The Claw

/ Richard R. Barron

I’ve been taking pictures for a living for a long time. The apex of technology when I started in this field were cameras like the Nikon F2, the Canon F-1, the Hasselblad 500 series, and the Leica M and R series. It was a very interesting time in the evolution of photography.

Most long-time Nikon photographers will recognize the "claw" on the aperture ring of Nikkor lenses.
Most long-time Nikon photographers will recognize the “claw” on the aperture ring of Nikkor lenses.

The film technology on the day I started my first job in journalism as an intern in 1982 was Kodak Tri-X Pan Film in the black-and-white realm, and Kodacolor, Kodachrome or Ektachrome in color. Fuji had only begun to compete with Kodak, and had yet to introduce their groundbreaking films like FujiChrome Velvia or Fuji’s Super G and Super HG line of color negative films, and Fujicolor Press, which I used all the time in the early 1990s.

One piece of kit that has changed completely since I’ve been in the business is the way lenses are made. Until the 1990s, most lenses were built like tanks, but as plastics got better and bottom line profits got more important, lenses just aren’t build like they once were.

An older Nikkor lens with an aperture "claw" is shown next to a lens from the next generation of Nikkor lenses that used a notch in the ring itself instead of a claw.
An older Nikkor lens with an aperture “claw” is shown next to a lens from the next generation of Nikkor lenses that used a notch in the ring itself instead of a claw.

An interesting piece of trivia about Nikon lenses made prior to 1977 is the crescent-shaped metal “claw” on the aperture ring. When you mounted a lens on a camera from that era like a Nikon F2 or a Nikkormat, the claw would engage a pin in a collar around the lens mount of the camera. The procedure, which most non-photographers have never seen, is to mount the lens on the camera, then rack the aperture ring until it stopped in both directions, which would set a little tab in the collar to the maximum aperture of the lens.

A lesser-known fact about the old aperture indexing "claw" is that the holes machined into the ears of the claw are there to let light through to the smaller aperture numbers behind the larger numbers. The smaller aperture numbers were part of Nikon's "Aperture Direct Readout," which let the photographer see the selected aperture in the viewfinder.
A lesser-known fact about the old aperture indexing “claw” is that the holes machined into the ears of the claw are there to let light through to the smaller aperture numbers behind the larger numbers. The smaller aperture numbers were part of Nikon’s “Aperture Direct Readout,” which let the photographer see the selected aperture in the viewfinder.

A photographer friend of mine showed me her Nikkormat a few years ago, and I saw that the aperture wasn’t indexed, so I dutifully racked the aperture ring back and forth. She’d never seen that done, and told me she didn’t even know it was a thing.

Believe it or not, the “skeleton holes” drilled on either side of the claw were there to let light shine on the ADR (Aperture Direct Readout) scale, the smaller aperture scale below the main aperture scale.

Our photographic history is so interesting, and one of the funnest things about it is that we have access to old cameras and lenses that still work perfectly. I would encourage you to dig out and dust off these old machines, and if you are so inclined, shoot some film with them. But if film photography doesn’t interest you, these machines remain so interesting, and, as it happens, can be excellent props for photo and video shoots, so get them out, play with them, and have fun!

This is what the aperture indexing "claw" looked like on a Nikkormat of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Note that this claw doesn't have holes cut into it because it predates Nikon's "Aperture Direct Readout" feature.
This is what the aperture indexing “claw” looked like on a Nikkormat of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Note that this claw doesn’t have holes cut into it because it predates Nikon’s “Aperture Direct Readout” feature.