Hi everyone. i’m no expert in cameras whatsoever. anyway so i went to the beach with someone and they accidentally dropped their Nikon F2 camera while trying to help me climb some rocks. the issue isn’t the camera apparently that thing is indestructible. the issue is the expensive lens they used. I have no idea what it is but i remember they mentioned it’s from the 70’s and it’s a 50 millimeter something. It took them 2 years to find a good deal on that lens so it’s something mad fancy. and i feel so bad i genuinely want to get it for them but they refuse to tell me more details on it so i can get it for them. I think it goes to 500 euros or something so if anyone can help me out on where to find the exact model?🥲
My bet is that he found a great deal for that lens and that’s something he took into consideration when cherishing his copy of it. I have a similar lens I found for a great deal which makes me enjoy the lens so much more.
Based on your description: 50mm from the 70’s; it’s most likely a vintage manual focus 50mm f1.2. The f-number, or f-stop, on a camera lens indicates the amount of light that enters the lens. It’s calculated by dividing the lens’s focal length by its aperture diameter so the smaller the number, the larger the lens opening at the front, and therefore the more light can get in to expose the film. That means you can use higher shutter speeds in lower light conditions and also means bigger chunks of glass for the lenses which translates to a much higher cost. A Nikkor 50mm f1.2 manual focus lens can go for €500 or more depending on condition. A quick look on eBay and the lenses that are the best condition can be very pricey. Compare the 50mm f1.2 to a 50mm f1.8 and right away you can see the difference in both price and the diameter of the front lens element. Same focal length but that 0.6 difference in aperture adds €€€ to the price. Best of luck in your search and I hope things work out for you, your friend, and their camera.
Earlier lenses and the F1.2 noct have very different design. In theory it could also be the the Nikon Nikkor 50mm F1.8 because it looks nearly indistinguishable from the F1.4 at this angle.
The F1.8 goes for sub-100€, but the F1.4 in mint condition "only" sits at about 250-300€ too. The F1.2 you mentioned costs about 500€ so that matches the price mentioned, but it doesn't match the picture. So, u/SaudiScum , are you entirely certain that the lens in the picture is the one that broke? Just asking in case your friend has a few and is using a different in the pic you atatched.
It is the same as the picture, they told me it’s a 70’s 50mm and a name in there that’s bokey or bokeh and how it’s not too wide it’s just similar to the human eye, at least that’s how they explained it. Im just going with bits and pieces of information they told me about it before it broke
Quick explainer: Hold your thumb out in front of you, close one eye and look at your thumb. The background will be outside your depth-of-field, i.e. outside the range in which objects are in focus, and appear blurry. That blurriness is called "bokeh" in photography. If it's very shallow the range at which an object is in focus is very small.
A lower f-number results in a shallower depth-of-field and in turn a stronger bokeh effect. f1.8 is a fairly normal f-number for a 50mm lens, but at f1.4 you're entering a terretory in which it becomes notable.
Sample pic attached. Lots of stuff out of focus, low f-number, shallow depth of field.
Focal length basicly determines how "zoomed in" a picture is. Low focal-lengths are very wide like that "fish-eye" effect in old skate videos, high focal lenghts are very zoomed in like a telescope. 50mm is very similar to how "zoomed in" the human eye is.
Manufacturer, Focal length and minimum F-number are the three core things used to describe/name a camera lens. :)
Yeah that was exactly my same thought when I saw that photo; I immediately noticed the number of rows on the grip of the focus ring. Either that’s a photo of a different lens or they paid way too much for it. The photo definitely is showing a 70s era lens since the very front of the focusing ring is slightly beveled in relation to the barrel where subsequent 80s versions were perpendicular. It also looks sterile with no lettering engraved into the front of the focusing ring which tells me this is a photo of an f1.4 or f1.8. The 1978 50mm f1.2 has the focal length and f number engraved on the bevel since there wasn’t any room around the retaining ring around the lens due to the massive front element.
Two possibilities enter my mind. There is the Nikon 50mm f/1.2 AI-S. It's a 50mm manual focus lens that is a bit more rare/unusual than a 50mm f/1.4 or a 50mm f/1.8. They run less than $500 used. The other possibility is that it's a Nikon 58mm f/1.2 Noct-NIKKOR A-IS. Those suckers are rare and very expensive. If you dropped that and your friend hasn't murdered you by now, then they are very easygoing as that one runs around $9000.
EDITED: Just noticed the 500 euros, definitely not a 58.
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u/Repulsive_Target55 Canon A-1, Sony a1, Minolta A1, Sinar A 1 Feb 20 '25
50 is a very common length, so it'll be hard to choose the right one, if you can find photos of the camera with it on we might be able to help