Hello, everybody. Do you listen to heavy metal? My favorite band is Judas Priest, I love their style and the music that they make. It has been several decades since they debuted but their music never gets old. The frontman (Rob Halford) left the band for some time but now he’s back and he is just as metal today as he was more than 45 years ago. His voice became the basis of the metal sound and the guitar work became the influence of so many bands that came after, their legacy lives on each time we listen to young bands shredding and screaming at the stage. Today, I will show you another “heavy metal”, and just like Judas Priest, it has left a lasting influence in Nikkor history.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-Q•C 13.5cm f/4 is part of the original lineup of Nikkors that Nikon made right after the war. It was1946 and Japan was in shambles with most of her industrial base fire-bombed by the Allies down to the ground, literally. Through determination and a lot of hard work, Japan has risen from defeat. A lot of that was fueled by companies like Nikon. Post war dollars had to be earned and Nikon was one of the few companies that had the capability to help. And thus, Nikon was transformed from making optics for the military to a consumer optics company. You can read more about this in my other Nikkor-Q•C 13.5cm f/4 article where I also mentioned the rest of the initial 6 great Nikkors that came out right after the war.
The barrel is made from heavy duty brass, making it a very dense lens when you hold it. It is certainly a lot heavier than it should be. You’ll notice that the workmanship isn’t as good as later Nikkors, that’s because Japan was a covering from a devastating war at that time so materials are scarce and the machines that’s left weren’t up to the task, it’s really a story of struggle and triumph for Nikon.
Hello, everybody! Do you know about the Uyghurs? They are a Turkic people living in East Turkistan which is called Xinjiang by the CCP Chinese. They are a proud people with a long and profound history. They are culturally different from the rest of communist China, because they are not part of the Han majority. They are closer to the Uzbeks, Turks and other Central Asians. Their way of life is threatened and many of them have fled to other countries as they are being persecuted, much like the Tibetans. This is to say that not all people who live in communist China are all “Chinese“, some are cultural minorities who have their distinct way of life that’s in danger of being wiped out. Today, we’ll talk of something along those lines. It’s a lens that looks similar the rest of the family, but it’s certainly different in small ways. It is important to make a distinction so we will know exactly what’s in front of us.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-S•C 5cm f/1.4 is one of the lenses that I have covered many times in this site. Many of you got familiar with it through my articles. I did not think that I would ever write another article about it, but here I am presenting you with another one. This time it’s an early version from the first part of 1950. This is the coveted “5005” series, the earliest production of the Nikkor-S•C 5cm f/1.4. This particular lens is from the 2nd batch which has less digits in the serial number, but still valuable compared to common later versions that everybody has. These are valuable because some people consider them as “Made in Occupied Japan“. While it’s technically not an “MIOJ” lens due to the lack of the engraved country of origin, the date it was manufactured should put this together with the other genuine “MIOJ” Nikkors. This is only important for a certain group of collectors, whatever its true nature should be.
The barrel is similar to the more common later version except for a few minor differences such as the different typeface used, along with being somewhat heavier. The last version (in black) is the lightest, it has many parts that are made of a lighter alloy.
Hello, everybody! Do you love blue cheese? I love it a lot and I eat it almost everyday. My favorite is made by the Danes, le Danablu or Bleu Danois. It’s not as stinky as Roquefort and it’s a bit dryer so it crumbles. It stinks just as well so the general taste and texture is slightly similar despite not being moist. There’s a lot of different varieties of blue cheeses, I hope to taste them all one day. How about you, do you like eating blue cheese? How do you like it with? Speaking of the differences between French and Danish cheeses, I’ll showcase something that came in different versions. You can think of it as Danablu and Roquefort in some ways because it’s essentially the same thing but they come in different flavors.
Introduction:
The Nikkor S•C 8.5cm f/1.5 is a legendary portrait lens for many Nikon shooters. Many people dreamed of owning one of these back in the day as it is today. It’s the Nikkor available for the Nikon rangefinder, and also for the whole company as well up until the introduction of the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 Ai-S which is some 28 years after this one came out. I have written another article about this lens in Leica mount, so please go and see that article to find out more about its history and some other tests that I have done. We will only talk about what’s different in this article.
The all-metal barrel is robust, and feels substantial when held. You will never get anything like this today, especially from the CCP (Cheap Chinese Products). Everything feels precise and it’s nothing short of total luxury.
Hello, everybody! The recent Olympics has been controversial, we are even discussing some of the topics to this day and for many days to come. Some find it amusing well some people were offended. Some say it was done in poor taste, while some people claim that it points to the next step in human psychology. I do not dare to make such bold claims because I am merely a camera repair enthusiast. But this is what I can say, we can all agree that some parts of the event left us scratching our heads. To me, it was the huge disrespect by the Australian “dancer” to her sport. In this website, we do not disrespect anything related to Nikon. In order to wash away the trauma, I will present to you another “Olympic“, one that is hailed by many as a masterpiece and the best there is, even to this day. Let’s all celebrate and enjoy the “Olympic“.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4 (Olympic) was made in 1964 under a limited batch of less than 1700 units. It’s even rarer than Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4 (Millennium) that is a reproduction of this lens. That year is special because of the Summer Olympics hosted by Japan. Many companies saw that as a chance to showcase their prowess by manufacturing exceptional products to be used for covering the games. Nikon made a couple of such projects, the lens you see here is one of them. It’s also the last lens ever mean by Nikon for the Nikon S rangefinder system that isn’t a reproduction. Many people consider this to be the best 50mmNikkor of its kind because of how well it performs technically, it’s surprisingly good even at f/1.4. That’s a big departure from what many people were used to with the older Nikkor-S•C 5cm f/1.4, which renders a lot differently because it’s considered to be “soft” when shot at larger apertures; that’s just the case when shooting with Sonnar-type lenses. Speaking of which, this is the only 50/1.4 rangefinder Nikkor that isn’t a copy or derivative of the famed Sonnar design.
This is by far the largest rangefinder 50/1.4 Nikkor ever made. It is longer and considerably wider than the older Nikkor-S.C 5cm f/1.4, and it’s heavier, too. The barrel is all-metal so it feels great when you hold it. A lighter type of alloy is used on some parts in order to make it weigh less so it feels a bit different when it’s held. This is in contrast to the older lenses which uses brass.
Hello, everybody! Do you know the song “Ame no Midosuji” (雨の御堂筋) by the famous singer that came from the country of Taiwan called Ouyang Fei Fei (歐陽菲菲)? It’s about a woman who is searching for her lover in a rainy night. She went on looking for him but in despair she found nobody, and just me do with her memories of him. We have all searched for something in our lives, but sometimes we never get to find some of them. Unlike Ouyang Fei Fei, I have found something that I was looking for, and it came to me as a beautiful surprise. It’s one of the rarest Nikkors ever made and I will show you what I found today.
Introduction:
The Cine-Zoom-Nikkor 17-70mm f/2.2 is one of the few Cine-Zoom Nikkors that’s seen in catalogs, it’s still a mystery even to knowledgeable historians and collectors. Nobody knew when it was made and for how long but I suspect is that it was sold as early as 1959 or 1963. Nobody knew when production stopped so I cannot even speculate. It’s a very mysterious lens and I will try my best to give you the most up-to-date information I could find, including some sample photos and a complete teardown of this lens.
Its construction and all-metal build are outstanding, definitely the best of all Cine-Nikkors. It’s also heavy, so I get nervous just thinking about how much stress the threads of the mount must endure when this is fitted to a movie camera and used for a long span of time.
Hello, everybody! I just bought a DNA testing kit, you know, the one that’s hip with the kids these days. I bought it because I wanted to know what are my health risks because I’m not young anymore. I did not get one because I want to avoid accidentally banging my relatives like what some people actually think and do for themselves. I’m also curious to know if I have relatives around the world, maybe I will find an uncle living nearby that I have never ever heard of, isn’t that exciting? Speaking of finding secret relatives and genealogy, I would like to share with you a “secret relative” of the Nikkor 135/3.5 family. It is not well known so it might as well be an urban legend for some people but we will know everything about it here in this article.
Introduction:
This adapter for Nikkor-Q•C 13.5cm f/3.5 will enable you to use the front barrel of the lens and mount it to any camera that uses the Nikon F-mount. It was made for a short time to coincide with the release of the legendary Nikon F. Not a lot of people knew about it and it’s only ever mentioned in the catalogs. It isn’t really a proper “lens” so to speak because it was ever only sold as a separate item as far as I know.
It is much shorter compared to its rangefinder cousins. It’s because the F-mount requires a longer flange distance in order to stay clear of the flapping mirror. While the construction is all-metal, the adapter feels somewhat “cheap” because the bayonet mount is part of the lower barrel. While it keeps things simple, it gives the impression of cheapness like what I have just mentioned.
Hello, everybody! Have you ever been duped into thinking that something might be fake? You pass it and regret later after finding out that it’s probably the best bargain you could ever find. It has happened a lot with some of my friends who collect expensive watches. It has happened to me several times before, but I am more lucky than stupid so I am usually blessed with good deals. Today, I will show you one such lucky find, a real find of a lifetime. In all my years hunting for rare items I have ever only seen and touched 2 of these. Please read the whole article to know why this is so special.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-Q.C 13.5cm f/3.5 featured in this article is a special one, it is one of the very few existing lenses that Nikon made that came with an Exakta-mount. Only a few people have knowledge of its existence and even fewer people have ever seen one in person. I am extremely lucky to own such a rare oddity. Nobody knew exactly how many of these were made, we can only date them by their serial numbers. My example is probably from 1954.
