Sears 60-300mm f:4.0-5.6 Macro/One-Touch. Min Focus 1 Meter.

bugbait · Joined: 27 Sep 2013 Posts: 4

Hello everyone. This is only my third post in these forums so I may mess it up. Anyhow here we go.

I bought the Canon EOS-M mirrorless APS-C sensored camera on the cheap. They are currently going for about $350 in the USA with an f2.0 22mm STM AF lens.

But I wanted to try several legacy MF focal lengths on the cheap before investing big bucks in modern glass. And because it is fun. FD mount made sense. So I bought an FD-EOS-M Adaptor (No electrical contacts.) for about $12.99 usd including shipping. The [url]Fotasy version[/url] and it is a nicely machined and finished item.http://www.ebay.com/itm/321041460611?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I then used the Canon FD f1.8 I had on hand and enjoyed that. But I needed some reach so I bought the subject lens for $25 on eBay including shipping. Model # 373684 . I have found it to be quite nice. And true to the name one finger can focus the 15 element 11 group lens. But the real sweet thing about it is that its minimum focus from 60-300mm is just one meter away (38".) Here is the link to the advert for [url]the lens I bought.[/url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/181217049914?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I am very much a newbie so I'll let a couple images tell the tale. The lens is made in Korea and the sample I have seems very well put together with smooth focusing rotation and the aperture adjustment is clicky and predictable.

The first image was in daylight at about f:8 from roughly one meter away, and this image is simply a JPG saved out of the Canon CR2 RAW file with no post processing. The original image sizes were all 5184x3456.

The second as well as the third images were taken under cloudy conditions.

Both of the last two images have been post processed in Adobe Camera Raw, Luminance Noise Reduction, increased exposure etc.

The second image with the Dragonfly perched on a branch is a composite as I took the abdomen from a slightly closer image and feathered it onto the primary image. You may see the nymph behind the dragonfly laying eggs in the last image. None of the images have been cropped, just resized to uploading.

The technique that seems best for me on macro so far is to focus slightly beyond the subject and then slowly turn the focus ring with a two finger hold to and beyond the focus point while triggering a burst of images.

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buerokratiehasser · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 470

yeah well if you took pictures of that lens and uploaded them it would even better, since ebay images are cumbersome and will just go away in a few weeks

From what I can see (pipe push pull, 62ø, style of front ring) it is our beloved 60-300, of course this is all conjecture - no one really knows whether they have all the same formula, tolerances or glass!

"Sears" is a new one on that one, usually Vivitar / Soligor / Makinon / whatever label (though mostly AF)

Mine (two M-AF one sort of broke) gives fine images up to 200mm (10mpix apsc),
usable wider than f8 too, but it has lots of spherochromatism ("color bokeh") which sort of doesn't improve, of course, wide open. It can be used for creative effects like bird in color bokeh woodwork, but can also be very annoying for some scenes and subjects with light reflections etc.

It is also very nice to almost normal 60mm for casual nontele without even changing lens.

bernhardas · Expire: 2017-05-23

Edited

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

This Korean made mf version I have found to be quite common, existing in a number of different brands, as buerokratiehasser has indicated. My guess is it is made by Samyang and my personal experience with Samyang-made zooms from the 1980s, which is likely when yours was made, is that they can be quite good. Yours might be somewhat soft at 300mm, but don't be surprised if it sharpens up nicely at f/8-f/16 or so. Enjoy!

bugbait · Joined: 27 Sep 2013 Posts: 4

Yes, very true, buerokratiehasser. That was silly of me. Here are the images of the lens. Also a couple notes after the images.

For clarity i'll copy down the stamping on the front that I have obscured with a black marker (so to get closer to the insects.)
MULTICOATED 1:4.0-5.6 f-60-300mm 60 (focal plane symbol) No. 50514927 AUTO ZOOM

The mount was marred by me as the rear cap was totally stuck. I had to cut it away with a dremel. The small coupling is the Fotasy branded adapter I mentioned previously. It too has had unnecessary labelling blacked out, as has the Canon badging etc on the camera itself. In the future I will take reference shots before any modifications.

Also I added an image that shows some of its bokeh characteristics. The image has not been post processed, its a JPG pulled from the RAW file.

All in all I think this is a very useful lens and even after buying new AF lenses I may very well keep these MF lenses for the event of the new lenses failing. I have no hood or filters for this lens but will in the future.