My M8 Is Waitin' On UPS: Go Brown Santa... Go!

[WestMichigan]

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The Nikkor Q 13.5cm f3.5 LTM with original shade and leather case I bought is on the truck out for delivery and I am eagerly sitting here waiting to sign for it!

 

I'll be using it on my beloved black M8. The B+W 43mm UV/IR filter arrived yesterday in the mail so I will be ready to shoot right off. I even have a spare 28/90 LTM to M adapter here, too.

 

There is a cloudless sky and it's a baking 94' farenheit with a relative humidity to match so it's more of a steam bake than a roast setting on the oven! Point being I can go out and give the lens a fierce workout in vicious high contrast light right off the bat. If a lens can handle light like this to any extent at all it can handle anything I'll be throwing at it.

 

Richard in Michigan

[brianv]

The Nikkor-Q 13.5cm F3.5 stayed in production virtually unchanged through the AIS series in F-Mount.

 

I have used this lens for decades. The Leica Mount version: check focus close-up and at infinity. Good wide-open, but at F5.6- much sharper.

[WestMichigan]

The Nikkor-Q 13.5cm F3.5 stayed in production virtually unchanged through the AIS series in F-Mount.

 

I have used this lens for decades. The Leica Mount version: check focus close-up and at infinity. Good wide-open, but at F5.6- much sharper.

 

Hi Brian,

The lens arrived this afternoon and I now can see why it stayed in the catalog so long! The lens produces quite lovely images and even wide open is sharper than my recently arrived Hektor is stopped down to f11. It coped well with the harsh light and long tonal ranges shooting amongst the trees. The focus mechanism is quite smooth and the aperture mechanism clicks reasonably well. My copy even came with the original lens cap, the original lens shade, and an original(?) leather case that isn't all dried out and cracked.

However, not everything is beer-n-skittles here in Rangefinder Land. Dunh dunh duh... The lens front focuses at all distances. It's about 12 inches off at 6ft, aprox 2ft at 20feet away, and roughly 3 ft out near it's maximum focusing distance. I have a local repair guy, he's an elderly emigre' from Poland, he rents his storefront from one of my girlfriends inlaws. This should be right up in his wheel house as a technician, but we'll discuss it tomorrow at lunch. Maybe get some nice fried fish at the inlaws shop nextdoor! Win-Win for me even if peter takes a pass on it.

 

Richard in 97' Farenheit West Michigan!

[Guest Ming Rider]

97' Farenheit West Michigan!

 

That isn't even funny (British see)

[WestMichigan]

That isn't even funny (British see) [/quote

 

Nope, 97 degrees actual (100+ counting humidity effect) isn't funny at all!

 

but I must admit to being utterly confused by your post's sentence structure. I am quite likely being quite stupid, but what the heck does "(British see)" mean? That you're british and 50 celsius would really suck? Look up phrase 'that isn't even funn' under british in a thesauras somewhere?

 

Note: Am taking a med which fixes my pinched nerve spasms, but allso suppresses my IQ, So I really sincerely might be being stupid about reading what ya said ming rider! :-D

 

RW

[Guest Ming Rider]

Here in Blighty (the country that invented everything and won the war), it is raining. Yes, it's not a sterotypical illusion invented by Americans. It does indeed bloody rain all the time in the land of Bowler Hats, Cricket and Seeside Comedians going "what's up with you then?"

 

Therefore, the thought of 97 degrees is like rubbing salt into the wound. Hence my pointing out that It's not funny, I'm British, you See.

 

No it's not the med's. You're just stupid

 

P.S. Forgive all the talk of the war and the unwarranted personal attacks. As coincidence would have it, I'm on rather strong muscle relaxants as well for a degenerative spinal condition so I figured you needed some cheering up.

[WestMichigan]

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"No it's not the med's. You're just stupid :D"

When I read this line I busted out laughing and kept laughing for awhile!

Thank You my fellow leica user, thank YOU! :-D

 

I'll also be adding that to my collection of snarky comebacks and commentary. It's a classic.

 

Sorry to hear about the back, I have spurs on a couple of vertabrae which give me a lot of trouble (hence the neurontin) and I wouldn't wish these kinds of pain on my worst enemy. Note: I've had a lot of help with my muscle spasms and stiffness from OMM Treatment (Osteopathic Muscle Manipulation). It's kind of a 'next level' massage where a doctor manipulates muscle group nervous system receptor locations to cause them to relax and reset to baseline. I'm lucky to have a Osteopathic teaching hospital in town and I have appointments with the Doctor who teaches it to the residents - sometimes I have up to 4 doctors treating 4 different problem areas all at once. a) it's the most relaxing experience I've ever had in my life! and it's a demonstration of my head to toe musco-skeletal problems if a room full of docs can keep busy for 45minutes treating different locations!

 

Keep Shooting my friend. Photography always makes my mind and body feel better.

 

Richard in Michigan

 

Here in Blighty (the country that invented everything and won the war), it is raining. Yes, it's not a sterotypical illusion invented by Americans. It does indeed bloody rain all the time in the land of Bowler Hats, Cricket and Seeside Comedians going "what's up with you then?"

