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Pentacon 30mm /3.5 - a funny little lens
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 10:36 pm    Post subject: Pentacon 30mm /3.5 - a funny little lens Reply with quote
Since the beginnig of this year, I've made it a practice to get out with a different lens every time - and post processing the results to give me results as interesting as possible. Today it was the Pentacon 30mm /3.5's turn - I only tried it once on my 40D, but never gave it a real chance. Today, on the A7, it got the opportunity to show what it could, and I am pleasantly surprised at what this little lens can do.

1: Just highlight and shadow setting, white and black point correction, some clarity and sharpening

2: Ditto, plus some de-vignetting

3: Ditto, at plm mfd of 33 cm

4: Infinity, with minimal post processing

5: In this case, the sky needed some dodging support (to emphasize sun rays)

6: Same here, with a graduated filter


PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 11:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 small

#6 is a beauty! Some very cool colors happening.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 1:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's a nice lens, dirt cheap, everyone should have one. Wink


PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
5 & 6 are very nice!


PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 11:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Some nice pop and 3D there. Who says only T* can do it.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 small Like 1 small Like 1 small


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 12:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Great pictures, especially the last one. Merit of the photographer, not the lens.

The Pentacon 30mm F3.5 is historically interesting, but it uses a problematic optical formula which results in poorly corrected coma. For this reason it was soon replaced by the Pentacon 29mm F2.8.

It is interesting to note that the 29mm Pentacon has a real focal length of just over 30mm, so the lenses are virtually the same with regard to focal length.

Pentacon 30mm F3.5 Optical diagram:



Pentacon 29mm F2.8 optical diagram:




This Nikon article allows you to better understand why the Pentacon 29mm is a much more modern desing than the Pentacon 30mm :
Http://www.nikkor.com/story/0012/


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 1:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the compliment! Would this mean that the 29mm /2.8 is optically superior to the 30mm /3.5, and that I should go looking for another Pentacon? If I would gain some image quality and half a stop of light I would be thinking about it, since the Pentacon 29mm /2.8 can be had for less than its 30mm /3.5 brother.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gerald wrote:
Great pictures, especially the last one. Merit of the photographer, not the lens.

The Pentacon 30mm F3.5 is historically interesting, but it uses a problematic optical formula which results in poorly corrected coma. For this reason it was soon replaced by the Pentacon 29mm F2.8.

It is interesting to note that the 29mm Pentacon has a real focal length of just over 30mm, so the lenses are virtually the same with regard to focal length.

Pentacon 30mm F3.5 Optical diagram:



Pentacon 29mm F2.8 optical diagram:




This Nikon article allows you to better understand why the Pentacon 29mm is a much more modern desing than the Pentacon 30mm :
Http://www.nikkor.com/story/0012/


Is the Pentacon 29 / 2.8 a completely different lens to the Carl Zeiss Jena 29 / 2.8 that was made in Japan? ( which I found to be a dreadful lens. It was probably made in a shed at the back of the Cosina factory from reject parts Rolling Eyes ) BUT.... was the lens the same design?


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 7:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice photos!
I am also taking a different lens each time I go out.
I have the Meyer Lydith 3.5 / 30mm which I believe is the same as the Pentacon.
I found it to be a decent lens. Your results were better than mine.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excellent series and a reminder that to take excellent pics one doesn t need a super fast, super coated, super whatever lens! Like 1


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
bobcominitaly wrote:
Thanks for the compliment! Would this mean that the 29mm /2.8 is optically superior to the 30mm /3.5, and that I should go looking for another Pentacon? If I would gain some image quality and half a stop of light I would be thinking about it, since the Pentacon 29mm /2.8 can be had for less than its 30mm /3.5 brother.


Well, compared to the Pentacon 30mm F3.5, the 29mm F2.8 is a bit faster, focuses closer and is multi-coated. In theory it is a better and more modern lens, but in practice I do not know if that would show in your photos. Because Pentacons were/are cheap lenses, a lot of amateur "repairmen" worked on them, so today there's a lot of bad lens floating around. This explains, perhaps, why the reputations of Pentacon lenses in general, and 29mm in particular, vary wildly.

The performance of the Pentacon 29mm F2.8 can be good enough for working on a 42MP FF camera. Pay attention to the resolution in the corners. I guess the photographer (not me!) used aperture equal to F8. The performance at the corners would be better for apertures equal to F11 or smaller (and worse for F5.6 or wider).


Picture original: https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7057/27106087013_c4895cc3b7_o.jpg

I notice you have a very good eye for wide angle shots. If you have not already done so, I suggest you try ultra-wide angle lenses of 20mm, 18mm, 17mm, etc. which produce spectacular effects on skilfull hands.

Last edited by Gerald on Sun Feb 12, 2017 10:40 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
Is the Pentacon 29 / 2.8 a completely different lens to the Carl Zeiss Jena 29 / 2.8 that was made in Japan? ( which I found to be a dreadful lens. It was probably made in a shed at the back of the Cosina factory from reject parts Rolling Eyes ) BUT.... was the lens the same design?


I think you're talking about the Carl Zeiss Jena 28mm (not 29mm!) F2.8:


This lens has indeed a totally different optical and mechanical design than the Pentacon 29mm F2.8.

There was also this Carl Zeiss Jena 29mm F2.8 version, which appears to be optically equal to Pentacon/Meyer 29mm F2.8:


Confusing this CZ Jena, isn't it? Laugh 1


PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It could well have been the 28 CZJ. I gave it away, and warned the recipient about how ghastly it was. I never heard from him again. Laughing
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