I chickened out, NKT 8.5cm f2 Nikkor in LTM

[dexdog]

I recently bought this lens on eBay. I knew it was an early lens, made at the same time as those marked MIOJ, but probably not so marked as explained in Rotoloni's Nikon RF book on page 120.

 

[dexdog]

The glass in this lens is in unbelievably good shape.

 

[dexdog]

The focus ring is nice and smooth, but the aperture ring is sticky. It will move from f2 to f16 if you are careful and don't try turning too fast, but I can feel a big lump of old grease rolling around inside when I turn the aperture ring. I got the optical block unscrewed after using a syringe to drip some naphtha into the works as suggested by Richard Haw's web page Repair: Nikkor-P.C 8.5cm f/2


I cannot remove the front lens element, which should just unscrew. Tried the naphtha again, nothing doing.
The iris on this lens is very clean

 

[dexdog]

I was planning to take the apeture ring off and follow Mr. Haw's instruction to clean the iris mechanism, but I am afraid of damaging the mechanism and given that the glass is so beautiful, I have decided to quit. I dropped a little bit of naphtha down the side of the apeture ring, which loosened up quickly, but that will probably only work for a day or so before the old grease congeals again. In other words, I chickened out. I can use the lens as is by putting up with sticky aperture without risking breaking something or otherwise screwing the lens up. I think I will start messing around camera-wise, I have a later S-mount version of the lens, and a Zeiss-Opton 85/2 in great condition. Should be fun! Heck, I might even buy a proper 48mm filter to protect the front element insteada using a 48 to 49mm step-up ring with a 49mm UV filter.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The front section should unscrew- but this is an old lens, and grease gets like glue. Worse- the threads could be damaged.
Using lighter fluid down the aperture ring works better than you might think, sometimes a couple of repeated cleanings takes care of the problem.

 

[dexdog]

Got it apart using the blue rubber tape that med techs use when they are drawing blood, very grippy. All glass is out, do I just squirt a bunch of naphtha in and around the aperture mechanism to wash out the crud? Yes, I have removed the rear bits, even though the first pic was taken before I did so. BTW, the glass is immaculate.

 

[peterm1]

It's a gorgeous lens. I have one I managed to get about a year or so back. It belonged to an Australian professional photographer who subsequently passed away and was used by him in the 1960's and perhaps early 1970s for portrait work. The LTM version is very rare in Australia and hard to find though I notice them turning up elsewhere in eBay where they attract a significant premium over the Nikon rangefinder mount ones.

Photos by me. (Ignore the metadata for the camera - which is wrong. As per my keywords under the title they were definitely made with this lens.


Street Scene by Life in Shadows, on Flickr


Street snack by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

 

[Sonnar Brian]

All glass is out, do I just squirt a bunch of naphtha in and around the aperture mechanism to wash out the crud? Yes, I have removed the rear bits, even though the first pic was taken before I did so. BTW, the glass is immaculate.

That's what I do and it just works. Be sure to let it thoroughly dry.

 

[dexdog]

Thanks Brian, will give it go and assemble tomorrow

Peterm 1, you nailed the focus on that first shot, and a lovely image it is, too! I love the wispy hair blowing away in front of her face, and the way that the tail of her coat has been pushed by the wind. I am guessing that image was taken with lens at f2

 

[splitimageview]

These are so great! Albeit heavy for its size.

 

[dexdog]

These are so great! Albeit heavy for its size.

I weighed lens before taking it apart, 532g.

 

[dexdog]

As an aside, there is a big difference between cleaning this Nikkor and cleaning a Soviet lens of the same vintage. Actually very little congealed crud in the Nikkor, the naphtha left a gray shadow on the paper towel as I let it drip-dry after bathing the apeture mechanism. It seems than most Soviet lenses require Q-tips, toothpicks and lots of scrubbing to clean out the grease.

 

[peterm1]

Thanks Brian, will give it go and assemble tomorrow

Peterm 1, you nailed the focus on that first shot, and a lovely image it is, too! I love the wispy hair blowing away in front of her face, and the way that the tail of her coat has been pushed by the wind. I am guessing that image was taken with lens at f2

Thank you. I like that shot too. Yes, it was shot at f2. This lens really is a gem - I have an affinity for lenses with focal lengths between 75mm and 105mm (occasionally out to 135mm) and I can say this lens is one of the sweetest ones, with the kind of rendering I really love - an absolute classic. I have accumulated a few Nikkors from this era now (my collection is small but growing - but then again, they did not have a large range) and love using them on mirrorless cameras. In most cases this is only possible due to the advent of various makes of Contax / Nikkor RF to Leica adapter - mostly without rangefinder linkage but of course with some of these being available natively in LTM that is not such an issue even if using on a Leica M camera. I appreciate them all. Nikon really had their "stuff" together, right from the get -go.

 

[splitimageview]

Thanks Brian, will give it go and assemble tomorrow

Good luck getting this one working as good as it looks!

I need to add a Tokyo 85 to my Nikkor collection someday.

 

[dexdog]

Got the LTM back together, apeture moves easily. Will be experimenting with the LTM version, a Zeiss-Opton 85/2 and a later version of the Nikkor in S-mount. It will be a good workout for the Amedeo adapter. Now I just need to figure out something to photograph

 

[dexdog]

I have started to compare the lenses, and while I will not bore everyone with a big photo set, I am not at all surprised that these three lenses render in a similar manner. I went to a Virginia state historic site a couple miles from my house. Photos were taken on Nikon Z6, natural color scheme, daylight white balance, ISO 200, focus peaking, apeture priority, hand-held, lens hoods, no filters on lenses .Click pic and type RFF for password to see larger images




Side view of church. Could not get the front because church faces due west, and given that I took these pics around 8am, i would have been pointing straight into the sun. There is a newer modern St. Mary's church a couple of miles away that does regular services, but this one is very popular for weddings.

 

[dexdog]

First up is LTM Nikkor at f2

S-Mount Nikkor serial 497185 at f2

 

[dexdog]

Zeiss-Opton at f2

 

[dexdog]

S-Mount Nikkor, f2 and f4, respectively

 

[dexdog]

Zeiss-Opton, f2 and f4, respectively