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Find of the day

This auction is for a Nikkor 28mm 2.8 AIS lens.  This 8 element in 8 group gem is probably the best wide angle lens made by Nikon.  According to seller the "optics are clear with no scratches, haze, or fungus, the aperture is clean and snappy and the focus is smooth. Body shows only typical light wear as pictured"  Currently at $40 this lens is easily worth $130.

Yashica 50mm 2.0 ML

Impressions:  After giving so many high scores in my previous reviews,  I was itching to write a review with low grade.  This is it.

Although nicely made and very nice to handle, I dont think this lens is very sharp or has a nice bokeh.   The colors are not that bad.  I paid $20 for it and that is what it is worth.

Below please find some samples images with Yashica 50mm ML and Canon 5DII:

Nervous bokeh

Semi-sharp image

Here is how to turn these weaknesses into strengths:

Mod:  No modification is necessary for using the Yashica 50mm 2.0 ML with a Canon 5DII.  Below please find some pictures of this lens:

Rating: (3 out of 10)

Find of the day

This auction is for Canon FD 100mm f4.0 Macro lens.  The seller claim that this lens is in excellent condition.   Currently at $50, this lens will be a good value up to $65.

Topcor R 25mm 3.5

Impressions:  This is another magical product from the magicians at Topcon Kogaku.   Amazing color and sharpness at every aperture.   From time to time you can find these little gems on ebay for around $150.  The pictures below tell you all the story:

Here is a sample of Topcor's painterly colors.  Notice that blacks are nice and black.

This lens focuses down to around 6"!!!!

Here is a picture of the interior of the National Portrait Gallery

Check out the 100% blowup from the extreme corner of the above image.  Why cant Canon learn how to do this.

Below please find a 100% crop of the above handheld 10 megapixel image.  Wow.  Pure magic.  You can even see the loose fibers sticking out from the hat.

Mod:  Unfortunately this 25mm, being in Exakta mount, needs the mount to be shaved before the mount clears the Canon 5DII's mirror.  Even after shaving the mount, the rear element interferes with 5DIIs mirror at infinity.  There is a shroud and rear filter holder behind this lens's rear element.  Without removing these items I get infinity focus between f3.5 and f5.6.  Removing the shroud and filter holder may do the trick but I have not yet figured how to remove them.  Please let me know if you know how.

Top Tip:  The nice click of the aperture ring is created by a 1mm ball bearing riding on an indented surface within the lens.  When you open up any Topcor R lens, there is a good likelihood that you will loose the little ball bearing.  I have bought 100 of these 1mm bearings from ebay for a couple of dollars.

Here are some pictures of Topcon Topcor R 25mm f3.5 on Canon 5DII:

Here is a picture with filter holder and a filter.  The filter holder takes series 9 filters.

Rating:  8 out of 10

Find of the day

This auction is for a Pancolar 50mm 1.8  Carl Zeiss Jenna lens.  According to the seller the "glass on lens is clean, no fungus, no scratches (nearly, from rear end I see 1 tiny). Good glass (micro bubbles are present in every Zeiss lens), surpassingly good if compared with lens cosmetics".  With four days to go the auction is at $3.50 plus $16 for shipping.

Nikkor-P 105mm 2.5

Impressions: This 105mm is one of my latest acquisitions.  Even so it has already seen a lot of duty.   The weight and build quality of this lens conveys a sense of seriousness.   My specific Nikkor-P lens uses Sonnar design with 5 elements 3 groups optical.   Even though the lens barrel on my lens was not perfect, the glass looked to be in very good shape.  I got very very luck to buy this lens for $41.

This lens also features a very nice long throw focus mechanism.   The images pop into focus effortlessly.  Many use this lens for torso shots.  You can also use it to shoot headshots but you need to get friendly with your subjects.

My specific lens does not close all the way down to f32 like some later Nikkor 105s but still is perfectly fine for shooting inanimate objects (Books are shot at f16 and fruit bowl at f2.8)

Below please find some picture of Nikkor-P 105mm 2.5 on Canon 5DII.

Mod:   No modifications are necessary to mount this lens on a Canon 5DII.

Rating:  8 out of 10

Find of the day

This auction is for Nikon Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AIS.  According to the seller, this lens "Looks and works in mint condition".   I like yesterday's find of the day better because there is a much higher chances of scoring a great deal.

SMC Takumar 35mm 3.5

Impressions: Takumar 35mm is another of my favorite lenses.  Besides its beautiful colors, this tiny little lens is biting sharp.  As I was researching this lens for today's blog, I came across an interesting snippet of information on mflenses stating that the Takumar "is a copy of the Voigtlander Skoparex 35mm" and that "Meyer Primagon 4.5/35 is very similar in design to the Skoparex - they basically took a 4 element Tessar type and stuck a large extra element in front to give it a wider fov".  This snippet explains why I love the pictures from both Takumar and Primagon and why there is so much difficulty in adopting these lenses to Canon 5DII.  One big difference between Takumar and Primagon is in their extreme corners where Takumar is sharp and Primagon is not.   Takumar 35mm typically sells for around $40 on ebay.

