40mm Nokton: unusual questions

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Kristopher

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I am considering to buy a Nokton 40mm and I have a few questions:

How does the lens behave closed down. There is a lot of pictures and threads about its wide open capabilities and caracteristics but not about its closed down behaviour.

Is the bokeh more smooth? Since I don't find bokehs interseting in photography (I found them more disturbing than anything else), i would prefer the classic look of smooth defocused old lenses. I know that the nokton has a particular bokeh wide open, but i am more interested about its closed down caracteristics. For me photography i more about subjects than abstract bokeh, which IMO is not due to the photog's talent and imagination.

I D'ONT find microcontrast that important. It tends to give an oversharp look in B&W. I feel that color corrected lenses are not that good in black and white, too much (usually light) gray not enough blacks and whites.

Since I shoot B&W exclusively would the sc version be more appropriate?

I plan to use B&W filters, any advices?

Any other suggestions are welcome,

P.S. I currently use a Rolleiflex Tessar for 100% of my work and I LOVE this lens. But I need an all around camera that can be used in low light situations. If someone know a fast lens that can have the same caracteristics...

Thanks,

Kris
 
If you stop down, you increase depth of field which eliminates Bokeh as it only exists in the out-of-focus image.
 
It behaves nicely as you stop it down -- I've got a bunch of shots (including a few stopped-down B&W, which sound like what you're interested in) here on Flickr. All the shots on that link are taken with the MC 40/1.4.

It's a very sharp lens stopped down, though. Probably a good deal contrastier than an old Tessar, too -- you might find a better match for that sort of look to be something like an old Sonnar/Jupiter 50mm?
 
Here is a shot of me (taken by a buddy of mine) at lunch with my 40mm Nokton. F-stop was about f/3.2

1640392615_dcab5942b4_b.jpg
 
I think the Nokton is pretty harsh & sharply corrected. It's not that I don't like it, but for "smoother" situations I'd rather use an old Nikkor 50/1.4 in LTM or a similar Canon. fom what I've read and seen myself, they are way "softer", read "vintage", than the Nokton. it is indeed very sharp, "modern", when you stop it down.

best,

max
 
etrigan63 said:
John Milich will mill the flange for you. You have to remove the flange and mail it to him. I did it to mine and added coding pits for my M8. Total cost $35.

John can be reached at jm@milich.com.
Click to expand...

Any danger in damaging anything? Or very straightforward, like the Zeiss mounts? I got this message from my local CV dealer:

"I don't advise you to take out the mount to file it as the mount is attached to the helicoil. Once taken out, it requires a skilled technician to put it back."
 
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