Downtown Towers

My colleague Ian and I attended a Microsoft workshop on Azure, which is an interesting product.  Everyone wants to be in the "cloud" these days.  The conference room was on the 16th floor which has some nice views that I normally would not get.  Of course I wouldn't let this opportunity slip through my finger, so snapped a few pictures.  The one below is one of them.  Again, the Tokina is quite a nice lens for the NEX.

Towers -- NEX-5N & Tokina 17mm f3.5 FD

A Set of Jupiter-8M 50mm f2 Pictures

When I first got this lens, which I don't even remember where and when, I thought it was some sort of disassembled part of a lens, because it has no focusing ring.  It's like an enlarger lens.  Turns out that this is a rangefinder lens used on some Russian rangefinders and is also compatible with the Contax rangefinder mount.  The focusing part of the lens is on the camera body.

There are adapter specifically made for this lens and the NEX/M4/3 but they are pretty expensive at over $100.  It's much cheaper to mount it on the helicoid and use it that way.  With the 17-32mm helicoid, it's just barely short enough for the lens to focus to infinity.  Unfortunately, the Chinese made 17-32mm helicoid is very badly made and it has some play between the parts of the helicoid when new.  And now it's basically unusable.  I used this lens on the 12-17mm helicoid.  Though works, but the minimum focus distance is a lot longer and it has the same problem with its longer brother - bad workmanship.  In contrast, the Vivitar 2X macro teleconverter is smooth and solid.

School Bus -- NEX-5N & Jupiter-8M 50mm f2. Click for larger size.

Tiger Lily -- NEX-5N & Jupiter-8M 50mm f2. Click for larger size.

Streetcar -- NEX-5N & Jupiter-8M 50mm f2. Click for larger size.

Minolta MC-Rokkor 85mm f1.7 Bokeh Sample

Creamy Bokeh -- NEX-5N & Minolta MC-Rokkor 85mm f1.7. Click for larger.

Many people like the 75mm-100mm focal length, because this medium telephoto is perfect for portraiture, and as a portrait lens, they usually have very nicely rendered out of focus backgrounds, or bokeh.  My experience with these lenses is that pretty much all of them produce nice bokeb at wider aperture, and render pictures very pleasing to the eye.

Still haven't done a comparison between the Minolta MC-Rokkor 85mm f1.7, and the MD 85mm f2.  From the handling point of view, I prefer the 85mm f1.7, because it's so well made and feels nice in the hand.  True, it's much heavier and bigger than the MD 85mm f2.  Hopefully I will get a chance to do a simple comparo this week.

The Guitar Player and His Fan

Faithful Listener -- NEX-5N & Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9 M42

This guitarist has been playing at the Distillery District for a number of years.  I don't think he does it for money.  I think he just likes player there for his own and other's enjoyment.  I first saw him in 2009 and took a picture of him with my 1D III and Carl Zeiss Contax 60mm f2.8 Makro.  He plays beautiful music.

One More Samples from Vivitar 28mm f2.5 [MD]

Shadows -- NEX-5N & Vivitar 28mm f2.5 [MD]

I think that quite often many people just ignore lenses that are priced very low in the market, thinking that low price equal low quality.  This is not always the case, especially with older manual focus lenses.  The Vivitars, Soligors, Hanimex, Spiratones, Makinons, etc, all have some quite competent lenses.  Of course, not all of them are great, but many are very good value for the money.

Vivitar 28mm f2.5 [MD] Sample Images

There are quite a few variations of the Vivitar 28mm f2.5, and from different OEMs for most mounts.  The common one is the Kiron version (serial starts with 22) with a 62mm filter size.  The one I have is all metal and quite large for a 28mm lens.  It's half a stop faster than the f2.8 version.  The lens is very well made and focuses very smoothly.

Art -- NEX-5N & Vivitar 28mm f2.5 [MD].  Click for larger.

The lens is a bit soft at f2.5, but sharpens up nicely after f4.  I find it very enjoyable to use, as the focusing ring is very large and easy to turn.  Definitely a consideration if you are looking for a mini-wide angle lens that doesn't cost you a lot of money.

Clocks at Distillery District -- NEX-5N & Vivitar 28mm f2.5 [MD]

Makinon 24mm f2.8 [MD] Sample

I seem to have quite a few Makinon lenses; all of them are really cheap.  Couple of 28mm f2.8 (two versions), a few zooms, and this 24mm f2.8 in Minolta MD mount.  Makinon was (and may still be) a real company that made (and may still do) lenses.  They were one of Vivitar's OEMs.  Most of the the Makinon lenses I tried are just average, but they do perform acceptably when stopped down.  The picture below was taken with the 24mm f2.8 today and it looks quite good at f8.  Makinon lenses are available in most major mounts, including M42, MD, PK, among others.

If you are starting out with manual focus lenses, and you want to try some wide angle primes, I suggest trying the Makinon, because they are very cheap, and practically nobody know who they are, and they perform acceptably.

Roger's HQ -- NEX-5N & Makinon 24mm f2.8 @ f8

No Tankers

Went out for a walk at lunch time and there was a gathering going on at the Metrocentre.  Lots of people were there to protest against tankers and pipelines.  Just as well, for whatever reason, I decided last night that I would bring my 1D III & EF 135mm f2 lens to work today and this kind of events are always good for the 1D III.  Too bad I didn't bring anything wider but the 135mm focal length is good for individual shots.

No Tankers -- Canon 1D III & EF 135mm f2 @ f2. 

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.

Zeiss Ikon Ernostar 110mm f1.9 Projection Lens

Unknown to many, the Ernostar name is quite famous.  Ludwig Bertele created the world's fastest still photography lens with a maximum aperture of f2, and used by the Dr. Erich Solomon.  Dr. Solomon captured some of the world's most engaging and unforgettable photos, often without the subject knowing that he was photographing them.

Ernostar was derived from the equally famous Triplet design, and in turn, the Sonnar design was derived from Ernostar.  The Canon EF 135mm f2L lens that I and many love, is a derivative of the Ernostar.  With this history, I had high expectations when I tried out the Ernostar 110mm f1.9 projection lens.

B&L Cinephor 120mm f1.9 on the left, Zeiss Ikon Ernostar 110mm f1.9 on the right.

The Ernostar 110mm f1.9 has nice multi-coating.

This is a very large lens, similar to size and weight as the B&L Super Cinephor.  It has very beautiful multi-coating, which is quite unusual for old projection lenses.  However, the very short flange focal distance makes it hard to focus to infinity even on the Sony NEX-5N.  I had to use a very short 12-17mm focus helicoid.  In actual use, the lens performed better than the newer B&L 120mm f1.9.  Purple fringing is surprisingly well controlled.  It's almost as good as modern lenses.

Green -- NEX-5N & Zeiss Ikon Ernostar 110mm f1.9. Click for larger.

The lens is sharp with very good contrast.  I would rate it excellent at its working aperture.  If only I could stop it down a tiny bit, I am sure the sharpness will be even better. As is, it's completely usable but the thin depth of field makes it hard to focus.  Again, the EVF helps a great deal here.

Bokeh -- NEX-5N & Zeiss Ikon Ernostar 110mm f1.9. Click for larger.

I promise this will be the last of the weird alt lenses that I will post with regularity.  I know lately I have been overly enthusiastic on these kind of lenses, which I am sure very few people actually would use, or find it useful, but I enjoy making them usable and using them to take pictures.

Next time we will look at a couple of 55mm f1.4 lenses: Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4 and Auto Chinon 55mm f1.4 M42 mount lenses.