NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: Airy on November 24, 2023, 00:01:51
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Name "Nokton" is well-deserved. Here are a few shots @f/1.0, 1.4, 2.0. Zf, handheld, 1/60s, -1EV.
This lens is sharp at daytime, but here it looks crazy sharp: I took similar test pics some time ago with the Noct 58/1.2 and the Canon FD 50/1.4 and the results were quite inferior.
Only the coma and halos look more developed than with the Nikkor but bright night sources are seldom of interest anyway.
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Concerning flare and ghosts, this is one case with a funny ectoplasm. It is completely gone by f/1.6. The displayed shots are at f/1.0, 1.4, 2.0 and then 5.6. The striped sunstars are due to the LED sources.
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Indeed, the images look sharp even with the lens wide open. I wonder if this sharpness is also thanks to (or due to) the LED light? I like the atmosphere of the first frame(s), though.
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LEDs are multipoint light sources and indeed contribute to the perceived sharpness.
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Looks like a fun lens!
Great with the multi star strike pattern ;)
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More fun with the Nokton at 1.0. Of course this would not be my aperture of choice for e.g. a portrait. The shots are for testing purposes. Camera is the Zf as before.
Given the 1/3 stop clicks, one can imagine all shades of DOF and bokeh from 1.0 to 2.8, with subtle gradations a bit similar to what the 105 or 135 DC lenses would allow with respect to spherical aberration.
On the last shot, focus is on the dark red leaves of the nearest tree (and yes, they are fairly sharp)
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Similar to the Nokton 58/1.4, this one can be used to shoot against the light. Here's an example, stopped at f/4 with focus on the flags (I should have used f/2.8 ). The shot is underexposed; I took another one compensated at +1 EV but the result is meh.
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All very nice images ;)
With these types of lenses I will often do on purpose a step or so of underexposure, to keep the bright areas from blooming too much, then in post processing lift up the middel tones and or the highs. Makes these fast lenses do very well in high contrast scenes.
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According to my brief experience as owner of Nokton 58/1.4, the rendition of the focused area was a bit too dry to my taste. Among the Nikon F mount standard lenses that I have used on the full-frame cameras, I preferred Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 for its rather wet and softer rendition.
Of course, Airy, I would be glad if you are happy with your brand new ultra-fast Nokton.
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With these types of lenses I will often do on purpose a step or so of underexposure, to keep the bright areas from blooming too much, then in post processing lift up the middel tones and or the highs. Makes these fast lenses do very well in high contrast scenes.
I am also at odds with the "blown"character of the image centre, which occurs on all high-vignetting lenses (including the Noct Nikkor). I often handle that the lazy way, starting with the LR auto setting, then finishing by hand (reducing contrast close to, and saturation to their initial values, for one thing).
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According to my brief experience as owner of Nokton 58/1.4, the rendition of the focused area was a bit too dry to my taste. Among the Nikon F mount standard lenses that I have used on the full-frame cameras, I preferred Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 for its rather wet and softer rendition.
It is rather the bokeh of the Nokton 58/1.4 that I found problematic. Apparently, this Nokton 50/1.0 fares better (except in the far corners) at comparable apertures. Its sweet spot may be at f/1.4, actually, where the 58/1.4 is rather weak (lacking contrast, and even sharpness at short distances). Other than the 58/1.4 or the 50/1.2 Nikkors, the new Nokton has no "dual personality", dreamy vs. sharp. It evolves from sharp to very sharp, contrasty to very contrasty as you stop down.
If you do not like dry, you should try the Summicron R 50/2, one of my all-time favourites (but for shooting against the light). Sharp but mild wide open, "subtle" in one word. I have the 2nd version. The 1st adds "Leica glow", so I was told, but I'm not necessarily after that.
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Zf, handheld (but 1/100s at 280 ISO), wide open.
It surprizes me every time how manual focusing is made easy by this particular camera and lens combination. Again, f/1.0 is not the preferred stop for such pictures, but as you may see, I've been successfully blurred into the background...
Sorry not to have time for even a halfway decent shooting session. Enormous pressure on professional side. But I promise I'll evade it tomorrow, to the benefit of an enjoyable shooting session on a sunny day (at last).
