Noct 58/0.95 - technical

[Erik Lund]

Thanks great to see! Looking forward for more

[Nikfuson]

Jpegs straight from camera.
Both at f/0.95, 1/60s and ISO1600.

[Nikfuson]

Bokeh at f/1.0 and 2.2.

[Birna Rørslett]

Best to keep the lens wider than f/2 or perhaps f/1.8 to get circular bokeh balls, then. I'm a little disappointed that aperture blades should cut into the highlights this early when stopping down the lens.

Of course, focused distance also has a bearing, thus what distance was the lens set to?

[Erik Lund]

Quite surprising the 11 aperture blades are that visible, they are supposed to be rounded,,,

[Nikfuson]

Best to keep the lens wider than f/2 or perhaps f/1.8 to get circular bokeh balls, then. I'm a little disappointed that aperture blades should cut into the highlights this early when stopping down the lens.

Of course, focused distance also has a bearing, thus what distance was the lens set to?

This is at closest focus distance, i.e. 0.5m.

[Nikfuson]

Here's at f/1.4

[Birna Rørslett]

OK, so how is the behaviour towards infinity focus for these highlight balls?

Must say this is NOT the appearance I had expected from a lens in this class and price bracket.

[Nikfuson]

OK, so how is the behaviour towards infinity focus for these highlight balls?

Must say this is NOT the appearance I had expected from a lens in this class and price bracket.

Sorry, I have only a series of near towards far at f/0.95. But will give this a go the next time I get my hands on it.

[Birna Rørslett]

Yes, please do. Personally I'm too tied down with writing up papers at present to spend time chasing after the Ultra-Noct just now.

[MILLIREHM]

Nikon raised stellar expectations for this lens
It appears as if it might fail to fulfill this expectations in all aspects

Thanks Nikfusion for providing these samples

[Nikfuson]

Second round of testing commences tomorrow, with more «photography» type shots 😊

[Roland Vink]

Bokeh at f/1.0 and 2.2.

Interesting, the lens has 11 aperture blades. This is a first for Nikon as far as I can remember. Other Nikkors have 7 or 9.

Even rounded aperture blades start to show a polygonal shape when stopped down far enough, but depending on the geometry of the blades some retain a rounded opening for longer than others. In the pictures at f/2.2 the lens is already closed down over 2 stops - nearly 2 1/2 stops. The Noct is over a stop faster than any other current Nikkor you should expect the polygonal shape to start appearing at correspondingly wider apertures. On the other hand, it has 11 aperture blades, so the shape should be more rounded than lenses with fewer blades, and you would expect the designers to take great care on this feature, especially with this sort of lens.

Feel free to send me you serial number for my Nikon database

Question: the lens appears to have two filter rings, one around the front element, and a larger one on the front rim of the focus ring - I'm guessing the larger has 95mm thread and is for the hood?

[Nikfuson]

Interesting, the lens has 11 aperture blades. This is a first for Nikon as far as I can remember. Other Nikkors have 7 or 9.

Even rounded aperture blades start to show a polygonal shape when stopped down far enough, but depending on the geometry of the blades some retain a rounded opening for longer than others. In the pictures at f/2.2 the lens is already closed down over 2 stops - nearly 2 1/2 stops. The Noct is over a stop faster than any other current Nikkor you should expect the polygonal shape to start appearing at correspondingly wider apertures. On the other hand, it has 11 aperture blades, so the shape should be more rounded than lenses with fewer blades, and you would expect the designers to take great care on this feature, especially with this sort of lens.

Feel free to send me you serial number for my Nikon database

Question: the lens appears to have two filter rings, one around the front element, and a larger one on the front rim of the focus ring - I'm guessing the larger has 95mm thread and is for the hood?

Useful info Roland. As I get the lens tomorrow to continue my trials I'll send you the serial. I suspect the outer threads are for the hood but will of course check and post accordingly.

[Akira]

Interesting, the lens has 11 aperture blades. This is a first for Nikon as far as I can remember. Other Nikkors have 7 or 9.

Even rounded aperture blades start to show a polygonal shape when stopped down far enough, but depending on the geometry of the blades some retain a rounded opening for longer than others. In the pictures at f/2.2 the lens is already closed down over 2 stops - nearly 2 1/2 stops. The Noct is over a stop faster than any other current Nikkor you should expect the polygonal shape to start appearing at correspondingly wider apertures. On the other hand, it has 11 aperture blades, so the shape should be more rounded than lenses with fewer blades, and you would expect the designers to take great care on this feature, especially with this sort of lens.

Feel free to send me you serial number for my Nikon database

Question: the lens appears to have two filter rings, one around the front element, and a larger one on the front rim of the focus ring - I'm guessing the larger has 95mm thread and is for the hood?

According to the preview of DPReview TV, your assumption of two threads seems to be correct (0:40~, 1:54~ and 2:30~):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-uoDcKxjAM

FWIW, the Nikkor-O a.k.a. CRT Nikkor has 11 aperture blades.