One of a Kind: The Nikon EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 Enlarger



This is a 6 elements in 4 groups enlarger made by Nikon since the mid-50s. The design of this lens is pretty uncommon: the front part is a 1/2 double gauss while the rear part is a 1/2 plasmat.The reason for such design is mentioned on Nikon website:

During development of the lens, a German optical manufacturer secured the patent for its basic design. Nikon (formerly Nippon Kogaku K.K.) was forced to incorporate methods that did not violate this patent into its design. There were numerous restrictions to overcome before Nikon could complete its optical system.

At wide open, the lens is not as sharp as I expected. Stopping it down to F4, the overall contrast is improved significantly. Here is a sample taken 2-3 meters apart at wide open and at F4.

EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 @F2.8

EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 @F4

Since this lens features straight aperture blades, it is expected the sunstar will be nicely defined when stopped down. The lens also works well as a landscape lens when stopped down to F5.6.



There are minor bright edges on the rear bokeh on the samples here, which suggests the lens is slightly over-corrected when used at low image magnification.



Since this lens is single-coated, there will be flare and ghosting when pointed to a strong light source. A hood will not help in this case but our creativity will help. 


more photos at F4 or F5.6



Good luck in the year ahead!




  

位置： 香港

留言

發佈留言

此網誌的熱門文章

The Tiny All-rounder: Leica Elmar 90mm f/4.0 3-element Review

圖片
Table Of Contents ✓ Introduction Leica's first Elmar 9cm (90mm) f/4.0 was introduced in 1930. The lens construction was very similar to that of the Zeiss Tessar, with the main difference being that the Elmar had the aperture positioned in front of the second lens element. After several cosmetic changes, the optics of the popular Elmar 90mm lens remained unchanged until the early 1960s. In 1962, a new version of the Elmar 90/4.0 was released, designed by Walter Mandler in Canada using newly invented rare-earth glass, which elevated the performance of this classic lens to another level. Lens Versions There is only one version. It comes with either a Leica M mount (11830) or a Leica screw mount (11830). Leica Elmar 90mm f/4.0 3-element M mount Lens Specifications Lens mount: Leica M Focal length: 90mm Aperture adjustment: f/4.0–f/22 (with half-stop clicks) Number of aperture blades: 10 Minimum focus distance: 1 meter Filter size: E39 Hood: IUFOO or 12575 Weight: ~220g Leitz Sales...
閱讀更多

Techart TZM-02 Leica M to Nikon Z Autofocus Adapter Review

圖片
  The second-generation Leica M to Nikon Z AF lens adapter TZM-02 from Techart will be officially released soon. I am fortunate enough to borrow this engineering sample for testing, let’s see how the autofocus performs. Table Of Contents ✓ Specification: Weight: ~150g Diameter: ～68mm *Compatible with all the latest Nikon Full Frame & APS-C camera models (Z9, Z7II, Z7, Z6II, Z6,Z5, Z50, Zfc, Z30, etc) *not applicable to LTM/M mount lenses with a infinity lock button near the lens mount In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) Settings By adjusting the aperture value, we can change the focal length value transmitted to the camera to obtain better image stabilization. The relationship between the aperture value and the focal length value transmitted is shown on the following table: Aperture Value(F) 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.0 Lens Focal Length(mm) 135 90 85 75 55 50 40 30 Aperture Value(F) 2.5 2.8 3.2 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.6 Lens Focal Length(mm) 28 25 24 21 20 18 16 ...
閱讀更多