Fujian 35mm f/1.6 c-mount for APS-C

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

I am quite late to the party on this, but what the heck - I picked up this extremely cheap "CCTV" (not exactly, more on that below) lens for my Nex-3 from Ebay, of course.

PJCT3061 by luisalegria, on Flickr

PJCT3066 by luisalegria, on Flickr

What this is, of course, is one of those $30 Chinese surveillance camera lenses, the current version of the Fujian 35/1.7. However, this is a much newer model that I have not seen much about on the Internet, in spite of it being all over ebay, in various packaging.

This, in this form, is NOT meant as a surveillance camera lens. The mechanical layout is completely changed from the original 35/1.7 version. This thing is clearly meant explicitly for the mirorless camera market, hence it is designed to look and work much more like a Leica style lens. It is much more attractive than the functional CCTV version. Of course, I got one in chrome finish for max bling. I have no idea whether the optics are the same, or whether it is really an f/1.6 vs f/1.7, or if this change is also just marketing. I suspect it is.

There is an even newer Fujian 25mm f/1.8 variant with similar styling, which may well also be a repackaging of the Fujian 25mm f/1.4 CCTV, but maybe not. I expect I will find out eventually.

I really got it to go with my $80 Nex-3 as a "normal" for it, as I will be in Asia next week, and I wanted a camera and lens I could afford to lose, in certain places.

It is, as I said, very much like a rangefinder lens in design. It is an all metal (aluminum) build, rather well finished, with very simple manual aperture control on the mount side, with focus on the front ring, which is backwards from most rangefinder lenses, but it works fine. All in all, mechanically, it seems well made and very sturdy. The only thing off about mine is that the focus rotates way past marked infinity (which is acurate). Why I don't know. And also, oddly, f/11 is not marked, it going straight from f/8-f/16. It takes 37mm filters, and the online kits often come with an absurd rangefinder style vented hood. I found a proper little plain hood for it.

Its a c-mount but the usual ebay package usually comes with a c-mount-mirrorless mount converter, for Nex, Fuji, 4/3, etc. I recommend getting one of these packages as it avoids details of minor dimensional variation, hitting infinity, etc. Its also more convenient to have a dedicated mount for this, its much less fiddly than c-mount threads.

Performance - this is of course something of a trick lens, and not comparable to a proper NEX or 35mm rangefinder lens. It covers APS-C pretty well, but with quite a lot of light falloff in the corners wide open and down to f/4. Its real claim to fame is extreme field curvature, much like a Petzval, with a radial Scheimpflug effect. This is often desirable for special effects and subject isolation of course, and to emphasize bokeh effects. The downside is that the corners will be terrible by design. It can do reasonably good corner to corner sharpness if stopped down to f/8-f/11 or so. The center is always very sharp, as is to be expected. Its quite good about contrast and flare.

I suspect this lens is a lot less fun on 4/3 as it will be much less weird on a smaller sensor, I would expect a much more conventional result. .

Samples - note that I could not arrange a portrait, which should be this thing's ideal use, but so be it. Also outdoors I had to stop down to f/5.6 or so as I had no ND filter to keep within my shutter speed range, and the subjects were not suitable for such extreme field curvature anyway. My only real problems with this were the usual troubles with a mirrorless camera lacking an EVF. It is quite a clumsy way to work.

I should have more and better samples in a couple of weeks. On the whole I think this is very worthwhile, a great bargain, and a fine toy for anyone with a mirrorless camera.

DSC00108bw by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00117bw by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00150bw by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00130x by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00165x by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00159 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00210 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00290 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00246 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00242 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DConvert · Joined: 12 Jun 2010 Posts: 921 Location: Essex UK

It's certainly much nicer looking than my CCTV version, which is narrower & I think longer...
Mine has the aperture control on the outside & the focusing ring rather awkward to get at.

If those shots are APSC it's coverage & performance in the corners is also improved.
Having a 37mm filter is also an advantage.

I've lent mine to my daughter, so I might be rather tempted to get the new version!!

