Photo Set from the Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9

I have only used the Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9 once on the Sony A7, and very briefly. Took it out again the other day and spent a couple of hours shooting around the neighbourhood. This exercise brought back some pictures that remind me how good some of these East German gems are.
The Primoplan has a very beautiful and interesting bokeh but I don't think it justifies how much people are paying for one on eBay now. It's total insanity. I wouldn't buy one at these ridiculous prices but if you already have one, take it out and take some awesome pictures!  Just remember that this lens has very soft coating; be sure not to rub it too hard.  All the pictures below were shot wide open at f1.9 with the Sony A7.

Black & Yellow - Sony A7 & Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9. Click for larger.

White on Green - Sony A7 & Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9. Click for larger.

Red, White & Green - Sony A7 & Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9. Click for larger.

Punk garden gnome - Sony A7 & Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9. 

The Primoplan. You can see the coating is starting to go in the picture.

Schneider-Kreuznach Edixa-Xenar 50mm f2.8 - Photo Set

The last time I used this lens was almost three years ago, and I wrote about it here. I praised the lens on the Canon 550D, but it works equally well, if not better, on full frame. Thankfully, this lens does not hit the mirror on the 5D Mark II.

From experience, many lenses have unique colour signatures. The Sigmas (older ones anyway) tend to have a yellow colour cast to the pictures, and Canon L lenses tend to have more vibrant colours than non-L versions. Would digital, the colour is no longer very important, especially when you shoot RAW, as it can be adjusted. Some lenses would produce beautiful colours from the beginning, so very little, or no adjustment is necessary in post processing.  I find many Zeiss lenses product very nice, pleasing colours natively. Certain, this Edixa-Xenar is one of them.

Magnolia - Canon 5D Mark II & Schneider-Kreuznach Edixa-Xenar 50mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Scooter - Canon 5D Mark II & Schneider-Kreuznach Edixa-Xenar 50mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Sculptures Outside TIFF building - Canon 5D Mark II & Schneider-Kreuznach Edixa-Xenar 50mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Pink Tulip - Canon 5D Mark II & Schneider-Kreuznach Edixa-Xenar 50mm f2.8. 

Takumar SMC 55mm f1.8 Revisited

The Pentax Takumar 55mm f1.8 M42 lens is probably one of the most common lens you can buy in M42 mount. It has a sister lens, the 55mm f2, which is essentially the same lens, but with the aperture intentionally set to maximum of f2, and marketed as a lower priced lens. There are many versions of this lens. The last version the SMC 55mm f1.8 with rubber on the focusing ring, and the previous version is the Super-Multi-Coated 55mm f1.8 with all metal construction. I believe these two versions are identical with the exception of the rubber ring. The exists non multi-coated versions as well, usually called Super-Takumar 55mm f1.8, and I could be wrong, but there may be another version called Auto-Takumar 55mm f1.8.

Last version of the Takumar 55mm f1.8. Note rubber skin on the focusing ring. Click for larger.

Let me say this: if you are just starting to play with manual focus lens, and you don't use a mirrorless camera or a Nikon, buy the SMC 55mm f1.8 lens, instead of a cheaper Minolta or Canon FD equivalent. The Takumars are beautifully built, very small, optically brilliant, and focuses like no other in its class.

Other than a bit "slow" with the maximum aperture of f1.8, I see very little fault with this lens. It's sharp, has good bokeh, and still relatively cheap. Even if you don't like it, when you sell it later, you will not likely lose money. Trust me, if properly kept, this lens will last many decades more.

Caddy - Canon 5D Mark II & SMC Takumar 55mm f1.8 @ f4. Click for larger.

Da Shoe - Canon 5D Mark II & SMC Takumar 55mm f1.8 @ f1.8

Graffiti - Canon 5D Mark II & SMC Takumar 55mm f1.8

Pentacon 100mm f2.8 Sample Picture

When I bought this lens at the camera show, I saw no action on the aperture, so I assumed the blades were stuck.  Later I disassembled the lens and found that there were no blades inside!  There are also some haze inside the elements, but for $20, I thought I would give it a shot and perhaps it can be cleaned/repaired.  But, without aperture blades, there isn't much can be done unless I can find the missing parts.

This lens should be the same lens as the Meyer-Optik Trioplan 100mm f2.8.

Anyways, took some shots with it today and sure enough, most of the pictures came out hazy, especially those shot against strong lights.  But, some level/contrast adjustments brings back some usable pictures.  But I guess I will be stuck with shooting at open apertures for a while.  Even at f2.8, the lens is very usable and quite sharp.  But the lens can not see any side light or strong lights, or it will become hazy.  I think a functional and clean version of this lens would be quite a nice lens to shoot with.

