All Nikon users are, or should be, familiar with the legendary David D. Duncan and his importance as the kickstarter of Nikon's appeal world wide. If you don't know the story, this
http://blog.iamnikon.com/en_GB/pro-photographers/david-douglas-duncan-nikon/ should give an idea.
The Nikkor lens DDD "discovered" and used for the coverage of the Korean War was 8.5 cm f/2 Nikkor-P, which of course is a rangefinder lens. For me, coupling up this lens to the latest Nikon was a fascinating thought, however I tried it on a Sony A7 series quickly abandoned for the camera's poor handling, and it was a bit longish for my 1 Nikons although I made the adapter for RF(S) Nikkor to CX and used the combination once in a while. Still didn't *feel* right. Something was amiss.
Yesterday I picked up the spare Z mounts and made a makeshift RF(S)->Z just so I could ascertain what could be achieved. Not a permanent solution and there are mechanical issues to sort out, but that can wait for later.
Finally, my copy of the RF 8.5cm f/2 lens mounted on the Z and I quickly took a snapshot out the kitchen window. Light levels were low as usual so the Z7 ran at 3200 and 6400 ISO.
The image below is
not, by any stretch of imagination, noteworthy for its photographic quality, but for me it proves the legendary 8.5cm Nikkor really had *something* about it.
My copy is from early '50s, presumably around 1953 thus is a respectable 65 years of age and works silky smooth too.
Whole frame and 100% crop from the focused area in the centre. The latest incarnation of Photo Ninja can now handle Z7 thus was used here with the NEF.
