uhoh7
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
|
genji wrote:
Very impressed that you caught the subtext of the Mao reference.
 I confess: in around 1970 I was in 7th or 8th grade. Besides learning photography in a darkroom helped by a wonderful art teacher, I used to march around like a character in "Good girls Revolt", army jacket, long hair.....and wait for it, a little red book. You know the one. Of course I really had no idea how many had died in the great leap forward or the cultural revolution which was just starting.
The Contax focusing direction is an automatic disqualifier. My first film SLR was a Nikkormat FTn, which was followed by Nikon F and F2 bodies. But then I bought a Leica M2 and quickly became annoyed by the opposite focusing directions of the Leica and Nikon lenses. I solved that problem by replacing the Nikon gear with a Canon F1 system.
I hear you. Very annoying to reverse the focus direction. I think it may be useful for some to consider a amedeo adapter however, which takes the Contax/Nikon mount to M, because the Contax and Nikon mounts are so dead, it's way easier to find great copies of these lenses for much less money. The adapter is 200ish. RF coupled, but there is one for each mount, nikon and contax, since the Nikon designers did screw up in copying the contax mount and for 50+ they are not compatible in coupling, WA is fine though. But with A7x issue is moot. The 85. 105 and 135 mount on the same adapter or body but "externally", and focus becomes quite heavy on the amedeo. However there are 20USD cheap adapters just for this mount which go directly to Emount. Nikon made both Contax and Nikon versions of these long RF lenses, and you have a "C" on the Contax ones printed on the lens barrel. You know this i bet, but others may not.
My first serious camera was a brand new FTb  I never heard or understood about Leicas and other RF cameras until......this century, I'm ashamed to admit
According to Tale 36 in the One Thousand and One Nights of Nikkor, it was the sharpness and contrast of the 8.5cm f/2 Nikkor which had so impressed Duncan that he arranged to visit the Nippon Kogaku factory. But once there he purchased the 5cm f/1.5 and 13.5cm f/3.5 lenses. I recall reading somewhere else that he thought the Nikkor lenses would stand up better to the rigours of combat photography.
the rest of the story:
Japan Camera by unoh7, on Flickr
That was not so easy to find. It is the most influential document in the history of the Japanese camera industry. In one day the American market opened to the idea of Japanese lenses and cameras. It's worth a very close read
picked up a Nikkor H.C. 50/2, primarily because of its gentler bokeh. And, because I liked it so much, another as a spare. It's such a sweet lens and the LTM version, unlike the Contax, focuses down to 18 inches.
I was baffled as to how this could be focused accurately on a Leica but Tale 34 explains that "Though not interlocked with the rangefinder, it is possible to measure short distance of approx. 50cm with a measure or to move the entire camera in regards to parallax handling."
I did not know this, great point
Apart from the clickless aperture, I don't think its price is justified by the build quality. But, to be honest, on reflection I accept that I'm the idiot who has only himself to blame. Why did I expect anything different from Lomography, who represent the gold -- or at least the chrome-plated solid brass -- standard in purveying style at the expense of substance?
When the lens was announced there was much screaming to both of these points. Lomography is poser crap and 650 is outrageous. Of course these same people at RFF considered all Sony cameras in a similar light when I joined with a Nex-5, not the price but everything else. Anyway I've followed the release closely, and my impression became:
It's a reissue in M, made of brass, of the soviet copy with some new marks and .7 CF, which is put together carefully and has modern coatings. (this in no way contradicts your dislike)
As to the price: finding a good clean J-3 can mean alot of time and some money. They do exist, but many bad copies are out there. This lens is made in very low numbers. Considering those points, 650 is not outrageous if you want one. It's a brand new lens, not a 70 year old one. etc. 400 bucks would be nicer.
ICurrently, I can't decide whether to start looking for a copy the 8.5cm f/2 or the 10.5cm f/2.5. I already have the Canon 100/2 but the Nikkor 8.5cm lens seems hard to find and the 10.5cm lens has that very appealing tripod foot.
 Entanglement by unoh7, on Flickr
Note cheap adapter which works great on the "C" (or nikkor-s)
This. 105s are great too, but to my eye this is the masterpiece and as you note it's the lens which caught DDD's attention. Technically, it is way beyond any of these sonnar 50s old or new. This is a very beat copy, I got both those lenses for 80 bucks. Performance astonished me.
DSC09621 by unoh7, on Flickr
DSC09624 by unoh7, on Flickr
DSC09617 by unoh7, on Flickr
above at F2 below f/8:
DSC09634 by unoh7, on Flickr
In my admittedly questionable opinion, this is one smoking hot 85, then, now, any day, by any standard. I've used a bunch of SLR nikkors and today the 180 ED is my frontline lens at that range. It's nasty bokeh is widely noted. Only two newer nikkors I have shot reach the heights of the old 85/2: 300/2.8 EDIF and 500/4p. Their bokeh, no leica glass I own can match. Fortunate, since DOF is always tiny
Funny enough DDD did not use the 85/2 himself, far as I can tell, in daily reporting. His "money lens" was:
Nikkor S 13.5cm by unoh7, on Flickr
This is another Sonnar, which drew high praise in the article above. Replaced the 135/4 in 1950 or 51. He also used it Vietnam. Many of his most iconic shots were made with it. Superior to the Zeiss and Leica counterparts in every way, until the introduction of the TE 135/4 (way heavier), which became the benchmark 135 (only APO is better today). That nikkor was made in 5 mounts and the formula stayed in production untill 1983, I think. Longest lived single sonar formula. Very cheap today.
Anyway, genji, it's so fun to compare notes with somebody else who loves and uses a bunch of these old lenses
|
