Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!

SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

My leatherette Flektogon 4/20 has arrived!!
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:41 am    Post subject: My leatherette Flektogon 4/20 has arrived!! Reply with quote

WHoa!! Only two days shipping from Berlin! And in PERFECT condition!

Really a RARE collector piece this is!

I'm very happy, now I have solid belief to be one of the very few, if not the only one, man on earth to own all three of the Flektogon 4/20 versions!

I said this because I never saw this leatherette version anywhere before this auction! And the "transition" black-orange version is also not at all common.

Photos later!! Very Happy


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Something you will not see much often anywhere else: here's the three versions of the Flektogon 4/20, all together, left to right:

1- first version, "leatherette" type

2- second version, "zebra" type

3- third and last version, black barrel type



Now, that's a piece of the history of manual focus lenses, isn't it? Smile

_


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice to see them together ! Congratulation!!!


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hell, that's a nice view! Congratulations, Orio!

I am eager to see if there is a difference in IQ.

Do you realize that we - as a forum - slowly begin to be a serious reference and source for anybody who is interested in MF lenses?
That's a great thing.


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

LucisPictor wrote:
Hell, that's a nice view! Congratulations, Orio!
I am eager to see if there is a difference in IQ.


From the first tests that I have made, it seems to perform slightly worse than my other copies. It is soft and flaring wide open (like the others), but differently from the other copies, it becomes useable at f/8 - while my other copies are all more or less useable at f/5.6

But I would not blame this on the version, instead, I'd blame it on the notorious inconsistency of quality control at the Jena factory during the DDR age. In other words I think it's a copy problem, not a version problem.

I am not really concerned about this, because I have three other Fleks to use. I am perfectly happy to keep this beautiful sample for the collection only. It looks perfect - in much better condition than the other and newer copies that I have. This fits in my theory - best looking lenses are often not the best ones optically.

LucisPictor wrote:
Do you realize that we - as a forum - slowly begin to be a serious reference and source for anybody who is interested in MF lenses?
That's a great thing.


Yes, I agree. It's really great. Also the nice thing is that we are different persons who are inclined towards different types of lenses: Michael focuses on the Russian lenses, Chris Moore on the Nikkor lenses, Attila also lately, Rob Leslie on the Tamron lenses, I focus mostly on the Zeiss lenses, Bill is gathering a good collection of old medium format cameras, Veijo has a great technical knowledge and he's also "the man" for the oldest lenses and the brave experimentations.
I think this is great, the fact that we focus on different brands and type of lenses, compared to e.g. the Fred Miranda fourm where everyone only buys either Zeiss or Leica and almost nothing else.
We have a lot of diversity and we guys are more or less "specialized" on an area - this makes the group offer of support, very broad.


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't forget me who tries to find the jewels within the group of cheap lenses and thus can give advice which lens to buy when you do not want to spend much money. Wink


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LucisPictor wrote:
Don't forget me who tries to find the jewels within the group of cheap lenses and thus can give advice which lens to buy when you do not want to spend much money. Wink


Yes, you are like, the Lone Gold Searcher Wink


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Exactly, and I am as successful as the typical gold digger, a rate of 1 in 20 is what I can expect. Wink

This is really true from about 60 very cheap lenses, I got three real gems.
(I am not talking about the Nikkors, the Zenitar or other more valueable lenses here!)
Am example of of these gems is the Weltblick 3.5/135. I got this lens for 3 Euro something and it performs almost as good a my CZJ 4/135 or my Pentacon 2.8/135.

Finding such a lens is like Xmas! Very Happy


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Carsten,
Do you have a list compiled of your "bargain basement" gems?

Bill


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sure, Bill. (Sorry, Orio, for the OT!)

These are the lenses that I got for under Euro 10 (or a little more) and which I still consider more than decent performers:

- Vivitar 2.8/28 (manufactured by Komine)
- Asahi SMC Takumar 3.5/35
- Helios-44-2 2/58
- Pentacon auto 1.8/50
- Yashica Yashinon 2.0/50
- Hanimex Tele-Lens 4/100
- Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/135 (silver body)
- MC Jupiter-37AM 3.5/135
- Weltblick 1:3.5/135
- Telear-N 3.5/200 (but that was really a very lucky bargain!)
- Tamron 3.8-4/70-210 Macro 46A
- Maginon G HQC 4-5.6/70-210 (as a no-name copy of that lens for € 1,-)

That's more than 3 lenses, since I did not only mention the three best ones but all the good ones I got for almost no money.

