Photos taken with Nikon 5cm 1:1.1 - POST HERE

menos said:
Thanks so much to Jon to help out not only finding a beautiful original complete kit as sold when these lenses were new but also to arrange a complete overhaul by the same people in Japan who have actually worked for Nippon Kogaku when these marvels were produced. It is a true pleasure to finally be able to use one of these for what they were intended to be used.
I am going to share more as I am able to get out and use it. Thank you Jon!
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You're most welcome, Dirk. Its really great to see the SP and 50/1.1 combo in your hands getting used as was intended by Nippon Kogaku. Keep this thread rockin' mate :)
 
jonmanjiro said:
You're most welcome, Dirk. Its really great to see the SP and 50/1.1 combo in your hands getting used as was intended by Nippon Kogaku. Keep this thread rockin' mate :)
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Jon, thats what this gear was made for after all. It is sad seeing so few people actually using them apparently.
I wish we would see more posts, any version of the 5cm f1.1 goes as I understand, so where are the Leica owners and did Nikon ever made a few unicorns in Contax mount as well as they did with the 8.5cm f1.5 ?

Oh and my first scare about focussing this lens on the different bodies was just that … a scare (most likely user error with the shaking hands of just having received this kit).
The lenses focusses spot on on both SPs and the S3 as well. I am using it on the black SP the most though with a 35mm on the black S3 at all times - my dream Nikon RF kit.

Now if I could only find an original lens hood for the 5cm f1.1 :rolleyes:

Erik van Straten said:
Great picture, Dirk!

Erik.
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Thanks Erik, he was a bit surprised to see someone noticing him in his own little world moment on the rocking horse ;-)

Here is a street portrait of a stranger I found on one of the rolls - completely forgot about those frames already:

Nikon SP limited + 50/1.1 + TriX @800 in D76 1:1 ~f1.4
… by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr
 
… and another one on yet another roll - I have those days when I just walk and deliberately search for street portraits. Some of those days work out, others are like rainy days. This young lady was special I hope it translates in the photograph.

Nikon SP limited + 50/1.1 + TriX @800 in D76 1:1 f1.1
… by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr
 
Thank you Tim ;-)
Well, the 5cm f1.1 Nikkor-N is really the only game in town if you want a 50mm faster than f1.4 on a Nikon RF at obtainable prices (there have been other lenses I understand, for example the Zunow 5cm but these are so incredible hard to find and therefore now much more expensive than the 50/1.1 Nikkor).

There are at all times a selection of these lenses in various conditions on eBay (most of them higher priced it seems as the actual going rate).
From what I have learned during my search for a good sample (thanks especially to Jon who had a lot of info to share) this is also not a lens you may just buy online and expect it to be flawless - major issues can be the aperture blades and starting separation and it is best to buy a lens with an option to have it professionally serviced.

Once you have a nice sample though, it is quite something special - I am really happy that after years of wanting one it finally landed ;-)

… and it landed in the correct mount to be used on the cameras it was designed for.
It also is a joy to have "conventional" controls and a lens body that doesn't rotate when focussing which I find very convenient use coming from using Leica M cameras.
 
5cm f1.1 probably ~ f1.4 - f2 + Portra 160 @ 6 hours of Shanghai WEC race, here the Porsche 911 RSR GTE works car passing in front of the Porsche GT-AM pit box

… by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr
 
Found this on the auction site, and not really in my price range, but was shocked to see this image of the aperture blades. Is something like this fixable, or are we talking boat anchor time? I would think parts for these lenses would be pretty hard to come by. Maybe you could straighten the blades out if none of them are cracked or broken.

Ouch!!!.jpg


Best,
-Tim
 
Timmyjoe said:
Found this on the auction site, and not really in my price range, but was shocked to see this image of the aperture blades. Is something like this fixable, or are we talking boat anchor time? I would think parts for these lenses would be pretty hard to come by. Maybe you could straighten the blades out if none of them are cracked or broken.

Ouch!!!.jpg


Best,
-Tim
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The blades themselves are fixable, for the parts involved leading the aperture blades I do not know.
Blades in such a state most likely need complete replacement (a few good specialists do have replacements and will do the work).

This is not an easy lens to fix - only a handful of shops will still do a qualified job on these AND have spare parts as the precious blades.
Mine had several broken blades most likely leading to it's absolute pristine condition as it most likely languished in storage for the rest of it's life until it was resurrected by a few Japanese lens masters and helped into my hands by the great Jon so it would be taking pictures again.

If you are interested, I would send a few pictures to the US shop which does work on these - I just cannot remember which it was :bang:
And ask for their opinion.

And btw - somebody REALLY screwed up on that lens you linked - I cannot fathom the hamfisted fingertip dexterity necessary to bork this up so much :eek:

The aperture ring on these is supposed to be twisted with the tip of your finger while sensing ANY possible issue and STOP the moment you feel something is wrong. It is not a lens one can beat up and run over by a truck and expect it to work like the F-mount Nikkors.

ptpdprinter said:
Definitely doesn't look like a legendary lens.
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That's not a nice thing to say :-(

This lens is not easy to focus and certainly not easy to use in the spur of the moment.

The Nikon rangefinder mechanics in combination with the 50/1.1 are CLEARLY much less precise than say a comparable Leica M with a Noctilux.
The Nikkor definitely needs a matched body (usually the lens itself gets matched to a specific body not the other way around).
… and then still the focussing slack from the lens' focussing mount to the intermediate clutch to the internal focussing mount of the camera to the rangefinder mechanism is just so much @ f1.1 that one MUST ALWAYS focus exclusively from one side (I focus on my SP + 50/1.1 always pulling towards infinity as that is where mine focusses spot on).

On a Leica M + Noctilux there is both much less slack and extensive possibilities of tuning both the lens and the rangefinder to perfectly match.

Anyway, this lens surely isn't your cup of tea to begin with, looking through your website gallery, which doesn't make the lens any less legendary. But the comment is not nice.

Also: focus does not matter. It's the story that does matter. Always.
 
menos said:
If you are interested, I would send a few pictures to the US shop which does work on these - I just cannot remember which it was :bang:
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Thanks for the offer Dirk, but I don't have the money right now for one of those. I always keep an eye out on the auction site, and was quite surprised to see the sample above. Mainly because I couldn't believe how mangled the aperture blades were.

Best,
-Tim
 
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