Steinheil 135 Culminar 4.5 LTM Samples

[KEO]

I wanted to post a few test shots using this nice old lens on my Fuji X-T2. Here's the lens itself, which I already posted in the "Newest Lens in Your Collection" thread:



Looks like mid-1950s vintage, with a Tower camera logo near the base. Is there a difference between Steinheil's "VL" lenses and non-VL lenses? This one has no VL marking.

First a couple of bokeh and sharpness test shots wide open. These are unedited except for scaling and jpeg conversion. I'm not sure the sharpness part is completely fair, since it was a windy day and these subjects were in constant motion. In any case I guess you expect an f/4.5 lens to be pretty sharp wide open.




Here's an unedited quasi-macro shot at f/16 with extension tubes and a flash. I crave lenses that are sharp at <= f/11, and this one does a good job there. The 16 iris blades is a bonus, as the highlights remain perfectly round.



Here's another flash shot at f/8. This was a bit underexposed, but I figured that was my fault, not the Culminar's, so I fixed it on the computer. Otherwise unedited:



The girl doesn't have much personality, but she's remarkably cooperative as a portrait model.

Overall, I like this Culminar a lot. It's one of my favorite 135s in fact, especially when you factor in size, weight, simplicity of operation, and looks.

I've been using a thin bit of black foam rubber and some tape as a lens hood. It works well, but I'd like to find something a little more durable, so if anyone has any advice on that topic, I'm all ears. The original Steinheil hoods for these lenses seem to be pretty rare and expensive.

[luisalegria]

This was mine, from a decade ago -writeup

http://forum.mflenses.com/steinheil-culminar-135-4-5-m42-t6141,highlight,%2Bculminar.html

I believe I used a slip-on series adapter (the old Series IV-V-VI-VII etc., before there were standard metric sizes). These came in different sizes of slip-on adapters which would take filters and hoods of the same series. I note Series V in my writeup, but 44mm thread, which I think was Series VI. Thats as best I can remember. So look for a Series V or VI slip on filter holder plus a matching Series V or VI hood.

[KEO]

[luisalegria]

I’m sure you know - Tower was Sears house brand for cameras.

The 1950’s Sears catalogs are fascinating.

[KEO]

[jamaeolus]

I read somewhere that the culminar in 85mm was the same as the optical scheme as the quinar. Does anybody know if that is true?

[sergtum]

[luisalegria]

Excellent link! Thank you!

[jamaeolus]

Excellent resource for Steinheil lenses. Thanks for that! Unfortunately it does not show a listing for the Quinar 85mm 3.5 I have. I might just have to buy a culminar for comparison. Interestingly the culminar in the listing is a 2.8.

[calvin83]

[KEO]

[jamaeolus]

The translated article indicates the auto-quinar 100 had a "rake" for setting aperture for flash photography. What does that really mean.