Old School Nikon Primes

[Bjørn Rørslett]

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

The 105 mm f/4 is a unit-focusing design, hence its 1:1 working distance is very long and actually might be longer than some 180-200 mm modern "macro" lenses featuring internal focusing and other clever optical tricks.

Numbers alone can be misleading unless carefully interpreted.

[Frank Fremerey]

Ouch. The Canon 0.95 is about 2500 Euro now on Ebay...

[John Koerner]

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.

Fascinating, and kinda-trippy, bokeh.

The Nikon 50mm f/1.2 has kind of a "weird" bokeh like this too wide-open.

[Andy]

Fascinating, and kinda-trippy, bokeh.
The Nikon 50mm f/1.2 has kind of a "weird" bokeh like this too wide-open.

I would tend to agree.

The AiS 50mm/1.2 at f1.2


rgds, Andy

[John Koerner]

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


15/3.5 Ai-S
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
35/1.4 Ai-S
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

Thank you for the feedback.

I already have the lenses in red (and will not duplicate their range), whilst the lenses denoted in green (and added, as in the 15mm) I will soon add to the fold

Cheers,

Jack

PS: I already have the Voigtländer 125mm f2.5 Apo-Lanthar Macro, which covers the 105-135 gamut, IMO.
PSS: After I purchase the smaller focal lengths, I then plan on purchasing the elder Nikkor 600mm/F5.6 IF-ED for field work.
Very exciting "new world" for me

[null]

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

Canon7 never heared of

The Canon 7 is from 1961, used a breech-mount for the outer mount and Leica 39mm thread mount for the inner mount. The camera uses projected-framelines, was Canon's entry to compete with the Nikon SP and Leica M3. Many bought it in the day just for the F0.95 lens.

RIMG0737 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Quick grab shot- the Selenium Meter still works.

[Andy]

John,
wrt to your list.
May I suggest to add the Ai(S) 105mm/2.5 as well - it is a fabulous lens.

Chances are high that you will enjoy the 15mm/3.5


rgds, Andy

[John Geerts]

These will help you get started  ie. my list of recommended manual focus Nikkors
35/2 Ai
50/1.2 Ai-S

Not the 35/2.8 Ai ?

[Tristin]

The 105mm has quite the reputation, if you haven't noticed 

[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

Have you used this lens, and have some examples of this effect? I've never seen it in the Canon 50/0.95 or on the 80~200/4.5 Ais vs the Ai version.

Nikkor 80~200/4.5n and 8-~200/4.5 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

The mask used on the Ais lens intrudes much farther into the rear element than the contact plate of the Canon 50/1.0 or RF cam of the 50/0.95. much depends on the collimation at the point of the mask, that used with the 80~200/4.5 Ais does not show up in the out-of-focus regions.

Looking at images on Flickr taken with the Canon 50/1.0, it is not evident that the electrical contact plate shows up in the out-of-focus areas.

[jhinkey]

My recommended list is:

16/3.5 AI - Best fisheye I've used, get the true AI version (NOT the converted to AI) as it's slightly better than earlier versions.   Super sharp out to the corners on FX and  excellent flare/ghosting.
20/2.8  - Because it's so small and pretty decent stopped down.  Lots of ghosting.
28/2 AI - On DX it's excellent, on FX the corners not so much.  Very very flare/ghost resistant.
45/2.8 AI-P - Very usable at f/2.8, all you could ask for at f/5.6, and it's effectively a body cap.
50/55/58 f/1.2 - Just because they are f/1.2
105/2.5 AI or AIS - A very very good lens. AI has curved blades, AIS build-in hood - take your pick.
135/3.5 AIS - Very good lens.  Does not like back-lit subjects due to flare issues.
135/2 AIS - Better the farther away the subject is, kind of long MFD.
180/2.8 ED AIS - Very very good, but does have some aperture reflection and PF problems.
300/4.5 ED AI (NOT the IF version) - Very very good compact tele.
400/5.6 ED-IF AIS - Very good compact 400mm that's pretty light weight.
400/5.6 ED AI  - An excellent not quite as compact 400mm that takes TC's better than the IF version.
600/5.6 ED-IF AIS - Well, there's nothing compact about it unless compared to the 600/4 , has the usual CA problems of older Nikkors, but it's pretty darned sharp even wide open.
 

