Nikkor Noct 58mm f1.2 & 50 f1.2

[John Chung]

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

 

[mironv]

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

--Noct have one asferical hand made optical elemant that makes it so expencive and sopsetly better.Minolta have sumular 1.2 50mm lens that some conerted to use with other cameras and is 1/2 price on use market.

I have and use nikon af1.4d50mm,1.8 50mm and 45GN2.8 but spanding $1500 for nocto lens is #@! &% .

For less than $200 Konica have 1.2 57mm lens that can be use wide open on any camera as changing mount and is easy.
Mironv

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

The 58mm NOCT has an aspherical front element - a hand-ground glass one. The 50mm does not.

This is from an era where several attempts by a master craftsman were needed to produce one that was just right. The buyer gets to pay for all the mistakes, so the original price was way up there. Needless to say, no one tends to take a loss on such an item, so the price is still up there. Add to that the fact that it's long out of production, and the price goes up.....

In practice, the special front element serves to eliminate coma in images that contain point light sources. Think night cityscapes and birthday cakes with lots of candles. You need to shoot this kind of thing, wide open, for the NOCT to be worthwhile.

I have a shot of my Grandmother at her 80th birthday taken in 1980. I used the NOCT and the only light was from those 80 candles. The candle flames are rendered naturally - no coma to speak of. This shot is my most reproduced one. Grandma had nine kids, and lots and lots of grand and great-grand kids. Everyone wanted at least one print and an 8x10 is the smallest I've produced (11x14's are the most common with a few larger ones to boot).

Nothing else out there has ever come close to the performance the NOCT offers, but it's really meant for a fairly specialized shot.

Stan

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

--
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer

Once you start down the DSLR path, forever will it dominate your destiny! Consume your bank account, it will! Like mine, it did!

 

[António228746]

Stan, how do you compare the 58 noct with the 28 f1.4? This last one also has a hand-ground aspherical element.

Thanks,

António

 

[SiFu]

Hi John!

Other forum members have allready given you specs and differences, but since I own both, the Noct and the AIS f/1.2 I felt I shouldd still throw in some personal thoughts...

Apart from the 50mm f/2.0 prime, the Noct is the only Nikon lens EVER in this focal range to perform brilliantly when shot wide open! It is perfectly useable at f/1.2, stopping down is not really needed - from f/4.0 images start to get worse; if wide open is what you are after, it can't be beat.

The AIS needs to be stopped down to at least (!!) f/2.8 to give pleasant results and reaches it's peak at around f/5.6 with about constant quality to f/11. It is a nice lens, but nowhere near the Noct; if you don't really need the f/1.2 you'd be a lot better off with the 50mm f/2.0. This lens is useable wide open and outperforms every f/1.4 and f/1.8 50mm prime I have ever had (at the expense of one full stop though).

If you are willing to dish out the 1500 needed to get a Noct, you won't find better image quality!

Regards
Alex

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

 

[John Chung]

Thanks for your explanations. I've read some reviews on the noct lens but I wasn't sure how its real life performance was like. So you guys are saying that f1.2's are not all created equal. hmm...

Best regards,

John

 

[John Chung]

Dear Alex

I already have 50 f1.4. I was just fascinated by the uniques qualities of Noct lens. I understand Leica also has a Noct lens. I wonder how they compare....

Best regards,

John

Other forum members have allready given you specs and differences,
but since I own both, the Noct and the AIS f/1.2 I felt I shouldd
still throw in some personal thoughts...
Apart from the 50mm f/2.0 prime, the Noct is the only Nikon lens
EVER in this focal range to perform brilliantly when shot wide
open! It is perfectly useable at f/1.2, stopping down is not really
needed - from f/4.0 images start to get worse; if wide open is what
you are after, it can't be beat.

The AIS needs to be stopped down to at least (!!) f/2.8 to give
pleasant results and reaches it's peak at around f/5.6 with about
constant quality to f/11. It is a nice lens, but nowhere near the
Noct; if you don't really need the f/1.2 you'd be a lot better off
with the 50mm f/2.0. This lens is useable wide open and outperforms
every f/1.4 and f/1.8 50mm prime I have ever had (at the expense of
one full stop though).

If you are willing to dish out the 1500 needed to get a Noct, you
won't find better image quality!

Regards
Alex

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

 

[SiFu]

Hi John!

That would be interesting to find out, I didn't know that Leica also has one... guess I'll have to ask a couple of friends for it, chances are someone having it (all passionate collectors).

Regards
Alex

I already have 50 f1.4. I was just fascinated by the uniques
qualities of Noct lens. I understand Leica also has a Noct lens. I
wonder how they compare....

Best regards,

John

Other forum members have allready given you specs and differences,
but since I own both, the Noct and the AIS f/1.2 I felt I shouldd
still throw in some personal thoughts...
Apart from the 50mm f/2.0 prime, the Noct is the only Nikon lens
EVER in this focal range to perform brilliantly when shot wide
open! It is perfectly useable at f/1.2, stopping down is not really
needed - from f/4.0 images start to get worse; if wide open is what
you are after, it can't be beat.