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Reminds me of the original Nokton f1,5 for the Prominent camera. Somewhat difficult to adapt to a digital apparatus, so I have never tried to use this over 70years old design on anything exept film (and the compur shutters of my two equally old Prominents have problems).
p.
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Can you provide a picture of (since "made with" seems difficult) this ancestor?
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wil this do? Drastically compressed.
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It is rather the bokeh of the Nokton 58/1.4 that I found problematic. Apparently, this Nokton 50/1.0 fares better (except in the far corners) at comparable apertures. Its sweet spot may be at f/1.4, actually, where the 58/1.4 is rather weak (lacking contrast, and even sharpness at short distances). Other than the 58/1.4 or the 50/1.2 Nikkors, the new Nokton has no "dual personality", dreamy vs. sharp. It evolves from sharp to very sharp, contrasty to very contrasty as you stop down.
If you do not like dry, you should try the Summicron R 50/2, one of my all-time favourites (but for shooting against the light). Sharp but mild wide open, "subtle" in one word. I have the 2nd version. The 1st adds "Leica glow", so I was told, but I'm not necessarily after that.
The lack of dual personality would be one of the common characteristics of modern lens designs. Interestingly, I noticed tht the 50/2.0 DG DN, SIGMA's latest standard lens, shows a hint of dual personality. Wide open, the bokeh is ever so slightly doubled, which adds a little bit of the character of a classic lens which I like. The SIGMA 50/1.4 DG HSM, one of the reputed SIGMA lenses designed for DSLRs showed a dry character which I didn't really like.
As for the Leica lenses, I found that the lenses made from the earliest period of Leica to the 90s tend to fog too easily when stored in the humid climate. I've rarely seen second-hand Leica lenses, R or M, with their clear elements during the film days. That was the essential reason for me to give up using Leica even though I loved the color resulted from the Leica M lenses and Kodachrome 25.
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wil this do? Drastically compressed.
Thanks for the goodie
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The lack of dual personality would be one of the common characteristics of modern lens designs. Interestingly, I noticed tht the 50/2.0 DG DN, SIGMA's latest standard lens, shows a hint of dual personality. Wide open, the bokeh is ever so slightly doubled, which adds a little bit of the character of a classic lens which I like. The SIGMA 50/1.4 DG HSM, one of the reputed SIGMA lenses designed for DSLRs showed a dry character which I didn't really like.
... and I never liked the Sigma 35/1.4 precisely because of harsh double-edging; is it what you describe about the 50/2? on the other hand, if found the old Nikon AI 50/2 to have a pleasant "busy bokeh" (recommended to me by Fons)... "pleasant" is very subjective.
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... and I never liked the Sigma 35/1.4 precisely because of harsh double-edging; is it what you describe about the 50/2? on the other hand, if found the old Nikon AI 50/2 to have a pleasant "busy bokeh" (recommended to me by Fons)... "pleasant" is very subjective.
I should have said that the bokeh of the latest 50/2.0 is busy. I also liked the characteristic bokeh of the old Nikkor-H 50/2.0 when wide open. When used with an APS-C sensor, the residual coma and spherical aberration added pleasing haloes around the point light sources. (I'm not a big fan of the straight hexagonal aperture blades, though.)
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Of the 50mm Nikkors I have tried (which is most of them), I prefer the AI 50/1.8. The background bokeh is relatively smooth, becoming a little more "textured" towards the edges. I think the rendition is smoother than the 50/2 lens, and it has a 7-sided aperture opening so the background blurs have a more organic appearance. The 50/1.8 optics used in the series-E, AI-S pancake, AF and AF-D versions have a rougher or double-edge bokeh which I don't like.
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The only thing that clearly gives away the wide aperture is the presence of coma, in such kind of shots with a "flat" subject... here at f/1.0
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... and here, still at f/1.0, the slight softness of the picture (and the coma, even more marked as the light sources are strong).
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Back to colour, this time at f/1.4. Pleasant, I'd say. And in all cases, no nasty ghosting (the hood is always on, that's my house rule, except with the 50/2 AI and Milvus 50/2 macro planar that have deeply recessed lenses).
