Nice. The only bad thing about this lense is that likely you’re the only one who can use it (good luck asking a stranger to take a photo) 😂. Lucky that you have bright spark in the family who knows how to operate a manual lens, I’ve given up on trying to teach the wife.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Some images from Oslo, Norway.
Spending father's day with the family in route to Russia to watch Brazil play in the World Cup.
DrShouter wrote:
How is the Nokton compared to the Loxia 50mm @f2 and f8?
The nokton is probably less sharp and contrasty but has a smoother bokeh. I would say I prefer the nokton rendering at f2 (and 1.2 ) and the loxia at f8 for landscape. The nokton is superb for environmental portaits at f1.2 but can also work very well stopped down. I prefer also the 40mm FL if I have to take one lens.
I'm endlessly impressed by images from this lens, but very hesitant to pick one up myself due to the manual focus. I usually like to use this focal length to shoot family or casual events, and a MF lens just seems like I would miss a lot more shots or couldn't hand the camera to someone else. Any thoughts from owners?
grahamgibson wrote:
I'm endlessly impressed by images from this lens, but very hesitant to pick one up myself due to the manual focus. I usually like to use this focal length to shoot family or casual events, and a MF lens just seems like I would miss a lot more shots or couldn't hand the camera to someone else. Any thoughts from owners?
The hit rate is clearly lower than with the 55 1.8 with eye AF but with focus peaking (no magnification) I find quite workable to shoot my 3 years old kid at 1.2 from 1m - 1.5m distance when he is static and I'm clearly a beginner at this.
Really just depends on your abilities but more important getting used to manual focus. Many of us old timers grew up with it so for us it’s become second nature. For beginners just really need to practice and get efficient at it. Today we have better tools to help like focus peaking and magnify yhthat really help.
We don’t talk about this but very important the shorter or wider the lens the manual focus throw is a lot shooter and let’s say a 21 mm lens for instance your almost always at infinity because of the shortness of throw in the lens and the focal length.
Thinking about Fred's and others description of the Nokton 40 E mount field curvature and focus shift, I decided I was going to infinity adjust my lens to a good hard stop for that sweet stop between center frame and extreme corners. I tried unsuccessfully to remove the lens ID ring on the front of the lens. If it is removable, they must have used glue on the threads. I expected the construction to be similar to all those legacy SLR lenses, with 3 or 4 stop screws that bind to the brass helical. I then thought about the Nokton 35/1.2 M mount, where typical for a M mount lens, infinity hard stop was adjusted with spacer rings. Since the Nokton 40 E mount could be a reworked 35/1.2 M lens with M lens construction, I removed the 4 screws on the bayonet. And there they were, 3 brass colored spacer rings, two .008" thick and one .004" thick. Like others, at the infinity hard stop, the extreme corner was sharp and the center frame was past sharp focus "a tad". I settled on the addition of a 4th spacer ring that is .002" thick and gets the lens precisely in that infinity sweet spot.
So now, my f/4 or so infinity photos are focused "a tad back from original infinity" that is repeatable at the tweaked lens hard stop infinity.
^^ Jim, I am impressed with your effort to find a perfect balance of infinity setting of that lens. However, is it not so that the setting will change based on the actual temperature? In other words, what we consider as "perfect" at the room temperature now and it will change quite a bit if it is really cold or if it is hot and the sun is beating on the lens barrel. How can we accommodate the temperature fluctuations in both directions under real-life shooting circumstances? Just curious... Thanks!
AGeoJO wrote:
^^ Jim, I am impressed with your effort to find a perfect balance of infinity setting of that lens. However, is it not so that the setting will change based on the actual temperature? In other words, what we consider as "perfect" at the room temperature now and it will change quite a bit if it is really cold or if it is hot and the sun is beating on the lens barrel. How can we accommodate the temperature fluctuations in both directions under real-life shooting circumstances? Just curious... Thanks!
those differences aren't really noticeable on anything below 135mm as far as i know.
