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JML Optical 100mm f/2
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 6:50 am    Post subject: JML Optical 100mm f/2 Reply with quote
Bumped into this lens accidentally. As 100mm f/2 lenses always have a place in my heart, I clicked Buy-It-Now, after a quick search on the internet and a quick search of recent sale price. Interestingly, there were a few sold recently by two different sellers. It looks like this batch of JML 100mm/2 lenses were under some online auction and two different dealers bought them (my guess).

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It has a Nikon F mount and 18 blades. I guess single coated (blue tint). No focus ring; object distance is about 3-4 meters so I have to move the camera to focus. Front element is well exposed so a hood would be helpful. Unfortunately, there is only one or two threads on the lens front, which I don't think they are meant for a filter or hood. The front diameter is a little under 60mm, non-standard, anyway. The lens can be separated into three sections: the front group; the middle group (with aperture blades); the rear group (no elements, more like an adapter).

Wide open is quite glowy; resolution seems to be ok. Heavy CA. Bokeh at some situation is decent for my taste; but at backlit situation, it could look a little weird. I will probably order a Nikon F to Sony E helicoid to play it more.

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There is very limited information on the internet about this lens. JML Optical still exists. I'll probably contact them to see if there is more information about this lens.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Great info. Thank you ! Like 1 small


PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oh, so YOU GOT IT, guess I was one second too late....

Quite some CA makes me believe it was intended possibly as an IR lens for some night vision device?

Guess those were sold as surplus and bought by some in batch to sell them off individually at ebay.

Congrats nevertheless!


PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I had an open question on the PM forum asking if anyone had picked up one of these, as I was very intrigued. The f2 max aperture was promising if it could work well wide open, but your description as "glowing" makes me think this is not the case. Have you tried putting it on bellows to see how it does with a little extension?


PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Phalbert wrote:
Great info. Thank you ! Like 1 small


Thanks. Will post any new findings later.

kds315* wrote:
Oh, so YOU GOT IT, guess I was one second too late....

Quite some CA makes me believe it was intended possibly as an IR lens for some night vision device?

Guess those were sold as surplus and bought by some in batch to sell them off individually at ebay.

Congrats nevertheless!


Thanks. Sorry I took this one. I guess more could be coming. Interesting to know it could be for IR.

Ray Parkhurst wrote:
I had an open question on the PM forum asking if anyone had picked up one of these, as I was very intrigued.
The f2 max aperture was promising if it could work well wide open, but your description as "glowing" makes me think this is not the case.
Have you tried putting it on bellows to see how it does with a little extension?


May I know what this PM forum is? Someone on an internet forum posted a question and it seemed he got a copy as early as in 2017.
I had some hope for surprise for this 100mm f/2, but was disappointed with the wide open performance: quite hazy and lots of CA.
I briefly handled a Soligor 100mm f/2 before, and remembered that lens' wide open performance is better than this JML. Yes, I just ordered a Nikon F
to Sony E helicoid to check the close up performance. One question in my mind: why does the lens set the current focus distance at around 3-4m;
what is the purpose behind this?


PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Don't forget that focus distance depends on flange distance, and you don't know the flange distance for the original device it was designed for. It might well have been infinity or some intermediate distance on the original equipment.


PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:


May I know what this PM forum is? Someone on an internet forum posted a question and it seemed he got a copy as early as in 2017.
I had some hope for surprise for this 100mm f/2, but was disappointed with the wide open performance: quite hazy and lots of CA.
I briefly handled a Soligor 100mm f/2 before, and remembered that lens' wide open performance is better than this JML. Yes, I just ordered a Nikon F
to Sony E helicoid to check the close up performance. One question in my mind: why does the lens set the current focus distance at around 3-4m;
what is the purpose behind this?


It is Photomacrography.net forum, and excellent place to hang out if you are into macro work. Regarding the focus distance, I'm surprised the focus is so short. Is there a lot of empty space between the rear lens element and the Nikon mount? Many industrial lenses are outfitted with Nikon F mounts not because they are intended to mount directly to a Nikon camera, but more out of convenience for accessories and such that are available in the Nikon F format. So it is not likely this lens was intended for 3-4m working distance, but that additional extension was to be used between the lens and camera. The lens may actually be intended for line scan work in the 2-3.5x range. That was my thought when I first saw it. I also noticed that others which sold recently were not equipped with the Nikon mount, so it may be that the Nikon mount was added by an end user. Does it appear to be removable, or maybe even added with something like epoxy or other means?


PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Given the amount of CA, I doubt this lens was intended for close work. I have quite a number of industrial lenses intended for 1:1 and thereabouts, and none of them exhibit a great amount of CA, although most show quite a lot of spherical aberration when focused at further distances. CA like that would be the kiss of death in closeup work, IME.