Lightshow · Joined: 04 Nov 2011 Posts: 3666 Location: Calgary

Proof that you don't need expensive camera gear to take wonderful images, the operator is far more important.

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

according to you images this is a must have lens. Thanks for sharing.

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3462 Location: Northern Ireland

Have you any more samples you can show us from this lens?

uddhava · Expire: 2021-06-21

Thanks for sharing this. Nice photos.
Maybe I should get one.

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

surprised to see it that nice!

Sciolist · Expire: 2021-04-16

With the beach pics more obviously, they lean towards depicting how you must have seen the scene yourself. Particularly pics 3 and 4.

Images I've seen that have deliberately tried (I know that's not you here) to represent how we actually see the world usually don't look right at all. We seem to have an 'eye' for seeing, and another for looking (e.g at pictures). But the pics you produced above seem to me at least, to have a mixture of both.

I hope that kinda makes sense. Don't worry if it doesn't. It's just an area I've been looking into recently - What your eyes see vs what the camera takes.

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

As per Lightshow..Masterful use by an artist. Like 1

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

More from the Fujian 35/1.6

I took this along, with the Nex 3, to the Philippines, but I ended up using it very little, depending almost entirely on my Pentax K3 - the Nex 3 was just too annoying to use. So I got a Nex 7, which is miles better!

Anyway, some more samples from this lens - it is definitely a "toy" lens for most things, save portraits.

DSC00306 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC00298 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC03376 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC03919 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC03955 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC03981 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC04005 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC04123 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC04128 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC04179 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC04190 by luisalegria, on Flickr

DSC04097 by luisalegria, on Flickr

The lizard -

DSC04097crop by luisalegria, on Flickr

crop -

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Great lens no doubt, but... long time experience with you, you can make any 'shit' lens to gold.

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

urbanfreestyle · Joined: 26 Jun 2017 Posts: 31 Location: Exeter

Thanks for posting this, SUPER interested. do you know if this would work on Fuji X mount?
I have found this one i think would work with an adapter?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FUJIAN-35mm-f1-6-C-mount-CCTV-Lens-II-for-N1-Fujifilm-FX-NEX-Micro-4-3-EOS-M-B-/252579831062?epid=525059155&hash=item3aceee5d16:g:yrUAAOSw8w1X~L-6

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/C-mount-16mm-1-2-CCTV-lens-To-Fujifilm-Fuji-FX-X-Pro1-X-M1-X-A1-X-E1-Adapter-/272663005136?hash=item3f7bfb47d0:g:d7MAAOSwcaFZEJPu

Thanks in advance.
Geoff

tb_a · Expire: 2019-08-28

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Look on ebay or amazon; there are kits of these that come with an adapter for Fuji.

Also be prepared for trouble, as these things dont have perfect quality control.

urbanfreestyle · Joined: 26 Jun 2017 Posts: 31 Location: Exeter

Thanks for the pointers.
This could work as i'm after something subtle that doesnt increase in size expenentially when i add an adapter.
I'm always ready for 'Trouble' but i like to think of it as 'Character'

kievuser · Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 551

The image quality is similar to that of early German lenses with lead or rare earth elements. I have some C mount zoom lenses and I have compared them to some C mount Meopta 16mm lenses. The Chinese lens has a higher contrast, and a yellowish tint.

Here are a couple of examples of Fujian made lenses.

fatdeeman · Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 780 Location: UK

The CCTV version is one of my favourite lenses, magical results.

Tell me, does this lens focus easily or is it like the CCTV version where there is some play between turning the ring and the mechanism moving? It's hard to do the "back and forth" focusing thing with it because you can turn the ring a few degrees either way and it has zero effect on the focus.

If the focusing is tighter I might get one.

Interestingly the finish looks better than that stupid "Jackar" version they tried to sell for $200 a while ago.

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Kievuser, this one is not, I think, similar to early German lenses, because its interesting feature is extreme field curvature.
That is not quite what defined Xenars or Sonnars or Biotars for instance. These may have had more field curvature than more modern lenses, but nowhere near what this thing has.

