The frustrations caused by lenses that aren't right

[skida]

You travel to the place you want to shoot. You look carefully for an idea. You wander around until you find the right viewpoint. You carefully frame the scene. You wait patiently until the light and/or subject looks the way you want it. You shoot. You return home full of expectation. You get it on to the computer and view it. It disappoints:

1. Hanimex 4.5/80-210

Watched by giants by skida, on Flickr

2 CZJ 2.8/29, supposed to be hyperfocal range

Rock Pool by skida, on Flickr


I knew the Hanimex was highly suspect, having been dropped hard by the donor, but I hoped I could work around the focus problem. The Zeiss/Pentacon was a surprise in that it looked to be fine, but the result shows that the focus scale isn't accurate for some reason. Both shots Practika MTL50 and Vista 200.

[luisalegria]

Always review the shot on the spot, zooming in to verify focus.
That's one of the huge advantages of digital in that you can spot and correct errors immediately.
I have seen many lenses with a focus scale that's off. In one case I have a lens where infinity seemed correct on film and 6mp digital but turned out to be off when zooming in at 12mp. But I could see that problem on the screen.

[Lightshow]

The incorrect thickness of the adapter will throw the scale way off, and if the lens was adjusted to match that adapter, it will now be way off on its native mount.

[skida]

They are both M42 lenses on an M42 Practika MTL50. The Hanimex has suffered some internal damage to the focusing system when dropped. The CZJ Wideangle just doesn't seem sharp anywhere. I am not too bothered - they were a gift, and I do have another 2.8/29 which is fine above f4. The Pentacon MC 1.8/50 (number 4 in my collection) is perfect.

[Excalibur]

What's is annoying is infinity is not at the infinity stop on the lens....you would think it wouldn't make any difference (as you are not doing close ups) but some of my shots on some lenses are not sharp unless I focus just before the lens stop.

[Lloydy]

I've had some good results from the CZJ 29. It has a reputation for being softer at the edges, so it's good and sharp on the NEX and K10. The biggest fault is that I find it low contrast, but that's easy to fix in pp.
I'd have thought it should be good on the MTL-5 as they have an excellent focusing screen.

[skida]

The MTL50 has an excellent 45 degree double split prism, but the Rock Pool shot was taken using Hyperfocal, though I did use the DOF preview and it looked OK, I can't understand why the rock is softer than stuff in front and behind. I just think the lens is a wrong'n.

[Excalibur]