Kyoei Super-Acall 3.5/135mm (LTM39)

[pich900]

Just got this lens for a good price (40€), it seems to have not so much value or at least not so much interest with collectors and/or users and there is not so much information on the net !
It's for sure a beautiful lens, quite sharp and with very nice colors rendering, the bokeh is also very pleasing on my eyes...My exemplar is in very good cosmetic condition but unfortunately, the glass has some haze just under the front element and some scratches inside the lens (no idea how it can happens !) , it's probably affect a bit the IQ of the lens under outside strong light condition, that's too bad and the seller did not mentioned it of course ....
Anyway, here are some quick test shots with the lens mount on D700 (max focus about 1 meter), it perform indeed much better on FF than on the Nex, I don't know why???!!!....and last shot with the lens mount on Nex, all are wide open and with some PP on the curves to increase a bit the contrast:

1/(with one extension ring)


2/ (inside shot)


3/ (@f4 I think!)


4/


5/ (inside shot, on Nex)


and pictures of the lens:





Of course you are welcome to share here your experience and pictures made with this lens....
Thanks for looking

[Nordentro]

Nice

Looks like some of the LTM Soligors I have seen?!?

Nothing wrong with the performance, nice bokeh, colours and sharpness

[izvar]

All shots are beautiful! I suppose that the merit is still yours. not the lens only

[mo]

For all its little "faults", It produces some lovely color and images...the daisy and the rose images are beautiful.
Plus the lens itself looks really nice as well...

[SonicScot]

[walter g]

[Nordentro]

[izvar]

First thought are... some items or scratches on the back cap, but them are also present in your shot.
I find it interesting what's this??? alien tracks???

[Smoli4]

[eddieitman]

I am more inclined to think this is a Komura, looks pretty similiar to the 135 komura with the ninja stars aperture, the font on the front name plate.

[izvar]

[pich900]

Thanks all for the com...

[izvar]

do not be sad. the lens performs very good. I think it should be keept anyway. I apologize for my picky eye

[eddieitman]

http://portretteur.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89:the-komura-files-kyoei-super-acall-135mm-35&catid=37:lenses&Itemid=58

Looks like it is a Komura then.

[pich900]

[luisalegria]

Not a Komura.
As far as I know Kyoei was an independent lens manufacturer just like Komura was also an independent manufacturer.
And practically -
Kyoei Acall lenses (and the same lenses under other brands) were being made at the same time as Komura branded lenses, and they are quite different in internal details and construction. I.e., for example I have SLR mount preset Kyoei 135/3.5 and Komura 135/3.5 that are not at all similar. There is no continuity that I can see between the early 1960's Komura product line that I know of and the late-period 1960's Kyoei line (as collected by member Univer among others).

[pich900]

Thanks Luis for the extra information....what I would like to know is the year of production, anybody has an idea how I can know that!?

[luisalegria]

As for telling the date of production of Kyoei and Komura lenses - I know no way other than guesses.
The essential online resource for Komura is the camera eccentric site, he has a Komura catalog from (I think) the late 1960's

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/komura_1.html

Komura was small and didn't seem to have changed their product line frequently; in fact almost all known Komura lenses, branded as Komura, are in this quite remarkable catalog, with variants of course. The major exceptions are a late (1970's) line of lenses, mostly zooms, with a unique interchangeable mount. Other than those, while I wouldn't be surprised to find a Komura product not in this catalog, these would be quite rare.

[pich900]

Thanks again for the link...

[goamules]

I had a 135mm Super Acall for a short while. It was a Leica mount M39 lens, I believe a tele-Sonnar type, from the mid 1950s. Back then, many Japanese companies made 135mm lenses for rangefinders. I found the Canon M39 135/3.5 was sharper.



Here are some pictures taken with it on a G1 micro 4/3.

[frenched]

That's an attractive piece of hardware and I like the results, really clean. There's one on eBay now for $130 USD. Did this thread tip them off?

[johjeff]

I know this thread has been around a while, but hopefully someone catches this post.

I am thinking of picking up one of these and wondered what converter I might need for a Nikon D100. Did I read Leica M39 correctly?

Is there a section on this forum where close-ups of all the mount types are shown to help identify them?

Sorry for all the questions. Just discovering Manual Focus on DSLRs and learning as much as I can.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi Jeff

Sadly, you can't use an M39 lens on a Nikon DSLR, you could mount it, but it would only focus at max, a couple of metres away.

This is because the film/sensor to lens distance forM39 is 28.8mm and for a Nikon it's 46.something.

You need a mirrorless camera like a Sony NEX to use M39, sorry.

Your best bet for a manual 135mm for your Nikon is one of the old Nikkor 2.8/135s, they are plentiful and pretty cheap.

[cooltouch]

[luisalegria]

They certainly did make a range of lenses, though the 135's in whatever mount are the most common.

Easier to find than Kyoei branded lenses are the earliest Petri Orikkor presets, which were the Kyoei SLR lenses. 35, 105. 135/3.5 180/3.5 and 500/8. Only the 500 is rare.

I have found the 105. 135, 180 and 35/3.5 in a couple of other brands, like Soligor.
The 135/2.8 and 250/4.5 are seen mainly in Kyoei branding but are quite rare under any name.

You will find the Kyoei LTM 35/3.5 without too much trouble but the price is always rather high. This may be the most expensive Kyoei around.

All are quite good of their type.

As for a 135 for a Nikon body, I second the choice of a Nikkor-Q 135/2.8. This is a really excellent lens and superbly well made. Very large and heavy for its type but thats often a good thing IMHO.