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Mr Frost just reviewed it.
https://youtu.be/w8rDEU7lCxY?si=jB_z0lB4uxy2O2PY
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Of the 50mm Nikkors I have tried (which is most of them), I prefer the AI 50/1.8. The background bokeh is relatively smooth, becoming a little more "textured" towards the edges. I think the rendition is smoother than the 50/2 lens, and it has a 7-sided aperture opening so the background blurs have a more organic appearance. The 50/1.8 optics used in the series-E, AI-S pancake, AF and AF-D versions have a rougher or double-edge bokeh which I don't like.
I have used Ai (non-s) 50/1.8 only on an APS-C body so far, but I would go for the Ai (non-s) 50/1.8 for general purposes if I would need a manual standard lens for a full-frame camera. Its longer focus throw (compared to that of Ais) is essential to me, especially on the digital cameras.
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Back to colour, this time at f/1.4. Pleasant, I'd say. And in all cases, no nasty ghosting (the hood is always on, that's my house rule, except with the 50/2 AI and Milvus 50/2 macro planar that have deeply recessed lenses).
I love that blue color!
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Some more shots of the day in Lille, still using the Zf. These two at f/1.4.
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Then, for comparison sake, at f/1.0 and f/2.0. The second is obviously better (this is no subject for f/1 anyway), but the most striking difference is the coma, quite apparent in the first and nearly gone in the second shot (as one would expect, f/1.4, not shown here, stands in the middle).
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Now f/1 and f/1.4. There is no bleeding or ghosting. Despite the uncorrected coma, this lens definitely deserves the name "Nokton" (unlike its otherwise excellent sibling, the 58/1.4 that is a "Dayton" to me).
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Last one at f/2.8, for a change. All fifties are expected to be very good at f/2.8. This one is no exception, despite its crazy specs.
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Daylight flare. Apertures = 1.0 and 1.4. Of course, 1.0 is not ideal (coma becomes apparent even in full daylight, see on the left); 1.4 is much cleaner and there is no significant, general contrast loss.
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For comparison sake, f/1.0 and 5.6. That's how much blur you can get. I wasn't even close to MFD.
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At f/1.0 again, 1/15s (with IBIS) and just 720 ISO in a dark place, here appearing much brighter (no exposure correction in PP).
Some people say the lens is not sharp, after painfully pixel-peeping through 45MP. Pretty pointless. In the absence of shiny parts, the picture is pretty contrasty and the details look clean.
The second pic was taken at 1.4 : with shiny metal pipes, f/1.0 is less appealing, the LoCA becoming apparent. At 1.4, the result feels more natural.
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For comparison sake, f/1.0 and 5.6. That's how much blur you can get. I wasn't even close to MFD.
That is soooo lovely ...
mouth watering
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could not resist and did not want to...
... happy Christmas to myself
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Frohe Weihnachten :)
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could not resist and did not want to...
... happy Christmas to myself
How does it compare to the Z50mm f/1.2S, Frank?
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... which is also the question I wanted to ask.
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could not resist and did not want to...
... happy Christmas to myself
Good for you, Frank! By the way, did you buy the lens or the drum set? :D
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Good for you, Frank! By the way, did you buy the lens or the drum set? :D
I wonder :)
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Good for you, Frank! By the way, did you buy the lens or the drum set? :D
I bought the lens this week and the drums a few years back.
Optically both lenses are top notch and I like them both and keep them.
The differences:
MF vs AF (obviously) and the AF is even super fast and percise on the first edition of the Z6 which I still keep and love and use. The Z6-AF was upgraded through Firmware and is really good not as in Z9 or Zf way good but really great. I took photos in a windy situation of a man waving a big flag. The face of the man disapprared behind the flag again and again in the wind and as soon as the face reappeared the AF was glued to the eyes. Really good at f/1.2 ... I do not want to miss that
Second thing is that the 1.0/50 Voigtländer balances very well on the Zf, while the slick body of the camera does not balance well with the 1.2/50S Nikkor. It is OK with the Z6 as it is a tad heavier, is more rough on the surface and has a deeper grip.
Optically I cannot yet tell the difference exactly. First impression is: The Voigtländer has a very special 3D-look fully open. I will post some pictures when my time allows. Have not been around much, too much work.
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3D look, example... I will go on a holiday and have lots of chances to try more...
