General MF lens discussion

Really, unless you're doing something like astro where no coma wide open is important to you then the premium you'll pay for the hand-ground ASPH glass in the noct 58 isn't worth it.

foxbat wrote in post #7375907
Really, unless you're doing something like astro where no coma wide open is important to you then the premium you'll pay for the hand-ground ASPH glass in the noct 58 isn't worth it.

Hmn..am i wrong on the assumption the Canon 50mm f/1.2L probubly comes really close to the Noct Nikkor at a fraction of the cost?

I know the Noct Nikkor is amazing, but I cant help but ponder how it would fare in a shootout against the Canon..

foxbat wrote in post #7375907
Really, unless you're doing something like astro where no coma wide open is important to you then the premium you'll pay for the hand-ground ASPH glass in the noct 58 isn't worth it.

you know, the performance on the noct is supposed to be very limited (it's reputed to be excellent wide open to f2.8...then it deteriorates) I'm not really sure why it's so expensive since several of the other lenses are actually rated higher over a wider range of apertures...I really think you pay for the hand polishing and the name.

KenjiS wrote in post #7375931
Hmn..am i wrong on the assumption the Canon 50mm f/1.2L probubly comes really close to the Noct Nikkor at a fraction of the cost?

I know the Noct Nikkor is amazing, but I cant help but ponder how it would fare in a shootout against the Canon..

I borrowed a 50 1.2L for a few days once. It did have a front focusing issue (it was the Chief's and he eventually took it in to be fixed) so it's hard to say how it really could be, but when I compensated for the focusing issue, I really liked that lens...the colors were fantastic.

Permagrin wrote in post #7376163
you know, the performance on the noct is supposed to be very limited (it's reputed to be excellent wide open to f2.8...then it deteriorates) I'm not really sure why it's so expensive since several of the other lenses are actually rated higher over a wider range of apertures...I really think you pay for the hand polishing and the name.

i think its the fact its a VERY rare lens..they made 12,000 over 20 years, thats not too many...

KenjiS wrote in post #7376244
i think its the fact its a VERY rare lens..they made 12,000 over 20 years, thats not too many...

I didn't know that. I mean, I always read "rare" when someone is trying to sell one but I had no idea that it really was rare.

In my experience the wide/normal Nikkors with F2 or larger need to be stopped down a click to get the Nikkor quality...and I found the Canon 18-55 IS kit better than my 35/F2 and 24/2.8 Nikkors!

Permagrin wrote in post #7376324
I didn't know that. I mean, I always read "rare" when someone is trying to sell one but I had no idea that it really was rare.

Yeh it is, it was a pretty decently expensive lens at the time after all and most people just couldnt justify it...

It cost about the same as the 50mm f/1.2L in its day, $1250-1300 or so iirc [But consider, when the lens was launched you could almost get a car for that!]

Now they go for 2200-4000..and i doubt they'll go down ever

I just picked up a super cheap Pentacon Auto 50 1.8....and it's really, really surprisingly nice. It's an incredibly fun lens - 0.33m MFD!

perryge wrote in post #7377883
I just picked up a super cheap Pentacon Auto 50 1.8....and it's really, really surprisingly nice. It's an incredibly fun lens - 0.33m MFD!

Wow! That makes -thinks- quite a repro ratio doesnt it?

any photos with it Perry?

and do you use any of these mf lenses for your paid shoots?

Here are samples, and no, I don't use them for serious work (that's what the Ls are for haha) since I need quicker shooting than the MF/MA primes give, but I do use them for personal shots, especially walking around (I love how they are so light).

The Pentacon has this awesome aperture button that stops down the lens, so you don't have to focus wide open, hold still, set the aperture, then shoot. With this you can set the aperture, focus wide open, press the button to stop down, then shoot! It's lovely to handle. And yes, the close focus gives it crazy magnification for a 50mm.

Manual focus is ok with me, manual aperture is too slow for most stuff, but the Pentacon's design is almost quick enough for serious work, but the focus throw is really long and the focus ring is really stiff (built like a rock). I want a strong but super cheap MF prime lineup of 28/50/105, and I think I like this 50 best.

Wide open, 5D, ISO3200, nowhere near MFD:

see I don't know how you guys do it the other way...with the new nikons, you can set the aperture the way you want then focus as well. I think it would try my patience the other way...

that's pretty nice though. Good deal.

Good grief but there's some fantastic images posted in this thread...

Nice work everyone!!

Yeah obviously the nice thing about nikon bodies is they can do the autoaperture on those lenses. Does that only work with AIS lenses, or will my AI 105 2.5 (coming tomorrow) have an auto aperture on a Nikon body too?

I say this because if I amass a nice enough collection of these Nikon lenses, I might have the weakest (but still sufficient) excuse in the world to treat myself to a D700 .

I notice that all your ai lenses are converted Permie, is that for aperture? And is the 200 f/4 an exception? Plans to convert?