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Rubica 300/5.6 - what the heck is that ?
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 1:56 am    Post subject: Rubica 300/5.6 - what the heck is that ? Reply with quote
You are probably asking - is this another of your no-name cheap crap lenses ? Well, yes it is !



Its a very light, very simple T-mount pre-set lens, very similar in quality and design to the cheap 400mm lenses of the era, like the famous Spiratone. This one does not have a tripod mount, though it has a slot for it. This may have been lost at some point, though its just as possible it was sold without one. I got this in perfect condition otherwise.

"Rubica" is probably just another of the dozens of importers/distributors/store brands. As to the actual maker, I have no idea, but interestingly the closest manufacturers design I have found for this is by Tamron, the model 670 -

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/olm300f5_6.htm

This is an example of one of the three generic Japanese 300mm lens designs of the 1960's-early 1970's I have identified.

- This simple one was sold under many small distributors brands. Even if it was not made by Tamron, the design is obviously related.

- One is the (possibly Tokina or Tomioka ?) automatic f/5.5 also sold by Sears, Mamiya, Soligor and Vivitar.

- I am still trying to get a copy of the other, which was also an f/5.5 but a pre-set, sold by Accura, Lentar, Petri and others.

This is one of that third type -

http://cgi.ebay.com/Accura-Supertel-300mm-lens-w-T-mount-for-Exakta-Topcon_W0QQitemZ230242207229QQihZ013QQcategoryZ707QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

So, is this thing any good ?

I have to say to my not very discriminating eyes it is completely adequate. And it is in fact very light and handy, though long.
All shot at f/5.5 -







One of our local criminals made off with someones chicken sandwich -



100% crop -



PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I am reminded all the time, just because a lens is inexpensive, or not a name brand, does not necessarily mean that it is cheap. The test shots prove this, very nice indeed.


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I was NOT expecting such clean images! WOW!


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 6:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
superb shots Luis
once again you can sell any lenses but this one is even more impressive for F5.6 shots


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Completely unexpected quality!


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
This lens belongs to the famous serie of 300,400,500 mm which was called "Die Wundertüte" (Berolina , porst , revuenon, albinar etc ...) in Germany . I owned the 500 one - Mepro brand - And I'm not totally surprised by the quality of this 300. The lens formula is probably "Achromatic doublet " or "Triplet" with or without a divergent rear group - Did you try to remove the divergent group from a 5 elements 135 or 200 "tele" , then correct the length with a bellows or extension tube set ? You'll get a long focal lens ... , and you'll get extra luminosity. I have an "Optomax" (british brand) 4,5/200 which is relevant of a similar design ...


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Helios wrote:
Did you try to remove the divergent group from a 5 elements 135 or 200 "tele" , then correct the length with a bellows or extension tube set ? You'll get a long focal lens ...


It looks a bit like that!


But indeed, these shots are nice!


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 11:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Another guy who can make master pieces virtually with any lens!

Last edited by Attila on Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:06 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Luis, these pictures are great. Thank you for sharing.

Helios wrote:
The lens formula is probably "Achromatic doublet " or "Triplet" with or without a divergent rear group - Did you try to remove the divergent group from a 5 elements 135 or 200 "tele" , then correct the length with a bellows or extension tube set ?


This is very true. Most people would be surprised by the quality of an achromatic doublet. Modern telephoto lenses need to feature many elements with some expensive special glass (ED) only because they are telephoto lenses. A straight long focal lens doesn't need a complex optical formula or any rare earth glass to achieve superb performance, as long as the aperture remains modest: 300/5.6, 400/6.3 or 500/8 lenses made of an achromatic doublet (2 elements in 1 group) can deliver very good image quality. There are many samples of these lenses available on eBay. While some brands are quite expensive (Leitz, Novoflex, Zeiss), many are just as good and can be bought for a few dollars (to the list in Helios' post, I'll add Spiratone, Vivitar, Komura, Sharpshooter, Quantaray and Soligor).

Long lenses need to be expensive if you are looking for compact size or fast aperture. If you're willing to accept a rather bulky lens with modest aperture, those cheap long focal lenses are the way to go!

Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Adequate? Those shots look better than some new AF 300mm zooms!

How much did you pay? For a cheap lens the image quality is excellent!

Tom


PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you all for the kind words, but really the camera is mostly responsible for the high quality, I expose on automatic AV and it just works, plus some exposure adjustment in Photoshop. The built-in IS on the Pentax also fixes a lot of problems.

And if you take a hundred or so pictures a few will be good, even for a dummy like me. With a digital its easy and cheap to take hundreds of pictures without thinking too hard, and throw most of them away.

The lens cost me $5 plus shipping. I think this type (300mm) of "Wundertute" (thanks for the name, Helios!) can be had on US Ebay usually for $10-20, though they are not found everyday. The 400mm are much more common. A pity I think, as the 300mm are more useful.

I have a Soligor 350mm (and that is an odd size) coming shortly, another $5 purchase. I'm told it has fungus. But that is easy to fix on simple lenses like these. This one looks exactly like a Tamron also.

BTW - what I really want out of all the "Wundertute" lenses is this one -

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/olm400f5_6.htm

Tamron model 340. Because it looks cool !


PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Another impresive drainpipe! Thanks for sharing.
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