Docter Optics 3.3-13.9x Wide Angle Zoom

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

This is a colossal, extremely heavy lens I bought for 99p ages ago. Took me a while with a hacksaw to hack off enough of the rear to make it fit my EOS, I intended it for macro use, but it also hits infinity at the long end of the zoom range, at the short end, max focus is about 1m and dof very shallow.

It has no focusing, no aperture, the focus changes as you zoom, no idea of focal length, it came out of a Gretag Imaging printing machine apparently.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Works alright as a macro lens too:

100% crop:

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

I like the daisy picture, I'd say you got your money's worth just with that shot.

Has your NEX arrived yet?

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Cheers man, the daisy shot is slightly backfocussed but came out nice enough, at the macro end of the zoom range the dof is very thin but at the long end it's pretty deep, this is a very strange lens in how it works, but I can see me having a lot of fun with it, I need to fashion a tripod mount for it as it is so heavy, but I'll need to buy a much stronger tripod to support it, it's too heavy for the ones I have.

My NEX has indeed arrived, waiting for the adapters to arrive from HK so I can use it with my lens collection.

I did snap this last night using an Elmo 1.3/50 projector lens held against the NEX body.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

100 views and 1 comment, sheesh, makes me wonder why I bother. I won't bother again, makes me feel stupid when I go to all the effort of posting just to be ignored.

Scheimpflug · Expire: 2011-11-18

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

The lens looks interesting and produces what looks like sharp images.

But don't get stroppy if people don't respond to your threads, the same happens to everyone! Laughing

E.g. I thought people would be interested in the old 80mm Tessar, but Attila was the only one to respond:

http://forum.mflenses.com/carl-zeiss-jena-tessar-80mm-f-2-8-p6-mount-t41686.html

Doesn't bother me, I'm just pleased that I can contribute to the forum and help others in the future looking for samples Smile

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Not so much stroppy as disheartened, had me wondering if the photos were not worth commenting on and people took the 'if you can't think of anything positive to say, better to say nothing' route.

I never noticed that Tessar thread, I'll go take a look as I have an old uncoated 75mm Tessar I've been playing with.

Yes, the lens has no focussing at all, you have to move backwards and forwards to focus. The focus changes as you zoom it, it's a repro lens, very different to a camera zoom lens. I do wonder what optical formula it uses and what focal length it is, I don't think the focal length range is that large, it's just a wierd lens and I haven't figured out what it will do in all settings yet.

No idea what format it was for, seems to have a pretty large image circle, I expect it covers at least a 10x15cm area, maybe more, rear element is about 7cm in diameter.

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Nice pictures from a picturesque area. Sooo much better than those terraced houses and chimney stacks.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

is it just me or do the Saab photo and the one of the cottages look really 3D?

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Thanks Peter, it's a little hamlet 3 miles up the road, I should get out more to do my lens tests, I tend to shoot things right by my house because I often have little time and I'm just trying out new lenses, so I don't go far, but I really should as there is nothing but picturesque scenery once you get out of town.

There is a bit of a 3D quality to those pics I think Graham, particularly the cottage one, perhaps that is due to the coatings on the lens?

Docter Optics was a company that was created from the break-up of the East German Zeiss so maybe it has T* or HFT coatings?

Gretag Imaging went bankrupt in 2002, they made minilabs so I expect this lens was taken from a minilab machine. Docter Optics still exists, I should email them to ask for some specs on this lens, I bet they are surprised that someone is using one on a camera.

What does surprise me is the great dof at the long end of the zoom, no aperture so it is wide open, I think the resolution is quite impressive for a wide open lens.

Got a day off tomorrow so hope the weather is good and I can go try this lens some more, I'm intrigued to see what else it can do, I really need to fit some kind of tripod mount to it.

Didn't have much time today but I did shoot these macros of a wild flower at the back of my house, I put a 10mm extension tube on the lens and it does get pretty good magnification with the tube fitted, dof is very shallow though, might have to fit a cardboard disk to make an aperture and increase the dof a bit.

P.S. I weighed the lens and it's 2.25 kilos, that doesn't sound that much but trust me, it's bloody heavy to wield as a camera lens, makes my Tair-3C seem almost lightweight by comparison!

woodrim · Joined: 14 Jan 2010 Posts: 4060 Location: Charleston

Glad to see you getting out and about. Some of those pictures look sharper than others I've seen from you. Much better than what I might have expected from the sound of it.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Yes, it is very sharp, and for any lens to produce sharp images on my 10D it must be a good one, even with the sharpness setting on the cam set to max the images are often lacking in sharpness, I am itching to try this lens on my NEX.

I was truly shocked when I tried this lens and it hit infinity, definitely not what I was expecting, I expected it to only work as a macro lens.

I still have the even larger Rodenstock zoom you can see in the first picture, I paid 99p plus 6ukp shipping for the pair, the Rodenstock has an elaborate external rack and pinion system and a large cylinder that I think is full of gears, I will have to remove all that to mount it on a camera.

