50-1-2-ais.459797/ ) . Could you post a picture of what that cut/machining looks like, and more importantly how you did it? I also see you machined down the front of the Dandelion chip, to make it fit into a slot you cut into the lens mount. I assume that's to make it sturdier than just slotting the baffle/mount with two radial cuts? Do you have pics of the machined down chip before inserting into the lens?

[Erik Lund]

Hi Erik, I know this post is over a year old, but I'm very interested in what you mean by 'integrated into the F-mount'. Do you mean integrated into the camera? Or do you find space for the chip in the 50/1.2? How are you doing that? I gave up on chipping the 50/1.2, after trying to thin (by sanding from the inside) a Dandelion chip and have it fall apart before it was thin enough to fit.

Otherwise, the Dandelion chips in my AI/AIS lenses have held up very well so far, but I'm not a heavy user. Mine are simply super-glued.

PS: I'm glad I can finally post here! Last time I registered (several years ago), I was disappointed that the free accounts didn't have access to the hardware forum, but that policy seems to have changed now. My account had disappeared, so I was able to register the same name again.

Update: just seeing you started a thread on that very topic! Too bad, so you still have to cut into the rear element, if I read your thread correctly. That's what I found last time I looked into this topic on photo.net (see https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/rotate-rear-element-of-50-1-2-ais.459797/ ) . Could you post a picture of what that cut/machining looks like, and more importantly how you did it? I also see you machined down the front of the Dandelion chip, to make it fit into a slot you cut into the lens mount. I assume that's to make it sturdier than just slotting the baffle/mount with two radial cuts? Do you have pics of the machined down chip before inserting into the lens?

Thanks for joining
This is a relatively new Revival of NikonGear. You will see if you look at the intduction at the top of the site.
http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,15.0.html

This is the thread with 55mm 1.2
http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,6603.0.html


I’m currently working on the 50mm 1.2 as well.


You can’t turn the optics, I guess you know by now, the lens will hit the aperture leaver in the camera mirror box!


I’ll update the thread linked above with progress,,,

[acgiannopo]

Hi there.
Are you still make those chips and sell them? I am really interested since they are a lot thinner i guess than the dandelion ones. I have some of old ai-s's that i'd like to chip.