Exit Pupil Distance

The position of the exit pupil has a big effect on how well a legacy lens will perform when used with a digital sensor instead of film. This article on the Lensrentals blog has a good explanation of the effect, and also contains a table with the exit pupil distance for many lenses.

To expand that table, I recently started to measure the exit pupil position of lenses I had access to. My measurements are not that precise, so the numbers might differ from those in the Lensrentals article by up to 1-2mm. In cases where it was particularly hard to measure, the number is prefixed by a tilde. For focus-by-wire lenses I can only hope that the lens stayed at infinity. The numbers for such lenses are prefixed with ☇. Entries in italics are from the Lensrentals article.

With CPU lenses, Nikon cameras record the exit pupil position in the EXIF data. I have listed values obtained this way in the third column. Here is a table with values obtained from EXIF data.

The value in this table is the exit pupil position at infinity. Classic lenses focused by extension have larger values for near subjects, but lenses with internal focusing often reduce their focal length for closer subjects and might have a lower value than at infinity.

Nikon F primes · Nikon F zooms · Nikon F 3rd party · Nikon rangefinder · Nikon Z · Sony E · Medium format · Others

Lens Exit pupil distance (mm) Remarks
Nikon F-Mount Primes
Nikkor 3.5/18 AI-S 58.0
Nikkor 4/20 47.3
Nikkor 2.8/20 AF-D 53.0 EXIF: 55.4
Nikkor-O 1:4 f=2.1cm 19.0 Requires mirror lock-up and F, F2, or Nikkormat
Nikkor 2.8/24 AI-S 60.5
Nikkor 2/24 AI 68.6
PC-Nikkor 4/28 62.3
Nikkor 3.5/28 AI 57.0
PC-Nikkor 3.5/28 63.0
Nikkor 2.8/28 AI-S 55.0
Nikon Series E 2.8/28 56.8
Nikkor 2/28 AI-S 61.5
Nikkor-S Auto 2.8/3550.5later 7/6 version
Nikon Series E 2.5/35 57.5
Nikkor 2/35 AI 58.5
Nikkor 1.4/35 AI-S 79.3
GN Auto Nikkor·C 1:2.8 f=45mm 44.4
Nikkor 45mm 1:2.8 P 52.0 EXIF: 55.4
Nikkor-S 1:2 f=5cm 51.5
Nikkor K 2/50 59.5
Nikkor 1.8/50 AI, AI-S, AF 55.0 EXIF: 55.4
AF-S Nikkor 1.8/50 G 63.8 EXIF: 66.1
Nikkor K 1.4/50 85.5 7 elements in 5 groups version
Nikkor 1.4/50 AI-S 71.6
Nikkor 1.2/50 AI-S 103.4
Micro-Nikkor 2.8/55 AI-S 58.0
Nikkor 1.2/55 AI 91.8
Nikkor-S 1:1.4 f=5.8cm 71.5
Nikkor AF-S 1.4/58 G 68.5 EXIF: 73.1
Nikkor 1.2/58 Noct 83.0
AF-Nikkor 2.8/80 96.0
Nikkor 2/85 AI 69.5
Nikkor K 1.8/85 67.5
Nikkor 1.4/85 AI-S 67.2
AF Nikkor 85mm 1:1.4 D 54.5 EXIF: 58.5
Nikon Series E 2.8/100 68.5
Nikkor-T 1:4 f=10.5cm 112.5
Micro-Nikkor 4/105 109.5
Micro-Nikkor 2.8/105 AI-S 79.5
Nikkor 2.5/105 AI, AI-S 90.0
AF DC-Nikkor 2/105 131.0 EXIF: 136.5 ∞, 97.5 close
Nikkor 1.8/105 AI-S 82.5
Nikkor 3.5/135 AI 92.5
Nikkor-Q 1:2.8 f=135mm 90.5
Nikon Series E 135mm 1:2.8 81.0
Nikkor 135mm 1:2.8 AI-S 81.7
Nikkor 135mm 1:2 AI 71.8
Nikkor-P 1:2.8 f=180mm 110.5
Nikkor ED 2.8/180 AI-S 75.5
AF Micro Nikkor ED 4/200 159.5 EXIF: 157.5 ∞, 128 close
AF-Nikkor ED 3.5/200 107.0
Nikkor ED 5.6/400 135.5
Nikon F-Mount Zooms
Zoom-Nikkor 4/25-50 @ 25mm 50.0
