The Dead Lens Club!

jsherman999 · 10-28-2008, 08:02 PM

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The Halloween of 2008 is almost apon us. Ghouls, ghosts, and other
denizens of the underworld are beginning to wake, and walk the earth,
driven by their undying, insatiable hunger for.....

...Images?

Got a lens that was left for dead by you or another? Aperture blades frozen,
elements ridden with fungus, elements scratched... and yet... The lens still
lives?

S-M-C Takumar 50mm f/1.4 COMPLETELY FUNGAL RIDDEN undead lens:

And it's images (+ K100D Super):

Lets see some shots from 'dead' lenses!

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lbam · 10-28-2008, 09:51 PM

Holy smokes!, if that's a dead lens, I might have to leave a couple of my old lenses in a damp corner..

thePiRaTE!! · 10-28-2008, 11:37 PM

lol, looks great Jay. You might want to throw that Tammy back in the lake for while.

**Damn Brit** · 10-29-2008, 12:12 AM

I bought an old M42 2xTC a couple of weeks ago and I can't find it anywhere. I've got a suspicion one of my cat's has rolled it somewhere, it was in a round leather case. It's neither dead nor undead but in Limbo at the moment.

Lowell Goudge · 10-29-2008, 05:23 AM

I bought this for $10 out of a scrap bin, in order to take the lens mount for an experiment. (I was trying to convert K to KA)

all that is wrong with this SMC FA 28-80 F3.5-4.5 power zoom is the zoom mode switch.

except that I also have the 28-105 left over from my PZ-1, and a tamron 28-75 F2.8 I would probably use this lens more than just to play around with,

I posted this once before to show quality and contrast of this lens. There isn't a mark on the glass

ps jsherman999, I am surprised you didn't post youor dunked tamron here also, you seem to be building a rather substantial collection

memira · 10-29-2008, 06:15 AM

Originally Posted by jsherman999

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S-M-C Takumar 50mm f/1.4 COMPLETELY FUNGAL RIDDEN undead lens:

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Very nice pictures indeed...

But are arn't you afraid risking spreading the Fungus by using this infected lenses...

jsherman999 · 10-29-2008, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by memira

Very nice pictures indeed...

But are arn't you afraid risking spreading the Fungus by using this infected lenses...

I don't think it works that way - I don't think the fungus is 'communicable'. If you keep your
lenses in a well-ventilated, dry place, they don't get fungus - as far as I've heard, it's not
catching.

Anyway, I bought that lens with several others on ebay, and the others were great, and I
just didn't feel like going through the hassle of returning that one. Since it's un-sellable
as-is, I'll just keep it as a 'specialty lens'.

It has some slight radioactive yellowing, which you can see in some of the images. It's
correctable with one-click in picasa or a WB adjustment in Elements, but I kinda like the warm
tone.

I do think that the older S-M-C Takumar 50 1.4 with the metal ring is the best Tak 50, which
makes this worth keeping also.

thePiRaTE!! · 10-29-2008, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell Goudge

I bought this for $10 out of a scrap bin, in order to take the lens mount for an experiment. (I was trying to convert K to KA)

all that is wrong with this SMC FA 28-80 F3.5-4.5 power zoom is the zoom mode switch.

except that I also have the 28-105 left over from my PZ-1, and a tamron 28-75 F2.8 I would probably use this lens more than just to play around with,

I posted this once before to show quality and contrast of this lens. There isn't a mark on the glass

ps jsherman999, I am surprised you didn't post youor dunked tamron here also, you seem to be building a rather substantial collection

Did you successfully transplant the KA?

fearview · 10-29-2008, 09:13 AM

@jay

scary lens. sick result.

amazing.

Lowell Goudge · 10-29-2008, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by thePiRaTE!!

Did you successfully transplant the KA?

these are the answers to the logical sequence of questions you will ask with my first answer

- did you successfully transplant the KA to a K lens? - NO,

each lens has slightly different machining, it is not a simple matter to swap out lens mounts. Also the contact block in newer lens mounts needs specific space allowances that don't exist in older mounts/lenses

- did you successfully convert a K mount to a KA mount? - YES

After a fashion, I was able to succcessfully get an older lens (XR rikenon 50mmF2) to report maximum and mionimum apature to the body, and for the body to control apature directly

The site below details what needs to be done for apature communications

http://www.robertstech.com/matrix.htm

In addition, I added a spring loaded pin to the mount which could contact the A mode pin which is recessed on the body side mount.

