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luisalegria
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 6627
Location: San Francisco, USA
Expire: 2018-01-18
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 Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:00 am Post subject: Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4 |
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luisalegria wrote:
Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4
I bought this lens two years ago to go with my Pentax K1, with which I intended to travel extensively from 2020 on. As a retiree, I intend to be an international man of mystery. Well, Covid put something of a limit to that, so here we are. I was able to spend 30 days in Spain in 2021, to kill time as I waited to be let back in to Manila, and I got to use this combination of Pentax K1+Irix 15mm to some degree of its potential, unfortunately as something of a harried tourist.
 DSC07311 by luisalegria, on Flickr
 DSC07314 by luisalegria, on Flickr
I updated this gear photo - this is my Pentax K1 with the Irix lens.
A much better, proper review than the idiosyncratic impressions I can relate here is the in-depth review at Pentax forums. Most of what they say should apply for other DSLR mount versions I think.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/irix-15mm-f24/introduction.html
This is a fairly well known lens so much of what I have to say here may seem redundant. I have no good idea of who Irix is, or who makes their lenses. Swiss? Korean? I bought this lens mainly because I had seen several good reviews and the price, used, was right even in 2019. It may be lower now even for its Pentax variant, which makes it an even better deal.
It is "almost" a fully manual lens, so even being quite a new production item it fits within the scope of mflenses. It does have data connections to a Pentax body so aperture setting and stopdown is controlled from the camera body. There is no aperture ring. It supports, I think, all exposure modes on the Pentax K1 and K3, though I keep the thing at Av. I don't know how its other mount versions work with other SLR's. It does not adapt well to Sony and, I suppose, other mirrorless bodies, as one loses all aperture control. It is a 15mm full-frame rectilinear lens, a very wide proper wide-angle for a full frame SLR. Its full potential is wasted on APS-C, but it is usable on the Pentax APS-C bodies.
Mine works perfectly. Once set to infinity and, say, f/8, the deep hyperfocal distance keeps everything acceptably sharp even for building interiors, so my sophisticated DSLR can be used as a "point-and-shoot" system, simple as can be. Thats the poor mans auto-focus! At f/8 I find the corners excellent, for my purposes anyway. Unavoidable wide angle distortion towards edges and corners makes these iffy in any case, if one wants to crop from there. Add to that the excellent performance of the K1 at ISO 1600-3200, or better yet when its all set to auto ISO, and it seems ideal for cathedrals and palaces and the like. Focus is very well damped if not near Takumar class. Infinity is spot on in mine, with infinity marked by a "click". I gather though there have been complaints about inaccurate infinity settings.
There are two "build" variants, "Firefly" and "Blackstone", "Blackstone" being all-metal and weather sealed, but the "Firefly" does have some weather sealing, and I have been caught a few times in showers with the K1, with no ill effects. I would not want to take it out in a full Manila typhoon drenching, but thats just prudence for any camera no matter how sealed it allegedly is.
It has a focus lock feature, which seems like it would be a useful thing, but in practice I have never found I needed it, and it seems like an unnecessary complication.
I think one has to buy the fairly expensive thin, dedicated polarizer and ND filters for this thing, for best results, as thicker generic ones I tried create a bit of vignetting. Well, there is plenty of room to crop.
Performance is, in my eyes anyway, near perfect, in combination with the K1. I am not tempted to do much minimum focus work with this and so I noticed no variation or curvature in the focal plane, which has been reported at minimum focus. There doesnt seem to be any field curvature at all at infinity. I find it all remarkably simple and straightforward, once one is used to the extreme perspective of 15mm. I like it very much and it more or less lives on my K1. The combination is a bit heavy and bulky to haul around the world in backpacker mode, but I think its worth it.
Samples -
 IMGP9985 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Codoba
 IMGP9280 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
 IMGP9408 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
 IMGP9887 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba (center crop)
 IMGP9521 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
 IMGP9452 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
 IMGP7196 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Toledo
 IMGP7386 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Elanxobe (Bizkaia)
 IMGP6853 copy by luisalegria, on Flickr
Madrid (Palacio Real)
 IMGP6765 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Madrid (Palacio Real)
 IMGP6644 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Madrid
 IMGP1652 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Segovia
 IMGP1206 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Segovia
 IMGP0302 copy by luisalegria, on Flickr
Granada (Alhambra)
_________________
I like Pentax DSLR's, Exaktas, M42 bodies of all kinds, strange and cheap Japanese lenses, and am dabbling in medium format/Speed Graphic work.
