Kowa 33.5 0.95 x-ray lens

[lobbster]

i got hold of this lens a while ago but i have only just got around to modifying it to work with my GF1.

its one of the x-ray machine lenses you may have heard of but unlike the others, it is very small. similar in size to a c-mount lens of equivalent focal length. i hoped that when i bought it off ebay that it would also have the same focal plane distance as c-mount but it is in fact quite a bit shorter. however, the size of the lens means that it fits inside the camera reasonably well. i had to turn down some excess material to get it to fit inside the circular baffle inside my GF1. after a bit of work i have got extremely close to infinity focus but i cant find any information about the lens and hence dont know how much more material i can remove. i am happy with the results for now and very happy with this lens that is an extremely good performer for only $70

here is a sample shot for now and i will add more information soon


original
Straight out of the camera

the lens gives full coverage apart from VERY slight vignette and doesnt appear to do that crazy spirally fast bokeh that a lot of c-mount lenses seem to give.

there is no aperture control on the lens and in the sun my camera was maxed out at 1/4000 shutter speed but the performance in low light blows my mind (i dont own any expensive lenses and have never really use anything faster than 1.8


original

here is the lens on the camera (slight increase in contrast in photoshop). it came with a mount which i turned down a bit on the lathe and then glued it to an m43 to c mount adapter which i had to hollow out a lot. it isnt very sharp in the second image. it seems to get sharper and noticeably better the closer it gets to infinity which is the only position it is designed to be used as far as i understand.

[iangreenhalgh1]

You need to make the images a smaller size before you upload them. 1280 x 960 for example.

First image is terribly soft, nothing is sharp, I don't think it's usable.

[lobbster]

got some more shots today before the rain came. its very hard to focus because the depth of field is so small. especially with a dog that wont sit still. i use the original mount's screw thread to focus because it was easy to do initially so it takes time to unthread it to focus

you will also notice in these images the vignette. it is darker at the moment because i moved the rear element or cluster (i have no idea what is going on in terms of elements but the back part unscrews) back so that with my bodged mount i could squeeze a bit more distance out of it and have it a bit more useable until i make a better mount.

these are all straight from the camera and again most are maxed out at 1/4000 of a second

click for original images

[David]

Your second and third dog shots are great. Even if the lens isn't pixel-sharp, it appears to have legs as a portrait lens.

[lobbster]

thanks

it has been fun playing with it today

[iangreenhalgh1]

The dog pictures are very nice, congrats.

[Arctures]

Excellent results here. Very nice sharpness and contrast! I don't know may be you guys have had a lot of better 0.95 and similar lens but as for me these results looks really great. Comparing to my Rokkor 58/1.2 wide open in terms of sharpness I can see this lens is a really good performer. As far as I can see this kind of bokeh lets me think this lens does have an aspherical element. Lobbster, you've got a gem, congratulations!

P.S 70 bucks? Oh my god - I'll buy some right now, please tell me where

[Pancolart]

Awesome!

[lobbster]

[iangreenhalgh1]

Petzval type lenses can give similar results but the bokeh is a bit wilder. I have a Petzval projector lens that renders quite similar to this Kowa.

[pich900]

[F0.95]

interesting!

[ZoneV]

Thank you for showing. I like the results - and I love to test different lenses too.

[lobbster]

Thanks for the comments

[ManuallyYours]

In love with this beautiful lens. I really like the render of your pics, especially the last one with your dog's cute face....