Photos from W-Nikkor 2.8cm f/3.5

[robert blu]

I'm very pleased to see these B&W images from Italy, not the usual touristic snaps but photographs taken with an artistic eye!
robert
PS: digital, analog, hybrid....it's so nive top have choices 🙂

 

[Highway 61]

I'm very pleased to see these B&W images from Italy, not the usual touristic snaps but photographs taken with an artistic eye!

Grazie ! Actually I know what I am after each time I am in Italy. More or less this is an Italy which is alas slowly but surely decaying and disappearing as time goes by.
The little W-Nikkor-C 28mm f/3.5 was a very good companion this time.

 

[Highway 61]

Criptoportico Nerionano, Roma - Aprile 2018

W-Nikkor-C 28mm f/3.5 (black) - Nikon S3 (1958) and external finder - Fuji Neopan 400 - D76 1+1

 

[Highway 61]

Robert : some of my references are Bruno Barbey's B&W work between 1961 and 1964, the 1954 B&W work by Fulvio Roiter, some of HCB's photos of course and Jean-Loup Sieff's very early photos.

 

[robert blu]

Thanks for reminding Bruno Barbey's work, an author I had forgotten! Shame on me! I'lll look for one of his books!

robert

 

[Erik van Straten]

Not comparable at all to garbage Epson/Canon offerings.

Hmm, about Canon I don't know, but Epson is certainly no garbage.


Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Nicolas, after all this talk about scanners I must say that your scans are not sharp and the blacks are muddy and too dark, but the pictures as such are very nice.


Erik.

 

[Highway 61]

Thanks for reminding Bruno Barbey's work, an author I had forgotten! Shame on me! I'lll look for one of his books!

Robert, as an Italian you will want this one, which is an absolute must-have, yet it is now out of print and has become extremely difficult to find at a reasonable price (was priced 30€ only when available from new in 2002, go figure).

 

[maryland_fotos]

This lens needs more attention.

ClopperLakePanorama by Maryland Photos, on Flickr

SP, 2.8cm 3.5 and Delta 400. Stitched from 8 images.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Question for all you Nikkor 2.8cm f3.5 owners. I've got the equivalent Canon rangefinder lens and although it is tack sharp in center when shot wide open, it is quite soft around the outer edges. You need to stop it down to about f5.6 to get even sharpness across the whole image. How does the Nikkor do when shot wide open? Is it center sharp also, but not sharp across the whole image field like the Canon? And if so, how far do you usually have to stop it down to get sharpness across the whole image plane?

Thanks,
-Tim

 

[richardHaw]

Question for all you Nikkor 2.8cm f3.5 owners. I've got the equivalent Canon rangefinder lens and although it is tack sharp in center when shot wide open, it is quite soft around the outer edges. You need to stop it down to about f5.6 to get even sharpness across the whole image. How does the Nikkor do when shot wide open? Is it center sharp also, but not sharp across the whole image field like the Canon? And if so, how far do you usually have to stop it down to get sharpness across the whole image plane?

Thanks,
-Tim

check out my article on that lens on the net 😱😱😱
i don't think it gets really sharp at the corners at least in my sample

 

[Timmyjoe]

Hey Richard,

Stumbled across your article last night. Picked up a W-Nikkor-C 2.8cm f3.5 ltm last night. It's severely front focusing and won't get close to infinity, so I'll have to service it if I decide to keep it. The glass looks really clean, and the rest of the lens is in excellent shape, so we'll see.

Thanks for all the service information you've put together on all these old classic lenses.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Highway 61]

Mine (a black version still being named W-Nikkor-C) doesn't really get sharp in the extreme corners before f/8. At f/11 it's excellent enough all over the frame. But at f/5.6 it is very good enough too if you prefer looking at the photo than peeping at the corners sharpness.

In a nutshell : not a stellar lens as for sharpness in the corners for sure, but it is so cute and so tiny and so lightweight that you can use it handheld until 1/4s with no problem (or even 1/2s if you can have your back rely on a wall, see last photo below). And it has so little distorsion if any, and such a good resistance to flare for an old lens. Also, remember : sharpness is a bourgeois concept. 😉

Chicago Union Station, October 2018 :

Ernest Hemingway's birth house, Oak Park, IL, October 2018 :

At the Cindy's, Chicago, October 2018 :

Nikon S3 - W-Nikkor-C 2.8cm f/3.5 - Fuji Neopan 400 - D76 1+1.

 

[gaheris]

Mine (a black version still being named W-Nikkor-C) doesn't really get sharp in the extreme corners before f/8. At f/11 it's excellent enough all over the frame. But at f/5.6 it is very good enough too if you prefer looking at the photo than peeping at the corners sharpness.

In a nutshell : not a stellar lens as for sharpness in the corners for sure, but it is so cute and so tiny and so lightweight that you can use it handheld until 1/4s with no problem. And it has so little distorsion if any, and such a good resistance to flare for an old lens. Also, remember : sharpness is a bourgeois concept. 😉

Chicago Union Station, October 2018 :

Ernest Hemingway's birth house, Oak Park, IL, October 2018 :

Nikon S3 - W-Nikkor-C 2.8cm f/3.5 - Fuji Neopan 400 - D76 1+1.

Your photos in this thread are very good, buddy. Admiration. Love the tone you are getting from this set up.

 

[keytarjunkie]

Mine (a black version still being named W-Nikkor-C) doesn't really get sharp in the extreme corners before f/8. At f/11 it's excellent enough all over the frame. But at f/5.6 it is very good enough too if you prefer looking at the photo than peeping at the corners sharpness.

In a nutshell : not a stellar lens as for sharpness in the corners for sure, but it is so cute and so tiny and so lightweight that you can use it handheld until 1/4s with no problem (or even 1/2s if you can have your back rely on a wall, see last photo below). And it has so little distorsion if any, and such a good resistance to flare for an old lens. Also, remember : sharpness is a bourgeois concept. 😉

Thanks for this assessment (and Richard for your review and disassembly). There are some amazing photos in this thread for a lens which usually gets a bad rep. I'm weighing getting this lens vs the voigtlander 28/3.5, which seems quite hard to come across these days. I suspect the Voigtlander's modern rendering looks better with color film while the W-Nikkor's character is better suited for b&w.

 

[Highway 61]

I suspect the Voigtlander's modern rendering looks better with color film while the W-Nikkor's character is better suited for b&w.

I am very skeptical about the "lens character" concept and even more skeptical about the "better suited for b&w" one. As far as you properly expose your B&W film and develop it properly too, well, every good modern lens will deliver a rich tonal range and at the end of the day you get what you are after when you use an old lens said to have "character" or a "signature". On the other hand, an old lens, if good too, can deliver photos with strong, vivid, saturated colors, and with some contrast enough so that you would think it was a modern lens in front of the shutter then.

The Voigtländer will probably be sharper in the corners, and will for sure behave better against flare thanks to its better coatings - the better coatings will also provide more micro-contrast too, but micro-contrast is not the enemy of a rich tonal range in B&W, it just enhances the perceived sharpness. I don't know how it performs re. distorsion. It has become a coveted lens, which tells it's a very good one, probably.

The very low amount of distorsion which I get with the humble, tiny old Nikkor is what pleases me the most with this lens. I don't hesitate to use it for street portraits, either.

Washington D.C., October 2018 :

Nikon S3 - W-Nikkor-C 2.8cm f/3.5 - Neopan 400 - D76 1+1

 

[wjlapier]

Leica CL w/ W Nikkor 28mm f/3.5
Kodak Portra 160VC

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