Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4

[richardHaw]

f/4

[richardHaw]

f/2.8

by the way, this thing has a brass helicoid. this lens stinks (literally) because of that huge piece of brass.

[pluton]

Brass has a smell?
Are you sure it's not the old grease?

[richardHaw]

Brass has a smell?
Are you sure it's not the old grease?

brass has a fishy "metallic" smell. if you lick it, it has an acidic "taste"
it's not the old grease. i know it sounds weird. the smell might be coming from the corrosion. it is not very strong, but subtle.

[richardHaw]

"I decided on the "rubbing between your fingers" test. IT WORKED! My fingers had the most distinct smell after. Now I know it's brass! Thank you for the help in solving my problem."
- from http://www.finishing.com/313/44.shtml

I got curious so i googled to see if I am correct and yes, I can affirm that I am not a weirdo who has super sense of smell

[Roland Vink]

You could start a Nikon Connoisseurs Lens Tasting Club 

[richardHaw]

You could start a Nikon Connoisseurs Lens Tasting Club 

I like the sound of that

[rolubich]

You could start a Nikon Connoisseurs Lens Tasting Club 

And you could add a "Smell/Taste" column on your database. 

[Hugh_3170]

There was a time when chocolate came wrapped in very thin aluminium foil.  The taste of stray fragments of such foil on ones teeth is quite distinctive and not very pleasant.  I accept that brass also has a taste, but I do not wish to try it myself - the taste of the aluminium foil is more than enough for me!       

[richardHaw]

brass tastes "fishier" and more acidic than aluminium
hershey's I believe still has their's wrapped in foil. a long time ago, i would peel aluminium from the bars and use it in scale modelling.
brass has a "self lubricating" property. is that the reason why this lens was made this way? it is rather unusual, don't you think?

[Hugh_3170]

Does the brass run against brass or does it run against aluminium?  Today the choice of materials and alloys is many and varied, but maybe the designer back then was simply trying to avoid the tendency for similar metals to bind?  Just a guess on my part.

[richardHaw]

Hi! The 2 other helicoids are the usual Nikkor aluminium alloy (with zinc i think)
only the central helicoid is made of brass

[Hugh_3170]

Ah, thanks Richard.  This seems to confirm my suspicions about running brass against aluminium. 

I also have the 5.8cm f/1.4, but have not done a full dismantling so far.  I have however given the aperture ring the Ai modification  , as I found the non-Ai operation with the Df to be such a pain in the neck  .

 

Hi! The 2 other helicoids are the usual Nikkor aluminium alloy (with zinc i think)
only the central helicoid is made of brass

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Really old Nikkors had a lot of brass inside and thus were very heavy. Good examples are the rangefinder Nikkors such as 8.5 cm f/2 or 10.5 cm f/2.5.

[richardHaw]

i dont know if you noticed it but the girl has a kissmark on her neck
hanky panky