Asph Nokton-M 50/1.5 V2 and Asph Nokton 50/1.5 LTM- Informal Comparison

Sonnar Brian

Sonnar Brian

Product of the Fifties
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Most of the museums in the area are closed, but the outdoor Memorial Walk of the Marine Museum at Quantico is open. It was a nice day today, sunny and almost 60. And I have a lot of vacation time to take off.

Good day to take the pair of Noktons out for a Comparison. Full images uploaded to imgbb.com. Pairs of images taken, at F1.5 and F4. No tripod, just walking around and shooting the monuments and statues with each lens.

Nokton V2, Wide-Open.



Nokton LTM wide-open.



Nokton V2 at F4,



Nokton LTM at F4.

 
Nokton LTM Album here:

https://ibb.co/album/424D0Q

Nokton-M V2 album here:

https://ibb.co/album/3mjN4y

Looking at the images, the new V2 looks like it has more contrast than the older lens. It also has some residual astigmatism, ie "Swirlies". Typically you get that with lenses that are highly corrected for flatness of field.

The aperture mechanism of the new lens fills much smoother than the older lens. The "Wings" makes it easy to set aperture without looking at the numbers or counting click stops. The new lens is compact, both lenses have easy to grip focus rings. With the filter and hood, the LTM lens cuts slightly into the 50mm framelines. Not a big deal to me.
 
The Bokeh is different between the two, the new one has some "swirlies" at the outer portion of the frame when used close-up and wide-open and with a distant background. This is a by-product of it being well-corrected for curvature of field.

V2 Nokton-M, wide-open.

Nokton-M V2 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

But overall, the increased contrast and smooth OOF regions, I like it.

Nokton-M V2 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr
 
LTM Nokton, Wide-Open.



You can see some "swirly footballs" in the background at the edges, these show over-correction for spherical aberration.

----------------------

The V2 Nokton-M, Wide-Open.

 
Is the v2 the new version that was just released?

I have the M version that came after the LTM. It's a very nice lens, but I really like the smaller size of the new one.
 
Does your old version lens have visible haze? The veiling flare in the first shots is so much more than the other lens. Or was its front element in direct sun and the new one shaded?
 
brusby said:
Is the v2 the new version that was just released?

I have the M version that came after the LTM. It's a very nice lens, but I really like the smaller size of the new one.
Click to expand...

I bought the new V2 Nokton that just came out.

Nokton 50/1.5 M v2 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

And went for the Nickel and Black finish, like my 1934 Sonnar.
 
retinax said:
Does your old version lens have visible haze? The veiling flare in the first shots is so much more than the other lens. Or was its front element in direct sun and the new one shaded?
Click to expand...

I just checked the LTM Nokton: no haze.

I used UV/IR cut filters with both lenses to reduce "IR Contamination" that gets through the M9 blocking filter. This reduces "purple fringing" that I've seen when using some fast lenses with the M9.

I used the hood that comes with the LTM Nokton, which is not very deep. I used a 43mm vented hood, inexpensive Chinese hood bought off Ebay. The latter is deeper, and I think did a better job of keeping light off the lens/filter.
Next time out: I will put a deeper hood on the LTM Nokton.

I like both lenses, keeping both. The LTM 50/1.5 Nokton is the best native mount lens you can find for your screwmount camera. Mine is black Enamel, matches my 35/1.7 Ultron in LTM. Each lens was ~$350, I could easily sell for the same paid.

I had one issue with the LTM Nokton: the inner retaining ring for the second (from front) group came loose. I removed the front element, taking off the name ring using a rubber band for a grip. The retaining ring must be tightened deeper than the ridge that surrounds it. It had been tightened Flush with the ridge, very likely at time of manufacture. If you use a spanner with flat bits this will happen, and it will fill like it is tight. Use pin type bits to tighten. Perfect ever since. I noticed this when using the lens- pointed up, everything in focus. Pointed down- pictures out of focus. I've seen this behavior before when an inner element was not tightened down.
 
I have the ltm version of the Nokton. I like it.
If Brian likes the CV APO 50/2. then most likely I will like it too.
 
LTM Nokton, F4.


This picture is from several years ago when I first got the LTM Nokton. I indexed a pair of Polarizing filters. Use one to look through, then match the index with the one on the camera. This is also how i discovered the problem with the loose element, most of the shots were out of focus.

This one is wide-open, with the Polarizer. The Polarizer freaked out the M9's "F-Stop Estimation" recorded in EXIF.

 
raid said:
I have the ltm version of the Nokton. I like it.
If Brian likes the CV APO 50/2. then most likely I will like it too.
Click to expand...

You will like it. Of course, I also like the LTM version. It's like my wife told me, "If you like it, keep it. If you use it, keep it. If you don't like it and don't use it: sell it".
 
The ltm version was one of the two lenses I bought when I bought my Epson R-D1, which was my first rangefinder camera. So it was a short telephoto on it. As I later accumulated more than enough 50s, it kind of got left behind. But when I revisit older pictures, sometimes I think the only two lenses I needed were those😁 (the other lens being the CV35mm F2.5 m-mount. ) Grass Dance by sevres babylone, on Flickr
 
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