Last edited by luisalegria on Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:33 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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kds315*
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 16544
Location: Weinheim, Germany
Expire: 2021-03-09
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 6:06 am Post subject: |
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kds315* wrote:
Amazing lens + superb images Luis!!
You two seem to fit very well together - that for sure no mystery!!
_________________
Klaus - Admin
"S'il vient a point, me souviendra" [Thomas Bohier (1460-1523)]
http://www.macrolenses.de for macro and special lens info
http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos for UV Images and lens/filter info
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kds315/albums my albums using various lenses
http://photographyoftheinvisibleworld.blogspot.com/ my UV BLOG
http://www.travelmeetsfood.com/blog Food + Travel BLOG
https://galeriafotografia.com Architecture + Drone photography
Currently most FAV lens(es):
X80QF f3.2/80mm
Hypergon f11/26mm
ELCAN UV f5.6/52mm
Zeiss UV-Planar f4/60mm
Zeiss UV-Planar f2/62mm
Lomo Уфар-12 f2.5/41mm
Lomo Зуфар-2 f4.0/350mm
Lomo ZIKAR-1A f1.2/100mm
Nikon UV Nikkor f4.5/105mm
Zeiss UV-Sonnar f4.3/105mm
CERCO UV-VIS-NIR f1.8/45mm
CERCO UV-VIS-NIR f4.1/94mm
CERCO UV-VIS-NIR f2.8/100mm
Steinheil Quarzobjektiv f1.8/50mm
Pentax Quartz Takumar f3.5/85mm
Carl Zeiss Jena UV-Objektiv f4/60mm
NYE OPTICAL Lyman-Alpha II f1.1/90mm
NYE OPTICAL Lyman-Alpha I f2.8/200mm
COASTAL OPTICS f4/60mm UV-VIS-IR Apo
COASTAL OPTICS f4.5/105mm UV-Micro-Apo
Pentax Ultra-Achromatic Takumar f4.5/85mm
Pentax Ultra-Achromatic Takumar f5.6/300mm
Rodenstock UV-Rodagon f5.6/60mm + 105mm + 150mm
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caspert79
Joined: 31 Oct 2010
Posts: 2926
Location: The Netherlands
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:25 am Post subject: |
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caspert79 wrote:
There are some rumors that Samyang would be behind Irix. I don't know whether that is true.
But it wouldn't be a shame. I have the Samyang 85/1.4 (mk2) and it's a very good lens. However, I might sell it because I hardly use the f/1.4 aperture and I find the lens too big. |
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Knudsen
Joined: 16 Jun 2021
Posts: 115
Location: Indiana
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:27 am Post subject: |
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Knudsen wrote:
Very nice!
MABUHAY!
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jamaeolus
Joined: 19 Mar 2014
Posts: 2929
Location: Eugene
Expire: 2015-08-20
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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jamaeolus wrote:
Lovely images. I was unaware of Irix. The real mystery is how the company captured neutrinos for their coating  !
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visualopsins
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
Posts: 10541
Location: California
Expire: 2025-04-11
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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visualopsins wrote:
http://forum.mflenses.com/irix-15mm-f2-4-and-11mm-f4-for-35mm-cameras-t74581.html
http://forum.mflenses.com/uwa-irix-vs-samyang-vs-takumar-t82234.html
http://forum.mflenses.com/irix-lenses-first-impressions-t82221.html
http://forum.mflenses.com/irix-15-2-4-and-nd32000-filter-t82269.html
Nice Luis! Favorite Cordoba Child On Ancient Steps such an Ancient-Modern contrast!
