Nokton 50/1.5 test roll

S

Spyro

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I hope this is the right section to post this... Anyway I started (re)building my small format rf kit and when it came to choosing a 50 I knew I needed something fast-ish for my night shooting (basically the 20m walk from the office to the train :D).

Many options for a 50, but I liked some shots I'd seen from the old summilux, the sonnar and the cv50/1.5. I happened to find a cv for a good price and I thought I may as well start from the cheapest option and work my way up if I dont like it. These are some shots from the first roll:

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So far I like it, it seems to hold enough detail wide open and with my fat grain B&W I'm not extremely fussy about that anyway. Also I like how it draws oof highlights and the transition from focus to oof areas. Contrast is high, very high, sometimes I had to set contrast to negative values in lightroom. Neopan doesnt seem to mind it but I dont know how all that contrast would translate in colour.

I'm a little puzzled by the first shot, the guy was standing still and I took my time to focus on his head, but it seems the focus is on his shoulder instead. Does this lens show focus shift in close distances? Anybody want to share their experiences/photos with this lens?

Cheers
Spyro
 
Great shots. I was wondering where this sophisticated city might be and it's right here, Melbourne. I've got the Sonnar that does have focus shift, sometimes discernible. I haven't heard it of the Nokton.
 
Good lens, nice shots. I particularly like #2 and #4.

The 1.5 Nokton doesn't shift, but I'm guessing your camera RF/lens combo is a bit off at close distances. Happens a lot.

Roland.
 
I've never noticed 'focus shift' with mine, the problem might be that you focused on his head and then moved the camera to the right in order to compose the shot as you did, and thereby moved/turned the focus plane as well.
 
SimonSawSunlight said:
I've never noticed 'focus shift' with mine, the problem might be that you focused on his head and then moved the camera to the right in order to compose the shot as you did, and thereby moved/turned the focus plane as well.
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I'll go with that option because it sounds reasonable. Roland's explanation also sounds reasonable but scary (having things adjusted is a pain)

Richard I think Melbourne is great for photography, I just wish the light didnt change so often.

Thanks for the comments :)
 
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Dingo said:
Just an information to share, screw mount Nokton 50/1.5 only sells at some US$200 here in Hong Kong.
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At only 200 usd?! That's real cheap considering I got mine used (mint) around 320 usd in the Asia region. :eek:

@f1.5, sometimes if I move the slightest bit, the focus point moves. Hardly see any focus shift FWIW.
 
Spyro said:
I'll go with that option because it sounds reasonable. Roland's explanation also sounds reasonable but scary (having things adjusted is a pain)
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Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, Simon's suggestion is very plausible.

To share a little trick that I use when focusing fast lenses up close: pre-focus your lens, and then move your body to get final focus, don't touch the lens focus ring. For some reason this helps dealing with the thin DOF.

Cheers,

Roland.
 
Focus shift is certainly not unheard-of in a Nokton 50mm 1.5. I've had a copy that did it. I bought it used, in perfect condition on one of the fora. I could tell it was back-focusing even in my very first photos (close-in) on my M8. I did the usual yardstick/tripod test and was able to demonstrate a significant focus shift, too. To his credit, the seller took the lens right back and duplicated my results on his M9.

That being said, I've heard many times that it's extremely rare for these lenses to exhibit the problem.
 
I got mine for like $236 dollars. What a great lens!

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Bessa R4A - 50mm Nokton ƒ1.5 - Kodak E100G

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Bessa R4A - 50mm Nokton ƒ1.5 - Kodak E100G
 
Wow, all cheaper than UK prices. Seems to average between £250 - £350 used. I just bought one at the bottom end of that scale, very happy but would much rather have paid $200. Very happy with it though! :)

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I just sold one for US $330, including LTM adapter and shipping. I hadn't paid much attention to the going price in the past year, so I was really surprised when it sold within ten minutes of the sale notice.

I always liked the look of the lens -- very well behaved without looking clinical. I never noticed focus shift, if by "focus shift" you mean that the actual distance of best focus varies as the aperture is changed. Perhaps the aspheric surface helps to avoid that. I also like that the 52mm filter size let CV build a lens with more even illumination wide open, with out-of-focus background highlights staying rounder toward the edges of the frame than with many other fast lenses. By f/2 it looses the bright rings on OOF background lights, so that backgrounds are nice and smooth to go with nice sharp in-focus stuff.

It's a fantastic lens for the money, if you like the look it gives. I really miss that I haven't found something similar for Nikon SLR. None of the 50mm Nikkors that I've used behave that way, and the 50/1.4 Zeiss doesn't seem to, either. Maybe the 58mm Voigtlander is similar....
 
The Nokton 1.5 is a GEM....Fab first shots Spyro
my only complaint about the 1.5 nokton is :
its not an attractive looking lens ( I know ,,,how girlie of me to say)
nothing beats those Beautifully Crafted lenses of the 60 & 70's... leica & nikkor
but who cares when you 'SEE' what she does
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Agree zenlibra, there really are some beautiful looking Nokton shots on this thread. Just LOVE that shot Helen, the contrast is to die for.
 
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