Vintage Lenses

Popular Manual focus lenses on Digitial camera bodies

2013-06-14T15:01:00.001-07:00

Here is my attempt to document some of the more popular manual SLR lenses that are being used on DSLRs / mirrorless format these days.

Carl Zeiss Jena DDR - Flektogon 35mm f2.4 <-------- known for its macro ability + sharpness
Carl Zeiss Jena DDR - Sonar 135mm f3.5 <----------- known for its bokeh
Pentax Takumar - SMC 50mm f1.4 <------------------ known for its sharpness + natural colors
Pentax Takumar - SMC 50mm f1.8 <------------------ known for its sharpness + natural colors
Olympus Zuiko - OM 50mm f1.4 <-------------------- known for its sharpness + vivid colors
Olympus Zuiko - OM 50mm f1.8 <-------------------- known for its sharpness + vivid colors
Nikon Nikkor - AIS 105mm f2.5 <-------------------- known for beautiful bokeh + sharpness
Nikon Nikkor - AIS 85mm f2 <----------------------- known for large aperture at 85mm + bokeh

as this is living and breathing list, I shall be updating it from time to time. Feel free to provide your opinion.

The Rikenon, XR and P

2012-03-20T13:47:00.001-07:00

The notorious Rikenon's have a bad name in the market only because of one little pin on these babies. The 'P' labelled Rikenons sometimes get jammed on Pentax cameras and are painful to dismount. Does that mean these optical gems cannot be used on any other camera?
The answer is that not all Rikenons have the evil pin, it's only the 'P' labelled ones. And optically all of them work wonderfully on other cameras and their quality is sometimes even compared to the Pentax Taks and Super Taks except the flare control is not as good as the Taks. With the prices of CZJ Flektogon and Super Taks so inflated, Rikenons are the underdogs at the moment for manual focus enthusiasts.

There are a few versions of these:

normal Rikenon
XR Rikenon
XR Rikenon L
XR Rikenon S
Rikenon P

The XR versions are the ones with better optical quality. The XR and the P labelled models are essentially of the same optical grade and image quality the only difference being the pin appears on the P model for use in AV mode on Pentax cameras. The 'XR L' is a plastic body variant of XR. While I am yet to find much information about the 'S' variant.

The XR Rikenon 50mm f2.0 (and hence the Rikenon P 50mm f2.0) is said to be the sharpest lens in this range of any brand!

XR Rikenon 50mm 1:2 L, S & P versions

2011-10-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

XR Rikenon 1:2 50mm L

Score
IQ: 9.0/10
Build: 8.5/10
Overall Rating: 9.0/10

Specs
Focal length: 50mm
Aperture: 2 min - 16 max
Mount: M42 screw type

I personally use the 'P' version of this lens because there is no where the pin can get stuck on my PK - 4/3 lens adapter. Yet for other Pentax owners the pin is not a problem at all if it resembles a small ball bearing.
Whatever the case, the XR Rikenon 50mm f2.0 (and hence the Rikenon P 50mm f2.0) is said to be the sharpest lens in this range of any brand! The bokeh on this is fairly different to other similar lenses and is considered to be 'busy' - some like it while others hate it!

As visible from the test shots below, it appears razor sharp. I hope to run some tests against the SMC Tak and will publish the results later.

Rikenon P 50mm 1:2 @ f2

Temp adjusted to 7600

B&W layer overlayed

Rikenon P 50mm 1:2 @ f2

Temp adjusted to 7600

B&W layer overlayed

Other photo samples elsewhere on the web:
- http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1041&message=35709282
- http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2242/2397544501_bf1bb9fcaf.jpg
- http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1022&message=34454579&q=rikenon+50mm&qf=m

To-mioka or not To-mioka...

2011-10-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Recently as DSLR users have started to suddenly acquire legacy lenses, buyers are seeking better quality glass for their money. Quite often a legacy lens will gain reputation and thus price through word of mouth over the various forums dedicated to the topic of legacy glass. This sees prices soar on ebay as hundreds and thousands of ebayers try to strike gold. The classic example is the Carl Zeiss Jenna DDR Flektogon 35mm 1:2.4. More about that lens later since there appears to be a new contender in the market at the moment.

Tomioka, a well respected Japanese company, made lenses for Carl Zeiss Jenna which must be saying something! Often other brands like Ricoh, Sears, Chinon etc contracted Tomioka to manufacture lenses for them. This resulted in re-branded Tomioka lenses with Sears, Rokinon, Chinon etc labels. For example the Carl Zeiss Jenna Plannar is often thought to be the same lens as Chinon 55mm 1:1.4 inflating prices for this particular Chinon in the used lens market.

There are certain clues or giveaways that help decide whether a lens is made by Tomioka or not. Most of this is hearsay but it is the best we have to go by and also of course the image quality. One or more of these may be true for a Tomioka made lens.

Clockwise swirl of aperture blades

Rubber grip with irregular texture
Plain rubber grip with silver bands on either side

Rear element very flat
Black seal around the rear element

Wave-like auto/manual switch

I have attempted to gather a list of all the Tomioka manufactured lenses I can find and link the references here.

Sears 28mm 1:2.8 with the aluminum knurled barrel is supposedly Tomioka made.
Sears 55mm 1:1.4
Rikenon 50mm 1:1.4 on PK mount may be a Tomioka
Chinon 55mm 1:1.4 comes in many shapes of the barrel. Of utmost certainty among experts is the one with the coarse rubber focus ring with silver rings on either side.
Mamiya may or may not have had their some lenses made by Tomioka as this poster suggests. The jury is still out and the wait seems to be a long one!