 

Therefore, the thought of 97 degrees is like rubbing salt into the wound. Hence my pointing out that It's not funny, I'm British, you See.

 

No it's not the med's. You're just stupid

 

P.S. Forgive all the talk of the war and the unwarranted personal attacks. As coincidence would have it, I'm on rather strong muscle relaxants as well for a degenerative spinal condition so I figured you needed some cheering up.

[Guest Ming Rider]

Richard,

 

I am insanely jealous. The thought of receiving that level of medical attention is but a pleasant dream over here.

 

In the area where I live (50 miles beyond the middle of nowhere), the locals still point at passing cars and the Doctors live in the dark ages. For me, my treatment entails regular visits for strong pain killers and the constant reassurance that my condition (a form of Spina Bifida) causes no pain. Despite the fact that I have two troublesome vertabrae (one thinks it's a wedge shaped block of wood, the other thinks it's a chisel), they maintain that regular motioning of the lower back will help. Even explaining that I had to give up riding horses because of the lower back motion, goes straight over their heads.

 

Still, if they were to treat me, it would probably involve Blood Letting, A Hole in the Head and a Course of Leeches.

 

Yes the NHS is free (even though you pay with your taxes) but you get what you pay for.

 

Now I feel even more miserable. Fantastic weather AND top class medical care.

 

Kev

[SJP]

The village I grew up in was one of the prime purveyors of leeches. Not any more I fear, the market seems to have disappeared.

 

Still despite popular complaint this very weird process seems to be less abysmal than I had expected from a scientific point of view. Similar applies to the use of maggots for dealing with infected wounds, a prospect that I would find rather gruesome admittedly but it seems to work.

 

Anyway, strength with the back, it does not sound like fun at all. Try not to be miserable.

[brianv]

However, not everything is beer-n-skittles here in Rangefinder Land. Dunh dunh duh... The lens front focuses at all distances. It's about 12 inches off at 6ft, aprox 2ft at 20feet away, and roughly 3 ft out near it's maximum focusing distance. I have a local repair guy, he's an elderly emigre' from Poland, he rents his storefront from one of my girlfriends inlaws. This should be right up in his wheel house as a technician, but we'll discuss it tomorrow at lunch. Maybe get some nice fried fish at the inlaws shop nextdoor! Win-Win for me even if peter takes a pass on it.

 

 

Close-focus means that the optics are too far from the image plane.

 

This means either the Shim on the lens is too thick and needs to be reduced, or the LTM adapter is off.

 

If the RF converges at Infinity- the adapter is the proper thickness.

 

The Optics Module simply unscrews from the focus mount, revealing the main shim. Zeiss lenses and Jupiter lenses tend to stack shims, makes it easier to get the right match. Nikkor lenses tend to use one shim. I've made shims out of wire and retaining rings.

 

Fortunately, the M8 makes it very easy to determine when it's correct. I would suggest letting your repair technician test the lens on the adapter, and use the camera to determine best focus.

 

This lens does NOT suffer from Sonnar focus shift- Telephoto and F3.5 max aperture work in your favor..

[WestMichigan]

Close-focus means that the optics are too far from the image plane.

 

This means either the Shim on the lens is too thick and needs to be reduced, or the LTM adapter is off.

 

If the RF converges at Infinity- the adapter is the proper thickness.

 

The Optics Module simply unscrews from the focus mount, revealing the main shim. Zeiss lenses and Jupiter lenses tend to stack shims, makes it easier to get the right match. Nikkor lenses tend to use one shim. I've made shims out of wire and retaining rings.

 

Fortunately, the M8 makes it very easy to determine when it's correct. I would suggest letting your repair technician test the lens on the adapter, and use the camera to determine best focus.

 

This lens does NOT suffer from Sonnar focus shift- Telephoto and F3.5 max aperture work in your favor..

 

Thanks Brian,

I meant to test infinity focus when I first got the lens, but once I discovered the missed focusing at nearer distances I got caught up in verifying that test and never went back to do the infinity test.

The info about shims and adapters will come in handy. I suspect that Peter will have a good material to shim with right in his shop. There are a million small drawers, nooks, and crannies, holding parts and miscellaneai he has accumulated over the decades of fixing lenses and cameras.

I will post some sample images shortly to the forum demonstrating the results I am getting with the lens photoraphy wise. I really like the look of the images and I find the colors pleasing as well. It gives a pallete different than any of my other lenses.

 

Sincerely

Richard

[martha]

Richard:

 

Greetings from Maine, where it's in the 60's and rainy (sort of English weather).

 

Is the Nikkor q 13.5cm a 135 mm lens?

 

martha

[WestMichigan]

Richard:

 

Greetings from Maine, where it's in the 60's and rainy (sort of English weather).

 

Is the Nikkor q 13.5cm a 135 mm lens?

 

martha

 

Hi Martha,

yeppers, it's a 135mm lens. Don't ask me to explain why things changed because I frankly don't know, but the specifications and markings put on lenses by camera companies used to use the 'correct' metric indications for focal length. Sooooo with 10milimeters equalling one centimeter, a 135mm lens would be properly called a thirteen and a half centimeter lens (13.5cm). At some point in the history of photography manufacturers dropped the decimal and the cm along with it and stuck with using mm no mater how long a lens got.

