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Besides producing most excellent cameras and lenses, Nikon's photographic range of hardware stretches far and wide and includes enlarger lenses with the designation "El-".

The El-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8N is a high quality 6 element enlarger lens that is ideal for extreme macro and my preferred choice for the 1:1 to 2:1 magnification range giving excellent results. Above 1:1 a Raynox maybe more convenient to use, but below that this lens is one of the lenses of choice. The El-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8N has a 40.5mm filter thread reversed which is a size easily obtained on eBay.

Nikon El-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8N, used reversed for extreme macro. The older Nikon El-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 has a metal, scalloped body, but this newer Nikon El-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8N is all plastic - lens diagram here.

This lens is such good value for money for reverse macro as a first step that it should almost be compulsory to purchase this! Very cheap nowadays because there's no demand for enlarger lenses anymore, expect to pay about £25 for one.

Nikon El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8N Best Setting

Unlike Componon lenses, the El-Nikkor likes to be stopped down a little for optimal resolution and sharpness performance. I have personally always found it best between f/4 and f/5.6.

Nikon El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8N Versions

The original El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8 is an enlarger lens which was released in 1957 and has a scalloped aperture barrel and all-metal construction. Although this lens has undergone incremental changes in the intervening years, The Nikon Group still sells a version as an industrial lens - the Nikon Rayfact IL50mm.

Classic wasp face image shot with an El-Nikkor 50 f/2.8.

With its four-group, six-element structure, the El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8 has always been highly regarded. During development of the lens, a certain German optical manufacturer secured the patent for its basic design. This meant Nikon (then known as Nippon Kogaku K. K.) was forced to incorporate methods that did not violate this patent into its design. There were numerous restrictions to overcome before Nikon could complete its optical system.

An improved version of the El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8, the El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8N was launched in 1979. An 'N' was added to the name to denote the new type. With improved resolution at the edges of the image and less reduction in light intensity, both of which were due to the new optical system, this model represented a considerable improvement.

The new version lacks the scalloped aperture barrel of the older model and has a partly plastic barrel. With the adoption of multi-coating, it also produced clearer, higher-contrast images. From talking with other extreme macro photographers, both the original El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8 and the newer El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8N in fact produce fine images although the latter gives the punchier image in terms of contrast.

Nikon El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8 or f/4?

Given the availability of f/2.8 50s, don't bother with the f/4 for extreme macro photography

In fact, Nikon produced both an El-Nikkor f/4 and an El-Nikkor f/2.8. The El-Nikkor 50mm/2.8 is a 6 element, 4 group design, and the 50/4 is a student budget version - a 4 element, 3 group design. The El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8 is considered much better for extreme macro than the 50mm f/4, and given the availability of f/2.8 50s, don't bother with the f/4 for extreme macro photography as they are sold at similar prices so you may as well get the better one.

El-Nikkor's Little Secret: UV Photography

Another member of the El-Nikkor enlarging range, the 63mm El Nikkor f/3.5, is highly sought after for another use, namely UV photography. One was sold on eBay USA in 2011 for US$1,350 and in the UK in 2012 for £650 Note that there are several versions of the 63mm El Nikkor. One was sold on ebay USA in 2011 for US$1,350 and another here in the UK for £650. However, many other El Nikkor enlarging lenses also perform well for UV photography, including the 50s. Macro UV photography looks to be an interesting option.

Every El-Nikkor lens is corrected for chromatic aberrations beyond the visible spectrum and into the near-ultra-violet wavelengths, which photographic papers for which they were intended, are particularly sensitive to. Nikon also states that as a result of special optical glass and matched coatings, the El-Nikkor lenses have ultra-violet transmission characteristics (in the 350nm to 450nm range) that are favourable enough to allow them to be used to make colour separations, in addition to all other enlarging applications.

Interesting enough another El-Nikkor, the older version of the El-Nikkor 80 f/5.6, the one with the shiny metal ring, apparently has even better UV transmission characteristics and transmits deeply down to about 325nm or so. This lens still transmits 50% at 330nm, whereas the other El-Nikkors transmit very little at that wavelength. The El-Nikkor 80 also displays very little focus shift, and can be had for £75 or so.

Bottom line, it's fair to say that El-Nikkor lenses are a great budget choice for UV photography.

El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8N Availability

The El-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 is nearly always available through eBay and is one of the easiest enlarger lenses to find. Expect to pay £25 at the time of writing.

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