Here are some pictures with Takumar 35mm and Canon 5DII:

Mod:  This lens is not compatible with Canon 5DII.

Top Tip:   The lenses with infinity focus / mirror interference issues can still be used on 5DII in live view mode.  Here is how: Focus the lens at the closest focusing distance, engage live view, focus, take picture, focus at the closest distance, turn off live view.

I no longer own this lens because it was too difficult to use on 5DII.  It now serves duty on my brother's Fuji camera.  Below please find a picture from web.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Find of the day

This auction is for a PORST 50mm f1.2.  Even though I already own the Fujinon branded version of this lens, I want this one too.  My Fujinon is no good at 1.2 but from 2.0 to 5.6 this lens is really shines.  The seller claims the glass to be super clean.   She/he fails to mention the lens mount but more than likely it is a Fujinon-X mount.  Currently the auction is at $99 + $9.50 for shipping.

Meyer Primagon 35mm 4.5 V

Impressions: I bought this lens based on mflenses pictures and recommendation.  The lens has far exceeded my expectations.   It produces lively colors even in the dullest light.  This lens is quite sharp everywhere except at extreme corners of full frame.  The extreme corner softness stays the same even when one closes the aperture all the way down.  Regardless this lens is one of the my favorite lenses especially since I was very very lucky to find it for $31.

Here are some pictures with the Primagon and Canon 5DII.

Mod: This lens was also one the most difficult lenses to adapt to Canon 5DII for two reasons:

1) The upper half of Exakta mount interferes with 5DII's mirror and needs to be filed down (please refer to my blog re 58mm Topcor for more details)

2) Additionally, to gain infinity focus the flange around the rear element has to be severely filed down.   In fact I still need to file down mine some more.  So far I can focus mine down to 5'.

Below please find pictures of this lens:

Top tip:  Most old primes use 49mm filters.  A Takumar 28mm 3.5 lens hood works with most of these lenses.   Please see the picture above.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Find of the day

This auction is for a Super Multi Coated Takumar 50mm 1.4.  The seller claims that this lens is in “Perfect working...perfect glasses...CLA'd...super clean...super lens...”.   Currently the lens is at $16.50 plus $8 for shipping.

Top Tip:  Some old lenses such as this Takumar use trace radioactive elements in their glass.  As these lenses age, they will turn yellowish.  According to web, one can expose them to UV light (e.g. putting them in the window frame for a few days) to undo the effect of aging.  

SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4

Impressions: Many consider this lens the best lens ever.   I consider it to be a very lovely lens but certainly not the most loved lens in my collection.  Don't take me wrong this is an amazing lens but in the tough tough tough company of Zeiss 45mm, Topcor 58mm and Takumar 55mm, it has to be relegated to second tier.  One thing that this lens has on Zeiss and Topcor is its great construction.  The silky smooth focus mechanism of all Takumars is second to none.  I dont remember how much I paid for this lens but I see them go for around $70.

Below please find some of picture with SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4 and my Canon 5DII:

Mod:  No mod was necessary for my SMC Takumar but other versions of this lens can interfere with 5D's mirror.  Choose wisely.

Below please find some pictures of this lens:

Rating: 8 out of 10

Find of the day

This auction is for a Nikon Micro-Nikkor-P Auto 55 mm f3.5.  The seller claims that this lens is in excellent shape.

Top Tip:  Even though the condition of barrel does not deter me from considering any Nikkors (the uglier they are, the better they perform), the dings on the barrel do.  A filter on the lens and original caps are always good signs as well (though this seller does not mention any caps)

Mamiya Sekor SX 135mm 2.8

Impressions: It took me a while to find one these lenses at a reasonable price ($37 in 2014).  This lens and the Mamiya SX 35mm are both very hard to come by.   Now that I have the 135mm, I also want the 35mm.

I sold both my Takumar 135s (SMC 3.5 and Super 2.5 5 element) after I bought this lens.   Takumars were warmer; Mamiya may be a little sharper.  Takumars did not need any work to adapt to Canon.  Cant go wrong either way.

Here are some pictures from the Mamiya 135mm SX on my Canon 5DII:

Mod: Adapting Mamiya M42 lenses to Canon 5D2 has similar issues as the Fujinon (please refer to the Fujinon 50mm 1.4 article)

Below please find some pictures of this lens:

Rating: 7 out of 10