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Cameras: Sony ILCE-7RM2, Spotmatics II, F, and ESII, Nikon P4
Lenses:
M42 Asahi Optical Co., Takumar 1:4 f=35mm, 1:2 f=58mm (Sonnar), 1:2.4 f=58mm (Heliar), 1:2.2 f=55mm (Gaussian), 1:2.8 f=105mm (Model I), 1:2.8/105 (Model II), 1:5.6/200, Tele-Takumar 1:5.6/200, 1:6.3/300, Macro-Takumar 1:4/50, Auto-Takumar 1:2.3 f=35, 1:1.8 f=55mm, 1:2.2 f=55mm, Super-TAKUMAR 1:3.5/28 (fat), 1:2/35 (Fat), 1:1.4/50 (8-element), Super-Multi-Coated Fisheye-TAKUMAR 1:4/17, Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR 1:4.5/20, 1:3.5/24, 1:3.5/28, 1:2/35, 1:3.5/35, 1:1.8/85, 1:1.9/85 1:2.8/105, 1:3.5/135, 1:2.5/135 (II), 1:4/150, 1:4/200, 1:4/300, 1:4.5/500, Super-Multi-Coated Macro-TAKUMAR 1:4/50, 1:4/100, Super-Multi-Coated Bellows-TAKUMAR 1:4/100, SMC TAKUMAR 1:1.4/50, 1:1.8/55
M42 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2.4/35
Contax Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 28-70mm F3.5-4.5
Pentax K-mount SMC PENTAX ZOOM 1:3.5 35~105mm, SMC PENTAX ZOOM 1:4 45~125mm
Nikon Micro-NIKKOR-P-C Auto 1:3.5 f=55mm, NIKKOR-P Auto 105mm f/2.5 Pre-AI (Sonnar), Micro-NIKKOR 105mm 1:4 AI, NIKKOR AI-S 35-135mm f/3,5-4,5
Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 (51B), Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 (51BB), SP 500mm f/8 (55BB), SP 70-210mm f/3.5 (19AH)
Vivitar 100mm 1:2.8 MC 1:1 Macro Telephoto (Kiron)
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stevemark
Joined: 29 Apr 2011
Posts: 3754
Location: Switzerland
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:39 pm Post subject: Re: Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4 |
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stevemark wrote:
| luisalegria wrote: |
Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4
This is a fairly well known lens so much of what I have to say here may seem redundant. I have no good idea of who Irix is, or who makes their lenses. Swiss? Korean? |
We've had this discussion earlier on --
Officially the company "Swiss TH" is registrated in Baar (Switzerland), very close to where I live:
https://www.moneyhouse.ch/de/company/th-swiss-ag-11329072531
But no office (let alone a workshop) here in Switzerland, and when you call them, you are re-directed to Poland - here's the Swiss national TV covering the story of fake "Swiss" lenses:
https://www.srf.ch/sendungen/kassensturz-espresso/schweizer-hersteller-liefert-aus-dem-ausland
Lenses are made in Korea:
https://www.fotomagazin.de/technik/news/th-swiss-neuer-objektivhersteller-bringt-weitwinkelobjektiv-fuers-vollformat
Nothing wrong with Korean lenses - but someone celarly is mis-using the name of "Switzerland" or "Swiss" for this product.
S
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luisalegria
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 6627
Location: San Francisco, USA
Expire: 2018-01-18
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 6:48 am Post subject: |
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luisalegria wrote:
Thanks for CarbonR's test article!
I can confirm that used correctly the Irix 15 has very little to no distortion, which makes it a good choice for architectural use. I shot a great number of ceilings for instance, with no issues, when properly done.
_________________
I like Pentax DSLR's, Exaktas, M42 bodies of all kinds, strange and cheap Japanese lenses, and am dabbling in medium format/Speed Graphic work. |
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tb_a
Joined: 26 Jan 2010
Posts: 3678
Location: Austria
Expire: 2019-08-28
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:39 am Post subject: Re: Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4 |
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tb_a wrote:
| stevemark wrote: |
| Nothing wrong with Korean lenses - but someone celarly is mis-using the name of "Switzerland" or "Swiss" for this product. |
I wouldn't call it misuse. That's a common practice not only for Switzerland but for many other European countries and companies as well. Many companies even hide the place of manufacturing.
That's "globalisation".
_________________
Thomas Bernardy
Manual focus lenses mainly from Minolta, Pentax, Voigtlaender, Leitz, Topcon and from Russia (too many to be listed here). |
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stevemark
Joined: 29 Apr 2011
Posts: 3754
Location: Switzerland
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 10:25 am Post subject: Re: Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4 |
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stevemark wrote:
| tb_a wrote: |
| stevemark wrote: |
| Nothing wrong with Korean lenses - but someone celarly is mis-using the name of "Switzerland" or "Swiss" for this product. |
I wouldn't call it misuse. That's a common practice not only for Switzerland but for many other European countries and companies as well. Many companies even hide the place of manufacturing.
