The difference, large aperture and small one. CZJ 29mm

[skida]

I can't remember the if the lens was wide open or just near wide open, but the doorway was in shadow on an overcast day. Note the right hand side (bottom on portrait orientation):



Main facade, La Seu de Palma by skida, on Flickr


Main door, La Seu de Palma by skida, on Flickr


This shot was taken in bright sunlight, so must be f11 or f16


When I win the lottery by skida, on Flickr

[berraneck]

this is the reason why I donated my CZJ 29mm. same problems with abnormal out-of-focus areas.

[Excalibur]

H'mm not a lens to use wide open........nice shots though.

[Attila]

[ManualFocus-G]

It's a Pentacon 29/2.8, what did you expect?

[Lloydy]

Famously soft around the edges, but still a lens you can forgive when you see the center sharpness. Well, sometimes you can.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Needs to be closed to 5.6 before the soft corners go away. Some copies, they stay quite soft, even stopped down. The reason forthis is field curvature.

I think there is a de-centering issue with many copies of this lens as some are definitely worse than others. The first shot, with the soft bottom right does look like a de-centred lens to me.

[skida]

The lens looks to be un-tampered with so I am guessing this is how it came out of the factory. I thought people were probably exagerating a little about the softness wide open until I saw these results! I rarely have any need to shoot at large apertures and the third shot makes me think the lens is worth keeping and using due to the colour rendition and sharpness at smaller apertures. Thanks for all the comments folks.

[Attila]

+1 on skida opinion

[Pancolart]

Every 2.8/29mm acts as a separate specimen. From entirely faulty toy crappy samples to above average wide-open kick-ass brag about it. I used to believe it's all about rear elements combo centering with 3 small screws. Sadly there is more to it.

[DR.JUAN]

Nice colors. Was a massive lens in the 60's. The old copies should be better than newer.
My four ones were all descentered elements. It eas a shame. With the sony nex the soft borders don't be an excesive problem.

[skida]

[ManualFocus-G]

It took me 7 copies to find one that wasn't decentered But the good copy has lovely colours and sharpness in the middle

[Eugen Mezei]

The lens has clearly decentered elements.
This lens can be very easily opened. A twist and it is separated in two. Not even necessary to fiddle around with a screwdriver. Maybe this is the reason so much copies are "faulty".
I had luck and got one that is fine at first try. This was 1994, before the bad reputation of the lens spread on the net.
Some years ago I bought another copy, it has scratches on the lens and the housing is ugly too, but still no problem with the produced images.
The 29 mm Pentacon may not be a stellar lens but I still like them.

Does the 28 mm version in PB also suffer from bad reputation? I'm thinking about buying one.