Those old Nikkors (evil SLR type!)

[Dave Wilkinson]

I've mentioned a few times here - my fondness of my old Nikkormats and Nikons and their associated lenses, of which I have amassed a few over the years. In the 50mm department I have :-f2, f1.8, and f1.4, (all non A.I.) love 'em dearly, with a slight preferential leaning towards the f2. I never got around to having the 55mm f1.2 - for some reason!, and am now looking around for a clean one, at a reasonable price, to complete the set for old times sake!.
The ones I have, are in my eyes exellent performers, even on my D40, and I'm wondering how the f1.2 compares to its slower bretheren? - especially at wide aperture, as I'm thinking it would be a good low-light short tele on the digital, as indeed the f1.4 currently is!.
Cheers, Dave.

 

[former member]

The 55mm F1.2 is sharp across the center 2/3rds of the image, corner sharpness suffers. On a D40 and other 1.5x crop factor cameras, the performance will be close to the F1.4 lens of the same vintage.

55/1.2 AI wide-open on the F2AS.

The look I get when the Donuts scream "OUCH" when bitten. "Dad, quit making my food TALK!"

 

[Morca007]

I love my non-AI Nikkor-S 50 1.4, but I would also like to try the 1.2 (I'd alo like to be able to use it on a dSLR, but even if I get it converted it might not go so great with my D100). I have a few other non-AI Nikkors, but I don't use them much, as they're teles.

A few examples wide open:

 

[peterm1]

I agree about the lovely old Nikon glass. They may not be as technically perfect as today's offerings (and by today's standards) but they are fully capable of producing nice images - especially in black and white. Here is one of my wife I shot a couple of years ago with the great 50mm f2. (Sorry I do not have the 1.2 to compare but others may be interested to see what this lens can do.) Really very nice tones and rendering. I read on a Nikon site that this lens is one step away from a Sonnar design so perhaps its why I like the sharp / soft rendering that is characteristic of both this lens and that design. I have quite a few - 50 f2; 50 1.4; 105 f2.5; 135 f2.8 200 f4 300 f4.5; 80 - 200 f4.5 and so on. They are interesting to use on those occasions when you want somehting slightly different.

 

[kshapero]

Still gotta a Nikkormat FTN with a non AIS 50/1.4. heavy but real nice

 

[former member]

Another, 55/1.2 AI series, on the F2AS.

Focus is on Nikki's hand, holding the doll's foot.

Focus is very narrow, and a good Focus screen makes the difference.

 

[splitimageview]

The 50/1.2 is amazing. I've never used the 55 tho.

 

[former member]

Just some differences through the run of the 55/1.2. Oldest versions marked Nikkor-S are single-coated on all optics, probably the ones with triangular coupling prongs. Some 55/1.2 Nikkor-S have the rear optics multi-coated, starting ~1969 (sold mine). The Nikkor-SC 55/1.2 is all multi-coated, ~1973 or so. (Keep mine on a Nikon F2SB). The "Silver Box" non-AI 55/1.2 has a rubber inset focus ring, drops the "SC". The last version is the 55/1.2 AI series lens (keep mine on the F2AS). The latter lens goes great on a Nikon DSLR that can meter with AI lenses.