Jun 19, 2018 at 03:06 PM
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JimBuchanan wrote:
Thinking about Fred's and others description of the Nokton 40 E mount field curvature and focus shift, I decided I was going to infinity adjust my lens to a good hard stop for that sweet stop between center frame and extreme corners. I tried unsuccessfully to remove the lens ID ring on the front of the lens. If it is removable, they must have used glue on the threads. I expected the construction to be similar to all those legacy SLR lenses, with 3 or 4 stop screws that bind to the brass helical. I then thought about the Nokton 35/1.2 M mount, where typical for a M mount lens, infinity hard stop was adjusted with spacer rings. Since the Nokton 40 E mount could be a reworked 35/1.2 M lens with M lens construction, I removed the 4 screws on the bayonet. And there they were, 3 brass colored spacer rings, two .008" thick and one .004" thick. Like others, at the infinity hard stop, the extreme corner was sharp and the center frame was past sharp focus "a tad". I settled on the addition of a 4th spacer ring that is .002" thick and gets the lens precisely in that infinity sweet spot. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/892/42856539032_4ed66658ae_c.jpg
So now, my f/4 or so infinity photos are focused "a tad back from original infinity" that is repeatable at the tweaked lens hard stop infinity....Show more →
You are a brave soul, sir.
Hey, while you have that thing open, I have a question for you. I want to disable the electrical contacts. I know, I know, call me crazy, but Exif info isn't something I really need past some initial testing, and I'm finding the "virtual distance scale" popup in the EVF to be intrusive, as well as being annoyed by the fact that you can't change aperture while in Focus Magnify without the EVF reverting to 100% view.
I just want it gone. I taped over them, and it was wonderful, but it's not a good long-term solution. Too risky to have adhesives near the sensor etc.
How easy was it to open? Did you happen to notice if the flex cable was removable or soldered in? Any help appreciated, thanks!
JimBuchanan wrote:
Thinking about Fred's and others description of the Nokton 40 E mount field curvature and focus shift, I decided I was going to infinity adjust my lens to a good hard stop for that sweet stop between center frame and extreme corners. I tried unsuccessfully to remove the lens ID ring on the front of the lens. If it is removable, they must have used glue on the threads. I expected the construction to be similar to all those legacy SLR lenses, with 3 or 4 stop screws that bind to the brass helical. I then thought about the Nokton 35/1.2 M mount, where typical for a M mount lens, infinity hard stop was adjusted with spacer rings. Since the Nokton 40 E mount could be a reworked 35/1.2 M lens with M lens construction, I removed the 4 screws on the bayonet. And there they were, 3 brass colored spacer rings, two .008" thick and one .004" thick. Like others, at the infinity hard stop, the extreme corner was sharp and the center frame was past sharp focus "a tad". I settled on the addition of a 4th spacer ring that is .002" thick and gets the lens precisely in that infinity sweet spot. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/892/42856539032_4ed66658ae_c.jpg
So now, my f/4 or so infinity photos are focused "a tad back from original infinity" that is repeatable at the tweaked lens hard stop infinity....Show more →
So you removed one of the brass rings of three. Not a bad idea.
I think you would be fine unless your in extreme heat where it’s possibly a problem. But given it’s a 40 I tend to doubt it. Nice they put the rings in instead of realigning the focusing ring. I did that with tech cam lenses. Might be worth a try. My infinity is right at the start of the symbol.
sebboh wrote:
those differences aren't really noticeable on anything below 135mm as far as i know.
I couldn't have said it better.
My FD 300/2.8 has an adjustable infinity stop for atmosphere and temperature changes. On a day of shooting, the routine is to dial in a good hard stop. My telescopes are also sensitive to atmosphere and temperature.
Back to the Nokton. I also measured the horizontal FOV in feet, at a distance from the sensor of about 200 feet (at infinity hardstop) and with the Excel ATAN function, I get a focal length of 41.2mm. I feel pretty good about that number because I got 47mm for the Contax G 45 Planar.
imagesfromobjects wrote:
You are a brave soul, sir.
Hey, while you have that thing open, I have a question for you. I want to disable the electrical contacts. I know, I know, call me crazy, but Exif info isn't something I really need past some initial testing, and I'm finding the "virtual distance scale" popup in the EVF to be intrusive, as well as being annoyed by the fact that you can't change aperture while in Focus Magnify without the EVF reverting to 100% view.
I just want it gone. I taped over them, and it was wonderful, but it's not a good long-term solution. Too risky to have adhesives near the sensor etc.
How easy was it to open? Did you happen to notice if the flex cable was removable or soldered in? Any help appreciated, thanks!
Well, even after several hundred lens infinity adjustments, I like that word brave.
Honestly, I would stick to taping the contacts. The ribbon cable appeared to not be removable, but I didn't spend a lot of time on that. Look for a residue-less tape like maybe painters tape and cover a contact at a time to see the effect. Then, just wipe it occasionally. Or, drop on some paint with a toothpick to the offending contact.
) and the loxia at f8 for landscape. The nokton is superb for environmental portaits at f1.2 but can also work very well stopped down. I prefer also the 40mm FL if I have to take one lens. 
