Nikon 50mm f/1.2 doesn't have electronic diaphragm right?

[iosif_astrukov]

<p>I mean the one that is still in production…</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>The 50mm/f1.2 has no electronics inside.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Absolutely not. It's an Ai-S manual focus lens. In fact I don't think it's possible to even squeeze a Dandelion chip onto the rim of it, because the glass goes out to the very edge of the mount.</p>

<p>I looked at mine with a view to adding a chip but decided there just wasn't enough room. I think even a factory CPU version of the lens is almost out of the question without the optics being totally recomputed and possibly compromised by having a smaller rear element.</p>

[FPapp]

<p>These guys can add a chip.</p>

<p>http://legacy2digital.com/nikon/2011/10/test-3.html</p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>Very few lenses have the electronic diaphragm in Nikon line up. </p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>Very few lenses have the electronic diaphragm in Nikon line up. </p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>The OP is talking about an electronically controlled aperture diaphragm. Only a few E lenses are in that category such as the PC-E lenses and the 400mm/f2.8 E and 800mm/f5.6 E AF-S VR.</p>

<p>Concerning adding a CPU chip, since Nikon makes no AF or P lenses that are f1.2, you are going to have a hard time finding an appropriate CPU chip for an f1.2 lens. You can approximate it with one from an f1.4 lens, but that is inexact and whether there is sufficient room physically is another issue.</p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Frank, nice link...but I'm not sure I can justify (to myself) a <em>starting</em> price of $399.</p>

<p>I'd have guessed by now that all new Nikon lenses would have E apertures. However, putting them in the lenses Shun mentions makes them non-legacy supported items. </p>

<p>I do wonder why long lenses seem to have been singles out for E apertures though?</p>

<p>For shift lenses it makes sense as the lens aperture/body connection is 'flexible'..:-)</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Using E apertures in all new lenses would stop them working with older cameras - bear in mind the D3 generation were the first to support these. It's not a huge issue for the tilt-shift lenses, which have a manual override for stopping down the aperture and aren't "G", but the 800 and new 400 are G lenses.<br />

<br />

As Mike says, the tilt lenses really need an electronic aperture, because it's really hard to make an accurate mechanical linkage that "bends". This is probably why Canon have had tilt lenses for years, and Nikon only got around to it recently. For the telephotos, I have no doubt that controlling an aperture that's a long way in front of the camera is easier to do electronically than with a really long lever... clearly Nikon have managed this in the past, but I'm sure it's easier to engineer, giving more flexibility to the design, more room in the lens, more reliability and reduced costs, to do it electronically. Not that "reduced costs" have really shown up with the 800 and new 400...<br />

<br />

Since the lenses went "G", there seems to be much less point to having a mechanical aperture lever. To be honest, I always figured that Canon had done this right with the EF mount, and with E lenses and AF-S (and AF-I), Nikon pretty much work the same way as Canon do. But the need for backward compatibility is an issue. Make every lens work this way, and even the F6 is going to have trouble, so I suspect Nikon will move in that direction only when they feel safe to do so. (There's no Nikon body that supports all lenses properly. The closest is probably an adapted F5 with a flip-up aperture tab, but that won't matrix with old lenses and doesn't support "E". The F4 doesn't even handle G lenses properly, several older cameras don't do VR, the F6 won't do E, and nothing newer than the F5 has a proper mirror lock-up for intrusive fish-eyes. The Df gets close. I'd kind of like to see Nikon make a camera that can really work with absolutely everything, if only as a technology demonstrator and for bragging rights - and the few collectors with a huge range of stuff.)<br />

<br />

However, I <i>have</i> been assuming that every <i>camera</i> since the D3 has been able to do electronic aperture, even the low-end ones that are unlikely to be attached to a tilt-shift. Is this a fair assumption?<br />

<br />

As to Iosif's question, I'm assuming that he wants to know because he wants to mount the lens on something that doesn't know about the Nikon electronic protocol. If it's about reporting the lens aperture to the camera, then the Dandelion et al. fixes would make the lens AI-P equivalent (actually, I understand they tend to report the lens as being autofocus, which is actually <i>more</i> helpful for trap focus work). If it's a question of controlling the aperture, not only is there no need for a "G"-aware control of aperture, but the f/1.2 50mm has a mechanical aperture ring, so there's no need for control external to the lens at all.</p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>I always thought that Canon did the right thing in abandonning the FD mount. It's a move that moved them ahead of Nikon. I guess at the time Canon didn't have too big of a stake to lose but Nikon did so they couldn't do it the Canon way from the beginning but having to do it a little bit at a time. </p>