Crab Apples - Sony NEX-5N & Pentacon 100mm f2.8 M42 Mount

Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4 vs. Auto Chinon 55mm f1.4

The Tomioka 55mm f1.2 and its sister lens, the 55mm f1.4 are some of the more sought after Japanese made standard lenses.  What many don't realize, is that Tomioka made many of these lenses for other manufacturers.  I had two Chinon 55mm f1.4 lenses, both are exactly the same in terms of appearance and optical quality.  One says Chinon (Tomioka) and the other simply says Auto Chinon (the sample used here against the Mamiya).  I sold the one that says Tomioka on Ebay, for about three times more than a normal Chinon 55mm f1.4 would get.  The 55mm f1.4 lenses were available from many Japanese companies, including Petri (non M42-mount), Chinon, Yashica, Mamiya Sekor, Cosina, Ricoh, among others.  With the exception of the Yashica, which I never had, I used the 55mm f1.4 lenses from the mentioned manufacturers.  Are there any significance in optical performance?  Let's look at the Mamiya Sekor and Chinon and find out.

Before we start, let me be very clear: this is a non-scientific test.  Everything was done handheld.  So, take it with a large pinch of salt.  The lenses were used on the NEX-5N with an APS-C size sensor, so the edge we talk about here, is not the true edge of the lens in full frame. Please keep this in mind.

Chinon 55mm f1.4 on left. Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4 on right. Click for larger image. Note file marks on the Mamiya on the aperture ring.  

Note similar coating on both lenses. Click for larger image.

The Chinon 55mm f1.4 has a slightly larger lens barrel with a 55mm filter size, whereas the Mamiya Sekor is a bit smaller with a 52mm filter size.  The Mamiya lacks a A/M switch to allow manually setting the lens aperture.  You would need to buy an adapter that has a ring at the rear that pushes the aperture pin, or like I did, glue the pin down so that aperture can be selected.  Also, the Mamiya has a proprietory locking mechanism, which prevents the aperture ring from turning when mounted on the adapter.  I had to file that ring off so that the aperture ring can be turned.

From f1.4 to F8

Center of Image. Click to see 100% Crop

Far Edge of image. Click to see 100% Crop

As you can see, there isn't a significant amount of differences between the two lenses, especially when stopped down a little, and the bokeh is nice.  Both are very sharp, though contrast is a bit low at f1.4, but improved a lot by f2.0.  These lenses are fantastic choices for low light shooting.  The ambiance and atmosphere is hard to recreate with a smaller aperture lens. No, they won't replace the auto focus lenses for action oriented shots, but with practice, one can shoot with relatively good accuracy and reasonably fast in many kinds of situation, especially with the aid of Focus Peaking of the NEX cameras.  Even better, with an EVF.

Bokeh -- See any difference?  Click for larger picture.

So, why would you pay more for the equivalent of a Tomioka 55mm f1.4?  I guess some just like to own a lens with the Tomioka name on it.  If you are looking for a lens for your own use, with the same image quality as the more expensive Tomioka, the Chinon, Mamiya Sekor, or Cosina versions are significantly cheaper. The choice, of course, is yours.

Below are couple more sample images from the Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4.

Bokeh -- NEX-5N & Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4. Click for larger image.

Statues -- NEX-5N & Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4 @ f4. Click for larger image.

Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 80mm f1.8

This is one of my favourite lenses. I was over joyed when I acquired this lens a few years back and used it extensively. I didn't have a lot of manual focus lenses back then. Gradually, I got more lenses, and this one (two actually) was neglected and have not seem much use lately. In any case, along with the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8, they are the two lenses that I considered great lenses.

This is a rare lens in North America. You don't too many of them here, but more abundant in Europe. For this reason, it's a very sought after lens.

First thing first, the aperture in this lens is very easy to break. Both of my CZJ 80/1.8 had problems, and I sent one of them to China to have a part made in order to get the aperture to work again. The other was cleaned and fixed by Andrei.

Second thing is that like many older lenses, minimum focusing distance tends to be long at 0.83 meters (almost 3 feet), and the magnification factor is rather small. Don't know the exact ratio but not very good for close ups. The CZJ 200mm f2.8 has the same problem.

Other than the above, the lens is very well made. All metal construction and focusing is very smooth.

Image quality. Before I got the lens cleaned, there was a layer of very fine dust inside, making it very prone to flare and wide open was not very sharp and had very low contrast. But after one stop down at f2.8, it is excellent. After it's cleaned, the difference is like day and night in wide apertures. SHARP at f1.8 and absolutely usable. The colour tends to be neutral, but pleasing. Very similar to my Leica Summicron 90mm f2 (TWO CAM version). The colour, of course, is very dependent on the camera used. On the original 1D, which uses a CCD sensor, the colours are more vibrant than the other Canon DSLRs that use CMOS sensor. The bokeh is very nice too, despite the 6-aperture blades.

Over all, a nice lens to keep and a enjoy to use. I sold one them, but I will not sell the remaining one.