That's "globalisation". |
I disagree
If something sustantial would have been made in Switzerland (e. g. calculating of the optics), then the use of the term "Swiss" would be OK. However, not a single person is working for IRIX here in Switzerland. Pretending the lens has anything to do with Switzerland is fraud (remember there's no IRIX office to be found here - phone calls are re-directed to Poland).
To make it clear: I'm NOT saying anything negative about the lens itself!
S
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tb_a
Joined: 26 Jan 2010
Posts: 3678
Location: Austria
Expire: 2019-08-28
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 10:56 am Post subject: Re: Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4 |
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tb_a wrote:
| stevemark wrote: |
| tb_a wrote: |
| stevemark wrote: |
| Nothing wrong with Korean lenses - but someone celarly is mis-using the name of "Switzerland" or "Swiss" for this product. |
I wouldn't call it misuse. That's a common practice not only for Switzerland but for many other European countries and companies as well. Many companies even hide the place of manufacturing.
That's "globalisation". |
I disagree
If something sustantial would have been made in Switzerland (e. g. calculating of the optics), then the use of the term "Swiss" would be OK. However, not a single person is working for IRIX here in Switzerland. Pretending the lens has anything to do with Switzerland is fraud (remember there's no IRIX office to be found here - phone calls are re-directed to Poland).
To make it clear: I'm NOT saying anything negative about the lens itself!
S |
The company "TH Swiss AG" is registered in Switzerland. Therefore it's called a "Swiss company". I know several similar cases in Germany or Austria.
Bottom line: Brandings or the registration country of a company are nowadays only used as a maketing tool or to reduce taxes/increase profit. There is no relationship between quality and point of registration whatsoever.
Lets face it: These are the modern times. It's no fraud, it's legal. However, I don't like it as well.
_________________
Thomas Bernardy
Manual focus lenses mainly from Minolta, Pentax, Voigtlaender, Leitz, Topcon and from Russia (too many to be listed here). |
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laenee
Joined: 31 Jan 2011
Posts: 369
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 3:45 am Post subject: |
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laenee wrote:
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Slalom
Joined: 10 Dec 2017
Posts: 151
Location: Stourbridge
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| Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 10:05 am Post subject: |
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Slalom wrote:
Legal maybe, but ethically its a bag of worms. |
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bychance
Joined: 24 Apr 2013
Posts: 345
Location: Kent, England
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| Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 11:56 am Post subject: Re: Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4 |
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bychance wrote:
| luisalegria wrote: |
Irix Firefly 15mm f/2.4
I bought this lens two years ago to go with my Pentax K1, with which I intended to travel extensively from 2020 on. As a retiree, I intend to be an international man of mystery. Well, Covid put something of a limit to that, so here we are. I was able to spend 30 days in Spain in 2021, to kill time as I waited to be let back in to Manila, and I got to use this combination of Pentax K1+Irix 15mm to some degree of its potential, unfortunatly as something of a harried tourist.
 IrixFirefly15 by luisalegria, on Flickr
This is a stock image from BHP unfortuntely, and it does not show the Pentax mount. My equipment is mainly in storage at the moment, as I am between moves and we are under tight lockdown over here.
A much better, proper review than the idiosyncratic impressions I can relate here is the in-depth review at Pentax forums. Most of what they say should apply for other DSLR mount versions I think.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/irix-15mm-f24/introduction.html
This is a fairly well known lens so much of what I have to say here may seem redundant. I have no good idea of who Irix is, or who makes their lenses. Swiss? Korean? I bought this lens mainly because I had seen several good reviews and the price, used, was right even in 2019. It may be lower now even for its Pentax variant, which makes it an even better deal.
It is "almost" a fully manual lens, so even being quite a new production item it fits within the scope of mflenses. It does have data connections to a Pentax body so aperture setting and stopdown is controlled from the camera body. There is no aperture ring. It supports, I think, all exposure modes on the Pentax K1 and K3, though I keep the thing at Av. I don't know how its other mount versions work with other SLR's. It does not adapt well to Sony and, I suppose, other mirrorless bodies, as one loses all aperture control. It is a 15mm full-frame rectilinear lens, a very wide proper wide-angle for a full frame SLR. Its full potential is wasted on APS-C, but it is usable on the Pentax APS-C bodies.