[John Koerner]

John,
wrt to your list.
May I suggest to add the Ai(S) 105mm/2.5 as well - it is a fabulous lens.

Chances are high that you will enjoy the 15mm/3.5

rgds, Andy

Noted

[John Koerner]

My recommended list is:

16/3.5 AI - Best fisheye I've used, get the true AI version (NOT the converted to AI) as it's slightly better than earlier versions.   Super sharp out to the corners on FX and  excellent flare/ghosting.
20/2.8  - Because it's so small and pretty decent stopped down.  Lots of ghosting.
28/2 AI - On DX it's excellent, on FX the corners not so much.  Very very flare/ghost resistant.
45/2.8 AI-P - Very usable at f/2.8, all you could ask for at f/5.6, and it's effectively a body cap.
50/55/58 f/1.2 - Just because they are f/1.2
105/2.5 AI or AIS - A very very good lens. AI has curved blades, AIS build-in hood - take your pick.
135/3.5 AIS - Very good lens.  Does not like back-lit subjects due to flare issues.
135/2 AIS - Better the farther away the subject is, kind of long MFD.
180/2.8 ED AIS - Very very good, but does have some aperture reflection and PF problems.
300/4.5 ED AI (NOT the IF version) - Very very good compact tele.
400/5.6 ED-IF AIS - Very good compact 400mm that's pretty light weight.
400/5.6 ED AI  - An excellent not quite as compact 400mm that takes TC's better than the IF version.
600/5.6 ED-IF AIS - Well, there's nothing compact about it unless compared to the 600/4 , has the usual CA problems of older Nikkors, but it's pretty darned sharp even wide open.
 

Thank you.

Saw you omitted the 35 f/1.4 AiS.

Curious how the old super telephotos stack up to the new?

[Erik Lund]

Have you used this lens, and have some examples of this effect? I've never seen it in the Canon 50/0.95 or on the 80~200/4.5 Ais vs the Ai version.

Nikkor 80~200/4.5n and 8-~200/4.5 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

The mask used on the Ais lens intrudes much farther into the rear element than the contact plate of the Canon 50/1.0 or RF cam of the 50/0.95. much depends on the collimation at the point of the mask, that used with the 80~200/4.5 Ais does not show up in the out-of-focus regions.

Looking at images on Flickr taken with the Canon 50/1.0, it is not evident that the electrical contact plate shows up in the out-of-focus areas.

Yes I have some images somewhere but its actually super easy to test this. But first, it will not show up in your zoom or any other lens with similar rear rectangular opening also the new 24-70 VR doesnt show this

The key is you wrote; ',,,on the rear element' and that's the issue, when it's on the surface of the rear element then you can see it clearly.

The Noct has this cut out of the rear element, it is for the aperture activation lever on the camera, when you mount the lens it must be able to clear this lever, the 55 and 50mm also has this to some extent. That's why there is a painted 'aperture' on the element.

Here the 50mm 1.2 AI you can see the cout out from 2 o'clock until 7 o'clock...

L1020189 by Erik Gunst Lund, on Flickr

To see this you just take any old lens, make a distinctive black/light proof mark on the rear element and shoot for instance a green diode as above at infinity but shot a say 1 meter.

[John Koerner]

John,
wrt to your list.
May I suggest to add the Ai(S) 105mm/2.5 as well - it is a fabulous lens.

Chances are high that you will enjoy the 15mm/3.5


rgds, Andy

What a clean pair

How does a lens like that stack up to a 14-24, optics-wise?

Prices are reasonable too ...