Hello, everybody! Have you heard the “Great Leap Forward“? It’s the biggest socio-economic experiment ever done in the history of mankind. It is tragic because during the years between 1958–1962 the Chinese Communist Party killed an estimated 55,000,000 people through famine, chaos, violence, and execution. It was all done for the sake of catching up with the rest of the world, including Russia which is now a power that can project her influence globally. A centralized economy fails dramatically, and this one did just that at its end which somehow lead the disastrous “Cultural Revolution” a couple of years later. Did they get to create such wonderful products in an attempt to industrialize at such rate? I don’t think so because every consumer goods they’ve ever made are crap, and I am old enough to remember how bad they are. Today, I will show you a lens that reminded me of that insane era of human history. However, this lens did better in terms of advancing the impression of consumers about the “CCP” or “Cheap Chinese Products” because its much better in terms of construction and the quality ain’t that bad either. It’s a step in the right way.
Introduction:
The TT Artisan 50mm f/2 has been available for a few years now and it has quite a following because of its excellent performance relative to its affordable price. I don’t know what TT meant, is it “Total Trash” or is it a “Tiny Treasure“? I don’t care, but this one’s definitely better than the 7Artisans that we’ve just took apart. It is a much better lens in terms of production but it still sucks compared to Japanese lenses. I am not sure if this lens was made and designed in-house by the brand at all or was it made by that big Chinese optical company that’s tied to their military which supplies the very lenses that many other companies rebrand to sell elsewhere. It does show signs of common manufacturing techniques and parts so I assume that some of the parts did came from that place at the very least.
The barrel is completely made of metal, which makes it unnecessarily heavy. I said that because there are a lot of things inside that shouldn’t be made that thick. The focusing ring is closer to the camera and the aperture ring is closer to the tip. They have made it like this because it’s cheaper to make. All the numbers are shallowly etched with laser compared to the engraved ones we’re used to seeing from vintage lenses. The aperture ring is so narrow for no reason which makes it feel cheap.
Hello, everybody! Have you heard the late Marlene Dietrich? She was a famous singer and actress from Germany in the 1930s, but she left for the United States in 1937 just 2 years before the war started. She is known for being the favorite singer of both Allied and Axis forces that fought in the Western Front. She is capable of singing in both German and English which contributed to her popularity among soldiers. Her case is rather unusual during those times and her talent serves as a commonality between people who are bent on killing each other, for duty or liberty. Our subject today is similar to Marlene, it has German roots but it is also 100% Japanese. Not only was it made for the Nikon but it’s also adapted for the Leica. It was also considered to be a very capable lens of the time for either camera system. This is the story of a great and rare lens that you will only get to know this intimately from this site.
Introduction:
The W-Nikkor•C 2.5cm f/4 that came out in 1953 was also sold for the Leica mount. This variant is not as common as the one made for the Nikon mount so it’s more expensive due to its rarity. Nobody knew if it was made until the end of production nor how many of them were ever sold. This makes it very valuable because every serious collector wants one.
The lens is tiny, it’s definitely the smallest W-Nikkor ever made for the Leica mount that I know of. Unlike the W-Nikkor•C 2.5cm f/4 for the S-mount, this one has an aperture ring that’s easier to access so I like it more specially considering that I take sample photos at various apertures for this blog. Anything else is in a familiar layout that’s typical of LTM lenses of that time.
Hello, everybody! Have you heard of the story of the “Giant Radish“? It’s an old East Asian folk tale about a farmer pulling off a giant radish off the ground with the help of his whole family along with the family’s pet rabbit. Some say that the story is just a variation of an old Slavic tale called the “Giant Turnip“, where the vegetable is the only thing that’s different between both versions. It’s just a lesson about people who get together to solve a big challenge, such as pulling an impossibly huge tuber from the ground that is as huge as a house. Today, I’ll tell you a story about something huge that has most of its body hidden, it’s so huge that it’s considered by many to be somewhat difficult to use with modern cameras but I’ll show you how to get around that issue. Read my article to know more about it.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-O 2.1cm f/4 for the Nikon S-mount was sold from 1959 to an unknown date, with numbers as low as 300+ copies made. Some speculate that it was only sold for a year or less, but everyone agrees it’s one of the most desirable items in the Nikkor collectibles game. This lens was originally conceived for the Nikon rangefinder system but was later made as a Nikon F-mount lens, too. The latter is common and the rarest of them all is the mythical Leica mount one, once only thought of as a “phantom lens” until one was sold a couple of years ago! Many consider this to be a milestone in Japanese optics design.
