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

Raynox Polaris 135mm f/1,8
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 12:49 pm    Post subject: Raynox Polaris 135mm f/1,8 Reply with quote
I just succumbed to one of my periodic LBA fevers, and now i'm waiting for a Raynox Polaris 135mm f/1,8 in M42 mount.
The same lens is already mentioned in this thread:
http://forum.mflenses.com/i-just-won-a-sigmatel-135-1-8-fast-telephoto-t5948,start,30.html#top
I couldn't find much about this optic, sold under different brands, i just know that it's different from the Sigmatel/Sigma XQ and from the Porst i already own.
Here is a nice picture that compares various 135mm f/1,8 lenses (copyright Alf Beharie). I saved it time ago and it has proven useful:



The makers of other lenses are confirmed by my searches, not sure about the Spiratone/Raynox/Polaris.
From the informations i found Yoshida Industries applied for the brand "Raynox" in the USA, but it's not confirmed that it was the actual maker.
Some suggest Goyo Optics (Sun?).
Any more infos?

It is not a rare lens, i suppose a few forum members have/had this optic and shot pictures with it. Maybe somebody even had both the Raynox Polaris and the Porst (Mitake), in its various incanations. Any first hand impression is welcome.

A few pics of the lens i bought:






Before deciding for this lens i had in mind to buy a more rare beast, a Soligor C/D 135mm f/2.
Maybe could be a later variation on the older Soligor (Tokina-made, with Sonnar-related optical layout) visible in the pic above.
Maybe not, not much informations about the Soligor C/D.
In the end it was almost 100 euros more expensive, and i decided to pass.
I still regret i didn't buy the Pentax A Star at the turn of the century, when prices were still reasonable.
With the same money i spent in my two 135mm f/1,8 i could have bought one of the best optics Pentax ever made, and give my A Star's a new companion to play with... Smile Smile

cheers

Paolo

Last edited by cyberjunkie on Sat Nov 05, 2016 12:33 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The marvelous Pentax is similar, in the formula to the Minolta MC 100/2.

That Rokkor is a very good lens. The Pentax has one elemento more at the rear group, so can be better.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 1:19 am    Post subject: Re: Raynox Polaris 135mm f/1,8 Reply with quote
cyberjunkie wrote:
Before deciding for this lens i had in mind to buy a more rare beast, a Soligor C/D 135mm f/2.

Still want one?


PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 6:28 am    Post subject: Re: Raynox Polaris 135mm f/1,8 Reply with quote
cyberjunkie wrote:


It is not a rare lens, i suppose a few forum members have/had this optic and shot pictures with it.


Over here it's a rare beast. There are so many different brandnames, yet i never see one! Btw, didn't know there were so many different constructions, i always thought there was one with many names next to the versions of the big names.

Wouldn't mind finding one though.... Wink


PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for sharing Paolo! Like 1 small Like 1 small Like 1 small
Looking forward to seeing some pics taken with it!


PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 12:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the encouragement!
Hopefully i will find the lens when i go home... quite some time from now Smile
If i like it i might even take the lens with me when I leave again.
This time i have no M42 lenses with me, but still have two adapters, one flanged and the other original Pentax, for my new K-1.
You know, just in case...
I have a few MF lenses in PK mount, though. I am enjoying very much the Revuenon/Tomioka 55mm f/1,2.
This evening i want to try it with a Kenko 1,5x converter, and see how it behaves.
I am surprised by how well the new Pentax full frame fares with old lenses, even in high-res Pixel Shift mode!

cheers

Paolo


PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
@CyberJunkie
In my opinion Pentax K1 sensor is prepared for manual old lenses. I have also K5. Both have similar pixel density. But K1 pixels are less prone to aberration and better archive angled rays.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Piotr Krochmal wrote:
@CyberJunkie
In my opinion Pentax K1 sensor is prepared for manual old lenses. I have also K5. Both have similar pixel density. But K1 pixels are less prone to aberration and better archive angled rays.


Don't tell anybody! Wink Twisted Evil
The Pentax forum is full of people who seem to believe otherwise.
I've seen a few nice PixelShift pics taken with old Pentax (pre-KA) glasses, I even found one shot with the Pentax SMC f/4,5 500mm (same glass as the Takumar), but the photos are not available anymore Sad
As long tele's are concerned, i can't wait to be home for enough time, to test the same lens, along with the Pentacon 500mm, the Enna f/4,5 400mm, the Novoflex 400mm triplet and also the CZJ 300mm.
I want to give another chance to the CZJ Sonnar f/2,8 200mm in M42 mount. My first test with the K-01 revealed A LOT of fringing wide open.

Last minute edit:
back from a night market in south east Asia (my wife works here)
the Revue/Tomioka wide open screams "portrait",
a pity that's just a 55mm and it's not so good with the 1,5x converter,
but the optical signature is sharp enough and at the same time buttery.
I'm not going to pronounce the infamous five-letter japanese word, but the transiotion between in focus and OOF is really great! Smile
I'd like so much to test the two 135mm f/1,8 in the same conditions...

cheers

Paolo


PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you for summarizing the lens sections!

Stephan


PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I understand i've gone a bit out of topic, not the first time it happened, and not the last, i'm sure Smile
Understanding that this forum is regularly browsed by much more people than the active posters, i just followed my thoughts and expressed my own wild, totally uneducated guess, about relatively cheap long tele lenses that COULD play well with the Pentax implementation of the Sony full frame sensor, and with the PixelShift feature (which, i've seen with my own eyes, does wonder even with some not-so-expensive old glasses).
BTW, considering i'm a newcomer to the K-1, it was more "i'm curious to see how they perform", than "i have some good reasons to believe they will".
No intention to brag, more of an imaginary coffee table digression... no photog friends around! Smile

cheers

P


PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I just bought today a promura gekko 135 1.8 (same as porst) nikon mount.
Will post some pics soon! That pentax though.,..looks amazing


PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 1:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Forgot, here are some results taken with mine, a PORST 1.8/135mm (made by MITAKE)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kds315/albums/72157696060561184

Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
Page 1 of 1