Focusing The Nokton 50/1.5 Down To 0.7m

While I didnt take either of them apart, to me it looks like focusing action seems same/similar with both Nokton 50/1.5 and Heliar 75/2.5, which makes me wonder if Heliar 75/2.5 is another lens that can be "fixed" to focus closer too?
 
Why not just get a J3, and cut out a shim? This gives you .7m to infinity, and trust me, the lens is as good or better than the CV 50/1.5 (or at least my sample), and about 1/2 the size.
 
Not to hijack this thread but....

Has anyone tried this with the UC-Hex 35/2? (is it possible?) Because the biggest draw back of the 35 is the .9m focus.... if it went .7, they'd jump in value.
 
Well, having felt ADVENTUROUS today, I thought I'd have some fun. Here is a result 🙂 :
IMG_0033.jpg
 
And here is a quick test shot on RD1s at NEW min focus - 0.7m or even less (didnt measure , but its pretty close, hehe):
EPSN6508.jpg
 
No shim... he did some metalwork!

I would be curious if you worked out the same modification is I did.

I have not have time to modify and document the silver Nokton 50/1.5 yet... so many other things on the burner. Probably will not happen for another few weeks.
 
No shims. Lens focuses throughout the whole range. Just some metal work - took me a few hours - lens had to be taken apart completely and some metal had to be filed down. I did take some pics, which I can post later. Not an easy modification, but can be done if you are handy. Funny thing is - now that I have done it, I'm mystified as to why Cosina didnt do it to begin with, as it wouldnt cost them a penny. Oh well, - I'm happy I did it and didnt screw it up. 😉
 
well

well

It's an LTM lens, so do most ltm cameras couple down below 1m? without mods?

I sure wish the makers of my J3 also supported it.

However, one of the CVs, can't remember if it's the 50/1.5 or 50/1.1 is quite distorted at .7m, much more so than my J3, so keep that in mind if you were the manufacturer of the lens ...

Krosya said:
No shims. Lens focuses throughout the whole range. Just some metal work - took me a few hours - lens had to be taken apart completely and some metal had to be filed down. I did take some pics, which I can post later. Not an easy modification, but can be done if you are handy. Funny thing is - now that I have done it, I'm mystified as to why Cosina didnt do it to begin with, as it wouldnt cost them a penny. Oh well, - I'm happy I did it and didnt screw it up. 😉
Click to expand...
 
I had a little scare - when I put it back together it didnt focus right:
EPSN6470.jpg


Took it apart again, found the problem - put it back and here we are:
EPSN6473.jpg

EPSN6497.jpg


EPSN6504.jpg


Great, sharp, close focusing lens with a beautiful bokeh - just what it is supposed to be!
 
Can this modification be done with other lenses?
I would love to make my CZJ 5cm 1.5 focus closer.
The same applies to the Canon 50/1.2 and the Heliar 50/2.

Maybe at Christmas time some people here will be Santas ... ?
 
The 50/1.1 shows a lot of barrel distortion at .7m... but only if you are shooting newspapers or brick-walls. In real use, the distortion is not evident. The 50/1.5 is is very well corrected right down to 0.5m.
 
Any thread mount 50mm can be very easily made to focus to 0.7m with a simple shim inserted between the lens and camera just I did with the Nokton 50/1.5 earlier in this thread. The lens will not focus to infinity, but will focus from about 4m(12')or so down to 0.7m. It is a very quick and easy way get abit closer, takes as long as mounting and unmounting the lens.

As for actual modifications to the lens helical, each lens is unique. I know Brian has modified a couple of various lens to be full-range focusing from infinity to 0.7m.
 
So maybe having a few shims handy would take care of most close-up sitiations. As long as the RF is still coupled, it is a great finding, Lynn and Brian.
 
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I dont know about most- but a while back , after I did modify my LTM Nikkor 5cm/1.4 t focus closer, It did so on Canon 7 camera having full RF coupling.

Nokton 50/1.5 is a modern lens, even though LTM, should have still been made by Cosina with 0.7m. After all, they did make CV 21/4 that is LTM and focuses close.

Other lenses - dont know. As I said - Nikkor 5cm/1.4 -I've done that one. I also took apart CV 75/2.5 today and tried to make it focus close. It's a whole diffent design inside and I did make it focus a LITTLE closer,but it's really not possible to modify it to go to 0.7m, as far as I could tell.
I wish I was brave enough to take some more expensive lenses apart, like my M-Hexanon 50/1.2 t make it focus closer too - it's 0.9m now. But it's too nice of lens as well as rare to experiment with. Same goes for UC-Hex 35/2 -I dont have it any more, but I wouldnt risk it.
 
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