NikonGear'23

Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: richardHaw on August 02, 2016, 16:29:01

Title: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 02, 2016, 16:29:01
got nothing to do lately so i got myself a cheap 5.8cm :o :o :o

this sucker is a good portrait lens at f/1.4, if you get what I mean. at f/2, it's still a portrait lens and the IQ drastically shoots up at f/2.8 in the centre. for those of you who have this lens do you have the same experience? ::) this is the 1st f/1.4 lens for the F-mount, i know I am asking too much
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Airy on August 02, 2016, 17:10:28
show us evidence :)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 02, 2016, 17:27:03
lol, when i say "portrait lens" it means that it sucks at f/1.4-f/2 :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Airy on August 02, 2016, 17:38:22
Yes, that's what we want to see. It is probably a good lens for portraying elderly people like me :)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Frank Fremerey on August 02, 2016, 18:21:40
It is easy: shoot portraits of suck-kulents (in a botanical garden) HAHAHA
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Roland Vink on August 02, 2016, 22:37:47
You will find this comparison very interesting:
http://www.lenstip.com/114.1-article-50_years_of_Nikon_F-mount_%E2%80%93_Nikkor-S_5.8_cm_f_1.4_vs._Nikkor_AF-S_50_mm_f_1.4G.html
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 01:24:15
You will find this comparison very interesting:
http://www.lenstip.com/114.1-article-50_years_of_Nikon_F-mount_%E2%80%93_Nikkor-S_5.8_cm_f_1.4_vs._Nikkor_AF-S_50_mm_f_1.4G.html

Thanks,Roland! I saw that last night :o :o :o

his lens is performing about the same as mine ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: rolubich on August 03, 2016, 08:04:40
got nothing to do lately so i got myself a cheap 5.8cm :o :o :o


Good buy!

I'm very happy with mine, it's very sharp in the center and in my opinion its bokeh is better than other 50mm I have, due to the longer focal length it is also more suitable for portraiture.

A full resolution full body portrait at f/5.6 on D600.

https://www.nikonclub.it/forum/uploads/ori/201604/a47af23f9989a39a40aee8f03c578f36.jpg


Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 09:29:39
awesome pitbull/staffordshire terrier :o :o :o
i missed my dogs. they have since gone to doggie nirvana. ::)

yes, it's all good at f/5.6, sharpness really becomes noticeable at f/4.

I liked the cooler tones of this lens (for BW film)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: rolubich on August 03, 2016, 09:48:12
awesome pitbull/staffordshire terrier :o :o :o

Thanks, he is an Amstaff, 10 months old at that time.
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 10:23:56
yes, his blocky head and markings gave that away so I was hesitant to call him a pitbull. Has his testicles descended? he has a nice blocky front quarter.

The bokeh is nice even at f/5.6 by the way. I was not expecting much from this lens but it looks like it wants to be shot from f/2.8 :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 10:37:22
Played around with this lens with the Df this afternoon. I will show you guys what I got. nothing much to show since mostly they were shot from f/8 up :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Harald on August 03, 2016, 10:44:26
Hi Richard,

Need my adress? ;) I take it. :D

Harald
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 10:48:34
nice try :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 16:30:29
f/2 at night :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 16:32:03
f/4 :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 03, 2016, 16:34:08
f/2.8 :o :o :o

by the way, this thing has a brass helicoid. this lens stinks (literally) because of that huge piece of brass. ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: pluton on August 03, 2016, 19:22:51
Brass has a smell?
Are you sure it's not the old grease?
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 00:38:36
Brass has a smell?
Are you sure it's not the old grease?

brass has a fishy "metallic" smell. if you lick it, it has an acidic "taste" :o :o :o
it's not the old grease. i know it sounds weird. the smell might be coming from the corrosion. it is not very strong, but subtle.
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 03:50:34
"I decided on the "rubbing between your fingers" test. IT WORKED! My fingers had the most distinct smell after. Now I know it's brass! Thank you for the help in solving my problem."
- from http://www.finishing.com/313/44.shtml