Everything is made out of metal except for the glass, there’s no plastic parts here. It sports the late design of many Nikkors made from the late 1950s like as the W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/2.5 which looks near the identical at a glance. The aperture ring has been modernized so the numbers are easier to read. The skirt also has a deep learning so it’s easy to grip it even while wearing gloves.
Hello, everybody! Are you an S or an M type? Do you seek pleasure or do you inflict pain? I most certainly neither of them, or at least none in the extreme sense. Some people get aroused by hurting their partners in intimacy, and it goes the other way around, too. I’m not a psychologist but a friend of mine told me it’s common that these preferences manifest in their daily lives. He’s an M so I’ll take his word for it. You know what? I sometimes undergo a lot of pain myself voluntarily, this has nothing to do with my sexuality at all. I do all that just because I wanted to review really big lenses and cameras for you! This is how much I love my readers, I’m risking a trip to the chiropractor just so I can give you great content. Please read this post with love and compassion to your dear servant, I shall serve the Nikon community forever like a slave.
Introduction:
The Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 ED Ai-S was released in 1982 and stayed in production for 3 years, a tad short for a professional zoom as far as Nikkors are concerned. This was made as a statement that Nikon is able to produce something like this. It’s the first of its kind, a true 80-200/2.8 that nobody else had at that time, showcasing just how good the F-mount is. It set the trend for the popular 70-200/2.8 lenses we have today. However, there is an even earlier variant of this lens with 2 separate rings, as opposed to the single one we have here. That lens is widely speculated to be a prototype, so we won’t consider it to be the first.
It’s a huge lens, the largest/fattest of its kind. It’s definitely bigger than all 70-200mm lenses that I know of and it’s by far the heaviest one. Every part is made of metal, the only plastic parts in this lens are those small bushings inside the lens.
Hello, everybody! Have you ever eaten a “Dubai Chocolate“? They are sold as luxury sweets, which makes them expensive and rare for a time. Influencers and marketing have sold it as a “Louis Vuitton” of candies! I have never seen sweets go for that much, it’s ridiculous! I’ve eaten a few myself but I couldn’t get why it is so expensive, especially considering that ingredients are mostly cheap like sesame paste (mostly). It felt like a scam in many ways, pretty much like Leicas in the past few decades. It’s all just to make a statement or for laundering money. Today, I’ll show you something of a scam but it’s from Nikon this time. You will also know why I made that statement and I am sure many people will agree with me and back me up.
Introduction:
The 1 Nikkor 32mm f/1.2 was sold from 2013 and was produced up until the Nikon 1 system’s death. It’s a very expensive lens for that time (and even today), it was marketed as the pinnacle of the system like the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct is for the Nikon Z is today. It boasts impressive stats, engineering, and style. Many people lusted for it because of its very bright f/1.2 maximum aperture. It will surely compensate for “Little Peter“, enabling one to magically take amazing photos while using it. To me, it’s merely vanity and a flex just to show people that the system can also be for serious photographers. During its time there were lots of people discrediting the Nikon 1 system as being cheap, and for amateurs. They were not wrong for saying that, but they weren’t exactly correct, too. Unfortunately, what sealed the system’s reputation isn’t anything I’ve mentioned, it has more to do with the stupid choices the engineers took to save money. It’s going to be a very expensive mistake for Nikon since many were sent back for servicing. Customers were obviously upset, like I am today. I’m just sick and tired of repairing cheap 1 Nikkors at this point. Doing a lot of replacements for the fucking plastic gear can be tiring.
Unlike all of the 1 Nikkor lenses that we have feature to this point, the 1 Nikkor 32mm f/1.2 sports a metal shell. That makes it feel more like a “premium” product which makes it stand out from the rest. It also has a real focusing ring that actually does something, not the fake ones that the other1 Nikkors primes have. I seldom use it because it doesn’t feel right as it’s electronic. It has no helicoid from what I can see. It’s very heavy, even heavier than many similarly sized F-mountNikkors despite having a smallish objective (but it’s still large for 1 Nikkor!). This made it require a huge 52mm filter size which is good because I have lots of them around, plus the accessories!