Honestly, I enjoy adapting and using these oddities much more than I do using proper camera lenses, tomorrow I'm going to shoot some landscapes and scenery with this lens, it looks like it might be rather good for that type of shot.

martyn_bannister · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 1151

ZoneV · Expire: 2011-12-02

bazza59 · Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:47 am Post subject:

#3 in the wild flower shots is excellent.
I also enjoy reading your tales of "modifying" different lens - this latest one looks like an absolute beast size wise.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

It looks as though it's worth persevering with Ian, I think a tripod is essential for any worthwhile results with anything that size and weight.
Perhaps something like an old surveyors tripod with something made from a pipe clamp would work ? 'cause it's not the kind of thing you're going to haul up the local mountains. Wink

I think I've got a photocopier lens coming this weekend, so I might join in the fun ! Laughing

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Judging by the telegraph pole, it looks like you might need to be careful with vertical lines near the sides of the frame.

Tervueren · Expire: 2014-11-08

Great photos from a mortar launcher Smile

those thistle ? seeds look very sharp on my monitor

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Thanks for the kind words guys, I spent the day in the hospital so didn't get to shoot any more shots.

I think that wild plant is 'milk thistle', I'm curious to know what the magnification is of those shots, looks greater than lifesize to me but I might be wrong.

A surveyor's tripod and some kind of pipe clamp or pipe strapping is what I intended David, the tripods are less than 40ukp brand new on ebay, I have some other huge heavy lenses so I am definitely getting a big heavy tripod soon. Photocopier lens sounds good to me, they are usually very fast Petzval types and should make a wonderful portrait lens like the Petzval type Kalee projector lenses I have do.

I'm not sure if that telegraph pole indicates some distortion in the lens, it might not be a straight pole, all the trees in that area are very bent by the wind so wouldn't surprise me in the pole wasn't straight. I'll find out if it is distortion when I take more shots.

This shot isn't at the long end of the zoom range like the shot with the telegraph poles, hence the dof is shallower, but looking at the corner crop of my car, it doesn't look to be distorting to my eyes.

A crop of the oppoiste corner shows plenty of detail has been captured, no complaints about the resolution of this lens from me, can't wait to try it with my NEX.

Tervueren · Expire: 2014-11-08

I would definitely say those seeds are lifesize plus a tad

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Yes, they probably are, it's definitely a thistle, I went and tried some more macros a little while ago but without the extension tube, the light was no good and focussing was too difficult as a result so none came out.

Tomorrow I will try some more macros.

I did shoot some (very boring, sorry) test shots with the lens at the long end to see if I could discern any distortion, looks to me like it renders lines near the edge pretty straight, but welcome all comments, I'm no expert!

I really like the way this lens renders, dof is deep considering there is no aperture and the rear element is much wider than the EF mount so the effective aperture is the diameter of the EF mount itself. Contrast is excellent and the colours very nice to my eyes, I don't see any traces of CA either. I expect this lens cost a few thousand when new, it certainly seems to be a high quality precision optic. I'm guessing the focal length at this end of the zoom range is in the 28-35 range as it captures a similar fov to those length lenses do on my EOS.

I took these two into the sun which was low in the sky just to test the flare resistance. I don't see any signs of flare, good coatings on this lens methinks.

I think I see some very slight curving of the vertical lines at the very edges of that shot but it's hard to tell.

I figured a shot of telephone lines would uncover any lurking distortion, but the lines look straight to me.

Can you see the pigeon staring back at the camera? I bet the poor bird thought I was pointing a giant gun at it! lol

I've taken many shots of that telephone pole with many different lenses and this shot is by far the sharpest of them, look at the detail of the grain of the wood, the total absence of CA fringing on the telephone lines is also impressive, even my Ross Xpress 8.5inch that has almost no CA whatsoever didn't do as well on this subject.

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Hi Ian, about the distortion, I think you're right and I'm wrong. I looked again at the telegraph pole picture and the house behind the pole has no distrotion at all. Wow, that pole has warped a lot! Smile

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

lucialfa · Joined: 22 Nov 2010 Posts: 16 Location: Italy

Hello folks, this is my first post here: I follow this forum from some months.

I worked in S.Marco Imaging(a group of Gretag Imaging)placed in north-east of Italy,
near Aviano air base, for more than 10 years.
We have built minilabs(and some maxilab), for Gretag and Kodak for many years.

I have seen so many lens like this, but I have never thought they are so good to take pictures.
If I had known this, when the factory went bankrupt, I could take home a copy of the last, before they were scrapped, to use it on the nex(but the weight is so much! Shocked

)
...Fortunately I saved 40/50 enlarger lens to this end, that want test for macros(and normal pictures with nex5 with focusing helicoid)... Very Happy

I have a Sony Alpha 700, a Minolta maxxum8000 and some Minolta AF lens, and a nex5.
I always loved the old lenses and B/W style. I have many lens in M42 and M39 mount too.

Sorry for my English if it's not correct, but today it's so(I learn it in long time, reading this forum too)
Thanks
----------------------------------
Amazing the shots taken with this unconventional lens:they appears to me tremendously sharp and with great colors!