It's not a Nikkor

[Birna Rørslett]

... it is a NoNikkor

Away from my digs at present, however when I return this firstcoming  Friday, the NoNikkor 35mm f/1.4 in native Z mount awaits me.

I'l report my findings as soon as I have tested the lens.

[Fons Baerken]

For what its worth!

https://radojuva.com/en/2023/10/nonikkor-mc-35-mm-1-4-1980s-artralab-hong-kong-review/

[Birna Rørslett]

We can safely assumpy the makers have seen the original look of the Nikkors from the '80s

[Birna Rørslett]

The *real* thing Nikkor-N 35mm f/1.4 (on Df) vs. Artralab Nonikkor 35mm f/1.4 on the Zf. The difference in size is striking. However, the Nonikkor is no lightweight lens and feels rather heavy (287 g), so must be a metal construction inside.

[Airy]

The size is reasonable (I wish it were more frequently the case) and the pics shown on radojuva.com are generally pleasant. However they do not tell a lot about behaviour in backlit situations (I saw one case of significant flare in the pics shown) and for night shots.

Awaiting to see Birna's conclusions.

[Michael Hopferwieser]

In terms of external appearance, this Lens -  ZF combination is the most harmonious for me.

Hopefully the internal visual combination can follow?
 
Very curious about Birna's results.

Cheers Michael

[Birna Rørslett]

This not a Nikkor -- surprise surprise A few general comments follow below.

The lens is nice once you get the practice of focusing a manual lens, and remember to set aperture the 'right' way. i.e. with the aperture ring.  I did a lot of boring comparison shooting today, with the Nonikkor pitted against the Nikkor-N 35mm f/1.4 AIS, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 S-Line Z, and Nikkor 40mm f/2 SE Z in visible and IR.

In terms of sheer sharpness, all Nikkors mentioned above are at least equal or better at all aperture settings. Wide open, the Nonikkor isn't the sharpest optic to be had, but many subjects or settings still will be fine with its outcome. When these lenses are stopped down to f/4 or more, the differences can be pretty small though. The Nonikkor has a slightly 'warmer' rendition, probably due to the slight yellow tint of the optics, and image contrast is lower as well. Chromatic aberrations were in general low and won't be a problem even for contrasty subjects.

I found the Nonikkor to be a nice performer for IR as it joins the (very) short list of native Z lenses without troublesome IR hotspots.

I'll have the lens with me when I depart for Spain later this month.

[Birna Rørslett]

I'll write up an extensive review later, but some aspects of the Nonikkor deserves being mentioned already.

As stated previously, the Nonikkor fares well in IR. In fact, even though the Nikkors in general are sharper lenses, the Nonikkor is perhaps the better performer in IR even compared to the Nikkor 40mm f/2 SE Z. At f/11 and f/16, it is clearly sharper in IR than the Nikkors and if there is any hot spot, it can hardly be noticed. The 35mm f/1.8Z starts hot spotting already past f/5.6 and is unusable at f/16 due to this, although sharpness is still quite good. The 40/2 is better than the Nonikkor in IR at f/2 by a small margin, but the differences even out and as I already mentioned, the Nonikkor is better at the smaller apertures. 'the 40/2 might occasionally deliver a slight hot spot fully stopped down, but the issue is minor. Do note that the Nonikkor has significant focus shifts across the aperture range thus needs to be focused at the final aperture setting to give best results.

I had hoped the Nonikkor was useable for IR and am quite pleased with the findings so far.

[Birna Rørslett]

This is the Nonikkor 35mm f/1.4 set wide open. Camera is Zf.

The result looks quite OK to my eyes. Not the fierce temper of the 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor-N to overcome. Not the slickness of the 35mm f/1.8 Nikkor Z S-Line. However, just good and buttery smooth image coherence. Nice bokeh as well.

[Erik Lund]

Congratulations on the new lens! Also, thank you for the early report on performance
Very vintage looking set indeed 

[Birna Rørslett]

A few more examples taken at f/1.4 with the Nonikkor. Up close there is very little vignetting, however the image corners start darken perceptibly as focus goes farther away and at infinity the vignetting is pretty obvious. The lens needs to be stopped down a few clicks if a more flat-field like response is required.

(the last example had 1/6400 sec exposure time thus shows the flickering of the LED lights of the EV charging poles in the background)

[Birna Rørslett]

When focus goes to near infinity, vignetting is clearly present at f/1.4. Stopping down to f/4 helps a lot and by f/5.6-8 is hardly detectable any longer.

[richardHaw]

oooh...thee bokeh hurts my eyes a bit too rough for me...

but it's sharp

how do you find the quality control?

[Birna Rørslett]

The external finish and workmanship appear quite good. Legends are engraved, not painted on. And so on.

The chrome plating of the bayonet is shiny and reveals this is not a Nikkor, exactly as the lens name indicates!

[Akira]

The optical design resembles that of Leica Summilux 35/1.4 for the M-mount, and the bokeh rendition also suggests its vintage design.  Interesting.