What's the latest lens you added to your collection?

Minolfan · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 3437 Location: Netherlands

Funny little 135mm 3.5 Mayfair Sankor preset lens in nice condition with T2 MD adapter.
And a Meopta Anaret 80mm 4.5 enlarger lens.

frenched · Expire: 2014-06-17

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

wolfhansen · Joined: 06 Oct 2013 Posts: 511 Location: Germany, Ruhr Area

Leitz Wetzlar Elmarit-R 2.8/35mm

Ernst Dinkla · Joined: 30 Nov 2016 Posts: 378

Yashica GS salvaged Yashinon DX 45mm 1.7 that is converted to FE mount.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/62522120

jnarciso · Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 39

Hello Dinkla

Is there a place when I can buy the printed piece (or a free file to print one)?

Very interested in that part to convert a GS yashinon

Many thanks

jnarciso

Sciolist · Expire: 2021-04-16

The self-medication regime I'm on in order to ease my Exakta illness has been having some nice side effects. Namely lens caps.... sorry... lenses, that would not normally bleep on my radar. Here is one case in point, my first ever Cooke triplet -

E.Ludwig Meritar 2,9/50 pre-set. 9v battery for scale - It's a titch.

You think of the elderly optical design, the 1940s styling, and then you see that flash of lovely deep blue coating. Mmm..It's not as old as it looks. This lens seems to perform better than the write-ups on the internet, although they do seem to show a pic of the zebra version when criticising its performance and ergonomics. And that's another thing. I find the ergonomics really good. They have kept it simple with deeply recessed glass to avoid flare, big clear numbering for hurried glances, and focus and aperture rings close enough so you don't have to shift your thumb and forefinger position to swap between them. The two rings are so different in feel their closeness has caused me little problem. Quite the opposite in fact, I've found myself, for the first time, quite intuitively focusing, then creating my depth of field, in one fairly fluid motion. I've been quite taken by this little thing in actual use.

Fuji X-E1. f/8. No PP. I chose f/8 but I actually have no idea where it performs best yet, for differing subjects.

Well, there's no hiding it could benefit from a couple of tweeks in PP. In its defence, that shot looks straightforward, but there's a large bay window to the right out of shot that really exercises a lens ability to cope with extraneous inputs, and here the poor Meritar is struggling to provide contrast, which in turn would give a better perception of sharpness. I can see why it came with the B.D.B. filter fitted. It does pick the contrast up a touch when fitted, but I wonder if that's because the filter recesses the lens even further, shielding itself better from the insidious 45 degree ahead side lighting. Sticking a hood on it will provide the answer.

Ach! I knew I couldn't leave the poor thing like that. A whisper of PP -

Onward...

Ernst Dinkla · Joined: 30 Nov 2016 Posts: 378

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

Not a bad day, first off I found an immaculate Sigma Mini Wide II 28 / 2.8 in M42 mount for £7 in a charity shop, it's identical to the 'Super Wide II' I already have, just a change of name?

Then I found a nasty looking Olympus OM 10 with a Zuiko 35-70 / 4 zoom in a pawn shop. But under the dirt it looked good, so for £15 I took a chance, and it paid off. It's all cleaned up perfectly, the lens is unmarked and very good, I took some test pic's and like it a lot. The camera is the same, with new batteries it all works perfectly, even the light seals are good. all it needs is a Manual Adapter.

woodrim · Joined: 14 Jan 2010 Posts: 4060 Location: Charleston

Questar 700 8/700 Mirror.

benadamx · Joined: 25 Feb 2019 Posts: 329

KEO · Joined: 27 Sep 2018 Posts: 761 Location: USA

benadamx · Joined: 25 Feb 2019 Posts: 329

Sciolist · Expire: 2021-04-16

Tales from the medicine cabinet #2.

1956 Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/50 'T'.

There are few certainties in life. But death, taxes, and owning a tessar at some point are probably three of them. Funnily enough a tessar has not so much as darkened my doorstep until a month ago, and now I have two. Is that how it works with tessars?

I first acquired the 'leather' version as it is known, the one sandwiched between the more famous 'Star Wars' and 'Zebra' versions and subsequently this one, which was the last of the silver versions, and one that the Zeiss designers set about shrinking as much as they could after the previous iterations had grown in size each time.

It would be too easy to compare this lens with the meritar 2.9/50, another Exakta 'kit' lens (god I hate that term), but I will anyway as the difference is straightforward. The Meritar has better ergonomics, the Tessar has better optics - I know it's subjective, but it's quite a sharp lens and the saturated colour is noticeable. Phew! That was easy. I mention subjectiveness, because from what I've seen so far, I actually prefer the PP'd images I can produce from the Meritar. A style of rendering can be produced that I particularly like.

This tessar is also the first lens where rather than force bokeh bubbles out of it, I've had to rein in it's propensity for producing them. It will provide a froth of the bubbly stuff at the drop of a hat, and seems to revel in doing it.

My usual test shot next to the bay window. As is often my style, I've ballsed it up. I took a standard shot with all settings flat on the X-E1, then went back in and did some light tweeking in PP. Except I saved the tweeks to the original, rather than creating a copy *sigh*. This is why I'm not a millionaire photographer I suspect Crying or Very sad

.

F/5.6 @ 3m. Focal plane on the grass stems. Fuji X-E1 on Standard setting, all parameters set flat... then some light PP applied (Grrrrr…)

Still looks a little flat to me. Onward...

walter g · Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 2463 Location: NC, USA

My latest lens came today.
Soligor Miranda 2.8cm f2.8.

Gardener · Joined: 22 Sep 2013 Posts: 950 Location: USA

Kawana87 · Joined: 01 Feb 2019 Posts: 28 Location: Canada

I just picked up a mint copy of a Vivitar series 1 70-210 F2.8-4 V3. I already own the version 1, but the V3 apparently has better optics and was Max F2.8 vs the constant F3.5 of the V1. Plus it has the pretty red ring. Not the best picture but I think it looks damn sexy on my A7r.

benadamx · Joined: 25 Feb 2019 Posts: 329

Oldhand · Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 8:14 am Post subject:

sergtum · Joined: 14 Nov 2016 Posts: 735

DSC01812 by Mr TTT, on Flickr

Oldhand · Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:03 am Post subject: