More Exaktar Mount Lenses

Park Benches -- NEX-5 & Enna Werk Lithagon 35mm f3.5. Click for larger.

While cleaning out the lenses for my annual yard sale, I unearthed three more Exaktar lenses that went missing since the last time I used them on the Canon Rebel T2i: Enna Lithagon 35mm f3.5, Lithangon 35mm f4.5, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm f4.  Tried out the Lithagon 35mm f3.5 and found that it seems to perform slightly better than on the T2i, but it's nothing really exciting.  Never really did like the Enna lenses.  To me, they are like the cheap third party Japanese lenses.  They do make pictures, but the optical quality is just so so.

First Outting with the 1D Mark III

Butterfly -- 1D III & EF 100mm f2.8L Macro. Click for larger

Took out the 1D III for the first time since I bought it few weeks ago. Other than a few dozen test shots, I didn't really use the camera at all for real shooting. Took along the 100mm f2.8L macro lens. Very happy to say that the focus has been very good, though I still have not done too much testing with Servo (tracking) AF. Hopefully it will be as good as one-shot.

One thing I have noticed is that the exposure is not as accurate as the EVIL cameras or when the pictures are shot in live-view on the 1D III. They tend to over-expose. I guess this has been an issue before, just never thought about it since I have pretty much shot with the NEX exclusively for the last eight months.

On the Sony EVIL note, just read the Sonyalpha rumor that the NEX-7 has a 3-million pixel OLED viewfinder! Unfortunately, the sensor pixel count has increased to 24MP, which means the RAW files will be around 30-35MB or more. Just imagine, my first hard drive was 20MB RLL drive. It would not even hold one RAW NEX-5 file today. How technology has advanced.  But, I am looking forward to the NEX-7 to replace my much loved NEX-5.

Slacking Off

Trike on Queen -- NEX-5 & Mamiya-Sekor 55mm f1.4.

Since I started building my first bicycle with Dillon, I have spent way too much time on bicycles.  We built another one for Dillon, also a single speed, on a cheap Norco frame, but he likes it.  Meanwhile, I got rid of my Marin Larkspur and the De Vinci Olso hybrids that I have had for a few years.  They are good bikes but I just hate to clean chains, cranks, brakes, etc, after the rain or snow.  With a single speed bike, I have much less to worry about.

On Saturday, I bought a used 2009 model Jamis Sputnik track bike (single speed/fixed gear).  Very light with carbon fiber fork.  Easy to ride with comfortable gear ratio.  I tested it out with the one I built, which has a very high gear ratio as that's the ratio I normal ride with my other bikes.  The carbon fiber fork feels a bit weird on bumpy rides when it flexes.  The Sputnik is so light that I could ride it at a very fast speed with hardly any effort.  But, I preferred my cheap bike.  It's heavier, but more balanced.  The steel frame and forks are solid and hardly makes a noise going over bumps, and I could go really fast without peddling like mad.  For long distance ride, though, the Sputnik wins.  For my riding distance, which is 6 KM one way, I preferred my cheaper bike.  Gives me a better workout.

Motorcycles

Triumph -- NEX-5 & Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f1.4. Click for larger.

I find motorcycles fascinating as no doubt you see many motorcycle pictures in this blog space.  But, I don't have a motorcycle license and probably will never ride one.  That does not stop me from liking them, of course.

Just today I saw a beautiful Victory Vegas Jackpot cruised by as I was driving home.  I have never seen a more interestingly designed motorcycle.  It definitely has characters, just like the names of some of the Victory motorcycles.

M42 - The Not Quite Universal Universal Mount

Fence -- NEX-5 & Mamiya-Sekor 55mm f1.4 @ f1.4. Click for larger.

The M42 mount was (and still is) an open mount.  Anyone can use it without paying a licensing fee.  That's one of the reasons it was called a universal mount.  Some of the old third party M42 lenses may bear a letter U near the mount/aperture ring to indicate that the lens is a universal mount.  The original M42 mount was a very simple mount without any sort of automation features.  Later on, open-aperture metering was added to many of the M42 mount camera bodies.  There is one very serious flaw with the M42 mount: there is no locking mechanism. The lens is simply screwed on the body, as opposed to most of today's bayonet mount where the lens is locked in place.

At least two manufacturers, Fuji Film and Mamiya, modified the M42 mount on their cameras to include a locking feature.  Unfortunately, this meant that the lens mount had to be modified as well.  For this reason, Fujica and Mamiya Sekor lenses can not be mount properly on other manufactures' M42 cameras.  For the Fujica, the lens can not be mounted flush on other's M42 mounts, and for the Mamiya, it would be too tight and thus affect the aperture ring when used on other's M42 bodies.  So, today, these lenses are not really usable without some filing on the lens.  Fortunately, it's pretty easy to do on both Fujica and Mamiya lenses.

Another small annoyance is that there is no A/M (auto, manual) switch on the Fujica and Mamiya lenses.  You would need a special M42 adapter that pushes the aperture pin in order to control the aperture manually.  Luckily, most M42 mounts these days has this feature, BUT, this creates another problem: some larger aperture lenses with protruding rear elements are not compatible with this mount adapter, such as the S-M-C Takumar 50mm f1.4.  So, beware.

Man and the Graffiti -- NEX-5 & Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4. Click for larger.

A Mobile Store

Mobile Store -- NEX-5 & Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8. Click for larger.

If you live or work downtown, you probably have seen this colourful trolley full of flags, t-shirts, hats, etc.  This man has been doing this for many years and you often see it in the tourist areas, like outside of the Eaton Centre, Union Station, or wherever there is an event with large number of people attending.  He stores his trolley right next to the Urbane Cyclist when not going about.

Tiger Lily with Steinheil Quinar 135mm f2.8

Tiger Lily -- NEX-5 & Steinheil Quinar 135mm f2.8 @ f2.8. Click for larger.

The Steinheil 135mm f2.8 Quinar is by far the most beautiful looking lens I have.  It truly is an object of art.  The chrome finish still looks almost like new after so many years.  It's a lens that screams quality, both in your hand and in your eye.  Fortunately, its gorgeous looks is complimented by excellent optics.  From wide open, the pictures are rendered pleasingly with very smooth tones.  It's also has one of the nicest bokeh from the lenses I own.  This lens was built with portraiture in mind, and although I haven't shot any portraits yet, I believe they will be stunning.

More pictures in the next few days.

Carl Zeiss Flektogon 35mm f2.8 -- Revisited

Leaf -- NEX-5 & Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8. Click to see larger.

The last time I used a Flektogon 35mm f2.8 was four years ago, and it was an M42 mount.  Not really sure why I sold it.  Must be running out of money for new toys.  A while ago I picked up an Exaktar version of the same lens, complete with box, for a really low price.  Just got my Exaktar to NEX adapter last Friday and finally got a chance to use the lens.

The Flektogon 35mm has two versions: an f2.8 and a newer f2.4.  Both versions have one outstanding close focus capabilities to 0.18 meters!  Another related neat feature is that as you focus closer and closer, the maximum aperture scale changes to indicate lost of light (but the actual aperture blades don't close down!) when near closes minimum focus distance.  Neat!

I find the lens to be just OK for distant scenes.  It's quite sharp but not outstanding.  What I love most is the close up capabilities and the image rendering characteristics.   Very pleasing bokeh with nice light transitions.  The Flektogon f2.4 is optically better.  If you are looking for a 35mm Flektogon, buy the f2.4 version if you could.  The f2.4 version I once owned had lots of mechanical problems, so be sure to check out everything before buying.

The Exaktar-NEX Adapter Has Arrived

Bikes -- NEX-5 & Rollei QBM 50mm f1.8 Planar. Click for larger.

Received my long waited Exaktar to NEX adapter on Friday, but haven't really gotten a chance to use it yet.  I order this adapter early June.  When it arrived from Hong Kong, Canada Post workers were on strike and the it was returned to the seller.  The seller was kind enough to resend the adapter without charging me postage.  I only mounted the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8 on it, but it's very tight.  Need to find my other Exaktar lenses and see they are all tight like that or not.  Next week will likely be a week of Exaktar mount lenses.

Strange 1D Mark III Phenomena with Manual Focus Lenses

I have never encountered this before, with any camera -- when I use manual focus lenses on the 1D III, focus shifts!  I even installed the EC-L cross-split screen on it, and the lines all lined up perfectly which should indicate correct focus.  But, it does not.  It back-focused.  Tried this with a few different lenses so it's not the lenses.

The strange thing is that it's not constant.  Sometimes better, sometimes worse.  And, my auto focus lenses all work more or less perfectly!

If you have encountered this problem, and know why it's happening, I would appreciate hearing from  you.  I am not really upset, since I won't be using manual focus lenses much on the 1D III, but I am a bit disappointed.

Red on Red -- NEX-5 & Rollei QBM 50mm f1.8. Click for larger.