Yashica ML 2.8/35 - extra contrast

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1571

Yashica ML 2.8/35 is a very good lens, pretty well capable to deliver a wow-effect. It renders much of details and has good colours rendition. Still need to tweak colours if you use it under a strong sunlight, like in this shot where I only pushed saturation.

Although it looks more natural if you not only pump saturation but also negatively compensate exposure and then reduce contrast, which is a complete opposite of what you normally do with shots taken on other lenses.

This way you have a much more realistic, not washed-out picture which retains more details. Like in that 100%-crop.

But if you do not do that, this is how an original shot looks like with NEX-5N default settings. Not only overexposed but also too contrasty.

And here is a 100%-crop unprocessed.

No difference at which aperture you shoot. I wonder what is the origin of such lens behaviour, is it its special coating? And Zeiss lenses of the respective line, do they behave differently?

blotafton · Joined: 08 Aug 2013 Posts: 1552 Location: Sweden

It looks like normal over exposure. Check metering mode and exposure compensation.

By the way does anyone know if this lens is as good as a distagon 35?

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

One of best 35mm i tried: http://forum.mflenses.com/yashica-ml-2-8-35mm-poor-mans-distagon-t48923.html

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1571

Blotafton, the camera had default settings, as I mentioned above. So, this is not about an occasionaly switched parameter. To say more, with many other MF lenses I normally compensate +0.3 EV in-camera. But here the value was at 0.0. And I needed not only to compensate the exposure but also to lower contrast to make shots look more natural.

Here is an illustration.

#1 An out-of-camera JPG with default settings, no processing

#2 The same shot with exposure compensed, I lowered alpha value at almost -.35

#3 Previous one with contrast lowered at -.35 and once more exposure reduced at -.1

For me, this is not exclusively exposure but also Yashica's "natural" contrast which is in play.

Pancolart, what is your experience with the lens' super-contrast?

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

Lens had above average contrast, but Pentax SMC's have it too for instance.

blotafton · Joined: 08 Aug 2013 Posts: 1552 Location: Sweden

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 3754 Location: Switzerland

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1571

Pancolart, Steven, thanks for your contribution! I'll definitely try a Pentax to see the difference.

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1571

I didn't have an occasion to compare Yashica with Pentax. Just walked around with Yashica 2.8/35 and made some more shots in different light conditions.

#1 Wide open, soft light

#2 At f4, soft light

#3 At f4, harsh sunlight

#4 At f5.6, against the sky

All shots are out-of-camera jpgs, unprocessed except resize. The camera is Sony Nex.

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

I really loved it: http://forum.mflenses.com/yashica-ml-2-8-35mm-poor-mans-distagon-t48923.html

kymarto · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:59 am Post subject:

Looks to have some LoCA--check the color fringing

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1571

Pancolart, thanks for the reminder. Those your shots was one of the reasons I was interested in the lens.

Kymarto, there is certainly some fringing in difficult light situations, even if it is not as pronounced as in Yashica ML 1.4/50, which gives natural fireballs wide open.

The following two crops are from unprocessed jpgs, by Yashica ML 2.8/35 at f4.

#1

#2

In most cases it is barely visible, as the coating seems to manage this aberration quite well. What is more clear is a slight colour shift towards magenta. Sometimes the shots benefit from substracting some points in the scale of blue to look more natural.

bp_reid · Joined: 06 Jan 2021 Posts: 57 Location: London, UK

Interesting. The ML 35/2.8 I owned was my worst Yashica ML by a distance to the extent I never used past some test shots. This thread has me thinking I should maybe try again.

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1571

Bp_reid, that sounds unconventional, as the ML 2.8/35 is commonly seen as a lens giving a very good IQ. But this may also be an effect of comparison, as you let understand. When I first got a couple of 28mm lenses, which were coming from a well regarded league, a Hexanon and a Rokkor, I was not at all impressed. At that moment I was using several 50mm lenses, and as compared to them, the 28mms rendered rather flatly and dully. At least that was my immediate perception. Further experiments gave me a better idea. Even though if you look at a shot taken with a 50mm of the same maker you may note a better visible 3D effect, microcontrast that shines, smoother bokeh, etc.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 3754 Location: Switzerland