The AIS needs to be stopped down to at least (!!) f/2.8 to give
pleasant results and reaches it's peak at around f/5.6 with about
constant quality to f/11. It is a nice lens, but nowhere near the
Noct; if you don't really need the f/1.2 you'd be a lot better off
with the 50mm f/2.0. This lens is useable wide open and outperforms
every f/1.4 and f/1.8 50mm prime I have ever had (at the expense of
one full stop though).

If you are willing to dish out the 1500 needed to get a Noct, you
won't find better image quality!

Regards
Alex

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

 

[PJohnP]

John :

... to make me switch from Nikon, it would be Leica's incredible lenses.

But... and it's a very big "but", the costs of the lenses would be prohibitive (for me). The Noctilux, for example, is about $3,100 at B&H today.

I love Leica equipment, perhaps because I grew up with a father shooting Leica rangefinders, and always associate them with quality equipment. Several friends have shot Leica for years, and I always enjoy working with their bodies and lenses. The warranties on Leicas are, IMO, second to none. But...

The second "but" is that Leica hasn't had a digital SLR or rangefinder with changable lenses (the Digilux has a fixed lens - a great lens, but a fixed lens) available to date. The promised Leica digital back (Digital Module R) is AFAIK still pending.

And the Digital Module R will fit the R8 and R9, but the Noctilux is an "M series" lens. Which would, of course, require me to get an M7 to shoot with...

I ran a calc on what it would cost me to replace my gear with Leica equivalents, and suffice to say, after my divorce for spending so wildly and crazily, I'd be pretty deeply in the hole.

So, while I lust after Leica equipment, I'm (sadly) very unlikely to switch.

Some links for info on stuff I mentioned, BTW :

Noctilux costs : http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=89430&is=USA

Digital Module R : http://www.leica-camera.com/produkte/rsystem/digitalmodul/index_e.html

M7 costs : http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=350996&is=REG

Ah, well, if the lottery comes through, I can have both Nikon and Leica.

John P.

 

[kirintea]

I've been researching on this lens too, the main difference is the coma flare when shooting nightscape. You can see the difference in this article.

http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/society/nikkor/n16_e.htm

what holding me back for buying the noct (other than the high price tag) is the 58mm angle of view is not wide enough on DSLR for my use.

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

 

[PJohnP]

Kirintea :

I've been researching on this lens too, the main difference is the
coma flare when shooting nightscape. You can see the difference in
this article...
what holding me back for buying the noct (other than the high price
tag) is the 58mm angle of view is not wide enough on DSLR for my
use.

I think the article addresses this in part noting that "... lens designers were annoyed by sagittal coma flare seriously produced when a lens became wider the angle of view and faster..." The sagittal coma flare is probably unacceptable at a wider angle of view or the effort involved in making a lens that could meet that standard is prohibitive. Or both.

John P.

 

[BobHo]

Apparently the noct was optimized to be used wide open. In fact, if I recall correctly, it isn't very good stopped down to f/5.6 through 11. Like most "normal" lenses, my Canon 50 f/1.4 is usable at 1.4, but it is definitely softer at that aperture than f/2. There is repeated call on the Canon forum for a 50 f/1.2 L, and I would agree...if it were designed for the same purpose as the noct. The Canon 50 f/1.0 was a publicity stunt to show off the capabilities of the EF lens mount but it apparently isn't very sharp wide open.

Other forum members have allready given you specs and differences,
but since I own both, the Noct and the AIS f/1.2 I felt I shouldd
still throw in some personal thoughts...
Apart from the 50mm f/2.0 prime, the Noct is the only Nikon lens
EVER in this focal range to perform brilliantly when shot wide
open! It is perfectly useable at f/1.2, stopping down is not really
needed - from f/4.0 images start to get worse; if wide open is what
you are after, it can't be beat.

The AIS needs to be stopped down to at least (!!) f/2.8 to give
pleasant results and reaches it's peak at around f/5.6 with about
constant quality to f/11. It is a nice lens, but nowhere near the
Noct; if you don't really need the f/1.2 you'd be a lot better off
with the 50mm f/2.0. This lens is useable wide open and outperforms
every f/1.4 and f/1.8 50mm prime I have ever had (at the expense of
one full stop though).

If you are willing to dish out the 1500 needed to get a Noct, you
won't find better image quality!

Regards
Alex

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

--
Bob

 

[RogM]

Hi everyone,

I am getting quite a lens lust for Noct lens but suddenly it hit
me. What is the difference between Nikkor-Noct 58mm f1.2 and 50 mm
f1.2 AIS lens? Both are fast at f1.2, both have comparable focal
length both are classic design manual lens. So what gives? Why
Nikkor -Noct command such a premium over the other? Is it just
collectors driving up the price of Nikkor-Noct or is there any real
difference between the f1.2 primes?

Many thanks,

John

Better find another lens to spend money on. I've had both the 50 & 55mm f/1.2s and they weren't all that great. Quite soft wide open, and otherwise mediocre, pretty much like an f/1.4 in about every respect. From what I've heard about the Noct-Nikkor, it's noticeable better, but still not a great performer wide open. The front aspheric element helps in reducing coma near the edge, thus night shots will be crisper. The Noct-Nikkor is an interesting collectable, however.
-RogM