Hello, everybody! Do you know the song “Baby Shark“? It’s an annoying song from a few years ago and I hated it because it’s so monotonous and people kept on singing that nonsense. It’s a form of brain-rot, a phenomenon that happened recently thanks to the prevalence of ultrashort media. These things are best avoided at all cost especially by young children whose minds are in development. There’s no educational value in these at all. Unfortunately, I just have the antidote for it and it’s called – “Baby Noct“. This is what it sounds like – a tiny Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 Ai-S. I made that connection because it somehow reminds me of the amazing Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 Ai-S with its very bright maximum aperture, together with the somewhat close field-of-view it’s easy to think of it that way. Please read the article so you will know more about this amazing and tiny masterpiece.
Introduction:
The Cine-Nikkor 25mm f/1.2 is the fastest of all Cine-Nikkors made in any mount. If you read my article on the special Nikon Museum exhibit for Cine-Nikkors, you’ll see more information there which mentions that it was made in 1956 to replace an older Cine-Nikkor 26mm f/1.2 from the previous year which didn’t meet the required standards of the company, that lens may have just been a prototype while this got produced. It’s unknown how many of these were made but it’s certainly not a lot. Nobody even knows when the last one came out from the factory either, there’s not a lot of information about this little gem anywhere apart from what you see in my Nikon Museum exhibit for Cine-Nikkors article.
It has a really wide barrel for its size. It’s mainly made up of brass and aluminum alloy but isn’t heavy at all considering its size. It looks and feels like many D-Mount Cine-Nikkors of the time so people mistake it for something else. Despite its size, the engravings are easy to read. Ergonomically, it’s tricky to operate since this is so tiny. There will be instances when you would accidentally turn the wrong ring when operating it.
Hello, everybody! Do you know that the Soviets had some of the most ambitious space programs? There is something called the Venera program which sent unmanned probes to the planet Venus. It’s probably the most ambitious and difficult feat man has ever attempted in space exploration because Venus has a very hostile environment that will easily crush and melt everything that went past its atmosphere. There are some people who will claim that it has the harshest environment in the solar system. The probes that the Soviets sent looked very unique, they are true masterpieces of engineering and science. Some of them have large discs that look like very wide photos, this is the most distinctive feature of the probes. I know a lens in my collection that looks like that. Like the Venera probes, it’s also an optical masterpiece in its time and it’s regarded by some as a high point in optical engineering. Read this article to know what it is.
Introduction:
The New-Nikkor 18mm f/4 was produced from 1974 to 1977, it was replaced by the Nikkor 18mm f/4 Ai, a similar lens with a few insignificant external differences. At that point it’s the widest Nikkor that allows any filter attachments in the front and is the most compact of all the ultrawide Nikkors. It sold well so it had a moderate run together with its successor and it was replaced by the Nikkor 18mm f3.5 Ai-S in 1982. It’s a popular lens so it has somewhat of a following despite its flaws such as not being sharp at the extremities, a susceptibility to internal reflections, and displaying a complex distortion profile. We shall examine how it really performs in this article to settle things once and for all.
The barrel is robust and typical of many Ai/K Nikkors when it comes to build quality. No compromises were made and it definitely feels like a premium product. The focusing ring has a short throw, typical of many wide lenses of this type and period. It is not a big deal because the focusing scale is easy to read and we usually use the scale instead of the viewfinder to determine what’s focused in the photo when it comes to shooting with wide manual lenses.
Hello, everybody! You like gambling? I sure do, because I old lenses to repair them hoping to get a great deal after servicing them. I compared it to gambling because not everything ends up being successful, it’s usually the case that I lose a lot of money because things didn’t turn out the way that I’ve expected. Today in this article, I will show you such a case. I got it to work again after servicing it but I’m not satisfied with what I saw when I took sample my photos with it. It’s not a total disaster because I still find it useful so it’s not completely wasted. Please read the whole article very carefully so you will know where I screwed up.
