Nokton 50mm F1.5 Black paint - yellow feet

[Lflex]

I have been on the lookout for a used sample of the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1.5 for almost a year. I was a bit surprised how hard it was to find in Tokyo, but last week I was finally in luck.

The black paint on this lens is said to wear quickly - I believe that this is an accurate assessment as I see signs of golden metal on the aperture ring and the inner ring with the DOF scale on this obviously gently used sample.
Any owners know if the focusing ring is made of the same material? Or if you have a well worn copy you could share a photo of?

Finally; I noticed that my sample has yellow feet markings and yellow ASPHERICAL engraving on the front. These engravings have been red on all the photos I have seen. Anyone knows if color was changed in the end or beginning of production? (Mine has SN 99402xx)

[Erik van Straten]

Could be that a former owner changed the colors. Very easy to do. I must say that I do not like those red letters on the front ring that say "ASPHERICAL", yellow is maybe better.

Erik.

[Lflex]

Eric, I think you are right, thanks. I inspected the feet engravings w. a loupe a trace of red color in one of the numbers. Japan is a metric country so I didn't think someone would bother.

anyone who has worn down the black on the focusing ring or know what metal it is made of?

[Tom A]

The Nokton 50f1.5 is made from an alloy. Aluminum which has been hard anodized - hence the goldish color prior to the black coating. It does wear down to the hard anodized surface quite quickly.

[Lflex]

Originally Posted by Tom A

The Nokton 50f1.5 is made from an alloy. Aluminum which has been hard anodized - hence the goldish color prior to the black coating. It does wear down to the hard anodized surface quite quickly.

Interesting. These earlier CV lenses seems to have a less hardwearing finish. The 35/1.4 and 28/2.0 I have in black appear much more wear resistent. My 8 years old ltm 21/4 and 12/5.6 are chrome and shows no sign of use.

[roundg]

Originally Posted by Lflex

Interesting. These earlier CV lenses seems to have a less hardwearing finish. The 35/1.4 and 28/2.0 I have in black appear much more wear resistent. My 8 years old ltm 21/4 and 12/5.6 are chrome and shows no sign of use.

No, the new 35/1.4 and 28/2.0 is black chrome. Some early CV lens like CV50/1.5 are black paint, which is easily worn off.

[Lflex]

Originally Posted by roundg

No, the new 35/1.4 and 28/2.0 is black chrome.

I would think that it is black anodized aluminium. I wonder why CV choose to do a golden anodization and paint it black (with a relatively poor quality paint) - black anodization sounds more cost effective.

[umcelinho]

you'll have a great time with it. the 50/1.5 nokton is a fantastic lens and i regret having sold mine.