Zoom-Nikkor 4/25-50 @ 50mm 69.5
Zoom-Nikkor 4-5.6/35-80 AF-D New @ 35mm 64.0 EXIF: 66.1
Zoom-Nikkor 4-5.6/35-80 AF-D New @ 80mm 95.5 EXIF: 97.5
Zoom-Nikkor 3.5/50-135 93.0
Zoom-Nikkor ED 4.5/50-300 108.5
Nikon Series E 3.5/75-150 96.0
Third-party lenses for Nikon F-Mount
Voigtländer 20mm F3.5 SL II 50.7 EXIF: 52.5
Zeiss Distagon T* 2/25 ZF.2 74.5 EXIF: 62.1
Yongnuo 40mm F2.8 N 53.1 EXIF broken
Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 2/50 ZF.2 57.5 EXIF: 53.9
Sigma 2.8/70 Macro 82.5 EXIF: 89.0
Voigtländer Color-Heliar 2.5/75 SL 60.0
Zhongyi Creator 2/85 87.0
Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 3.5/90 SL II 72.5 EXIF: 73.1
Voigtländer APO-Skopar 2.8/90 SL IIs 54.2 EXIF: 66.1
Youngnuo YN100mm F2N 104.5 EXIF: 75.9
Sigma EX DG Macro HSM OS 2.8/105 116.8 EXIF: 136.5 ∞, 120.5 close
Voigtländer Macro APO-Lanthar 2.5/125 SL 70.5
Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 ZF.2 83.5 EXIF: 68.3
Sigma AF APO Macro 5.6/180 76.5 EXIF: 85.3
Nikon Rangefinder
Nikkor-O 1:4 f=2.1cm 19.0
W-Nikkor 1:4 f=2.5cm25.4
W-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=2.8cm29.4
W-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=3.5cm35.1
W-Nikkor 1:2.5 f=3.5cm35.3
W-Nikkor 1:1.8 f=3.5cm37.9
Nikkor-Q 1:3.5 f=5cm 48.5
Nikkor-H 1:2 f=5cm 37.5
Nikkor-S 1:1.4 f=5cm 35.0
Nikkor-N 1:1.1 f=5cm 56.0
Nikkor-P 1:2 f=8.5cm50.4
Nikkor-S 1:1.5 f=8.5cm55.3
Nikkor-T 1:4 f=10.5cm 112.5
Nikkor-P 1:2.5 f=10.5cm63.4
Nikkor-Q 1:3.5 f=13.5cm90.2
Bellows Nikkor-Q 1:4 f=13.5cm140.5
Nikkor-H 1:2.5 f=18cm125.5
Nikon Z
Z-Nikkor 2.8/26 ☇ 36.2
Z-Nikkor 2.8/28 ☇ 46.0
Z-Nikkor 1.8/35 S ☇ 48.5
Z-Nikkor 2/40 ☇ 42.0
Z-Nikkor 1.8/50 S ☇ 49.5
Voigtländer Macro APO-Lanthar 65mm F2 40.0 EXIF: 43.6
Z-Nikkor 1.8/85 S ☇ 49.0
Z-Nikkor MC 2.8/105 S ☇ 70.5
Medium format
Nikkor-D 1:4 f=40mm 88.8 Zenza Bronica
Nikkor-O 1:2.8 f=50mm 96.0 Zenza Bronica
Nikkor-P 1:2.8 f=75mm 74.0 Zenza Bronica
Nikkor-H 1:2.8 f=75mm 88.0 Zenza Bronica
Nikkor-Q 1:3.5 f=105mm 95.0 Zenza Bronica
Nikkor-Q 1:3.5 f=135mm 135.0 Zenza Bronica
Zenzanon 1:3.5 f=150mm 128.0 Longer non-"MC" version
Nikkor-P 1:5.6 f=300mm 170.0 Zenza Bronica
Sony E
Voigtländer Ultra Wide-Heliar 5.6/12 Aspherical III ~ 56.0
Voigtländer Macro APO-Lanthar 2/65 39.0 Should be identical to the Z-mount version within measuring tolerance
Zeiss Loxia 2.4/85 55.0
Others
A.Schacht Ulm Travegon 1:3.5/35 R 40.8
Konica Hexanon AR 1.8/4050.0
ISCO-Göttingen Iscotar 1:2.8/50 48.4 Triplet with front lens focusing
ISCO-Göttingen Westagon 1:1.9/50 53.5
Minolta MC Rokkor-PG 1:1.4 f=50mm 76.5
Minolta MD Rokkor 1:1.4 f=50mm 63.5
Olympus OM G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.4 f=50mm 66.0
Pentax 50mm f/1.4 Super Takumar 70.5
Konica Hexanon AR 1.8/5257.0
Nikon EL-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=63mm ~ 61.5
Minolta MD Rokkor 85mm 1:2 65.5
A.Schacht Ulm Edixa-Mat-Travenar 1:2.8/90 59.5
Asahi Takumar 1:2.8/120 71.6
ISCO-Göttingen Tele-Westanar 1:3.5/135 51.2
Konica Hexanon AR 3.2/13590.5