New sexy look for the 58mm f/1.4 Nokton

[Danulon]

Hi Airy,

the "cheaper" Zeisslenses are manufactured by Cosina.

Harald

Only Otusses and the 15 mm are supposed to be made in Germany.

[benveniste]

On a related topic, does anyone have the lens hood for the "old" Noktor?  I haven't been able to convince myself that this thing is worth $50+.

[Airy]

No. I bought a third-party, short metal hood (fit for 35mm) acting as a bumper. It does the job, given the lens resistance to flare.

[John Geerts]

There are several options for a Nikon hood with regard to the Nokton 58/1.4 58mm version    - with step up ring to HN-24 (62mm)  or step down to HN-7  (52mm)  for instance.

[Akira]

I always prefer plastic hoods.  The plastic (or similar synthetic material) absorbs the shock much better than the metal.

[richardHaw]

I am sure that Nikon's older HS hoods will be perfect

[Bjørn Rørslett]

They will, at least , fall off perfectly   an impact is frequently not required.

[richardHaw]

depends. I actually find that the HS hoods are quite solid on some lenses yet very fragile on others. the HN hoods are also nice but I like the HS ones for convenience

[David H. Hartman]

How many 50mm lenses are enough?

Dave

[Airy]

One, if it is a summicron

[Akira]

I also need only one, if it can go up to, say, 1:4 magnification.

[Harald]

I think one for every day of the week is enougj. Let me count: Not enough!

Harald

[Airy]

Zeiss (MF) and Tamrpn (AF, 45mm) can focus close but you'll miss some speed.
Voigtländer gets close to 1:4 but you'll have to stop it down near MFD.
In fact you need to pick some f/1.4 and find a satisfactory close-up lens... Voigt 40/2 for instance. But it has some flaws (haloing on night shots..) and is MF.

[Akira]

Yes, a No.3 achromatic close up lens would do the job.

[Airy]

Now which f/1.4 to pick is the next challenge. The 50/1.4 G may disappoint wide open, although some here (Fons...) seem to be able to put it at good use. The Sigma 50/1.4 is sharp, but bulky as a zoom.

In the MF area, none are really convincing wide open, except maybe the Zeiss (Milvus or Otus - hardly universal given their size and weight). When comparing the Nokton with the old 50/1.4 AIS wide open, there was no big difference: the Voigt is very slightly sharper and somewhat more contrasty in the center, and has more neutral color (no "purple haze". But its sharpness seems to drop down faster away from the center, so it's more or less a draw. I'll have to re-test, my hands were less steady than usual (some visible camera shake at 1/50s), and I did not manage to frame identically.