Black Nikkor S and SC 5cm f/1.4 lenses

[Dante_Stella]

Are these all the "second" computation (i.e., not the first and not the Olympic)? Asking for a friend. 🙂

Thanks!

 

[Highway 61]

Yes, but there are chrome lenses belonging to the 50/1.4 second computation family too. The first computation produced a narrower image circle not able to fully cover the 24x36 format.

Jonmanjiro once wrote here about how to guess a 50/1.4 first computation from its second computation sibling. It regards the diameter of the rear element IIRC.

 

[Dante_Stella]

I have a version 1 in LTM; I am trying to figure out whether the black and chrome S.C. version is also version 1. Sounds like it is #2. Thanks!

 

[enasniearth]

Black and chrome 5cm f1.4

Black and chrome 5cm f1.4

The black and chrome lenses came out about 1956 ,
The s2 was 2 years old , the sp not released .
There are some on chrome dial s2 cameras cameras 616xxxx and up
Most are on black dial s2 or sp/s3
Lens number 37xxxx and up with chrome intermixed .
The Leica mount 5cm 1.4 had a black aperature ring after the change .

There are some all black lenses early all with black front rings (rare)

 

[jonmanjiro]

From the lenses I've seen personally, I've always assumed that the transition point to slightly larger diameter rear optical group used in the Nikkor-S 5cm F1.4 happened around s/n 328xxx to 329xxx, or so.

Then again, Wes Loder recently dropped this bombshell below, so who knows...:bang:

Hans Liholm, the head of Overseas and Finance Trading Company, the Nikon importers, made sure that DDD got one of the new 5cm f1.4 Nikkors as some he had one available. DD was disappointed. He complained to Liholm that the f1.4 exhibited too much flare and was not as good as the f1.5. This flare problem maybe one of the reasons that Nippon Kogaku changed the formula of the f1.4 so quickly. (the f1.4 went through 14 design changes of the course of its production).

 

[Dante_Stella]

So the lens looks good (actually, the exterior and glass look new in most views) but it has some haze in the middle element - it's only visible under super-strong light (as in putting a halogen lamp right through it. It covers about 1/3 of the group, mostly along one edge). I can't tell if it's superficial or something else.

There is also a concentric clear ring in the back near the edge. You really have to look for it. Visually, it's tiny (as in it's probably 1/10 of a mm) but perfectly uniform all the way around. I've seen this before in the 50/1.4, but I never got to the bottom of whether it was just seeing the edges of the lens elements or some kind of degenerative disease.

Since this is a KEH item and returnable, does any of this sound like separation? I'm a little fatigued with the experience of adapting things for Leica, so I'm not going to be that sad if this is a throw-back. The haze thing concerns me a lot more than the rear element anomaly (if it's even that).

Thanks!
Dante

 

[Highway 61]

Since this is a KEH item and returnable, does any of this sound like separation?

The haze might be some separation, but it might be haze from outgassing too. Only a cleaning attempt will tell.

The concentric clear ring in the back near the edge is separation. This affects a lot of black 50/1.4 Nikkor-S and S-C lenses. It seems that the new cement used on black lenses hasn't hold up well over time.

It's theorically a degenerative disease and I have seen some lenses with that "golden droplets" ring having become quite large.

It is very difficult to find a black 50/1.4 Nikkor-S or S-C without this. If the ring is still faint, as you describe it, the lens performances won't be affected at all.