The lens thread. Post your favourites or 'finds'

[personalphotos]

<p>Somanna asked me in this week's POTW about the size of one of the lenses and I see those types of questions pop up from the various pictures posted. So instead of cluttering up a great weekly event. I thought we could all have some fun with our various lens finds or favourites.</p>

<p><strong>So post your favourite lenses or unusual 'finds'</strong></p>

<p>Of course we are an unusual bunch. Our cameras can take everything from a toilet paper roll to a Limited series lens. I think we are the 'Greenest' of the various groups of photographers. We resurrect all this old glass that would otherwise go to the landfill. Consider that, as Miserere reminded me, Sony users can use a lot of old glass but their SR doesn't allow a focal length input, so we have an advantage and reason to use the old stuff.<br /> So my most used lens would be split between the Sigma EX 70-200 F2.8 (old version) and the DA16-45mm but some new favourites are definitely Taks and old screw mounts. Great glass that still has plenty of life left.<br>

The attached picture shows a bunch of M42's:<br /> -Soligor 200mm f2.8<br /> -Mamiya Sekor 135mm f2.8<br /> -Takumar 55mm f1.8<br /> -Takumar 500mm f4.5 (thanks to Dave Hollander)<br /> -Piesker Tele-Votar 400mm f4.5<br>

Bet you've never heard if this one! Very rare and really hard to find any data. As far as I can tell, this lens is 1951-1952 vintage. Has 'Berlin' stamped on the barrel. The company mostly made movie flim camera lenses and used Ektar mounts. But this odd-ball has an M42 mount. Kinda heavy (around 4 Kg) but the focus ring is in the middle and it's hand holdable as a result. It has a simple but effective tripod mount. The apeture controls are near the front and it's a variable ring. Has around 20 blades right in the front behind the front element. About 6m minimum focus distance. From what I can find out and see myself, this lens has either 2 or 3 elements. One in front and either one or 2 in the back. Basically a long extension tube. Shows a bit of green fringing but if you look at this weeks POTW. I posted a couple shots from it. In the right circumstances, it does well.</p>

<p>My next experiment with this lens will be with extension tubes to see if it can do some macros of those subjects it's tough to get close to. I'll update the blog here; http://enticingthelight.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/shooting-macros-section-3-the-math/ once it's been tried.</p>

<p>Post your lens finds to the thread!</p><div></div>

[musings]

<p>I have *no* unusual lenses that would interest my fellow Pentaxians, but I *do* have a keen interest in finding a Piesker Tele-Votar of my own. Wickedly cool lens! The Takumar 500mm is awesome, too, but the Piesker revved my engines big time. Going hunting on eBay now... :-)</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p><em>...And in unrelated economy news, the price of Piesker stock rose from $0.02 to $423.54 per share overnight for reasons that we have yet to find out...</em></p>

[jgredline]

<p>I too do not have any unusual lenses, but on a side note,</p>

<p>Mis, you lost a film canister?</p>

[miserere_mei]

<blockquote>

<p>Mis, you lost a film canister?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yes I did! I guess I'm not spreading as much drivel as I used to...</p>

[jptreen]

<p>oh wow, that Piesker lens is an insanity optic!<br>

Far less exciting but rather fun for me is a lens I've just picked up on ebay for a good price. The Sigma 24mm f/1.8. The lens (or at least the copy I have) is sharp, in great condition, well built and focuses down so close you can rest the lens hood against a wall and take a sharp photo of the wall.<br>

has truly MF-lens style dampened focusing, courtesy of it's 'Macro' designation no doubt. (1:2.7) - I'm not sure if you'd be able to use much more with a lens so wide. It's 'sharp but a bit dreamy' wide open and gets worse at the edges, and that's on a crop sensor (this is a 35mm-designed lens) - pretty similar to my FA50/1.4 in that respect.<br>

It's heavy and chunky, but then no-one buys Sigma for their low-profile.<br>

Most importantly for me, it's f/1.8 and it's perfectly usable wide open. My 100DS can't handle f/1.8 and the camera and exif always say 'f/1.7' and the lens appears on exif as 'SIGMA'.<br>

Bit of a back-door winner for me - I found it second had great condition for half new price (already less than the price of the DA21 ltd, which I already have - and I have a feeling I may prefer the colour and contrast on the Sigma!!)<br>

And to think, I only bought it because it had just come on ebay (9 days to go) with what looked like a 'too good to miss' BIN price. I told myself I'd test it then relist it and make some money - I really doubt i can part with it now.<br>

