Lens Bubbles: Elgeet 2 inch f1.5 Cine-Navitar

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Is Hasselblad Still a Camera Company?

I read Michael Reichmann's Wretched Excess on Hasselblad's dress ups of the NEX-7 and RX100 and sell them for an insane amount of money. Beyond the basic cameras that's made by Sony, everything else is bling-bling. I don't doubt there are lots of people out there with so much money they don't know what to do with, and won't blink an eye and drop seven grand on a NEX-7, er, I mean the Luna, but to the majority of us who actually use cameras to shoot pictures, all this makes no sense. I fully get where Hasselbling is going. They target a very small group of people who buy these cameras as fashion accessories, or as a show-off piece. There are people who are addicted to acquire stuff that are out of the norm. Just think how many "special edition" Leica models has been introduced and you know there is a market out there.

I will shamefully admit that I am addicted to camera gear; I am addicted to using old lenses to take pictures; I am addicted to weird optical stuff that can be made to take pictures, and now dangerously on the verge of bicycle addiction. I don't blame those who buy Lunas and Stellars, but the tactic employed by Hasselblad is simply wrong. It ruins the reputation of a company often associated with great photographic equipment, prestige, and the mark it has left in the photographic history (images taken from the moon). Perhaps, Hasselblad wants to be the next Hermes and LV, selling excessively expensive accessories. What a shame.

Shot from the backyard - Sony NEX-6 & Elgeet Cine Navitar 2 inch f1.5 @ f1.5.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Elgeet 2 Inch f1.5 Cine-Navitar Sample Photos

I went to the now annual event of Outdoor Photographic Trunk Sale at the Soccer Centre hosted by the Photographic Historical Society of Canada, very briefly. I was there for less than half of an hour and bought the Elgeet 2 inch f1.5 Cine-Navitar and the $10 Soligor 500mm f8.8 mirror lens. The mirror lens turns out to be, well, worth about $10. It forms images, and that's about it. Not even close to be comparable to the Minolta RF 250mm f5.6. The Elgeet, on the other hand, is a lot more interesting.

Initially, I thought this lens was a clone of the Wollensak 2 inch f1.5 Cine Raptar, but I was way off, despite both being c-mount, same focal length, same maximum aperture, and similar build. The Elgeet has a much smaller image circle and vignettes heavily on the NEX, whereas the Wollensak has only slight vignette on the NEX. The Elgeet 2 inch f1.5 Cine-Navitar is possibly the "swirliest" lens I have used. It's very similar to, but more swirly than the Kodak 50mm f1.6 Cine lens. Of the three cine 50mm f1.5/1.6 lenses, I like the Elgeet the least. It's just too much swirl for me. If I knew it was like this, I would not have bought it. From what I can tell, it probably works best on the Micro 4/3 bodies, or even the Nikon 1. But then again, some people like the swirl. The lens itself is quite sharp, even at full aperture, and it's in such great condition. Well, judge for yourself and see if you like the way it renders pictures.