Nikon/Contax lens

[Sam R]

Are all Nikkors with a red C on lens' made for Contax and not Nikon, and with 50mm and shorter lens work correctly on an SP?

Thanks

 

[jonmanjiro]

Are all Nikkors with a red C on lens' made for Contax and not Nikon

The red "C" means coated, and was dropped on later lenses because all manufacturers were coating lenses and there was no point in advertising the fact. The "C" that indicates the lens is for Contax is marked on the lens barrel. From memory I've also seen the Contax "C" on the external mount bracket.

Photo courtesy of Rover.

50mm and shorter lens work correctly on an SP?

You're talking about using Contax/Kiev lenses on a Nikon body, right?

If the key word is "correctly", the answer is "no". Although the DOF on 35mm lenses or shorter will cover the focus error. DOF won't cover the focus error on 50mm lenses or longer when shooting at close distances and wide apertures.

 

[NIKON KIU]

...., and with 50mm and shorter lens work correctly on an SP?

Thanks

Funny is, Nippon Kogaku NEVER made a 50 in Contax mount!!

Kiu

 

[VinceC]

Need to stop down a 50mm Kiev/Contax lens to f/4 or slower when shooting up close. At infinity, they are interchangeable.

 

[jsuominen]

Need to stop down a 50mm Kiev/Contax lens to f/4 or slower when shooting up close. At infinity, they are interchangeable.

Here are two examples, what happens, if you shoot with Kiev lens (Menopta 53/1.8) on Nikon S-mount body (Bessa R2S) at wide open from 3 feet (0,9m) distance:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsuominen/738653625/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsuominen/740578691/

And the correct versions with Nikkor-S 5cm/1.4 lens on S-mount body:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsuominen/738656773/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsuominen/741444376/

 

[Sam R]

The red "C" means coated, and was dropped on later lenses because all manufacturers were coating lenses and there was no point in advertising the fact. The "C" that indicates the lens is for Contax is marked on the lens barrel. From memory I've also seen the Contax "C" on the external mount bracket.

Photo courtesy of Rover.

You're talking about using Contax/Kiev lenses on a Nikon body, right?

If the key word is "correctly", the answer is "no". Although the DOF on 35mm lenses or shorter will cover the focus error. DOF won't cover the focus error on 50mm lenses or longer when shooting at close distances and wide apertures.

Thanks, for a minute I thought three of my Nikkors we made for a contax. I have one Sonnor 85f2 but that just extra juice from a trade.

 

[Sam R]

Funny is, Nippon Kogaku NEVER made a 50 in Contax mount!!

Kiu

And thank GOD for that. After reading or misunderstanding where the "C" should be I thought I had 3.

Thanks again

 

[John Shriver]

The reason they didn't make a 50mm in Contax mount is because they would have had to recompute the lens to the correct "50mm" focal length for the Contax! The 50mm is the only lens that doesn't have it's own focusing helical. (If they had recomputed the blessed lens, they could have made the camera compatible in the first place!)

To make their other lenses in Contax mount, they just had to play with the pitch of the helical threads. No optical work, just machining.

 

[jonmanjiro]

I disagree,
The Japenese simply thought it was negligible!!!


How wrong.....


Kiu

You can call the Japanese a lot of things .... stupid is not one of them.

Nikon already have a lineup of 50mm lenses in LTM before they started making their own S-mount lenses.

In 1937, the company began marketing its own production lenses, the first is believed to be a 50mm f/3.5 lens for 35mm cameras, and a 50mm f/2.0 lens followed soon afterwards. These early Nikkor lenses were primarily designed with a screw-thread mount.

Quote from http://www.mir.com.my/

They simply used the optics they already had on hand and adapted the mount to suit.

Why reinvent the wheel?

 

[VinceC]

Important to remember that, in those days, almost every interchangeable-lens camera was purchased new with a 50mm lens. Other lenses were considered to be optional accessories. There simply was no market to sell 50mm lenses in Contax mount ... everyone who owned a Contax camera already had a 50mm Zeiss Sonnar.

 

[aoresteen]

Important to remember that, in those days, almost every interchangeable-lens camera was purchased new with a 50mm lens. Other lenses were considered to be optional accessories. There simply was no market to sell 50mm lenses in Contax mount ... everyone who owned a Contax camera already had a 50mm Zeiss Sonnar.

Then how did they sell all those 5cm f/1.4 lenses in LTM?

 

[rover]

A market had already been established for their LTM lenses as they were building them for Canon for years. It was only around 1950 or so when Canon began building their own lenses, prior to that Nippon Kogaku was the Japanese LTM lens manufacturer.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Nikkor 5cm lenses were standard issue with Nicca cameras. Nicca also was sold under the "Tower" name by Sears.

Nikon could have brought out a Contax version of their 5cm lenses by moving the rear module back slightly, ~0.4mm and then shimmed it for the Contax. But Contax cameras were issued with 50mm lenses, so I doubt they would have sold many of them.

This 1982 Helios-103, is modified for the Nikon RF, wide-open:

The rear module is moved in closer to the front by 0.4mm, reducing the effective focal length. The main shim is untouched. I've done the same with a late post-war 50mm F1.5 Sonnar. To adapt a Nikkor 5cm lens for a Contax, the effective focal length needs to be increased. Moving the rear module out slightly should work.

 

[VinceC]

>>Then how did they sell all those 5cm f/1.4 lenses in LTM?<<

Because the Leitz 5cm/1.5 Opton had a mixed reputation and the Summilux was introduced only after Nikon started cleaning up the market on fast, sharp LTM 50s ... On the other hand, the Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 sold with most Contaxes was an excellent piece of glass.

 

[VinceC]

Most of the kit lenses with low-cost Leica clones were 5cm/F2 Nikkors. The 5cm/1.4s went to those who wanted/needed the extra stop in the era of slow (10 ISO) Kodachrome.