These Fujian things are also probably sharper in the center than any old German 50mm, definitely sharper than a Sonnar 50/1.5 wide open, this one isn't soft at all, and it has much better contrast. Modern coatings of course.

The newer Chinese production is getting even better, the 25mm f/1.8 (see my other post) is nearly a fully conventional lens with very little field curvature effect, and some others (by Meike, etc.) designed from the beginning as mirrorless camera lenses are very competitive technically with Japanese/Korean production, going by online and Youtube reviews.

China is having quite a large breakout in camera lens creation. As you have so clearly documented, and thank you for that, this shouldn't be a surprise as China seems to have had quite a large and sophisticated optical industry for a long time.

Thanks for the pic of the c-mount zoom! I wouldn't mind trying one of the old CCTV zooms, if any of them can cover APS-C, even in an "interesting" way.

Dave, this one and its 25mm cousin have no play at all in the focus, it works perfectly well. I think that may be a problem with your copy. As above, the worst weakness of these things, for the moment, seems to be quality control.

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1674

I double your observations, Luis. The newer Fujian 35mm lens is way improved. That does concern not only the newest rangefinder-shaped version you present, but equally the old-fashioned cylinder CCTV which looks exactly like the old 2013 version. With an exception that it renders as you showed with your shots, giving a mild OOF transition to the edges. Add here 10 or more blades of the diaphragm which are already put in the newer CCTV-shaped version. Putting such lens to an APS-C Nex you get an almost versatile precision instrument, other than a funny distortion glass you had in 2013. I paid mine 15 euros with free shipping. The old one costed me twice in 2013. To tell the truth, I was sligthly disappointed with my latest acquisition because I've got this copy hoping to reproduce harder edge distortions that I have with the old version, like in this shot.

But well, I am far from complaining when at such a price I get a less toy-like and more professionally looking image.

By the way, does someone know where to get the old version of Fujian 35mm?

tikkathree · Expire: 2012-12-28

You guys.....

I wake up on holiday and flip my laptop open expecting to look at some lovely photos and what do I see?

gorgeous portraits and suddenly I need another lens and maybe something called a"NEX" to mount it on!! Laugh 1

tikkathree · Expire: 2012-12-28

You guys.....

I wake up on holiday and flip my laptop open expecting to look at some lovely photos and what do I see?

gorgeous portraits and suddenly I need another lens and maybe something called a"NEX" to mount it on!! Laugh 1

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1674

I made some test shots and allow myself to add them to the original post. Luis, I hope that does not bother you if I complete your illustrations. You presented here some portrait samples. I focused on landscape. The thing which interested me most is the field curvature and across-the-field sharpness with different apertures. My first impression is that the old CCTV Fujian visibly improved the overall sharpness when the aperture was closed to f8 or more. In that case it becomes almost a "normal" lens, without very much of corners distortion. The new vesion of the lens shows the same effect in a "slower" way. I mean that it predictably gives a better sharpness when closing the aperture, but at f8 the effect is less pronounced. That might also be because fully open it also distorts less the edges of the image. Is your experience similar to that?

Here are some samples:

#1 Wide open (f1.7), partly leaves and partly sky

#2 At around f5.6

#3 At around f8

#4 At around f16

#5 At f1.7, a mid-range distance. The 3D pop is astonishing for such a lens.

#6 At around 5.6

#7 At f1.7, a close range sample

#8 At around f5.6

To all the images color auto-correction is applied and contrast is boosted.

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

I can't say really, I dont have the old version of the Fujian to compare.
The corners do sharpen up a great deal stopped down, almost becoming a flat field by f/11, very much like yours.

kievuser · Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 551

I took a quick shot just now with my old version Fujian 35/1.7 (1985) on my Olympus EPL-2. The lens was set at F1.7, and F4. It looks like a sharp lens. This lens apeture can be closed completely. With this adaptor ring, it can focus only to about 1 meter.The focusing is stiff due to dried oil, so i need to have it serviced. The OM lens was set at F9.