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Noktor 50mm f/0.95
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March 2010 More Nikon Reviews Canon Leica Pentax
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Noktor is a brilliant example of marketing at its very best.
Marketing is creating interest in a product. Marketing is creating awareness through publicity, and building desire by getting people to think that the product offers quality and value. Marketing is adding value to a product: making people think about it, and making them think it's a good product.
The guys behind Noktor are doing so much right that if I needed a marketing person, they'd be hired.
What they've done is take a security camera lens, change the mount to micro 4/3, and pimp it up so that it looks like the Second Coming of a cross among the LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH ($10,500), the Nikon NOCT-NIKKOR 58mm f/1.2 ($3,000) and the Zeiss Ultra Prime 50mm ($12,100).
In fact, these brilliant guys took this CCTV lens even beyond Zeiss' Ultra Primes, which for $12,000 are only T/1.9, by calling this faster f/0.95 lens a Hyper Prime. Noktor's website is much clearer than Zeiss, too, making it a lot easier to learn about the Noktor.
Wow! Better than the $12,100 Zeiss Ultra Prime, and a few classes better than the $10,500 NOCTILUX-M? I want one!
All this, and the Noktor sells for only $750! Oops, that was the pre-order price. God only knows how high it's climbed now. Man, I hope I can still get it for $750!
Among the things Noktor has done right in marketing are:
Name
Noktor means absolutely nothing, and thus they got Noktor.com, and it already has extremely high value.
It has strong and solid overtones that bestow all the value that LEICA, Nikon and others have been working to build for over fifty years.
In one mouse click and $7.95 to register a domain, they just created one of the most powerful brand names in history.
Noktor blends NOCTILUX and NIKKOR together.
Absolutely brilliant!
Power of Positive Suggestion
I realty like the part where they ask if you'd like to see Nikon, Canon EOS and PL (motion picture) mounts in the future.
This lens couldn't cover full-frame still 35mm if its life depended on it, but by asking that question, it implies that this 50/0.95 does cover 24x36mm. Of course the fine print mentions the future, but who cares? They just added more value to their product.
The PL mount question is double-platinum. Anyone around the movie industry knows only the best lenses (think $10,000 - $300,000) get put in PL mount.
Catchy Website
Many people will buy anything from a catchy website.
We all know that a good website guarantees good products and good service. To people who spend time on the internet, which means micro 4/3 shooters, a website is everything. It is reality itself!
The Noktor website works and looks great. Its better than most real websites, like eBay or Canon!
The Noktor site works great, looks great, and delivers all the value. I wish my site looked that good.
The One Mistake
In the numerous fantastic ways that this site adds value to this product, one of the many ways is to let people know on the FAQ page that it's made in Japan. Not China like half of Nikon's lenses, but good old Japan.
As we all know, it's more powerful to name a specific company in Japan, than just "Japan." Even Nikon doesn't tell us if the few lenses it actually makes in Japan are from its Ohi factory, or wherever.
Noktor names Goyo Optical as the manufacturer of this lens.
Oops! Noktor forgot that one mouse click later and we're at Goyo Optical, a real company, whose website isn't quite up to Noktor's standard.
Many of use know that inexpensive 50mm f/0.95 lenses have been common for security cameras for years, and Goyo is a CCTV lens maker. Bingo!
Product
This is an article about the business of marketing.
The product doesn't matter.
In this case, it's not a still camera lens at all. This 50/0.95 is a security camera lens; here's its original data sheet.
50mm f/0.95 lenses are common for CCTV security cameras, like the ones in convenience store parking lots. It's easy to make an f/0.95 lens for security cameras because they don't have to be anywhere near as sharp as lenses for still cameras. These lenses cannot cover the 24x36mm frame, but they do cover the smaller sensors of video security cameras.
CCTV lenses are not high-resolution. Video is only 0.3 MP, or about 640 x 480 pixels.
I have no idea how well this security camera lens works for still photography. I do like the DIN fonts used on the Noktor version.
I'll bet you can buy a CCTV lens and a C-mount to 4/3 adapter for a lot less all by yourself.
Dealers
None, and you'll see they are looking for people to help them move these.
Heck, I have no idea if they're really selling this product, or if this website is simply an assignment in business school.
In any case, the website is brilliant.
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Thanks for reading!
Ken
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