Nikon RF lenses

furcafe said:
All of this makes me wonder whether the original Nokton & Ultron designs (not just the names) are in the public domain &, if so, why Cosina &/or Zeiss haven't bothered to produce new versions in LTM or M mount. I think they would be able to sell a bunch today.
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I doubt on it, because Zeiss and Rollei had ridden their good names to death in the 1970's, since possibly the best Ultron ever was made in Braunschweig, the 1968 reengineered "Zeiss-Ultron" (link: a bit of Voigtlander lens history) with concave front-element. Later on they did everything to cut costs and labeled a lot of lenses with the Ultron or Nokton name. The original (1949) Ultron (2/50) was a very straight-forward design and more or less copied by Pentax and sold in millions with f/1.8, f/2 and even f/2.2, as well as by other companies. "Nearly an Ultron" is the Isco Westagon, made in M42 in Goettingen for the Wirgin Edixa SLR, designed by Tronnier as well.

The Nokton has the practical disadvantage of manufacturing a big cemented front-element , and is a long lens for a RF camera. Why Voigtlander Braunschweig hasn't made them in SLR mounts like M42 is an unanswered question. Probably they thought to force customers to buy their cameras this way, a special meaning of their slogan "Voigtlander - because the lens is so good"...
 
furcafe said:
I have taken a few shots w/my 2.8cm/8 Tessars:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furcafe/tags/carlzeissjena28cm8tessarc1938/

I believe the most prominent user of this Tessar was Cornell Capa (Robert's brother). It has a reputation as a dog, & my experience seems to fit, @ least by modern standards. However, both of mine have severe cleaning marks & haze.
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I have the Tessar 28/8 and have used it. I cant say that it gets a lot of use, but it is not bad. Once you stop it down to about f11/16 it is sharp. Being a pre-war lens it is not coated so flare is a problem. It will stop down to f32 at which point the aperture looks like a pinhole! It is a lens that works best on a Aperture Priority camera like the Bessa 3A or even the Zeiss Ikon SW. F stops are difficult to see and set and when I use it I just set it at hyperfocal and shoot. Tried it with Adox 25 film, exposures were long enough to finish coffee between shots!
I always liked the sound of the name of the Biometar and Orthometar. Sounds like something the doctor inserts into bodily orifices while saying " This might feel a bit uncomfortable".
Another rare and expensive lens for the Nikon Rf is the 50/3,5 Nikkor. Many years ago I bought one (came on an enlarger with a homemade adapter bayonet to screw. Enlarger cost $75 and I sold it for $74 and the lens for $4800! It turned out to be a pre-production sample for the first Nikon 1's. No. I didn't cheat anyone as neither the store or I knew anything about the lens at the time. However, for a long time the store checked every enlarger that it took in trade!
 
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