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Author Topic: The Close-Up Face of the Noct Nikkor  (Read 7026 times)

ErikKaffehr

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Re: The Close-Up Face of the Noct Nikkor
« Reply #20 on: February 19, 2016, 01:45:17 pm »

Hi,

Great image and a great way of using the short depth of field.

Short DoF seldom works for me, so this is an interesting learning experience.

Best regards
Erik

I love images like these.  Just for comparison Pentax 67 90mm f/2.8, wide open on a 645D:

_IGP2322 by tsjanik47, on Flickr
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Erik Kaffehr
 

John Koerner

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Re: The Close-Up Face of the Noct Nikkor
« Reply #21 on: March 26, 2016, 11:09:03 am »

As a close-up photographer, I have eyed the legendary Noct Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 lens from afar, but put it out of my mind because it is not designed for close-up work. Yet, in the odd times that I wander around the photo web sites, I continued to kind of study what makes this lens unique. And I noticed when Nikon brought out a modern version of the Noct, a f/1.4G 58mm lens, rather than the original hand-polished f/1.2 Noct. And they don’t call it a Noct, which originally was short for Nocturne.

By studying the MTF charts for both the old and new “Noct,” I could see that the old Noct was quite a bit sharper than the new version in the center of the frame, and that the new version was sharper as you get to the edge of the frame than the old. Actually, I liked that the original Noct was very sharp at the center, and then rolled off toward bokeh at the edges.

So, that and the winter doldrums here in Michigan found imagining what I might do with the original Noct, if I could afford it. And before long, as things go in my acquisition department, I found myself selling some lenses I don’t ever use anymore, and putting that money toward a copy of the Noct, which are very, very expensive, around $3000. Ouch.

And then one Saturday morning I found myself just buying a copy from Ebay. My finger just pressed the “Buy” button and something inside me was happy, and my pocketbook was not as happy. But, what the heck, I’m not going to live forever.

The Noct finally arrived and turned out to be pretty-much in mint condition. I fell in love with the lens at first sight through it, but still had to figure out how I could get it a little closer. I did this with the Nikkor K1-Ring, an extension of 5.8mm. It has taken me a little while to adapt this incredible lens to my close-up work, but I am getting there. Here is a photo taken with the Nikon D810 with the Noct, ISO 64, and stacked lightly using Zerene Stacker.

The idea here is to stack a couple of areas, in this case two, and to leave the rest for bokeh. This was not done wide open because wide-open the Noct has razor-thin DOF, almost too thin to stack. But I am happy with this approach and confident I will find still other distinct ways to use this lens. It represents for me a different take on using the Noct Nikkor.

I must agree with those who feel this is a special lens. It is worth every penny.

According to this webpage, there are actually two versions of the Noct Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 (an Ai and an AiS).

The Ai is a 7-blade lens with a 230° focus throw, while the AiS is a 9-blade lens with only a 140° focus throw.

The Ai is also the elder, and also slightly-heavier, version.

Curious which version you have ...

Jack

PS: Since you shoot macro, I am sure you realize that this lens can be reversed with a Nikon BR-2A Lens Reversing Ring which, according to the specs sheet in the box, will give a Noct Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 lens a 1.2x magnification ratio.
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muntanela

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Re: The Close-Up Face of the Noct Nikkor
« Reply #22 on: March 29, 2016, 09:19:37 am »

I usuallly focused on the stamens,  but, after more than  two years of flowers photography with short depth of field, I have realized that often, when the camera is on a height similar to that of the flower, it is better to focus on the nearest petal or to do  a stack of, at least, two shots: one for the stamens and one for the nearest petal.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2016, 09:30:00 am by muntanela »
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