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Kowa ?xray lens 55mm  F1 Review RSS Feed

Kowa ?xray lens 55mm F1

Sharpness 
 4.0
Aberrations 
 3.0
Bokeh 
 10.0
Handling 
 3.0
Value 
 9.0
Reviews Views Date of last review
2 24,618 Fri March 20, 2015
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $27.50 4.50
Kowa ?xray lens 55mm  F1
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Description:
This is one of the most common, and cheap, ultra-fast lenses: f1.0! It apparently was designed for video capture of displays in X-Ray machines, which are now being discarded. It is a very heavy lens, despite having no aperture or focus controls, and you will need to make your own mount (e.g., superglue it to some other adapter, as shown here). It has a small image circle at infinity and a very short rear focus; however, mounting it on a DSLR yields a fixed-focus macro lens that marginally covers APS-C.
Mount Type: Non-Pentax Mount
Price History:



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Inactive Account

Registered: July, 2010
Posts: 5
Review Date: March 20, 2015 Recommended | Price: $25.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Fantastic at abstract macro shots
Cons: Absolutely unuseable for anything else.
Sharpness: 4    Aberrations: 5    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 3    Value: 10    Camera Used: Pentax K-30   

Inspired by ProfHankD's shots, I figured I'd give this lens a shot, no pun intended. I bought mine likely from the same place on ebay, CTS surplus for $15 and $10 shipping. Instead of gluing mine to a Kmount adapter I used a mount from a broken Pentax-M lens. Likely as a result of this, I didn't get any of the vignetting, and mine has a focus distance of about 6 inches. His review's pretty spot on. The colors are a little meh, and have a slight green tint to them. Sharpness sucks, but what can you expect at F1.0? It's not unforgivable, as the lens flares are absolutely incredible and the bokeh is crazy. Anything in front becomes an abstract wonder, and anything in back disappears completely.

It's hardly a serious photographic tool. It's just not. It's essentially a fun trick lens that can turn pretty much any mundane item into something awesome. At F1.0, you can essentially snapshot abstract art in almost any lighting handheld. It's just too fun to use to not recommend this for anyone and everyone.

The only real downside to this lens, besides its general uselessness is using it. Who needs aperture? Who needs focus? You stop down to meter, move in and out until it looks vaguely sharp, hit the shutter and see what happens! Screw it. It'll probably look awesome.

All of these photos have just had basic raw processing. Color balance, a little saturation, contrast, exposure.


Cup full of various colored pens


Turn a hairbrush into something out of Star Wars.




The lens itself in a mirror.



Tuning heads


Guitar fretboard



Tuning key





The point is, buy one. It may be the most fun $20-30 you spend on your camera.
   
Junior Member

Registered: August, 2009
Location: Lexington, KY
Posts: 30

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: August 28, 2010 Recommended | Price: $30.00 | Rating: 2 

 
Pros: F1.0, impressive build quality, abstract images
Cons: Fixed macro focus, terrible IQ, no aperture control
Sharpness: 4    Aberrations: 1    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 3    Value: 8   

This lens must have been seriously expensive when new; both the glass and the package are impressive. Unfortunately, the IQ is not. Adding insult to injury, it is a major pain to mount and only does macro on a DSLR.

Ok, perhaps that's a little too negative. However, if you're hoping this is a cheap way to get something your friends with F1.2 lenses will covet, no.

What is it good for? Well, it never gets good. Resolution in the center is not impressive, contrast is very low, and things only get worse toward the edges. However, there is nothing like it, and that's potentially useful. Here are three shots (with minor PP in the form of curves merely moving the min and max points in to just cover the histogram -- expanding contrast only):





[


Final verdict: YUCK! This is a terrible lens for APS-C DSLRs. Do not even think about this (or a similar Kowa or Rodenstock) unless F1.0 macros are what you want to do. Build is 10/10, but no focus, no aperture, no mount, small image circle, shockingly low contrast, bizarre flare patterns for specular highlights (as in the last shot) ... this lens gets a 2/10.

However, F1.0 macros are very special, as you can see, and that ultra-thin depth of focus makes everything look rather abstract. Looking at these images, I find myself forced to recommend it. Not only are the first 2 images really pretty after a little PP, but these were all shot handheld with available light -- not something you can do with most macros -- and that made them quite easy to take. It is by far the most special-purpose lens I own.

Cost was $25 including shipping for the lens and $5 for an M42 adapter that I glued the lens to so it could be mounted on my DSLR. I've written an Instructable about mounting and using such a lens:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-Ultra-Fast-Lenses-on-DSLR-Cameras/
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