Butchering a Noct-Nikkor 58 mm f/1.2 AI

[Erik Lund]

just a simple extra notch in the ring  It seems an 50mm 1.2 Ai has this by birth... Ais doesn't...

[Bjørn Jorde]

Erik & Bjørn,

From the description and pictures of the chipping of the Noct,
Looks like the 50 1.2 AIS would entail a similar butchering?

[Tristin]

They report the 50mm f/1.2 Ai-s as not really being chippable due to lack of space inside it.   

http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_CPUconversion.html

[richardHaw]

just a simple extra notch in the ring  It seems an 50mm 1.2 Ai has this by birth... Ais doesn't...

yes, that is actually annoying because I cannot have something in between f/2 and f/2.8 
for 1.2 lenses, there is a big jump in the way things are rendered, 1/2 stop goes a long way in big apertures.

[Tristin]

Richard, could not agree more.  When I have the funds to get my 105mm chipped I will be sending my 50mm f/1.2 along to be getting f/2.4'd.  I wish it had f/22 as well.

[Hugh_3170]

Tristin, you may have missed this recent posting in respect of using a Dandelion chip - it seems that there is at least enough space (just) on the outside to chip the 50mm AiS f/1.2 with this alternative chipping technology.

Link: http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,2860.msg38545.html#msg38545

The proof that you can fit a Dandelion to the 50/1.2 AIS. Erik at his best

This method of attaching the Dandelion alleviates most if not all problems and weakness of the usual positioning, in which the chip will be exposed to excessive wear and tear. Still, the pins are on the long side so their tips will wear rapidly.

They report the 50mm f/1.2 Ai-s as not really being chippable due to lack of space inside it.   

http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_CPUconversion.html

[Tristin]

That's good news.  We'll see how Bjørn's holds up.

[Erik Lund]

The Naturfotograf.com pages has not been updated for years, so  please use them as such, time moves on

This thread is about using one of Bjørns CPU's - inside a long Nikon CPU contact block to chip the Noct-Nikkor, as can be deducted I first did it on my own Noct-Nikkor an Ai - It was extremely difficult to create the needed volume and many different solutions where discarded in the process,,,

But in the end I got it to work, the most important was that it retained the out of focus blur circles round and intact so the optical quality was intact, Bjørn tested this on the scavenger tour,,,

Several times after this Bjørn asked me to chip his lens as well, this thread is the chipping of his Noct-Nikkor Ai.

I believe I have chipped one more, I forgot who,,,

I have chipped several 50mm Ais 1.2 with Dandelion CPU, by cutting the integrated light-baffle on the F-mount and it was quite neat solution since only a little bit of the rear element housing needed a trim, but still this is a rater fragile solution,,,

Later I wanted to chip my own brand new 50mm 1.2 Ais and it occurred to me that the Dandelion contacts and electronics could fit inside the integrated metal light-baffle.

I chopped up a Dandelion so only the pins, electronics and the rear of the contact block was left and hollowed out the light baffle, drilled the 5 holes for the contact block and used epoxy glue to the inside of the light-baffle. Then I removed as much of the rear of the contact block as much as possible, then trimming down the rear element housing as little as possible - A really strong solution.

Here is an image of the lens http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,2860.msg38545.html#msg38545

This was a lot of very delicate work, surgery on a mosquito comes to mind 

Bjørn came around and tested the lens, liked it and traded it for a 50mm 1.2 Ai then took it to Nikon Nordic, they tested the position of the pins, they where all within factory specification, actually spot on.

The 50mm 1.2 Ai has a larger rear element so it would need a lot of trimming to fit the CPU, similar to a Noct - So actually not worth all the work,,,

Today I would suggest to use a the 50mm 1.2 Ais Dandelion chipping method on a Noct-Nikkor - But it doesn't give as many parameters as Bjørns CPU does,,,

[Erik Lund]

yes, that is actually annoying because I cannot have something in between f/2 and f/2.8 
for 1.2 lenses, there is a big jump in the way things are rendered, 1/2 stop goes a long way in big apertures.

These 'slots' for 1/3 or 1/2 aperture stops are very easy to ad to the aperture ring.

[Erik Lund]

Richard, could not agree more.  When I have the funds to get my 105mm chipped I will be sending my 50mm f/1.2 along to be getting f/2.4'd.  I wish it had f/22 as well.

I'm quite sure it would be easy on most lenses that only go to f/16 to create the f/22 stop, it's a matter of trimming the stop inside the Aperture ring and cutting a slot - But diffraction has a huge impact on sharpness already from f/11 so IMHO it would not make sense to do it.

[richardHaw]

These 'slots' for 1/3 or 1/2 aperture stops are very easy to ad to the aperture ring.

gonna grind those slots when the warranty for this lens is gone 

i bought mine new because Nikon is selling them new here cheaper than used ones in the market 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

That's good news.  We'll see how Bjørn's holds up.

Erik's ingenious solution removes the delicate and fragile character of the Dandelion. The modified lens has survived many field ordeals without any issues, so longevity is assured it seems. Only in the highly unlikely case of the epoxy breaking up, or one of the pins wear down, might it fail. 

[Birna Rørslett]

Erik's ingenious solution removes the delicate and fragile character of the Dandelion. The modified lens has survived many field ordeals without any issues, so longevity is assured it seems. Only in the highly unlikely case of the epoxy breaking up, or one of the pins wear down, might it fail.

Ooops - actually the latter scenario manifested itself. One of the dandelion pins jammed and then ripped everything out with it. Erik being my big hero kept the lens for a rainy day and silently fixed it so surprised me with a "new" 50/1.2 on our next meet-up. That's what I call a friendly gesture

[Macro_Cosmos]

I'm wondering if it is possible to chip my Thorlabs SM2-F-mount adapter with one of these to display stuff like "Mitutoyo M Plan 10x Apo NA/0.28", would the text be too long? I have the 5x, 10x and 20x objectives.

[Birna Rørslett]

I identify my Mitutoyo objectives by the equivalent focal length and aperture (CPU chip), then my database software does a table look-up to fetch the complete text which then is inserted in the image record. The EXIF only stores a pointer not the full text.