Comparing two cheap 3.5/35mm M42 lenses

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi folks

I just bought two Japanese 3.5/35mm lenses, one a Unitar, the other a Rolmax, both in unused condition, paid just under 4ukp for the Unitar, just under 11ukp for the Rolmax.

I'm not expecting either to be Flektogon quality but am hoping one of them is good enough to keep and use. I bought an Aritar 3.5/35 a while back and it was rubbish.

I took two sets of similar shots with each lens, using the same aperture and camera settings, here is the Unitar set:

[iangreenhalgh1]

Not very impressed with the Unitar, here is the Rolmax set:

[iangreenhalgh1]

Let's compare the crops:

Unitar, f5.6:



Rolmax, f5.6:



To my eyes, the Rolmax is both sharper and has better contrast.


Unitar, f11:



Rolmax, f11:



Again, the Rolmax is both sharper and has better contrast.

Unitar, f8:



Rolmax, f8:



Hmm, pretty clear there that the Rolmax is sharper, you can read the text on the For Sale sign clearly, whereas it's not clear in the Unitar shot.

So what do folks think? The Unitar is clearly not sharp, but what about the Rolmax? Do folks think it's a decent lens?

[Excalibur]

On my monitor the Rolmax set is sharper.

[iangreenhalgh1]

[luisalegria]

Do you have pictures of the lenses / We may be able to ID them.

[iangreenhalgh1]

[luisalegria]

The Primagon is a bit of a collectors item, so that price is understandable.

[iangreenhalgh1]

[David]

For the second and third, the Rolmax is clearly better. But, to my eyes, the Unitar is better for sharpness and colors on the car's grill.

[walter g]

The Unistar looks like a Komine made lens to me.

[iangreenhalgh1]

[iangreenhalgh1]

Some more shots I took with the Rolmax but didn't upload because I didn't have an equivalent shot with the Unistar.





As you can see in the crop, the pic was snapped at 22 minutes and 17 seconds past 11 o'clock in the morning, I think it's quite impressive to have picked up the detail of the watch hands, shot was at f5.6.

My dad inspecting his Rover P4 110, made in 1955. The sun is glinting off the chrome, not sure if reflections are a good way of judging flare or CA but to me it looks like there isn't much CA going on as I don't see any obvious colour fringing on highlights. There is some flare to the bottom right of the reflection but I actually like that as long as it's not obtrusive, just another cool little detail within the frame.





My mum and her friend, shot about 6.35pm so the sun was low in the sky and over my left shoulder as I took the shot, hence they are squinting a bit.



My mum, a minute later, sun is now coming from left of frame, hence the shadows on her face, I thin kthis lens has decent contrast, none of the shots I've posted have had any PP at all apart from resizing.



I like this lens, it's certainly sharp. I need to try it out more, see how the bokeh is and how it handles CA and flare.

[woodrim]

Ian: Love the Rover. 1Q=IQ= Image Quality, a subjective assessment.

[iangreenhalgh1]

[luisalegria]

I agree on the possibility of Komine.

The early Vivitars did not have the serial number system that came in post-1970.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hmm, so this is likely to be made in the 1960s? It is brand new, in the box with the cleaning cloth still shrink wrapped, the Rolmax has never been used either.

Just under 4ukp for a Komine lens is not a bad buy I suppose.

Anyone got any idea who made the Rolmax?

The Unistar is T-mount, did Komine make T-mount lenses?

I also have a Hanimex 3.5/35 in T mount that has a stuck aperture, it's similar but different.

Here are some better pictures of the lenses:

[Excalibur]

****My dad has a love-hate relationship with the old girl, had a lot of trouble getting her to run right, had umpteen minor breakdowns since he did a total engine rebuild he thought had fixed it. Not much he hasn't rebuilt on her now I think. ****

Lucas electrics? I think the Americans call Lucas the "prince of darkness"

[iangreenhalgh1]

If the sun appears today I'll get the car out and use it as a subject for some more test shots with all three of my 35mm lenses.

[luisalegria]

Yes, these are certainly 1960's - early 1970's (presets were still being sold into the mid 1970's on off brands - like these).

Komine did make T-mount lenses. There are many in the Soligor brand.

The Rolmax probably isn't -

- Tokina
- Sankyo/Sankor
- Komura
- Komine
- Sigma
- Kiron

Maybe -

- Sun
- Itoh
- Kawakami/Kawanon

I have a 180mm Soligor made for Miranda that has very similar markings. I still haven't identified the maker but I suspect Kawanon.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Thankyou Luis, your encyclopaedic knowledge never ceases to amaze!

Some sunshine today so will quickly get some shots taken before I go to work.

One interesting point about both the Unistar and Rolmax - they only focus as close as 1m, which is unusually long for a 35mm lens, the Primagon focuses to 0.4m.

[woodrim]