Mine works perfectly. Once set to infinity and, say, f/8, the deep hyperfocal distance keeps everything acceptably sharp even for building interiors, so my sophisticated DSLR can be used as a "point-and-shoot" system, simple as can be. Thats the poor mans auto-focus! At f/8 I find the corners excellent, for my purposes anyway. Unavoidable wide angle distortion towards edges and corners makes these iffy in any case, if one wants to crop from there. Add to that the excellent performance of the K1 at ISO 1600-3200, or better yet when its all set to auto ISO, and it seems ideal for cathedrals and palaces and the like. Focus is very well damped if not near Takumar class. Infinity is spot on in mine, with infinity marked by a "click". I gather though there have been complaints about inaccurate infinity settings.
There are two "build" variants, "Firefly" and "Blackstone", "Blackstone" being all-metal and weather sealed, but the "Firefly" does have some weather sealing, and I have been caught a few times in showers with the K1, with no ill effects. I would not want to take it out in a full Manila typhoon drenching, but thats just prudence for any camera no matter how sealed it allegedly is.
It has a focus lock feature, which seems like it would be a useful thing, but in practice I have never found I needed it, and it seems like an unnecessary complication.
I think one has to buy the fairly expensive thin, dedicated polarizer and ND filters for this thing, for best results, as thicker generic ones I tried create a bit of vignetting. Well, there is plenty of room to crop.
Performance is, in my eyes anyway, near perfect, in combination with the K1. I am not given to minimum focus work with this and I noticed no variation or curvature in the focal plane. I find it all remarkably simple and straightforward, once one is used to the extreme perspective of 15mm. I like it very much and it more or less lives on my K1. The combination is a bit heavy and bulky to haul around the world in backpacker mode, but I think its worth it.
Samples -
IMGP9985 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Codoba
IMGP9280 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
IMGP9408 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
IMGP9887 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba (center crop)
IMGP9521 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
IMGP9452 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Cordoba
IMGP7196 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Toledo
IMGP7386 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Elanxobe (Bizkaia)
IMGP6853 copy by luisalegria, on Flickr
Madrid (Palacio Real)
IMGP6765 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Madrid (Palacio Real)
IMGP6644 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Madrid
IMGP1652 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Segovia
IMGP1206 by luisalegria, on Flickr
Segovia
IMGP0302 copy by luisalegria, on Flickr
Granada (Alhambra) |
Another fantastic contribution to this forum Luis, thank you. Lets hope now you are retired you will have more time to give us more of your insights and knowledge.
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I got where I am by avoiding where I was going.
Now where was I? |
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stevemark
Joined: 29 Apr 2011
Posts: 3754
Location: Switzerland
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| Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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stevemark wrote:
By chance I just go a sample of the Irix 2.4/15mm in its full metal "Blackstone" version (there's also a lightweight "Firefly" available). I have been plaing with the lens for maybe half an hour before it got dark, mainly comparing it to my Sony Zeiss ZA 2.8/16-35mm (A-mount).
The lens barrel of the Irix feels very rugged and well made. All outer parts are made from metal, including the focusing grip. At 617 g (measured) the lens is pretty heavy, but not as heavy as the Zeiss zoom (867 g measured). Focusing is precise, but a bit stiff (the Zeiss 16-35mm manual focusing mode is smoother, in spite of being an AF lens). Sadly, the lens (Nikon F mount) doesn't have an aperture ring; therefore I had to improvise a bit and blocking the aperture lever at the specific positions. All preliminary tests were made using the 24 MP Sony A7II.
The Irix 15mm seems to have nearly the same effective focal length as the Sony Zeiss 16-35mm @ 16mm.
Wide open, both lenses are much better than well known vintage superwides such as the Minolta MC/MD4/17mm, the Zeiss CY 4/18mm or the Canon FD 4/17mm.
While the Sony Zeiss zoom has some lateral CAs, the Irix 15mm is virtually free from CAs.
Wide open:
The Irix has slightly better corners, but the main difference comes in the field where the Zeiss zoom suffers from field curvature which causes the resolution to drop to some extent.
At f8:
The Irix now is really good over the entire image (including the corners), and remarkably free from CAs.
I'll post some crops tomorrow to illustrate the quality of the lens, using a 24M FF sensor.
S
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