Nikkor LTM Nikkor 5 cm f:1.4 LTM - heritage ?

Nikkor M39 screw mount lenses
Luddite Frank

Luddite Frank

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I was looking-over my Nicca III, which came with a Nikkor 5cm /f:1.4 LTM lens, and I was curious as to which German lens / maker Nikon based their 5cm /f:1.4 lens on ? ( I am presuming this is the same lens formula whether LTM / Nikon / Contax mount ?)

Or was it a clean-sheet design for Nippon Kogaku ?


Thanks !

LF
 
I bought a very clean 50 f2 ltm just to see how good it was and wound up keeping it. I had the Millenium f1.4 on an s3 and it was up there in performance with my 50 summilux asph. I liked the millenium atleast as much as the summilux.

Dont under estimate the vintage Nikkors.
 
X-ray - the very first "real camera" I ever saw / used was my Dad's Nikon S, with the Nikkor SC 50/1.4... he shot Kodachrome and Tri-X with it, and always had good to excellent results.

I now have the camera and lens, although both need major CLA & new curtains.

The other year I picked-up a very nice S-2 outift with the 50/1.4, 135mm, and Nikon vari-focal finder, and completed the outfit with a nice 35mm nikkor from a Forum member.

I have always been told that Nikon had excellent lenses, and my personal experience has not taught me differently.

I have had a hankering for a Leitz Summarit, but it's so tough finding them with undamaged glass...

I'll try the LTM Nikkor on my Leica next I go shooting.

LF
 
Dante's article is the best I ever found on the nikkor, and inspired me to find one.

Yes its a take-off attempt, but is a very very different lens to the CZJ 50/1.5 which I also own.

It's optimized for subjects at about 2 meters, and wide open, you will get bokeh like no other lens on earth. It's like the Canon 50/1.2 swirlies but add a hit of acid. LOL

You think I'm kidding?


L1007319 by unoh7, nikkor 5cm/1,4 M9

For that trait alone i would not sell mine ;) In real use wide open this is the extreme Sonnar.
 
The OOF does not look smooth at all. The Sonnar has gorgeous OOF rendering. I have a Millenium Nikkor 50/1.4 and several Sonnar 5cm/1.5 lenses.
 
That dog shot is a very poor example, and atypical of the Nikkor 1.4 bokeh. The Nikkor 1.4 was THE lens that put Nikon on the map, and eventually cause a seismic shift of photographers using Japanese gear instead of German. It is my favorite lens, of ANY, including Summicrons and others. Many photojournalists in the 1950s agreed, and switched to this lens.

It is extremely versatile, with close focusing ability to about 10". So it can do close:
13917347733_07d0724a53_c.jpg


Far:
10503079965_078a34398d_c.jpg
 
I hate to say it, but since a fellow RFFer friend gave me the Nikkor, my previously all-time favorite Opton Sonnar languishes in a shelf. There's no 50 that I like better. Edited to add: Ditto on the bokeh. Typically, the Nikkor bokeh looks like hematocytes.

Paris2009001 by Aguaitacaminos, on Flickr
 
Wide open, close:
13807756534_439e4c9df7_c.jpg


Wide open, far (it can do a nice soft focus effect):
13949886165_fc4379343f_c.jpg


Portraits are are real strength, and again, you can get softness wide open, or extremely sharp by F2.
8663376508_eb0b845156_c.jpg


In my opinion, having shot the Canon 1.2, 1.4, 1.8, and the Leica 2.0, Tanars, Topcons, MANY lenses, this one beats them all, hands down. It does have a vintage look, it will not look "cellphone" correct for colors and infinite depth of field. Which is a good thing.
 
Raid, the Nikkor OOF is definitely busier than most of the other sonnars. It tends to be sharper though - particularly up close. I assume the busy bokeh is the tradeoff for it.



The lens also has a moderate amount of glow when shot close to wide open, particularly when the subject is further away. It reminds me a bit of the Summilux 35/1.4 pre asph:

 
Speaking of the Carl Zeiss Contax mount 50/1.4, here is an example of its behavior in a challenging situation (focused moderately close, trees in the background, relatively open). This is from the late version labelled Carl Zeiss:

 
And here is my beer bottle shot. I think your lens may be broken, Micromontenegro. But I could probably make any lens look that harsh, if I tried hard. Of the Canon, Jupiter-3, and Nikkor, the Nikkor does have the most coma (swirl), if you look for it. Its color is warmer than the Canon, but less than the J-3. Comparison here: https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129340

11871443873_5ef21493c4_c.jpg
 
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