Introduction:
The 1 Nikkor 10mm f/2.8 is the smallest lens in the Nikon 1 system. It’s sold from late 2011 and stayed in production for several years until the Nikon 1 system died. It’s a favorite of many people because of the compact and lite nature of it. It was sold together with other lenses as a kit to several Nikon 1 cameras, it even comes in weird colors like red and pink. For many people this is the first wide angle lens that they’ve ever owned because this lens and many of the cheaper Nikon 1 cameras were aimed at beginners. It has a field-of-view that is the equivalent of 27mm in full-frame so it’s the Nikon 1 system’s signature prime lens when it comes to wide angle lenses.
The body is mostly made from good quality plastic. What’s surprising is the bayonet mount appears to be a metal one, not plastic like most of the 1 Nikkors that I have worked with. It feels substantial so I have the impression that it is made of metal. The interface is quite simple, or should I say minimalistic because you don’t have anything to interface with, not even a little button, very much like the 1 Nikkor 18.5mm f/1.8.
Hello, everybody! Do you know that song “Am I That Easy to Forget” by Jim Reeves? It’s a song about a man who’s love has found another man. The whole song just keeps on going on a melancholic tangent and is a favorite of many heartbroken gentlemen. Everyone could relate to it because we have all been there when our beloved has switch their attention to someone new. It’s not only applicable for people, I can imagine that cameras have feelings, too. I will show you something that people have forgotten in a heartbeat once the next big thing showed up, and like Jim Reeves, it may be also singing the blues if it could just express its feelings. Do you think cameras are feelings, too?
Introduction:
The Nikon Z fc is a divisive camera, it’s either you like it or you don’t. I’ve made my feelings clear with my old report of the Nikon Z fc so you know where I stand. This article will serve as a mini review of some kind because I shot with it for some time now and I have used it with the Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR all this time (mostly). I won’t be talking about sharpness, image quality, nor any technical specifications at all. I just want to give you a condensed article of what I think of it.
The Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR is the kit lens for every APS-C camera in the Z series. It’s short, it’s probably the shortest APS-C kit lens that Nikon ever made. Never buy these lenses alone, it’s cheaper to buy this together with the camera. This is the black version because my camera is black, the silver version is paired with the silver Nikon Z fc. The black one looks much better, the silver one shouldn’t have existed in the first place because it’s ugly.
Hello, everybody! There’s a Japanese song that goes “赤く咲くのはけしの花 白く咲くのは百合の花” or so, which is the opening lyrics to Fuji Keiko’s (藤 圭子) legendary song “Yume ha Yoru Hiraku” (夢は夜ひらく) which means “My Dream Blooms at Night“. The lyrics translate to “A flower that blooms red is a poppy, if it’s white then it’s a lily“. This means a young girl has two paths, one of modesty or promiscuity. It details the life of a stool pigeon who spends her nights with different men. It is a mature theme with heavy lyrics, something that we don’t get to hear much of these days. That’s why this song is considered a classic. The topic of duality is often spoken about because it’s common to only have one of two outcomes in life. This is also something that’s applicable to a lens in the production line. Would it be destined to become an old collapsible type Nikkor, or will it become part of the upcoming standard which is rigid bodied Nikkors. Its story will be told in this article, but unlike the girl in the song whose life is full of bitterness, this one has a happy life of being sought after by collectors so it doesn’t spend its life going from one owner to another.
Introduction:
This variant of the Nikkor-H•C 5cm f/2 is rare as it’s made within a small batch. No one knew how many of these were made nor the exact dates they were produced. All we know is this is a transitional version that was made around late 1948 to sometime around 1949. This period marks the transition between the older collapsible version produced before 1949 and the standard rigid version that became more common after 1950. Nobody knew that exact story but it’s easy to speculate that Nikon just don’t want to waste the old production version and completely replace it with the new one. A solution had to be found so we get this oddball version. As far as I know, it only appears in Nikon S-mount so you won’t find any of these in Leica mount. There’s also the possibility that some of the ones destined to be fitted to a Leica were modified to the Nikon S-mount in this way. There’s no way to tell so everything’s a wild guess.
Everything is made of metal except for the glass. It’s also heavier compared to the usual rigid type Nikkor-H•C 5cm f/2 because it has extra parts to make it what it is. The quality of the finish is a bit crude when it’s compared to later lenses but it’s definitely better than the ones made immediately after the war. The parts fit together nicely and the screws are all excellent, you can see how beautiful they are. Mine isn’t the best, it has seen better days as you can see from the photo. All of the engravings in the bezel are gone so I had to repaint them later as you shall see.
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Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 