Super speed lenses

[Phil_F_NM]

It's a shame that the only super speed lens options available for Nikon RF are all rare enough to be priced out of the range of all but the folks who can absolutely afford them.
I'm surprised there wasn't a 50mm f/1.1 Nokton produced considering its popularity with the Leica folks.
Me, I like older formulations and might experiment with the Canon FD L 50mm f/1.2 on the Nikon RF.
It would be easy to adapt the optics of the Canon LTM 50mm f/1.2 since the helicoid is built into the body and the nominal focal length of the Canon is 51.6mm, just like the Nikon.

Sorry, I'm kind of stuck out in the desert without much access to transportation so I'm sitting around figuring out how to shoehorn different mount lenses onto the Nikon RF.

Phil Forrest

[Tom A]

I tried to convince Mr Kobayashi to make the 50f1.1 in a Rf mount - but to no avail. It is not as simple as it looks either. It would have to be an external mount due to the size of the lens and the market is small. It is mainly a collectors "game" when it comes to the Nikon Rf's - less of a "user" market than with Leica.
I have one of the ultra rare 35f1.2 in the Nikon Rf mount. Mr Kobayashi made a couple (3 or 4) and I got one. It is of course the fastest 35 ever made for a Nikon Rf - and it works well - but it is a handful. Where it shines is the long throw of the Nikon Rf and that makes it easy to pinpoint focus - and you need that with a f1.2!

[Phil_F_NM]

I don't need it, I just like playing with old unique gear for a while then if I like it, it stays, if I want to try something different, sometimes it goes.
I do love the look of old classic formulations like the Canon RF 50/1.2 and the V2 Noctilux. The super speed Nikkors and that super rare and tiny Tomioka f/1.1 also have very weird out of focus looks that are intriguing.
And I love that Canon FD 50mm f/1.2 L. I may just buy a New F1 just to use the Canon lens. It's a fantastic shooter. Using Canon or Nikon lenses to modify for RF use is easier because they have the same nominal focal length as Leica.
I'm rambling.

Phil Forrest

[giellaleafapmu]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

I'm surprised there wasn't a 50mm f/1.1 Nokton produced considering its popularity with the Leica folks.

I think there was Zunow f1.1 but, as you say, that's rare and too expensive for what it is.

GLF

[wkkato]

I have a 50/1.1 external mount and a sad story. I inherited this lens from a relative and noticed that the aperture blades were slow in opening. Before I could say stop, my brother(tractor mechanic) used his technique for tough bolts on the lens. Alas many of the blades are twisted up. I don't think I have enough $$ to have blades made so I was thinking about taking out all the blades and using it in conjunction with my 50.1.4 for when I need this focal length.
I also have a 2nd 50/1.4, the Voigtlander 50.1/1.5 and the 50/2 Nikon so no shortage of this focal length.

[Phil_F_NM]

Originally Posted by wkkato

I have a 50/1.1 external mount and a sad story. I inherited this lens from a relative and noticed that the aperture blades were slow in opening. Before I could say stop, my brother(tractor mechanic) used his technique for tough bolts on the lens. Alas many of the blades are twisted up. I don't think I have enough $$ to have blades made so I was thinking about taking out all the blades and using it in conjunction with my 50.1.4 for when I need this focal length.
I also have a 2nd 50/1.4, the Voigtlander 50.1/1.5 and the 50/2 Nikon so no shortage of this focal length.

Can you post some photos of this lens?
Did your brother know how much the lens is worth?
Does he still have all his digits or is he still ambulatory?

Phil Forrest

[Highway 61]

Originally Posted by wkkato

Before I could say stop, my brother (tractor mechanic) used his technique for tough bolts on the lens.

[thompsonks]

For speed and rendering, I don't feel the urge to go beyond the fine lenses available to us. I've looked on the Internet at Nikkor f1.1 photos and just wasn't impressed by the way the lens 'draws.' As to the 50 1.1 Nokton, it seems to have clunky/chunky bokeh. I owned a 35 1.2 Nokton and found it had lots of trouble with CA and wasn't a pleasure to carry .