- did exposure work correctly? - NO

unfortunately K mount lenses have the apature diameter change linearly with the movement of the activation lever, where as KA lenses have the apature area change linearly with movement of the activation lever. this results in a converted K mount lens having exposure errors all over the place, since the apature is not controlled as it should be.

dwhopson · 10-29-2008, 10:00 AM

jsherm...

Great pics, but I have two questions out of curiosity...

1. Are you using the standard focusing screen in your K100ds or a split image screen?

2. Are these images straight from the camera, or have they been "photo shop-ed" so-to-speak? (I'd assume untouched for the sake of the demo.)

The reason I ask is that I have a K100ds and several m42 Takumars and m42 SMC Takumars and they are quite difficult to focus. Also, I haven't had a lot of time to really get to play with my K100ds so I'm not totally sure what it's capable of "straight from the camera".

Thanks! dwh

*heliphoto* · 10-29-2008, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

I bought an old M42 2xTC a couple of weeks ago and I can't find it anywhere. I've got a suspicion one of my cat's has rolled it somewhere, it was in a round leather case. It's neither dead nor undead but in Limbo at the moment.

Schrödingers Teleconverter? I like it... of course only a cat could lead to a piece of equipment existing in a state of quantum superposition. I recommend you place the cat in a box with a radioactive substance, and a bottle of poison, and not let him out 'till he promises to reveal the location of said TC.

*Igilligan* · 10-29-2008, 10:31 AM

I got to have that lens... PM sent. You name the price. Money is no object

This may be the final nail in my LBA coffin. You have finally proven what I have always known, but refused to admit. There is no reason for me to continue to buy glass to try and get better picture.

My goodness those are really wonderful shots. My fave for optical reasons is the one with your son's hand on the bent struture... His hand sort of bends at the same place and works with the bokeh to "warp" the photo...

But many of the others are simply beautiful...

Thank you for the reminder that it really is the eye behind the camera and the hands on the controls.
It is a great lesson for all of us suffering from waves of LBA. Even if it is a painful lesson.

jsherman999 · 10-29-2008, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by dwhopson

jsherm...

Great pics, but I have two questions out of curiosity...

1. Are you using the standard focusing screen in your K100ds or a split image screen?

2. Are these images straight from the camera, or have they been "photo shop-ed" so-to-speak? (I'd assume untouched for the sake of the demo.)

The reason I ask is that I have a K100ds and several m42 Takumars and m42 SMC Takumars and they are quite difficult to focus. Also, I haven't had a lot of time to really get to play with my K100ds so I'm not totally sure what it's capable of "straight from the camera".

Thanks! dwh

1) Standard screen.

2) All of them have a one-click sharpening adjustment in picasa, and the last two
small ones have been enhanced - the purple-leafed one is "I Feel Lucky"
adjustment in picasa, which basically does a short contrast/color/sharp workflow
on the jpeg, and the small image of my boy in the leaves has a one-click
'contrast' adjustment in picasa. (All were jpegs.)

When you're using the K100D, do you use focus-confirmation, ie the green
hexagon and 'beep' indicator? That seems to work very well for me.. Also, when
shooting MF, here's what I basically do:

1) Turn focus ring very fast until subject starts to get very near to in-focus
2) Start turning more slowly until the 'focus lock' beep/indicator appears
3) Start turning VERY slowly until focus-confirmation (green hex) appears, snap

I often repeat 1/2/3 a couple times for each shot, and then pick the one that's
sharpest. Remember, you're not shooting film here, take as many shots as
needed and then select the keepers. With MF, I find that's more necessary
than AF, because most of my AF lenses are more accurate than me.

.

audiobomber · 10-29-2008, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by jsherman999

I don't think it works that way - I don't think the fungus is 'communicable'. If you keep your
lenses in a well-ventilated, dry place, they don't get fungus - as far as I've heard, it's not
catching.

I'm not so sure about that. Mould spreads by discharging spores. If the spores land somehere conducive to mould, they grow. Getting rid of the conditions that foster mould growth (cool, damp, something to feed on like dust), is certainly crucial, but it's bad stuff to have around because it can spread given the right conditions. I'd be nervous about putting an infected lens on my camera.