Typical!</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>J.P., I considered that lens for a long time, as it has received many kudos from its users (as too the 28mm version). It was the bulk that stopped me. Yeah, Sigma don't really try to make any of their lenses small...or even normal-sized :-D</p>

[michael_kuhne]

<p>I absolutely agree with J.P.- That Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG, which I bought new years ago for $300, is a great lens. It is chunky, with a 77mm filter size, but not at all huge for what it is, and very well built. Quite portable, actually. Comes with a decent case too, with a belt loop. Very handy FL for a DSLR, the classic 35mm view. Unusual in its WA closeup abilities, fast, and great for doing low-light shots, and much else. And yes, good also for film use, and has an aperture ring.</p><div></div>

[shaloot]

<p>my favourite find so far is my Super-Takumar 55mm f/1.8 which I got for free.99! well... then I bought the pentax original m42 to K adapter which was about $30 so.....</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>While not the sharpest or AF, the Pentax SMC M 40mm f2.8 is my favorite. I use it on both my ZX-5 and MX to make them pocketable. On the ZX-5 I get focus confirmation in the VR.</p>

<div></div>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Here's a photo taken with this lens.</p><div></div>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>I guess my favorite find (aside from the 1000mm "Black Dragon") is the Sigma 24mm f2.8 Super-Wide II I bought from Mis. </p><div></div>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>I liked it so much I bought one for my son. I mean, how could you <em>not</em> love a lens that produced this?</p><div></div>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>Dave, that's pretty cool. I've heard only good things about the Sigma 24 superwides (though aesthetically speaking, I guess they're sort of an acquired taste). </p>

<p>Now I'm going to have to spend the next few hours thinking about which lens I'm going to photograph for this thread. </p>

<p>Perhaps we need a LOTW (yes, you read it here first) thread. (Now that's an idea that could encourage bad behavior). And I expect that this thread might help get Mis' drivel engine back up to speed.</p>

[jgredline]

<p><strong>Ok, I missed the spirit of the thread. Since my favorites change all the time, my favorite of late has been the same as Mike, only I have mine on my ME Super</strong> <strong>and K1000</strong> <br /> <img src="http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp128/jgredline/lense%20test/mymesuperwith40pancake1.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> <strong>Funny thing. I have the same lens in digital DA40 F/2.8 but never use it, yet this M lens is always with me.</strong></p>

[jgredline]

<p>Here is one of my latest pictures with it. <br /> <img src="http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp128/jgredline/Film/ela12.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p> </p>

[personalphotos]

<p>Jeff, This thread has soon good info on these old lenses. The one he has pictured is different than mine but so far the IQ appears similar. Someday soon I'll add some pics to this thread from it.<br /> http://forum.mflenses.com/tele-astranar-piesker-400-5-5-rackandpinion-focus-t11232.html</p>

<p>Javier, that shot is great! The sigma looks wonderful Dave.</p>

<p>Btw, I posted the wrong name for the common mount these are found in. Its usually an Exakta mount</p>

[chune_hoong_pong]

<p>Peter - Holy dinosaur, batman ... that's one massive beast. Period. <br />John-Paul - I've only heard great things about the Sigma 24mm, hope to see more pics soon.<br />Somanna - Great find on the 55mm Super-Tak ... though i always find that it's the original m42-to-K mount adapter on the DSLR that really brings out the true value of those m42 gems. Again, you lucky sod!<br />Mike G - To my untrained eye, there's only all-round sharpness in the pic from the pancake :)<br />Dave - Did you just call yourself a lens? :)<br /><br />I picked up a PKA-mount Tokina SZ-X 287 28-70mm f2.8-4.3 from ebay sometime early last year, delivered to my friend in Boston; I didn't get my hands on it till a few months later. As it turns out, the aperture would close down to f22 the moment I turn the focusing ring from the wide-angle end, leaving the viewfinder in complete darkness. Lucked out :(<br /><br />Cut to the chase, I took the lens to a local camera store and explained the problem. I returned 2 weeks later to pick it up and the engineer/technician came out personally to meet me. A Pentaxian truly is the proverbial one-in-a-million here :) Anyway, mounted the lens, turned the focusing ring, and immediately noticed something amiss. The initial problem was indeed rectified, but now it just stays at f2.8! On AV mode, the dial still allowed me to control the aperture, giving me a constant f2.8 28-70mm lens!! Lucked in :)<br /><br />The focusing ring is a pleasure to use, never mind the extra speed, and the 1:3 macro is somewhat useful if not fun. Here's a sample pic taken several weeks ago.<br /><br /><img src="http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr235/hchune/Web%20Uploads/IMGP0054.jpg" alt="" /><br /><strong>I Can Haz Cheezy Smile</strong> <br /><br /><br /> </p>

