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Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL on NEX 5N
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PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2014 4:34 pm    Post subject: Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL on NEX 5N Reply with quote
My favorite 135mm in enhanced Ernostar design with 5e/4g. I have post rose photos taken with this lens in other section http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic,p,1391335.html .


Build quality and image quality are first class. No surprise for a lens with highest price tag in the last 1950s. Like many other Steinheil chrome lens, this lens will flare easily when point to a light source. A bit of CA in high contrast area at wide open but disappear with little stop down.

All photos processed in LR5.4 with only necessary adjustment.

Click the photo to enlarge:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10


Last edited by calvin83 on Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:22 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2014 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
You did well to catch that little bird having a bath Smile


PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2014 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
That lens looks gorgeous and performance seems great as well! Photo's 3 and 5 are my favorites.


PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2014 9:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I can see why it's your favorite! Cool


PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2014 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very good shots, very good photographer, splendid and wonderful lens. Smile
I'm so lucky to have this very lens, which for me is the most beautiful 135mm.

http://forum.mflenses.com/steinheil-muenchen-quinar-2-8-135-t19698,highlight,%2Bquinar+%2B135.html

Gallery
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/mfl_club_members/Olivier/Quinar/Steinheil+M__nchen+135mm+f2_8_2009-08-25_022.JPG.html

another one :
http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20107/big_1176_40DSteinheil_Quinar_135mm_f28_20100703_0010_1.jpg


PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 5:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excellent! Very nice results!


PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wonderful Calvin - but I guess it is not the lens Wink


PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks all!

@Olivier
Yes. This is a beautiful lens and heavy lens. I think Steinheil use a lots of brass in this lens. I wish I bring it out more but it is not the first choice if I want to travel light.

@kds315*
I believe the only Mr. Schmitt I know can take great photos from any lens he owned. Everytime I see some wonderful photos from him, I convince myself it is the photographer make the lens shines but not the vise versa. Wink


PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
amazing color and clarity ! thanks for sharing.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:56 pm    Post subject: Re: Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL on NEX 5N Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
My favorite 135mm in enhanced Ernostar design with 5e/4g. I have post rose photos taken with this lens in other section http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic,p,1391335.html .




What a beautiful lens! They don't make lenses like they used to! I understand why it is your favorite 135mm lens.

I don't have the specifications but I imagine the Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL is a relatively heavy lens, at least considering its size. It would be interesting to see how it performs on a full-frame camera. Certainly it would balance beautifully on a bigger camera.

The Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL lens appears to be a modified Tessar with an additional front element (see the diagram T8 HERE). The use of a tick meniscus as the second element is an indication of good design (a tick meniscus is heavier and more expensive, but has less aberrations than a thin one of same power).

I liked all the photos, especially the #2. The dead stump surrounded by grasses of lush green colors shows that life and death coexist all the time.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:22 am    Post subject: Re: Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL on NEX 5N Reply with quote
Gerald wrote:

I don't have the specifications but I imagine the Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL is a relatively heavy lens, at least considering its size. It would be interesting to see how it performs on a full-frame camera. Certainly it would balance beautifully on a bigger camera.

I put my copy with the hood in a scale. It measures about 800g(the reason for the tripod mount on the lens body). Pretty heavy for a 2.8/135 but this is the cost of the good build quality.

Unlike wide angle or stand lens, telephotos have more consistent performance across the frame. A telephoto performance well in APS-C sensor almost implied that they will perform equal good on a full-frame camera. Here is the links to some full res photo on a Canon 5D. You can find more samples in the same album.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/praktinafan/5917779943/in/set-72157622646277329
https://www.flickr.com/photos/praktinafan/5909400335/in/set-72157622646277329
https://www.flickr.com/photos/praktinafan/5921691643/in/set-72157622646277329
https://www.flickr.com/photos/praktinafan/5909398603/in/set-72157622646277329

Gerald wrote:

The Steinheil Quinar 135mm F2.8 VL lens appears to be a modified Tessar with an additional front element (see the diagram T8 HERE). The use of a tick meniscus as the second element is an indication of good design (a tick meniscus is heavier and more expensive, but has less aberrations than a thin one of same power).

As I have mentioned above, I think this lens is based on the Ernostar(see the diagram below) which seems first suggested by Charles Minor in 1916(link to the patent http://www.google.com/patents/US1360667). Charles add a positive element in front of a triplet to get a better corrected lens and allowing a larger aperture design to use in low light condition. The third design(5e/4g) with a cemented element is quiet similar to this lens. Later, Ludwig Bertele from Ernemann improve the design with cemented elements(the 1926 patent a cemented element http://www.photo-china.net/column/pat/de428657.html ). The name Ernostar are from the lens sold with the Ernemann Ermanox camera. Paul Schäfter from Hugo Meyer also filed a patent with similar 5e/4g design http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/DRP_719677A.pdf . Later, Zeiss use Ernostar design in many of their Sonnars including those on Contax Yashica and Contax G. This proves the Ernostar is very successful design.

