Help me with this M42 28mm

[david_smith110]

<p>I came across this at a photo fair today and picked it up, after a little haggling, for twenty bones. It is extremely clean and the operation of the lens is silky smooth. Also came with a case that I forgot to photograph. The seller said he got in a lot of gear from some guy who seemed to just buy stuff to simply own it. Everything from old photo gear to expensive fishing rods. He would buy gear and never use it. The lens bears this story out as it appears to have never been mounted and focused in anger. Anybody know the possible maker of this particular Sears lens? A little online research has hinted at Ricoh or Cosina. Did Cosina even make M42 lenses? It looks familiar but I can place it. Interesting 8 bladed aperture design. Any help would be welcomed.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7243/6957594408_dc06455664_c.jpg" alt="" width="534" height="800" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/7103666083_07033b189e_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/7103665793_c55883502f_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534" /></p>

<p> </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I don't know, and don't even know of any list of who made what Sears lenses. However, I can assure you that Cosina made LOTS of M42 lenses in the day.</p>

<p>Some of these generics are really very decent. If you can, show us some results.</p>

[craigd]

<p>Circular-saw-shaped bokeh... what a concept! If you can get any bokeh out of a 28mm lens at f/2.8... at close range, probably.</p>

<p>I have some information about the companies who made various cameras for Sears (mostly under the Tower brand), but nothing at all, unfortunately, about who made their lenses.</p>

<p>I look forward to seeing some images made with this interesting lens.</p>

[dave_s]

<p>That iris must be broken; it can't have been designed like that intentionally. Am I missing something? </p>

[david_smith110]

<p>Thanks for the input guys. Here as some quick shots from the back yard. Wide open its....dreamy, with some nice bokeh. Stopped down its deadly with its circular saw OOF area. You nailed that one Craig.</p>

<p>leaf on wall<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7205/6957923730_e667dbbed4_z.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640" /></p>

<p>dreamy<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/6957923636_a690089e83_z.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640" /></p>

<p>moss<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7229/6957923404_704a77ee90_z.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640" /></p>

<p>leaf on wall II<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7225/7103993071_995de8aa8e_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" /></p>

<p>lucy in the sky with circular saws (horrible focus, but the only one I thought to shoot stopped down)<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7228/6957918950_ca00d0a682_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" /></p>

<p>tiny flower<br>

<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7103992827_66f45c852b_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" /></p>

<p>me in my motorcycle mirror<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7176/7103993209_71b2d5bb37_z.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640" /></p>

<p>The close up shots were made with a 13mm extension tube. Its the smallest one I have and the only one I could mount on the lens and not end up touching the subject I was trying to photograph. An odd lens with some bokeh potential if used right. What do you guys think?</p>

<p> </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Very nice!</p>

<p>Thanks for the pictures. :)</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Some of the Sears M42 SLR's were made by Ricoh (obvious by the front-mountly shutter dial). I think most of their lenses at the time were probably Ricoh lenses. I think the Cosina products came later after Sears started selling K-mount SLR's under their name. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Mike, not to doubt, but what the heck is a "front-mountly shutter dial" on an m42 lens? Perhaps a less telegraphic wording would clue those of us who are clueless. ;)<br /> Pictures, feelthy or otherwise, are always nice.</p>

[craigd]

<p>Wide open, this lens renders things very nicely in a sort of dreamy, pictorialist fashion. "Leaf on wall", "Dreamy", "Moss", and "Tiny flower" have a lovely quality to their backgrounds, despite the circular outlines on the OOF highlights. Stopped down, however, I think this lens is an acquired taste.</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>I think <strong>Mike's</strong> talking about SLR's with front-mounted shutter dials, rather than lenses, <strong>JDM</strong>....I've had a look through my odds and ends,<strong> David</strong>, but can't find anything really similiar, particularly in respect of the iris construction. Interesting potential, I guess...."Dreamy" and "Moss" are really beautiful.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Aah. that makes sense on rereading... Arguing from the body to the lens, so to speak...</p>

[Mike Gammill]

Sorry about the confusion, JDM. The front mounted shutter dial was a feature on some Ricoh M42 SLRs.

[leicaglow]

<p>Looks just like a Vivitar lens I owned for a Mamiya Sekor 1000 DTL.</p>

[gabor_szabo3]

<p>Great closeup work, David ! This is a nice lens to play around with on macro shots with tubes and bellows. This lens and the faster Vivitar 28/2 have very unique bokeh. </p>

<p>I will agree with Louis Meluso that the Seras 28/2.8 M42 and several other Sears/Rikenon/Revuenon/Chinon screw mounts are Tomioka-made ( <a href="00VlUD">http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00VlUD</a> ) </p>

 

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

<p>Depending on the iris design and construction, some lenses show strange iris patterns at certain lens opening. I remember having seen a star-like iris shape on a lens at certain settings.<br>

The lens in question looks very similar (have to check it back home) to my 28mm Tokina lens which I bought dirt-cheap on ebay years ago (most of the money was for the postage). I happened to find a M42-LTM adaptor plus a matching extension ring and I am using this lens quite happely on my LTM cameras (due to the wide DOF distance setting by guesstimating is no problem). </p>

[bob_miller4]

<p>I have a lens exactly like the one pictured, with the Mamiya Sekor name on the front lens ring. I've also seen an identical Soligor lens on eBay. The likely manufacturer was Tokyo Koki = Tokina.</p>

[fritz_carlsson1]

<p>This looks exactly like the fixed mount Soligor 28mm/2.8 from the late 1960s - 1970s.</p>

[david_smith110]

<p>Well, crap....the jury is apparently still out on the maker. Tomioka, Tokina, Ricoh, nothing definitive. I am leaning toward Tomioka due to the bokeh being very similar to other lenses I own that I know are from Tomioka. But that is very subjective, not to mention the fact that I love Tomioka lenses and want all old lenses I find to be made by them. :)</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone who responded to this, a lot of good (if conflicting) info here. Thanks as well for the compliments. If only there had been better record keeping from these old camera companies back in the day. Im sure they had no idea about the debates that would rage <em>decades</em> down the road about the manufacture of a product that they probably took for granted. Why would anyone possibly care about where the glass came from in a lens that they had simply designed to a price point for a profit. Nobody would ever want to know <em>that</em>.</p>

<p>Just for grins and giggles, here are some examples from a couple of my 'known' Tomiokas.</p>

<p>Yashica ML 50/1.7<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7205/6883696079_574801d50c_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6745944409_c02b863d1e_z.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6734568477_438599a6db_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6722750601_40ef5edb4d_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" /></p>

<p>M42 Vivitar 35/2.8<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6734619899_5966618b1a_z.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/6928890842_ebc9c8d147_z.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640" /></p>

<p>Maybe its just me. I have been know to see the world purely from my point of view. :)</p>

[bob_miller4]

<p>The late 1960's Mamiya Sekor 28mm/2.8 lens discussed in my comment above has the same iris characteristic. A lesser degree of this was found with a late 1960's 135mm/2.8 Hanimex lens (appears to be from same manufacturer). Both lens have taken good pictures under normal conditions. I don't like to generate bright out-of-focus highlights in the first place, so their shape is not critical for me. People may be passing up useful cheap lenses because of bokeh-mania. </p>