Compared to the usual ones that came with a rangefinder mount, this one is quite short. It has to be since the Exakta is an SLR, complete with a flapping mirror. You may easily assume that this was modified using a talented specialist shop at first glance but the quality is so consistent that it can only come from Nikon. I almost dismissed it when I first saw this, singing it’s a fake.
Hello, everybody! Do you have a vice that you have been staying away from with the best of your ability? I am sure but we all do. Is it smoking, alcohol or pornography? Or is it something more benign like buying cameras and lenses? It is very hard to keep the urge, the longer you keep it the stronger the climax is. This is how I felt when I made my latest purchase, it’s something that I have always wanted but the price is not something that I can easily afford. I was lucky that I found one for a reasonable price, it’s not cheap but it is fair. When I finally got it, I felt an overwhelming release, as if something that I have been keeping in for many years suddenly came out. I have nothing more to hide so I will show you my latest yo-yo.
Introduction:
The W-Nikkor•C 2.5cm f/4 is the smallest rangefinder Nikkor that you will ever find, that is if you measure it from the lens mount of the camera. As a W-Nikkor, it fills a unique place in the catalog for a super-wide lens. During that time, a 35mm lens is already considered wide and 28mm is the entry point to the really-wide category. It was made from 1953 up to an undetermined date so we assume that production lasted until the final days of the Nikon rangefinder era. There are only 2 variations for the Nikon S-mount, earlier ones come in shiny chrome like you see here while later ones are painted black. These were also made in Leica M39 screw mounts, too. Just like everything Leica, they will cost you more than a kidney to acquire.
It is very compact, it feels dense in your hand. The build quality is typical for its time, which means this is a very well-made product. There’s nothing much to manipulate with this lens as it lacks a focusing ring, this is one of the defining traits of this lens. It is truly unique in many ways.
Hello, everybody! I was watching some old Soviet-era movies from the 1930s up until Khrushchev’s time. Some of them were colored, using a simpler process than the common 3-step process used at that time. This makes the resulting movies look a little bit brownish, this may be partly due to how it is stored, too. I enjoyed watching them because it’s a rare glimpse of life “across the curtain“, for some of us who are old enough to remember. Today, I will show you something that will give you the same look, if not similar to the movies that I have watched.
Introduction:
The Cinestill 50D has always intrigued me, I’ve been seeing it for some time now but I still do not know its selling point and what makes it special and appealing to some people. One thing is for sure, It is another repackaged cinema film without the remjet. I don’t know which film it was originally so I’ll just leave it to the experts in the comment section. This is supposed to be a “daylight” film, which means it’s best to use it on a sunny day. Some people claim that it’s similar to the Reflx Lab 100, but I find that film to have less brownish tint overall. It’s also a little bit more pleasant to look at (the results) compared to this one.
It comes in the typical Cinestill packaging, but it’s blue this time. There’s nothing special about it, it’s what I would expect from this company.
Hello, everybody! Do you believe in the “Leica glow“? It is a legend taught by the “Leica church” which has been described as something ethereal, akin to angel dust. Some will say that it was done intentionally but I see it as just an excuse to justify the high cost of a poorly coated optic, if at all. It’s like a ghost, it is there or not depending on what you believe in. Today, I’ll show you something that exhibits something similar. I do not dare say that it’s the same thing but I will let you decide the matter for yourself. Believe it, or not?
Introduction:
The Nikkor 5cm f/2.8 was produced for a very short time, somewhere between 1936–1940 about the same time as the Seiki Kogaku Kwanon and Seiki Kogaku S. Seiki Kogaku (Canon) could not manufacturer their own lenses at that time so Nippon Kogaku (Nikon) had to do that for them. It is one of the first Nikkors for the consumer market because at that time, Nikon concentrated its production for the Japanese military. It did not stay for long probably because the faster Nikkor 5cm f/2 made more sense. Both were only made to fit the unique bayonet mount (by Nikon) for the earliest Seiki Kogaku cameras mentioned before. This mount has no official name to my knowledge so people call it the Hansa-mount, or Seiki-mount for me.
The whole thing is made of metal apart from the glass and the felt lining at the mount. It is heavy since everything is mostly made from brass. The workmanship is better than many Nikkors that were made in the years right after the end of the war, or the MIOJ (Made in Occupied Japan) series. The fit and finish is nice even to this day and even after being stored poorly for decades under undesirable conditions.
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Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 