Pullin Projection Pulnar f2.8 4" (100mm)

[iangreenhalgh1]

I already have a f2.8/100 Pullin Pulnar, but I am pretty sure this is a totally different lens. They are both made for the British Air Ministry in the 1950s and have cobalt blue coloured coatings. However, this one in marked Projection and is mounted in a very attractive brushed aluminium barrel for a projector, no aperture. The other copy I have is in two cells threaded to fit a Compur #1 shutter and I have it in such a shutter, it is one of my most oft-used lenses on my 6x9 Century Graphic. In that role, that copy is impressive, very sharp, outperforms my Xenar 3.5/105, Ross Xpres 3.8/105 and Kodak Ektar 4/100 on that camera.

Anyways, I collect British lenses, especially War Dept/Air Ministry ones, so when I spotted this for pennies I had to have it. The projector tube has a built-in focus mechanism, not a proper helicoid, it has a helical slot cut into an inner tube then the outer tube fits over that like a sleeve and has a bolt through it that engages the helical slot in the inner tube. This crude setup works perfectly and is smoother than some helicoid equipped lenses, the whole item oozes quality. The back of the inner tube has an M39 mount on it, this is original, not added later by someone. The register is longer than M39 by 10mm, I used a 10mm extension tube on an M39-NEX adapter and found this gave infinity exactly at the nearest focus point and about 2m at the nearest focus point, so very workable.

The lack of aperture is an issue as I hate shooting wide open, but the lens is sharp and at distance dof is sufficient for most shots. It has a nice character with nice, smooth bokeh, CA is well corrected, just a little red fringing on areas behind the plane of focus. Contrast is what I'd call 'medium-good', but with all these exemplars I have used the auto contrast function in photoshop cs5. No other PP, no sharpening, just as they came from the NEX apart from a slight boost in the contrast.

In this form, with no aperture, definitely a special purpose item that I won't use often, but I am delighted to have added it to my collection.

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Finally, the boring bit, checking the sharpness on my usual test subject:



100% crop from above, I am quite impressed with this level of sharpness at f2.8:

[DR.JUAN]

Really a goos lens. Only......the sun at your back, please.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Yes, 9 and 10 I was trying to be creative with the light, not one of my better ideas!

I generally do try to keep the sun at my back, I generally try not to shoot wide open too, so I broke all my rules!

[mark fewtrell]

One of these going on a projector in a local shop. Is it worth the effort? I'm afraid i cant see the pics.