Unless an ultra-fast lens has, like the Noctilux, a 'signature' that one values highly, it's so hard to see the point. With 50 1.4 Nikkor or 1.5 Sonnar (S mount) on S3 I just can't see the need for another f stop. These are quite beautiful in their rendering, and the Nocti is the only lens that I might prefer in this regard.

Additionally, I doubt I could focus a Noctilux or a 1.1 Nikkor with satisfyingly consistent accuracy. Experience with a 75mm Summilux yielded way too many OOF images.

For these reasons I feel quite content with both the speed and the 'drawing' of the Sonnar designs what Nippon Kogaku and Zeiss made for us.

Happy shooter Kirk

[Phil_F_NM]

If I had an extra $15,000 to spend, I'd have a V2 Noctilux modified for Nikon RF mount.

All of the 50/1.1 lenses have unique bokeh but so does the f/1.4 Nikkor. Some say it's ugly and I've seen situations where it can indeed be a bit not pleasing. But I don't shoot lenses for their bokeh specifically though sometimes, those characteristics can add something to an image. I DO love the way that most super speed lenses draw a portrait though. All of them have beautiful rendering of facial features which is one reason I'd like to find one. Or modify one to suit my needs.

That Canon 24mm f/1.4 SSC or L lens is a screamer too. I'm desperate to stick one of those on a rangefinder, just cause I can. And I would never pay for a 24mm Summilux.

Phil Forrest

[VinceC]

I never quite understood Mr. Kobayashi's strategy for Nikon RF lenses. He entered the Leica market filling unpopulated niches -- affordable 15mm and affordable fast glass. For the few thousand Nikon shooters, he didn't introduce anything you didn't already possess in affordable Nikkor glass ... a 35/2.5; some fast 50s where every Nikon owner has a fast 50; a slow 85. The 25mm and 21mm were lifesavers. But I wonder how sales might have fared if he had introduced limited runs using his fast lenses that had no vintage Nikkor equivalents. The F-S adapter sold out right away, for example, due to people wanting to adapt the 15mm.

[Phil_F_NM]

I think it would be quite easy to adapt the optics of the LTM 15mm CV lens to a mounting flange from an internal mount 50 like a Jupiter 8 or Helios 103.

I might have to find one to do the mod just because. But I'm not a 15mm user so I'd probably just sell it I guess.

The "rare" Helios-94 would make a great platform to adapt a larger optics module from a Canon 50/1.2 or other super speed lens due to it being an external mount. Now I'm gonna have to find one of those...

Phil Forrest

[Highway 61]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

I think it would be quite easy to adapt the optics of the LTM 15mm CV lens to a mounting flange from an internal mount 50 like a Jupiter 8 or Helios 103.

You just cannot, because the focusing helical built in the Nikon RF body is made for the optical register of a 51.6mm lens.

So the rangefinder would be totally useless, and looking at the focusing distance indexes of the built-in helical wouldn't work, either.

[Phil_F_NM]

Originally Posted by Highway 61

You just cannot, because the focusing helical built in the Nikon RF body is made for the optical register of a 51.6mm lens.

So the rangefinder would be totally useless, and looking at the focusing distance indexes of the built-in helical wouldn't work, either.

The LTM 15mm lens by CV is scale focus anyway. It wouldn't be hard to index the focusing scale at all. The rangefinder wouldn't show an accurate focus but with this lens that doesn't matter since it would be scale focused anyway.

Phil Forrest

[Highway 61]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

It wouldn't be hard to index the focusing scale at all.

Yes this is what should be done.

But using it on a LTM body would be more easy.

When you are a Nikon RF guy, your extreme wide is a 21mm, that's all.

Not something too hard to live with...

[Phil_F_NM]

Originally Posted by Highway 61

When you are a Nikon RF guy, your extreme wide is a 21mm, that's all.

Unless you like to make things work with other camera systems, like I do.

Phil Forrest