Gerald wrote:
I liked all the photos, especially the #2. The dead stump surrounded by grasses of lush green colors shows that life and death coexist all the time.

Thanks. This stump is put on a small hill. I feel comfortable when I looking at the stump and surrounding the green plants.

P.S. Lens diagram from memeber exaklaus .
Quote:


PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you for the interesting information.

It is a lens to keep forever! Congratulations!


PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Re-uploaded the photos. Smile


PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I see why you like this lens,it looks good and performs beautifully,colors,sharpness.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very nice shots.
I fave 7 and 9


PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you! Smile


PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I tested my copy on A7 today on a distance about 50 meters. A F2.8, it is sharp up to the middle of the frame. At F4, most part of the frame is sharp enough but not the corners. At F8, the corners looks OK to me but it is never sharp. In comparison, my Vivitar 135/2.8 CF has OK corner start from F2.8. So, this may not be the choice for those who care about corner sharpness but those who likes its bokeh, color and the build quality. Wink


PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The water lily just popped out of my screen! Brilliant colour! Like Dog


PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
I tested my copy on A7 today on a distance about 50 meters. A F2.8, it is sharp up to the middle of the frame. At F4, most part of the frame is sharp enough but not the corners. At F8, the corners looks OK to me but it is never sharp.


Maybe the softness in the corners is intrinsic to the lens (off-axis aberrations), but before blaming the lens have you checked the parallelism of adapter, lens mount, etc.?


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 4:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gerald wrote:
calvin83 wrote:
I tested my copy on A7 today on a distance about 50 meters. A F2.8, it is sharp up to the middle of the frame. At F4, most part of the frame is sharp enough but not the corners. At F8, the corners looks OK to me but it is never sharp.


Maybe the softness in the corners is intrinsic to the lens (off-axis aberrations), but before blaming the lens have you checked the parallelism of adapter, lens mount, etc.?

Yes. I think you might be right that the off-axis aberrations is the main cause of the softness. The result of my Steinheil 35/3.8 is similar but my Topcor 300/5.6 works fine. I will buy a better adapter and test again later.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
I will buy a better adapter and test again later.


You can easily test the parallelism of an adapter/mount. All you need is a camera with liveview and magnification of at least 10 times. The procedure is as follows:

1) choose a very detailed subject at a distance of 100 to 200 times the focal length of the lens.
2) with the lens wide open, frame the subject in the center of field, focus carefully with the maximum magnification of the screen, and record the distance on the lens focusing scale
3) Repeat 2 for all four corners

If all the five distances are equal, congratulations! You have a perfect lens!

If the four distances for the corners are equal, but there is a discrepancy in relation to the distance for the center, then the lens suffers from field curvature, but the adapter/mount is in perfect parallel with the sensor.

If the distances for the corners are discrepant from each other, and the difference is greater than the depth of field, then the adapter/mount is not parallel or the lens is decentralized.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
@grainy
Thanks you!

@Gerald
Thanks for the head-up. I had did something similar with NEX 5N but I think I need to test some of the lenses again with the A7. Some lenses looks OK on the APS-C censor but show difference sharpness in each side when test on a FF camera.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ugh I hate seeing these pictures, knowing I just sold mine last night.
I loved the image quality and build, but it was just too heavy for me. I found myself never taking it with me.
However, I already kind of regret it :/
Lovely images by the way, especially of the birds.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
A monopod should help if you think it is too heavy for handheld. It is not very heavy in my standard(more or less the same weight as a 70-200/4).


PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Steinheil Quinars (and Macro Quinars) were about the finest SLR lenses around in the late 1960's. The problem was the Exakta range of SLR cameras was falling out of favor with the western buying public at that time (Nikon, Pentax, Minolta dominance), and these lenses are mostly available only in Exakta mount. As fine a camera a VX IIa or VX IIb was, people wanted "modern" cameras with instant return mirrors, and the VX1000 and RTL 1000 Exaktas were a step down in reliability, which added to the obscurity of these fine lenses.

If I were to acquire a set of Macro Quinars, I would want to shoot them with a full frame camera-I don't think the high pixel pitch of 24mpx aps-c cameras do these any justice.
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