 

Sincerely

Richard in Michigan

[Guest Ming Rider]

But surely in the USA it is called a 5.314961" Lens ?

[WestMichigan]

But surely in the USA it is called a 5.314961" Lens ?

I believe lenses marked in inches died along with the last of the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye users!

 

Ha ha ha ha

[brianv]

But surely in the USA it is called a 5.314961" Lens ?

 

It would simply be marked as a 5" lens, or at most a 5.4" lens.

 

My Wollensak 51mm F1.5 is also marked 2.04".

 

Most Leica 50mm lenses should be marked 51.xmm. Sometimes if you take them apart you can find the more accurate measure internally. I've taken apart 4 Summarts, all marked 51.1mm. Summicrons, 51.6mm and 51.9mm. I think the "cm" marking is the better measure, as almost no lens is actually the focal length actually marked in millimeters.

 

I'm not sure why the Hektor is not working out. I do not use mine much with the M9, but it worked properly. I wonder if a light baffle or something else is out of place. The Hektor is a "long focal length Anastigmat"- not a telephoto design. All that means- the optics are far from the image plane compared with a Telephoto formula lens. Internal baffling is required as the light travels a long way down the lens tube. I just looked at mine, indeed there is a light baffle behind the optics.

[WestMichigan]

Hi Brian,

it's not that I think my Hektor 135mm isn't 'working', because I actually believe my copy is performing somewhere near the peak of what a Hektor is capable of accomplishing. My issue is specifically that a Hektor is ill suited for shooting with the sun not especially far outside of the frame, for shooting with a lot of light bouncing around and going right through the lens shade and into the lens barrel, not for shooting wide open images of players in white uniforms throwing white baseballs in viciously high contrast light, and especially not adding that all up and then cropping tightly into the resulting images.

 

Conversely, I must say that the Nikkor I've just picked up is handling those exact same issues with wonderful applomb. The Nikkor Q 13.5cm is a licensed copy/derivative of a well regarded pre-war Sonnar design of similar focal length (assuming my sources are correct, but they sure look alike and the explanations sure sound plausible). I am having some focusing accuracy issues though, but I can't say for sure yet whether it's the Nikkor, my eyes, my glasses, my M8, or even all of the above, wreaking havoc when I'm shooting wide open. I should have some answers by next weekend - doctors appt's and more testing of the equipment is planned. I also have another ltm adapter which should be arriving anyday now to toss that into the mix.

 

Frankly, the whole process and trials and tribulations is actually quite fun for me. And, yes, I am a photo geek... why do you ask? :-D LOL

 

Richard in Michigan

[brianv]

When I get a bit of time will try out the Hektor specifically with the M8.

 

The Nikkor is a "Sonnar" type lens, but is not a copy of the pre-war CZJ 13.5cm F4 lens. Nikon had a 13.5cm F4- but is rare. After WW-II was over, Zeiss lost their patents.

 

I have a lot of 135's in Leica Mount. Canon 135/3.5 (late version), Nikkor 13.5 F3.5, Arco Tele-Colinar 135/3.8, Schacht 135/3.5, Canon 135/4, and two Hektor 135/4.5's.

[brianv]

I took the 135/4.5 Hektor-M out with a hood for a 50mm lens on it. Pictures with sunlight coming in at oblique angles across the glass light it up like a flare gun. My guess: the Hektor is a long-focal length lens, the optics are relatively flat, and all of the elements are up front and close to each other. You can unsrew the optics module from the focus mount to see for yourself. The Nikkor, and most 135's are Telephoto formula lenses- most of the glass is well behind the front element and the surfaces have higher curvature.

 

The Nikkor 135/3.5 and Zeiss 135/4 are different formulas- if anyone is interested,

Neblette, "Photographic Lenses", 1965 edition.

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Hallo,

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[WestMichigan]

Brian,

Thanks for the confirmation of my experiences with the Hektor 135. I don't consider it a bad lens in absolute terms, but definitely the wrong 'horse' for the 'course' I will be running on. Word on theForum is the Hektor is terrific for Intentional Infrared uses and based on the plethora of surprisingly purple shadows w/o my uv/ir in place I'd say they're right.

 

Query: are you really sure the Nikkor Q f3.5 13.5cm LTM isn't a Sonnar derivative?

My understanding (not definitive) is Nikon started with a straight copy based on designs- info- engineering passed along during the war then kept massaging the base design to give it a scooch more speed, adjust to changing glass types, and incorporate their coating advances. Etc etc etc. But at it's heart the rangefinder 135's nikon made for 20 yrs were Sonnars. I'm not saying there weren't changes, but they supposedly were more in the tweak realm than of the starting from scratch variety.

 

Whatever the case!

MyNikkor 135 is quite nice and for a measly $96.00 US Delivered for a near mint copy with original shade and leather case even, I am tickled pink and glad to own it.

 

richard in Michigan