[iosif_astrukov]

<p>Thank you :)<br>

it's very interesting that there is a company (or people) who put CPU into old Nikkors… I didn't know that<br>

I was wondering if I would have metering with an old and small body like F55 - but obviously I won't <br>

Still this lens is very tempting… </p>

[CvhKaar]

<blockquote>

<p> This is probably why Canon have had tilt lenses for years, and Nikon only got around to it recently</p>

</blockquote>

<p>MM i do not fully agree with this statement Andrew, since the first shift & tilt lenses ( PC-Nikkor 35mm F/3.5) from Nikon were produced from 1962 on, and updatet to F2.8 in 1968, the next series ( the 24mm F4.0) were available from 1975 to my knowledge , and the 28mm F/3.5 appeared somewhere around 180 / 1981 ....</p>

 

[mike_halliwell]

<p>CPM, I think the very relevant word your ignoring is <em><strong>TILT</strong>.</em><br>

<em> </em><br>

1st Nikon TILT and shift lens is the 24mm f3.5D PC-E released in January 2008.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>CPM - what Mike said. :-) I don't actually know where the aperture sits in the Nikkor tilt lenses. My tilt-shift lenses are both Russian, and have manual stop-down, but their apertures are definitely in the bit not attached to the camera.<br />

<br />

Iosif - if you just want to use it on an F55, the only thing that won't work is the metering. The electronics on the AF lens tell the F55 the aperture; the F55 doesn't have an aperture feeler ring which some bodies have, which would tell it what the aperture is set to, so it can't tell whether the lens is wide open when it's metering it (and whether the aperture will change when the lever is moved) except with an electronic lens. Without electronics, a 50 f/1.2 can't impart this information, unless you can find a way to chip one. However, the camera <i>does</i> still control the aperture via a mechanical lever; in the case of this lens, it completely relaxes the lever, letting the lens stop down to whatever aperture you've selected on the lens's aperture ring. Use an external meter (or app!) and you may be fine.<br />

<br />

Otherwise, it's a question of getting the lens "chipped"; if it's physically possible, there shouldn't be a huge problem - the lens is AI-S, meaning that the camera should be perfectly capable of controlling the aperture. (It frustrates me that the DSLRs that can handle AI-S lenses still insist on using the lens's aperture ring, as though they were only AI.) That said, there are some very good f/1.4 lenses out there, and you'll be giving up quite a bit of performance to get to f/1.2.<br />

<br />

You may find some useful information on the 50mm <a href="http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/50mmnikkor/index6.htm">here</a>. You might not enjoy the manual focus experience much on an F55 (given how thin the focal plane is), but I can't guarantee a problem.<br />

<br />

Hope that helps!</p>

[iosif_astrukov]

<p>Thank you <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=4303235">Andrew</a> :)<br>

I am aware of everything you said - I have tried old Nikkors on f55 before :) I was hoping that it could have CPU as it is still in production :) <br>

It could be used in fully manual mode which is also fun<br>

I just came across a review and I loved the image that this Nikkor creates :)<br>

Best wishes</p>

[bill_stice1]

<p>"1st Nikon TILT and shift lens is the 24mm f3.5D PC-E released in January 2008."</p>

<p>Actually the first Nikon TILT and shift lens was the 85PC Micro lens which was a predecessor to all of the Nikon PCE Lenses. It has both tilt and shift but doesn't have the electronic shutter and requires stop down metering. It was first manufactured in 2005. </p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Good hit Bill, but here makes it June 1999!!</p>

<p>http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html#PC</p>

<p>Gosh, I never realised Nikon made it that early!</p>

[bill_stice1]

<p>Mike, you are correct. I read the end of manufacture date not the beginning on the same site. Thanks!</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Hey, from alpha to omega.<br>

compare: http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00b2NO</p>

<p>I also use my Nikkor-S 55mm f/1.2 lens, stop down and manual focus, on my EOS Canons, having become an apostate so I could still use my old non-AI Nikkors.</p><div></div>

[nathan_wong2]

<p>Actually concerning Canon abandoning the FD mount in favor of their current mount, it appears they did a good thing nowadays but I remember when it first happened Canon people were P***ED, to put is lightly. I think a lot of people may have jumped ship to Nikon when they did that since Nikon kept their mount. However, nowadays they've slowly changed it. Yes, you can mount old lenses on new camera bodies, but you lose a lot of the features. <br>

To the original poster, the AI-S lens aren't like G or E, so you get the aperture ring. </p>