Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4

[richardHaw]

Really old Nikkors had a lot of brass inside and thus were very heavy. Good examples are the rangefinder Nikkors such as 8.5 cm f/2 or 10.5 cm f/2.5.

Hi! which parts are they in? the 5.5cm has a big brass cup in it

[richardHaw]

Ah, thanks Richard.  This seems to confirm my suspicions about running brass against aluminium. 

I also have the 5.8cm f/1.4, but have not done a full dismantling so far.  I have however given the aperture ring the Ai modification  , as I found the non-Ai operation with the Df to be such a pain in the neck  .

i treat the Df as a meterless camera its a camera that i hated when i made a review of it on launch. i still hate it now but not as much because i got a near bnew one for $1,600

[richardHaw]

this is how the balls would look like

[richardHaw]

not really very good wide-open. the samples from the 1001 nights looked a lot better. my sample looks more in line with what mansurov's review showed.
lens sure has "character"

[Akira]

Rick, I like your choice of the subjects.   

[richardHaw]

these are just izakayas on my way home

off topic: there is a pride parade in 2 chome this sunday afternoon.

[Akira]

these are just izakayas on my way home

off topic: there is a pride parade in 2 chome this sunday afternoon.

Ah, that's Shinjuku...

[richardHaw]

http://www.nikkor.com/story/0040/

OK, he stopped the lens down to f/2 and f/4. fair enough. but i cannot see the sharpness at 1.4 that he was talking about

[the solitaire]

Would love to give the 5,8cm f1,4 a spin, but I have yet to find an affordable copy.

I like the 55mm f1,2 a lot because of it's inherent optical "flaws".

I know some would say that corner sharpness is a bit behind center sharpness and others could say that vignetting, CA and veiling flare wide open could be better corrected and there even is a touch of barrel distortion to agitate non-lovers even more, but to all extent, it's a fast standard lens and I prefer to use mine wide open.

Same goes for the 5,8cm f1,4 I guess. Center sharpness should be there in a good copy, and with that and nice OoF rendering I will happily accept all minor flaws the lens could possibly throw at me.

I guess I value content over sharpness

[richardHaw]

OK, overhauled another junker. but this time, it's SHARP wide-open at the centre

curvature is TERRIBLE. stopping this down to f/2.8 will make much of the frame sharp but the centre remains the sharpest the the dropoff is VERY steep! making focus recompose useless or frustrating.

the distortion is also pretty bad as you focus closer. i cropped the brick wall pic but you can see how the girl's face got distorted. the brick wall behind her was distorted pretty bad as well.

on the good side, bokeh is lovely. this is probably a lens best used for fun. it is a difficult lens to master and I am sure that I can get this to work for me if i have more time.

[rolubich]

on the good side, bokeh is lovely. this is probably a lens best used for fun. it is a difficult lens to master and I am sure that I can get this to work for me if i have more time.

Due to focal length, nice bokeh and image quality on the central portion of the frame, I like it a lot for wide portrait; here at f/4.

Sharpness and contrast are on the high side in my opinion, despite ISO 1250 and quite slow shutter speed, see full resolution at the link.

https://www.nikonclub.it/forum/uploads/ori/201609/166e20a17bf76c2a029fc699c0e81ad0.jpg

[richardHaw]

Due to focal length, nice bokeh and image quality on the central portion of the frame, I like it a lot for wide portrait; here at f/4.

Sharpness and contrast are on the high side in my opinion, despite ISO 1250 and quite slow shutter speed, see full resolution at the link.

https://www.nikonclub.it/forum/uploads/ori/201609/166e20a17bf76c2a029fc699c0e81ad0.jpg

Nice sharp picture
I was thinking of using this for whole body shots but it just didn't work for her body type. So I tried using this for her portrait shots and it ended up making her look fat hahaha I am sure that I can find a model that will benefit from this lens. This sample is pretty good at f/2. I have never tried f/4 but I am sure that it looks good!

your picture also confirmed my statement about the bokeh! it is still lovely at f/4 and not blocky at all!

[Erik Lund]

Here a sample with ADR scale on the aperture ring.

[richardHaw]

Here a sample with ADR scale on the aperture ring.

the ADR looks pretty nice
I am talking to a couple of engravers here and all of them refuse to accept my order because they are not familiar with the aperture ring. I am sure that it is possible with the machine that they have since it is the same machine that we use to engrave pens and jewelery back home when people still cared for fancy pens.

[John Geerts]

I like the lens, even wide open.  I have a late version, Ai'd.   An example of the central station how it renders wide open.  Stepped down to f/2.8 or f/4 it is unbelievable sharp all over the frame on all camera's.