The rendering looks very similar to the Zenit 100mm f1.5 IR lens, so I guess it was for some kind of sniperscope IR use, in conjunction with a monochrome CRT of low resolution.


PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kymarto wrote:
Given the amount of CA, I doubt this lens was intended for close work. I have quite a number of industrial lenses intended for 1:1 and thereabouts, and none of them exhibit a great amount of CA, although most show quite a lot of spherical aberration when focused at further distances. CA like that would be the kiss of death in closeup work, IME.

The rendering looks very similar to the Zenit 100mm f1.5 IR lens, so I guess it was for some kind of sniperscope IR use, in conjunction with a monochrome CRT of low resolution.


I would tend to agree this is likely an IR or perhaps laser lens optimized for a single wavelength.

I'm curious about the industrial lenses you have. Care to publish a list? I'm always looking for info on the available industrial lenses to either spur me to purchase or to avoid. My sig line has a partial list of my go-to lenses though it's been a while since I updated it.


PostPosted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 5:34 am    Post subject: Re: JML Optical 100mm f/2 Reply with quote
kymarto wrote:
Don't forget that focus distance depends on flange distance, and you don't know the flange distance for the original device it was designed for. It might well have been infinity or some intermediate distance on the original equipment.


Thanks for the reminder. Initially I was thinking it is a Nikon F mount so the flange distance is fixed. But on a second thought, I feel the lens may just use the Nikon F mount as a connection, as also pointed out below by Ray below.

Ray Parkhurst wrote:


It is Photomacrography.net forum, and excellent place to hang out if you are into macro work. Regarding the focus distance, I'm surprised the focus is so short. Is there a lot of empty space between the rear lens element and the Nikon mount? Many industrial lenses are outfitted with Nikon F mounts not because they are intended to mount directly to a Nikon camera, but more out of convenience for accessories and such that are available in the Nikon F format. So it is not likely this lens was intended for 3-4m working distance, but that additional extension was to be used between the lens and camera. The lens may actually be intended for line scan work in the 2-3.5x range. That was my thought when I first saw it. I also noticed that others which sold recently were not equipped with the Nikon mount, so it may be that the Nikon mount was added by an end user. Does it appear to be removable, or maybe even added with something like epoxy or other means?


Thanks Ray. Yes, there is a lot of empty space between the rear element and the mount. In my copy, the Nikon mount/adapter (thicker than a Nikon F to Sony E adapter), is threaded to the 1st and 2nd section of the lens. The seller also sold another one on the same day with a Nikon mount. Another seller sold three, two of them have the Nikon mount. The first one he sold looks like having such a mount as well (but he didn't specify whether it is a Nikon F or not). Once my Nikon F to Sony E helicoid arrives, hopefully I can do more test.


PostPosted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 5:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
kymarto wrote:
Given the amount of CA, I doubt this lens was intended for close work. I have quite a number of industrial lenses intended for 1:1 and thereabouts, and none of them exhibit a great amount of CA, although most show quite a lot of spherical aberration when focused at further distances. CA like that would be the kiss of death in closeup work, IME.

The rendering looks very similar to the Zenit 100mm f1.5 IR lens, so I guess it was for some kind of sniperscope IR use, in conjunction with a monochrome CRT of low resolution.


Thanks very much again for the information. I just feel the bokeh, especially at the bottom of the 3rd picture, looks quit weird. It displays some sort of bubble like round pattern with highlighted outline, but at the same time, the bubbles look very "disorganized".


PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 11:56 am    Post subject: Re: JML Optical 100mm f/2 Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
Bumped into this lens accidentally. As 100mm f/2 lenses always have a place in my heart, I clicked Buy-It-Now, after a quick search on the internet and a quick search of recent sale price. Interestingly, there were a few sold recently by two different sellers. It looks like this batch of JML 100mm/2 lenses were under some online auction and two different dealers bought them (my guess).

There is very limited information on the internet about this lens. JML Optical still exists. I'll probably contact them to see if there is more information about this lens.


I bought this lens in 2010 and am still trying to figure out for what use it was designed.

To date, this thread has the best info and the very few sample images from this lens. Anyone have any further experience since the last posting?

Thanks for any info!


PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 3:30 pm    Post subject: Re: JML Optical 100mm f/2 Reply with quote
ColSebastianMoran wrote:

To date, this thread has the best info and the very few sample images from this lens. Anyone have any further experience since the last posting?


Did a little testing of this lens on a 24MPx FF body (Sony A7ii):
- Yes, it will show wicked flare in the form of a central hot-spot, worse as you close down aperture,did not see the expected ghosts. What causes this result?
- I confirm that in the supplied Nikon mount the focus is at 3-4m.
- CA and bokeh look bad in color images
- Blue light is focused on a different plane vs red

Here's a BW image from the Green channel only.



Full res 24MPx image here http://2under.net/images/100JML2-Chairs-BWfromGreen-AR41121.jpg
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