Repair: 7Artisans 35mm f/1.4 II (Z-mount)

29 May 2025 3 Comments

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Hello, everybody! Chinese food is very oily, that’s why I try to avoid it as much as possible. Hot pots, fried foods, stir-fry, and even some steamed foods require a lot of oil in the process somewhere. You will have to choose which ones to eat because there’s still some healthy options such as steamed dim-sum. Food in mainland communist China and in some cases India as well are of questionable sources. That is why spice, oils, and other additives are used to mask the quality of the food. This isn’t to say that everything there is going to give you cancer, I’m just pointing out that some bad people will do anything to fool people even if it means endangering the health of many innocent lives. Today, I will show you something disgusting. It is just as oily as a Chinese food that I talked about, and just like the practice of masking food safety, it also has a nefarious way to give an impression that this product is of higher quality. Read along with me.

Introduction:

The 7Artisans 35mm f/1.4 II was probably announced around 6 years ago during the pandemic that came from mainland China. I have no idea when it was sold but I have been seeing it for a long time. I do not know what are the exact differences between the first version and this one except that the older one has a different design with more glass and aperture blades. What I know is many APS-C shooters with Sony and Fujifilm got one of these because they’re cheap and decent. I’ve also heard of people complaining about poor quality control and other similar concerns that we’re all so familiar with when it comes to “Made in China” products. The support is poor overseas so it will all will depend on who you got it from if there are any warranties at all. These come in different mounts but we’re only talking about the Nikon version in this article.

The exterior is completely made of metal. It feels heavier than it should and in an excessive way, too. The impression it will give people who don’t understand things is that they’re getting a premium product. It’s quite nice when it comes to the fit and finish as the exterior is concerned, and that’s all there is to it. We’ll also learn why this thing is so heavy and why the aperture ring does it have any detent clicks.

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Repair: Micro-Nikkor 5cm f/3.5 (S-mount)

16 May 2025 Leave a comment

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Hello, everybody! Have you ever fancied making love to that hot girl you had a crush on when you were young? I’ve had several regrets in my life and one of them is not getting it on with that girl that the whole batch was swooning over at that time. It’s really sad, after a couple of years I’ve learned from her own lips that she had me in her heart all along ever since we were 14! She’s this amazing, beautiful, and intelligent woman, she deserves everything best in her life. You can say that she is a jewel amongst gravel, that’s how rare she is, and she has aged beautifully! It’s pointless grabbing on to your memories and so playing with your turtle won’t bring back time. With all that frustration, something good has to happen, right? Well, it’s fortunate that I’ve been able to finally purchase something that I have always wanted with my tax return. I felt so much relief that it has healed my decades long worth of regret even for a short time. Do you want to know what that is? Please read this article so you will know all about this magical lens that can heal the heart of an old man.

Introduction:

The Micro-Nikkor 5cm f/3.5 is a very special lens, with an equally special purpose and legacy. It is the first Micro-Nikkor ever made. It was sold in 1956 and only two special clients who requires high resolution for their lenses. The special cases are reproduction, microfiche, scientific use, the medical field, and so on. It’s the best in terms of resolving power of all the rangefinder era Nikkors, even when shot wide-open. There was a need back then to manufacture a photographic lens with enough resolution to capture the intricate characters used in the Japanese language so Nippon Kogaku took on the task to design a masterpiece. It’s development is partly documented in the amazing article by Sato sensei. You can also read my old article about the Micro-Nikkor 5cm f/3.5 in Leica mount.

Unlike the Micro-Nikkor 5cm f/3.5 in Leica mount, this one does not have a focusing unit and it uses the helicoid of the camera to focus. What’s similar is it shares the collapsible design that serves some purpose when you want to use this for shooting at higher magnification. The construction is the best I’ve ever seen amongst all small 5cm rangefinder Nikkors. There’s no slop and the finish is exceptional. This is a high end product in every way, even the tiny screws are exquisite.

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Repair: 1 Nikkor 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

05 May 2025 1 Comment

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Hello, everybody! Do you know the song “Torn Between Two Lovers” by Mary MacGregor? This is a song about a committed woman who is seeing another man. It’s not that she doesn’t love her partner but the other man has “better performance”. I’m not a woman, and I am a loyal husband but I understand what’s going on inside of her because this feeling isn’t always confined to relationships. You can be torn with a lot of things in life, in my case it’s the choice between the de facto zoom lens for my Nikon 1 cameras or a similar one that does much more but lacks something that I need. Have you been in such a situation and what did you do? Of course, we are living in a free world so we get to choose which one we need. You can also choose both if you are so willing. This is the gift of liberty!

Introduction:

The 1 Nikkor 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 VR was sold from late 2011 to several years later when the whole Nikon 1 system was discontinued. They can even be found new when sold together with old stock camera bundles as late as just a few years ago as of writing. It is the kit lens for the new Nikon 1 system cameras and these were mostly sold together with the cameras as a kit. They have a mixed reputation, some hated it while a devoted group will swear by its optical performance. It’s truly inconsistent in that regard but everyone will agree that this “made in China” lens is flimsy. Things got so bad that Nikon had to offer free replacements of the worn or flimsy parts inside of it without any additional cost. I’m impressed by this because it shows that Nikon has accountability, unlike some other brands.

The whole barrel is made up of plastic to make it compact, cheap, and affordable. It has a minimalist and modern design for its time so you only have a zoom ring with a lock to interact with. You need to turn the zoom ring to the 10mm position in order to use it.

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