OM 50mm 1:1.4

2011-10-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have attempted to summarize all the information I could gather about these lenses' serial numbers and how they correspond to their image quality (IQ). I hope this summary serves its purposes when you are buying these lenses.

Serial Numbers:

less than 1,xxx,xxx - single coated unless it has the MC label.
higher than 1,xxx,xxx - most likely multi-coated.
higher than 1,050,xxx - definitely multi-coated.

Varieties:

Silvernose - these versions are identified by the chrome/silver edge of the filter rim. They are the earlier versions (s/n usually below 5xx,xxx) the OM 1.4 and usually preferred for B&W photography or Videoing using DSLRs these days.
Blacknose - these versions are identified by the black edge of the filter rim and due to being the later versions are thought to be sharper having better image quality than their silvernose cousins.

IQ by serial & varieties:
s/n less than 1,xxx,xxx non-MC -- Low contrast. Moderately sharp.
s/n less than 1,xxx,xxx MC -- High contrast except @ f1.4. Noticeably sharper than above.
s/n greater than 1,xxx,xxx MC -- High contrast. Sharper than the one above.
s/n greater than 1,050,xxx MC -- High contrast. A tic better than the one above only on corners.

Really low serial number non-MC

Serial number under 1,xxx,xxx MC version

Serial number over 1,xxx,xxx MC version
- notice the green cyan tint on the front element

Although these lenses are not as sharp as the f1.8 version they are on par with them @f2.8 onward. The multi-coated version is however significantly sharper than the single-coated version and slightly sharper than the f1.8 at f2.0. The best and most consistent performers are the one with serial number higher than 1.1Million and multi-coating. Although the single coated ones are, relatively speaking, not too impressive some users have compared them to CZJ lenses and found their performance fairly decent (yet not on par) in comparison. Single coated lenses are also often used for black&white photography or videoing on modern DSLRs due to their lower contrast.

Personally, I believe that even though the difference is just perceivable between the single-coated and multi-coated versions, it is not extremely noticeable unless the photograph is blown up to poster sizes. It is definitely not noticeable for video purposes making it a very handy lens for videoing snippets of weddings.

Auto Sears / Sekor SX 55mm 1:1.4

2011-09-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

Score
IQ: 8/10
Build: 9.5/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Specs
Focal length: 55mm
Aperture: 1.4 min - 16 max
Mount: M42 screw type

This is a Sears branded Mamiya / Sekor normal lens. The first thing I noticed when I received this in the mail was that it is fairly heavy - a testament of its build quality. The barrel is all metal and the glass appears to be thick and heavy.

There are two things that need to be noted about this lens' mount:

The SX version that I have has a small pin (pictured below) at the back of the aperture control ring that locks the aperture ring when tightened on to the body. This is not a big problem however because being a M42 screw mount, a slight unscrewing of the lens frees the aperture ring and it can be rotated and tightened back. It's just a bit of a hassle but that's pretty much it.Otherwise you can opt for modifying your lens.

There is no auto / manual switch on this lens. This means that the auto / manual pin found at the back of these M42 lenses needs to be engaged manually using any type of intervention you choose. This is personally not an issue for me as I opt to shoot with this lens wide open.

What I like about this lens is its color reproduction. In my personal opinion it produces colors that 'pop' producing vivid / saturated images (edit: this user of Mamiya/Sekor SX agrees). I found it to produce nice yellows, reds and blues (see test images below).
I also love the bokeh created by this lens. It is smooth and creamy while the area in focus is quite sharp even wide open - and at f1.4 that's a lot of bokeh!

As always the Tomioka controversy continues regarding Mamiya lenses. No one knows for sure whether Mamiya ever got their lenses made by Tomioka or not. And if they did, which ones are they. The only Tomioka indicator on this lens are the 'clockwise aperture blades'. Perhaps the image quality can be attributed to Tomioka optics or design.

Test images:

Auto Sears/Sekor SX 55mm f1.4 @f1.4

Temp adjusted to 7400

Exposure +0.05

Auto Sears/Sekor SX 55mm f1.4 @f1.4

More test images elsewhere on the web:

- Post #240

- http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=30842
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladenla/sets/72157623422603304/with/4856836311/

Auto Sears MC 28mm 1:2.8

2011-09-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

Score
IQ: 7/10
Build: 8/10
Overall Rating: 7/10

Specs
Focal length: 28mm
Aperture: 2.8 min - 16 max
Filter size: 52mm
Mount: PK

As much as I have tried to look for information about this lens' manufacturer around the web, there is little to be found. The general consensus appears to be that it is very hard to determine the origins based on serial number so if anyone solves that puzzle, please post a reply. There are some Sears 28mm lenses that are thought to be of Tomioka origin and are considered to be of exceptionally high quality.

Ignoring the company of origin for the moment, the lens has a very sturdy build and a very solid feel to it.
The focus ring 'glides' around the barrel though it is not quite as damped as the Taks or the Flektogon but is a pleasure to use being different. The aperture clicks through full stops.
The image quality is fairly good. Colors are neutral and results moderately sharp wide open.

Test shot:

Sears 28mm f2.8 @f2.8

Temp adjusted to 5300

Exposure +0.10

Sears 28mm f2.8 @f2.8

Temp adjusted to 6700

Exposure +0.20

Welcome

2011-09-16T05:11:00.000-07:00

So welcome... I will assume you all are familiar with cameras which have sensors in front of which are a few pieces of glass and behind it looking through a small window hunting my prey stand I. I have GAS a.k.a gear acquisition syndrome.
I believe this provides a sufficient definition to those that might be interested.