A bit of NOOKY

[Mr_Flibble]

Last weekend I had to fill up a roll of film in a IIIa (yes Johan, your former IIIa), so I thought it was a good time to get some spring-time pictures.
I hadn't used the Leitz NOOKY (Stop snickering in back!) Close-up attachment for the 50mm Elmar for a long time. So I thought: why the heck not.

Film is Fuji Superia 400 X'tra, Lens is a coated 50mm f/3.5 Elmar from 1947 with a slight haze behind the front element. Exposure was determined with a VC-2 meter. Negatives were scanned at 1200dpi, as generic colorfilm in Vuescan (white and black point both set to 0).

Didn't know I had tulips in my garden

Grape Hyacinths

Then it was off to my parents for lunch and some more NOOKY

Waterdrops on Lady's Mantle (Also called Lion's Claw in Dutch)

Rhododendron

Dip wick and NOOKY 😀 har-har ho-ho...ahem...

And finally a cheap plaster copy of a classic statue.

I never really liked the results I got with the close-up adapter before now, but I have to admit I'm rather pleased with these snapshots. Apparently next to a funny 5-letter telegraphy code it does actually do what is supposed to!
The RF Focus is spot on. I would set the lens to the shortest distance and then use the RF images to move closer or further away to get the right distance. Then I would carefully move my eye to the VF window.


Hope you like them,

 

[Muggins]

Looks to me like you can't beat a bit of NOOKY!😀

Adrian
(who's been dreaming about this thread ever since he found that NOOKY existed)

 

[Keith]

I have one of these gizmos stashed in the cupboard ... it came with a lllf I bought off eBay years ago. Back then I didn't have a clue what it actually was so consequently I've never used it.

Might be time for some 'NOOKY' this weekend? 😀

 

[john neal]

Rick,

More great results - sign me up for the Nooky club - I have one from the last Xmas giveaway, and have not had chance to use it yet - now I must!

 

[johannielscom]

Nice shots, Rick!

Can't imagine the old IIIa protesting the NOOKY, it likes to accessorize 😀

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Thanks for the replies! I was going to suggest playing "All for the Nookie" by Limp Bizkit to maximize viewing pleasure, but I doubt many will appreciate the hearing loss 😉

 

[helen.HH]

Flowers In Bloom & Nooky lead to Sreller Results ...😉

Makes me want an Elmar though i might just be pleasantly content
With the color skopar 50mm

Great Shots Rick... A Different view from the retro War Zone. 😉
Cheers- H

 

[n5jrn]

That NOOKY is some contraption. Rube Goldberg would be proud! ...

Really, it's just a focusing helical that provides extra extension to the lens, together with a bit of optics to make the rangefinder focus at close ranges, and a parallax-correcting mask for the viewfinder.

It's a good design. Unlike with accessory lenses, there are no extra optical elements to degrade the performance of the lens.

I have the related NOOKY-HESUM which I use with my Summitar. The clue to using either is to realize that you insert the collapsed lens into the NOOKY, using the bayonet tabs on the end of the lens barrel to fasten the two together, then screw the lens+NOOKY combination onto the camera.

I don't think Leica ever had instructions that explained this, perhaps because they figured NOOKY was instinctual and thus needed no explanation.

 

[kully]

I thought all gardens in Holland had to have tulips by law 🙂

 

[loquax ludens]

Wow, that is a neat gizmo. I want to get a NOOKY for my Elmar.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Suddenly everybody wants some NOOKY, what have I started 😉

Is there actually any real difference between the NOOKY-HESSUM and the older NOOKY design? Are the bayonet lugs from the Summar so different from the Elmar?

Kully, I live below the rivers (the Redneck country of the Netherlands so to say), "We don't need no stinkin' tulips!" 😉

 

[Keith]

It's a really clever design I agree ... the Leitz engineers really were an amazing bunch.

When I got mine I remember looking at it and trying to work out what it actually was let alone how to attach it to the camera with a lens.

The kit it came with was interesting ... it was a lllf that I bought off eBay that only had a pic of the camera and nothing else mentioned in the description. When it arrived it came in a system system case with three lenses, lightmeter, filters with adapters, a flash unit, the NOOKY, one of those bizarre barn door shades and one of those funny little self timers!

 

[Rico]

Nice results with NOOKY, and plays to the strength of the Elmar (smooth background blur).

 

[Luddite Frank]

How about a picture of your NOOKY set-up ?

😀

 

[Red Robin]

Nookie?

Nookie?

Thanks for the replies! I was going to suggest playing "All for the Nookie" by Limp Bizkit to maximize viewing pleasure, but I doubt many will appreciate the hearing loss 😉

I know this is a family forum but might someone post a picture of their nookie. ? SOME of us have not seen any in a long time. (just list it as art)

 

[ZeissFan]

Oh, that is interesting that it doesn't use a close-up lens. Many of the "Super Nooky" devices that you see for various cameras include a wide rectangular lens for the rangefinder and a screw-in close-up lens.

This is more an extension tube. I like it and like the photos, too.

 

[David Hughes]

I'll have to oblige; who could resist a thread about nooky?

What you have to be careful about when using it is checking and double checking that the Elmar is firmly fixed in the bayonet holder. The best bit is the parallax adjustment.

Regards, David

 

[ferider]

Cool photos. If I remember right the NOOKY works with Elmar, Summicron & Summitar ?

And a note for M-users: for the collapsible M-Summicron and classic M-Elmar 2.8 and 3.5, there is the "SOMKY", a device very similar to the NOOKY, but M-mount. There is also a device ("16508/UOORF") for the rigid Summicron, allowing its lens head to be attached to the SOMKY. And finally, there is the DR Summicron, of course 🙂

I guess the classic application was copying. But both collapsible and rigid/DR Summicrons are very nice close up, at half meter distance:

Crop into the second one:

Roland.

 

[Luddite Frank]

"NOOKY" is for the 5cm Elmar only.

"NOOKY-HESSUM" works with Summar and Summitar

"SNOOKY" is for the Collapsible Summicron

( I think I have that right )....

I think I "need" a Black & Nickel NOOKY to go on my 1932 Leica II with the 11 o'clock Nickel Elmar... 🙄

I feel GAS pains coming on... 😉

 

[n5jrn]

Is there actually any real difference between the NOOKY-HESSUM and the older NOOKY design? Are the bayonet lugs from the Summar so different from the Elmar?

Everything I've read indicates they are different. (Why would Leitz go through the bother of creating and tracking a different stock number if they did not have to?)

"HESUM" (not "hessum") stands for "HEktor/SUMmar/SUMmitar" and is used as a suffix by Leica on a few other accessories that have to mate with these three types of 50mm LTM lenses. It stands to reason that they would require different accessories than the Elmar; they are faster lenses, and faster lenses typically require fatter barrels.