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Precision MF with buttersmooth long focus throw. Both eyes in focus at f/1.0 but not with the sparkling shiny quality of the 1.2/50S
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could not resist and did not want to...
... happy Christmas to myself
I've like each of the drum photos you've shared recently Frank
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I've like each of the drum photos you've shared recently Frank
Thank you, Colin. I have plenty of time after Christmas to test drive my new combo
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Visiting Theo the artist in his studio / archive
@f/1.0 and @f/1.1 ...
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Thank you, Colin. I have plenty of time after Christmas to test drive my new combo
If you ever want someone to play a Gretsch bass alongside your Gretsch drums, let me know:)
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If you ever want someone to play a Gretsch bass alongside your Gretsch drums, let me know:)
you are half a world away, Colin? I am in Bonn, Germany
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this lens is a bokeh monster
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bokeh monster #2
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Not perfect though : see rendition of twigs in a distant background (my latest december post). In such case, the overcorrection of spherical aberration becomes apparent, leading to edgy twigs. In your shots above, there is no significant outlining.
One cannot expect a lens to be perfect at all apertures and distances, should size and weight remain decent, as is the case here. So far my only "faultless" fifty was the Zeiss Milvus 50/2. The two extra stops provided by this Voigtländer are worth giving up some of the Zeiss perfection, in some circumstances. None can replace the other. I find the Voigtländer particularly well-suited for B&W.
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Thank you, Airy for pointing me to this lens
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No buyer remorse here. From today's crop, all with Zf. Here, close to MFD, f/1.4. The twigs in the background did not disturb.
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f/2.0, cropped. The goat balancing act made me smile.
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f/1.6. The face is very sharp while the background gets nicely abstracted away.
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The battle of the egos: Portzamparc (right) vs. Burdèse & Vasconi (left and middle). f/1.4.
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Back to normal: f/5.6. Lille Europe station, above the tracks. Traces of pincushion distortion are visible, but not really disturbing (no correction was applied).
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Thank you for the show of the characteristics. The "battle of th egos" stand out for me and even more the portrait. Lovely
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I wonder if it is susceptible to dust ingress at a faster rate than desirable?
In Japan it sells new for ¥200,000 +, but this is the second one I have seen being sold used at this price, both times dust seems to be the issue.
https://www.fujiya-camera.co.jp/shop/g/gC2120122059170/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkKqsBhC3ARIsAEEjuJiwohNLQIbWvt_GUbXJaj5vgtOGJnJc3XWR7MQAQMkM_oAWdQDKb6kaAuauEALw_wcB
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I wonder if it is susceptible to dust ingress at a faster rate than desirable?
In Japan it sells new for ¥200,000 +, but this is the second one I have seen being sold used at this price, both times dust seems to be the issue.
https://www.fujiya-camera.co.jp/shop/g/gC2120122059170/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkKqsBhC3ARIsAEEjuJiwohNLQIbWvt_GUbXJaj5vgtOGJnJc3XWR7MQAQMkM_oAWdQDKb6kaAuauEALw_wcB
Tiny dust particles won't cause any problem. I'd rather be concerned about the smudge on the internal element, according to the description. I wonder if it was disassembled for some DIY cleaning?
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After a mere 415 shots, nothing to report. Manufacturing quality seems as good as ever.
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Hello to everyone I'm new here :) Would like to share with you some photos what I have done with my CV 50mm 1f
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53617554533_76070420e1_b.jpg) (https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53617347841_d11ff93930_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53617682509_104e666a63_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53599344522_4b1541eb15_b.jpg) (https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53599344502_ab008097eb_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53599344672_cc6ca72638_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53613696534_a694e62145_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2pEoDKG)
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Hello to everyone I'm new here :) Would like to share with you some photos what I have done with my CV 50mm 1f
Welcome to NikonGear!
These a lovely series of photographs. My favourite is the young girl with the fire hoses.
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After a mere 415 shots, nothing to report. Manufacturing quality seems as good as ever.
After a few thousand shots since christmas 23 I can say for sure: Worth every cent. I shoot it @f/1.0 most of the time and it blows me away what I can do with it at that "openness"
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Wonderful images, wonderful lens!