Old School Nikon Primes

[null]

Canon worked around the Rangefinder mechanism of the Canon 7 by using a cut-out on the top of the rear element of the Canon 50/0.95. The same could be done to allow a rear element to clear the electrical contacts of a modern lens.


edited  to add, rear element of the Canon 50/1.0 EOS Mount (not my picture)-



Looks like someone at Canon remembered the 1960 old school methods.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Erik has done this operation several times on various Noct-Nikkors ... Plus on the 50/1.2 AIS.

[null]

The 24x36 format works in your favor with hacks like this.

I've put RF cams directly on the rear elements of several SLR lenses to adapt them to Leica mount.  The Canon 50/0.95 is the only lens I know of where they actually cut the glass to make way for the Cam. That lens used a breech-lock bayonet mount for the outer mount, the Canon 7 kept the 39mm Leica thread for the inner mount.

[Hermann]

That said it must have been quite a shock to the Canon users back then that the value of their lens investment evaporated into thin air

Which is why I sold ALL our Canon gear as soon as the EF-Mount came onto the market. 9 Lenses, 5 bodies ... I still got half-way decent prices for them.

Ever since then I won't buy Canon no matter what.

Hermann

[Hermann]

I appreciate the info, but 105 is not a focal length that interests me as much ... though 200 and more becomes increasingly so.

Well, the Nikkor 105/F4 is a very nice macro lens, my preferred macro lens actually.

Longer lenses: If you can do without AF, the 400mm/F5.6 IF-ED is even by today's standards a nice lens. So is the 300mm/F4.5 IF-ED, even though the 400mm is a bit better in my opion. Even the 600mm/F5.6 is good.

Hermann

[null]

I paid $50 for a Canon 58/1.2 FL mount lens, sold it with a Canon Pellix ~10 years ago. Kept the 50/1.4 that was originally on it, 50mm SLR lenses are easy to convert to RF mount. Prices are up since those days!

Nikon remembers their heritage, hence the S3-2000 and SP-2005. Canon never looks back.

[Erik Lund]

The 24x36 format works in your favor with hacks like this.

I've put RF cams directly on the rear elements of several SLR lenses to adapt them to Leica mount.  The Canon 50/0.95 is the only lens I know of where they actually cut the glass to make way for the Cam. That lens used a breech-lock bayonet mount for the outer mount, the Canon 7 kept the 39mm Leica thread for the inner mount.

But when you do that you can see it in the out of focus highlights, not so nice, The nice thing about the Noct-Nikkor is that the CPU still sits at the edge of this rear 'aperture' that is painted on the rear of the lens, so OOF highlights are still round.

Not possible with the 50mm f/1 as designed,,,

I have also converted lenses and mounted a cam but the trick is to mount a ring and keep the rangefinder cam well clear off the rear glass

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Using a lens designed for the longer register distance of a (D)SLR is beneficial because a cut into the [side of the] rear element is less likely to vignette the exit pupil.

[null]

But when you do that you can see it in the out of focus highlights, not so nice, The nice thing about the Noct-Nikkor is that the CPU still sits at the edge of this rear 'aperture' that is painted on the rear of the lens, so OOF highlights are still round.

Not possible with the 50mm f/1 as designed,,,

I have also converted lenses and mounted a cam but the trick is to mount a ring and keep the rangefinder cam well clear off the rear glass

These are with the Canon 50/0.95, wide-open- first shots taken back in 2004. $200 from Ebay, threw it onto my Canon 7- perfect focus across range.

[John Koerner]

Which is why I sold ALL our Canon gear as soon as the EF-Mount came onto the market. 9 Lenses, 5 bodies ... I still got half-way decent prices for them.

Ever since then I won't buy Canon no matter what.

Hermann

Can't say as I blame you.

[Erik Lund]

Which is why I sold ALL our Canon gear as soon as the EF-Mount came onto the market. 9 Lenses, 5 bodies ... I still got half-way decent prices for them.
.......
Hermann

I did the same - It was a shame since they where nice glass,,,

And it was not that they where worthless JA, thats a miss understanding, people where happy with film and MF back then,,,

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The FD/FL gear just suddenly appeared on an evolutionary side branch ...

[John Koerner]

Well, the Nikkor 105/F4 is a very nice macro lens, my preferred macro lens actually.

I agree it is a nice lens, just prefer a longer focal length (and therefore working distance) for 1:1 macro.

Longer lenses: If you can do without AF, the 400mm/F5.6 IF-ED is even by today's standards a nice lens. So is the 300mm/F4.5 IF-ED, even though the 400mm is a bit better in my opion. Even the 600mm/F5.6 is good.
Hermann

Thank you very much.

Could have picked up all 3 of these for the price I just paid for the new Nikkor 300 VR II 

Am seriously enjoying an all-manual approach of late ...

Jack

[Frank Fremerey]

Brian #53. A m a z i n g footage wonderful colors bokeh to my liking. Which body?

Canon7 never heared of

[Vilhelm]

These will help you get started  ie. my list of recommended manual focus Nikkors

20/2.8 Ai-S
24/2 Ai-S
24/2.8 Ai-S
28/2 Ai
28/2.8 AI-S
35/2 Ai
50/1.2 Ai-S
50/1.2 Ai
50/1.4 Ai
50/1.8 Ai-S (Japan only pancake)
58/1.2 Noct
85/1.4 Ai-S
105/2.5 Ai
105/2.5 Ai-S
135/2.8Q (easy to Ai convert)
135/3.5 Ai
180/2.8 Ai-S

+ all the Ai/Ai-S Micro-Nikkors