[michael_kuhne]

<p>I also have that "M" 40mm pancake, and have often used it on both cameras shown by Javier and Mike G. It really is sharp when stopped down just a little, and constructed like a Limited! very nice. For some 7 years, after getting my first AF body, and then yet longer after getting my second- the PZ-1p, that as shown by Javier was my main compact setup and backup. As shown by Mike G became my next compact setup. Lots of memories are stirred just by seeing these photos! </p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>I've sold most of my classic older lenses. My current two favorites are the Mamiya/Sekor 60mm f. 2.8 M42 lens and the Pentax A* 200mm f. 2.8 telephoto.</p>

<p>More information about the Mamiya can be found <a href="http://freenet-homepage.de/stauber/mamiya-nc/m42_mamiya_60_2.8.htm">here</a> .</p>

<p>As a preset the handling on the lens is outstanding. I use it in full AV mode and can see all DOF changes in real time. It's very cinematic. I love the color rendition, it reminds me of a 50s Alfred Hitchcock films.</p>

<p><img src="http://www.smugmug.com/photos/178454532_u5mtC-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://www.smugmug.com/photos/199073562_v2rSt-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://www.smugmug.com/photos/213686666_iWNQj-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>The Pentax A* 200mm f. 2.8 is fairly rare. This is the only picture online I could find and it is mislabeled as being a non-"*" lens--that asterisk matters.</p>

<p><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/f8/f9/a422431378a04db2f5ec7110._AA280_.L.jpg" alt="" width="280" height="280" /></p>

<p>Anyway, this lens is outstanding. My mint copy handles like butter--the whole usage experience is a treat.</p>

<p>I mentioned in the POW thread that I photographed snow geese on Saturday. Here are two shots taken by the manually focused lens:</p>

<p><img src="http://www.smugmug.com/photos/479005467_afWLg-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://www.smugmug.com/photos/479005739_K2NyJ-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>ME</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>Chune-Hoong, I owned that very same lens, and I hate to inform you that when you zoom to 70mm the aperture goes down to f/4.3. Because there is no focal length communicated between the camera and the lens, the camera body doesn't know that the aperture changes when you're zooming away from 28mm. Because of this you will get overexposure when shooting anything but wide open at focal lengths greater than 28mm.</p>

<p>Other than that, it's a great lens and I was very sad to part with it.</p>

<p>Dave, I'm glad you put that Sigma 24mm to good use! I love the thorny leaf pic.</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>An unassuming lens:</p>

<p align="center"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_i6tc3TCyOTA/SOQh78FAjqI/AAAAAAAABjg/PXOgYqv5vKY/s800/IMGP9826-small.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>...That took pretty god pictures!</p>

 

<p align="center"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_i6tc3TCyOTA/SOQ8uE3nBmI/AAAAAAAABlI/VokUVKSxEH0/s800/IMGP9813-small.jpg" alt="" /></p>

 

<p align="center"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_i6tc3TCyOTA/SOQ8uI6o8iI/AAAAAAAABlQ/TpSL1MBM7Gg/s800/IMGP9819-small.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>Michael E., I have a title for your last two shots: <em>Got Geese?</em> Awesome shots, all of them.</p>

[bob-c]

<p>I have been meaning to ask this question for some time and I guess this is as good a time as any since I have all you lens experts here. I know Peter didn't literally mean FIND when he started this thread but that is exactly what happened with this lens. Years ago (like probably 30) I was walking through the woods one day when I spotted this black leather pouch. Upon openning it I found this lens. It is a KIMUNOR 35 - 500mm f8 lens. Since I was pretty sure I couldn't use it with the Nikkormatt I was shooting with at the time, I sort of forgot about it. Then one day about three months ago I came across it in the back of a closet. Has anyone ever heard of this lens? Is it worth anything to anyone? Worth putting on ebay? Can I possibly use it with my K10D? Should I throw it away? Here's a picture of it. (a rather poor one I admit)</p><div></div>

[chune_hoong_pong]

<p>Yeah I think you're right Mis, thanks for the heads up :)<br />Some shots do overexpose, but i guess we'll make it work :)<br />Darn, and i thought i had something going for me there.</p>