Nikon SLR lens for vintage look??

[former member]

Any lens with a Rubber Inset Focus Ring (RIFR) is also multi-coated. Any Pre-AI lens that is fully multi-coated with have a "C" Suffix in the name. So a Nikkor-SC 50mm F1.4 is Multicoated, a Nikkor-S 50/1.4 is single coated. The "Nikkor-QC", "Nikkor-OC" are the multicoated versions of the Nikkor-S and Nikkor O. The first letter tells you how many elements are in the lens, the "C" means it is multicoated.

SO: "RIFR" and "-c" multicoated lenses.

-T: Three Elements
-Q: Four elements
-P: Five Elements
-H: Six elements
-S: Seven Elements
-O: Eight Elements
-N: Nine elements
-D: ten elements
-UD: 11 elements

and so on.

The earlier 105/2.5 and all 135/3.5's are SOnnar formula lenses. Nikon never made a Sonnar formula 50 in F-Mount.


Nikkor 5cm F1,4 "Sonnar" formula lens on the Nikon SP, wide-open.

Summarit 5cm F1.5, wide-open on the Leica M3:

The Nikkor 5.8cm F1.4 is very close to the Summarit in design.

 

[venchka]

Brian,
Why must you always do that to me? Why?

 

[former member]

I am a despicable person. "The Despicable Me"...

Just ask Nikki.

 

[venchka]

That explains everything.

 

[Stuart John]

The first 105 2.5 it's the older sonnar version. Great lens...


portravc400_web by photogsjm, on Flickr

 

[splitimageview]

58/1.4

More on this lens here.

 

[Steve M.]

I used to shoot the newer Nikon AF lenses. Sharp, but not exactly vintage. Recently I had a lot of fun w/ a Nikkormat FT2 (I think) and it's 105 2.5 and 50 2.0 non AI lenses. I guess those might be called vintage, to a point. The photos they made were great. We're talking B&W, right?

Seriously though, I never got any great vintage photos from any of my Nikons until I bought a Leitax adapter and put some Leica R glass on it. Recently I was looking at photos made from the 105 2.5 non AI lens, which I consider to be one of Nikon's finest, and shots from a Leica R 90 2.0 Summicron and an Elmarit R 90 2.8. I sold the Nikon gear.

 

[former member]

This is with a Nikkor-NC 24/2.8, Panatomic-X, Microdol 1:1.

Higher contrast to my eyes than "old time look". The single coated lenses will have somewhat less contrast, a little more veiling flare.

 

[dave lackey]

Any lens with a Rubber Inset Focus Ring (RIFR) is also multi-coated. Any Pre-AI lens that is fully multi-coated with have a "C" Suffix in the name. So a Nikkor-SC 50mm F1.4 is Multicoated, a Nikkor-S 50/1.4 is single coated. The "Nikkor-QC", "Nikkor-OC" are the multicoated versions of the Nikkor-S and Nikkor O. The first letter tells you how many elements are in the lens, the "C" means it is multicoated.

SO: "RIFR" and "-c" multicoated lenses.

-T: Three Elements
-Q: Four elements
-P: Five Elements
-H: Six elements
-S: Seven Elements
-O: Eight Elements
-N: Nine elements
-D: ten elements
-UD: 11 elements

and so on.

The earlier 105/2.5 and all 135/3.5's are SOnnar formula lenses. Nikon never made a Sonnar formula 50 in F-Mount.


Nikkor 5cm F1,4 "Sonnar" formula lens on the Nikon SP, wide-open.

Summarit 5cm F1.5, wide-open on the Leica M3:

The Nikkor 5.8cm F1.4 is very close to the Summarit in design.

Works for me! Great job, Brian!🙂

 

[former member]

How is Matt these days?

The single-coated Nikkor 105/2.5 is essentially the same optics as in the RF lens introduced in 1952. The 135/3.5 was essentially unchanged since 1950. The 5.8cm F1.4 is a classic Xenon 1-2-2-1 with the front element split, and apparently (from the article) an airgap in the first group. Some of the older references listed it as a 1-1-2-2-1. The Summarit split the rear element for a 1-2-2-1-1 configuration. "To my eyes", the 5.8cm F1.4 "looks" like a Summarit 5cm F1.5 with its rendering.

 

[former member]

The "old" F-Mount Nikkor-S 5cm F2 lives on my 64 block Nikon F.

Also lower contrast and "less corrected" than later lenses. This lens debuted with the Nikon F.

 

[paulfish4570]

run some kentmere 400, soup it in d-76 1:1, for a more vintage look.
fe2, e35/2.5:

 

[peterm1]

There are a number of Nikkors that would be suitable in this respect.

I especially like the pre Ai versions of the 50mm f1.4; the 50mm f2; the 35mm f2 and the 105mm f2.5. The 135mm f2.8 and 3.5 are no slouches either. I do not think you would be disappointed by any of them as they have great IQ and a classic look and i still use AI converted ones on my D200 SLR.

Check out this site for info on Nikkor lenses. It does not give much info on image quality and characteristics but is a useful resource none the less.

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/index.htm

 

[sevo]

There are a number of Nikkors that would be suitable in this respect.

I especially like the pre Ai versions of the 50mm f1.4; the 50mm f2; the 35mm f2 and the 105mm f2.5. The 135mm f2.8 and 3.5 are no slouches either.

Which list, along with the 24/2.8 and 20/4, would pretty much round up all affordable high IQ pre-AI Nikkors. Or, with a 80-200/f thrown in, the average 70's local PJ bag. Their vintageness however is debatable, I have most of them, and at least their multicoated seventies versions hold up perfectly against current lenses - only the Sonnar type 105 and 135 could probably claim vintage looks when used fully open.