Not my best lenses, of course, but all of them definitely are keepers!

The three gems I was talking about in the above post are:
- Weltblick 1:3.5/135
- Asahi SMC Takumar 3.5/35
- Telear-N 3.5/200 (and the last two I would count to my best lenses!)

Actually, I could make this four: Vivitar 2.8/28 (manufactured by Komine)

These 4 lenses have cost me together (!) not more than Euro 30,-!


Last edited by LucisPictor on Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:34 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

VERTIGO (Sorry Bill, no Kim) Smile



HUNTING



HEY!



As you can see, even this old Flek when stopped down is not bad at all for sharpness!


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio wrote:
...is not bad at all for sharpness!


Not bad? It's fantastic!


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Carsten, thanks for the info and list! Smile

Orio, I think you have another winner, there! Wink

Bill


PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Extremely sharp Orio.

I tought the Flek 20/4 was Good wide open?

These picture sure have the 3 D effect, luckey I'm niot affraid off higths.

Guido


PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jigt wrote:
Extremely sharp Orio.
I tought the Flek 20/4 was Good wide open?
Guido


No, it's soft and also flareing (although in a pleasant way).
I have shot sometimes wide open, in winter time, the pics can be saved with some PS work (sharpening and devignetting mostly), the flare is not obtrusive.
However I suggest to use the lens thinking of the f/5.6 as widest aperture, and use f/4 only in extreme cases.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@ Orio: There was a further variant of CZJ lens with a hard plastic focus ring with regularly spaced "pips" on it - this focus ring is rather fragile and is commonly cracked or broken. I have both a Flek 4/20 and Flek 2.8/35 with this type of focus ring, albeit in Exakta mount. I don't know if any lenses with the "pip" ring were ever produced in M42 though, although it seems likely that they were.

As far as 60's CZJ lenses were concerned, I *think* the "pip" focus ring was first, then the leatherette (which I suspect may be actually vulcanite as it's quite hard and tends to crack), then the zebra and finally the milled.

Still a nice collection though Cool


Last edited by bob955i on Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:15 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bob955i wrote:
@ Orio: There was a further variant of CZJ lens with a hard plastic focus ring with regularly spaced "pips" on it - this focus ring is rather fragile and is commonly cracked or broken. I have both a Flek 4/20 and Flek 2.8/35 with this type of focus ring, albeit in Exakta mount. I don't know if any lenses with the "pip" ring were ever produced in M42 though, although it seems likely that they were.
I *think* the "pip" focus ring was first, then the leatherette (which I suspect may be actually vulcanite as it's quite hard and tends to crack), then the zebra and finally the milled.
Still a nice collection though Cool


Do you have a picture of that model?


PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes I do - I'll post it tomorrow if that's OK as my laptop battery is nearing death.

Last edited by bob955i on Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:17 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have one in 135mm 3.5 czj sonnar.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the Flek 20 with the "pip" focus ring Orio:



And here's my collection of Flekzotica:



PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow! You are king of Flektogons! Smile


PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought you'd like that, hehe..... Laughing

Actually I think we all probably have fine collections of lenses among us without ever really thinking about it.

I should really stop buying glass and buy a decent film scanner and printer....


PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see what you mean, Bob.
The difference however appears limited to that thing instead of the fake leather strip. For the rest, the lens appears identical to the leatherette version (while the other models show substantial differences in the barrels)

(Of course I do not consider the Exakta bulge)


PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, that's amazing, Bob!

Next time I am in Scotland, I will call at your place... Wink


PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@ Orio: You don't see these "pip" ring versions very often other than my two Fleks and Attila's Sonnar, although I have seen a Biometar 120 so I wonder if that particular design was discontinued early on in favour of the less easily damaged leatherette design which then changed to the zebra...?

@ Carsten: Glad you liked it. Smile It was a long slog but it was worth it in the end - I only need the 4/25 in M42 to complete the lineup.