I got curious so i googled to see if I am correct and yes, I can affirm that I am not a weirdo who has super sense of smell :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Roland Vink on August 04, 2016, 05:44:12
You could start a Nikon Connoisseurs Lens Tasting Club  :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 05:57:09
You could start a Nikon Connoisseurs Lens Tasting Club  :o

I like the sound of that :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: rolubich on August 04, 2016, 07:40:10
You could start a Nikon Connoisseurs Lens Tasting Club  :o

And you could add a "Smell/Taste" column on your database.  :)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Hugh_3170 on August 04, 2016, 13:23:24
There was a time when chocolate came wrapped in very thin aluminium foil.  The taste of stray fragments of such foil on ones teeth is quite distinctive and not very pleasant.  I accept that brass also has a taste, but I do not wish to try it myself - the taste of the aluminium foil is more than enough for me!  :(  :(   >:(
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 15:38:18
brass tastes "fishier" and more acidic than aluminium :o :o :o
hershey's I believe still has their's wrapped in foil. a long time ago, i would peel aluminium from the bars and use it in scale modelling.
brass has a "self lubricating" property. is that the reason why this lens was made this way? ::) it is rather unusual, don't you think?
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Hugh_3170 on August 04, 2016, 16:02:55
Does the brass run against brass or does it run against aluminium?  Today the choice of materials and alloys is many and varied, but maybe the designer back then was simply trying to avoid the tendency for similar metals to bind?  Just a guess on my part.
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 16:18:01
Hi! The 2 other helicoids are the usual Nikkor aluminium alloy (with zinc i think) :o :o :o
only the central helicoid is made of brass ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Hugh_3170 on August 04, 2016, 18:31:38
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  ;D, as I found the non-Ai operation with the Df to be such a pain in the neck  :(.

 
Hi! The 2 other helicoids are the usual Nikkor aluminium alloy (with zinc i think) :o :o :o
only the central helicoid is made of brass ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Bjørn Rørslett on August 04, 2016, 18:36:59
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.
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 18:46:38
i dont know if you noticed it but the girl has a kissmark on her neck :o :o :o
hanky panky ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 18:47:25
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 :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 04, 2016, 18:49:26
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  ;D, 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 :o :o :o 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 ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 09, 2016, 16:41:34
this is how the balls would look like :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 11, 2016, 17:38:13
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. :o :o :o
lens sure has "character" ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Akira on August 11, 2016, 18:04:49
Rick, I like your choice of the subjects.   ;D
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 11, 2016, 18:21:31
these are just izakayas on my way home :o :o :o

off topic: there is a pride parade in 2 chome this sunday afternoon.
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Akira on August 11, 2016, 18:54:27
these are just izakayas on my way home :o :o :o

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

Ah, that's Shinjuku...
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on August 12, 2016, 00:33:50
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 :o :o :o
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: the solitaire on August 17, 2016, 21:37:22
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 ;)

(https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7333/26779026331_612a1ed400_b.jpg)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on September 25, 2016, 18:11:06
OK, overhauled another junker. but this time, it's SHARP wide-open at the centre :o :o :o

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.
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: rolubich on September 26, 2016, 00:49:32

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

Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on September 26, 2016, 05:22:43
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 :o :o :o
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!
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: Erik Lund on September 26, 2016, 09:12:53
Here a sample with ADR scale on the aperture ring.

Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: richardHaw on September 26, 2016, 10:21:03
Here a sample with ADR scale on the aperture ring.

the ADR looks pretty nice :o :o :o
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. ::)
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: John Geerts on September 01, 2017, 09:26:04
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.
Title: Re: Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4
Post by: John Geerts on September 01, 2017, 09:38:14
I also like the lens wide open in combination with the close up attachment lens 3T or 4T

Here an example with the Nikon D800E