[hoanpham]

Return the lens if possible. 47$ is too much. I got my vivitar 135/2.8 razor sharp, also sharp wide open, for 15$. The vivitar is sharper than tak135/3.5, K135/3.5, M135/3.5 and less CA/PF than K135/2.5, but color contrast is not as good, so PP is needed when i use the vivitar. Got my pentacon 135/2.8 -no this is not the many blades version i hoped- but i paid 7$ for it.
Cheap lenses use to follow a body or with a lot. I may have too many 135 too...

Regarding fujinon x adapter,
Avoid it at all cost unless you have a sony nex. Fujica made 2 or may be 3 mounts: M42, sometime M44 by Miranda, and latest is Fujinon X bayonet. Fujinon X has shorter register distance and the lenses are useless on pentax body, hard to modify.

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Last edited by hoanpham; 10-27-2011 at 11:34 PM.

[jolepp]

...
Ah, the joys of buying ebay.
...

Shopping and (a bit of) gambling conveniently combined?

[RioRico]

Sorry I'm late on this, just woke up. Yes, return for full refund. NOT AS DESCRIBED is the mortal sin of auctioning. If the seller hasn't described it truthfully, shame on them, and they can eat it. There's always another.

BTW I strongly recommended the preset 135 (my words were, "I'd kill for that one") because I'm queer for presets. They just make different images than newer lenses, more interesting to my eyes. Yes, I have the SuperTak and M 135/3.5's -- and also various 2-ring preset 135s (f/2.8+3.5+4) and I just really like their results. I was trying to infect Wolfie with preset LBA. Maybe the next one will do the trick.

[wolfiegirl]

Thanks for all the responses.

Rico, don't worry - your love of presets hasn't stopped me from buying presets just yet. Remember? I've still got that 300mm preset coming from the marketplace. It's already been shipped so we'll see when that arrives. I'm still ripe for the conversion. Just a pity that this 135 one wasn't in the best nick or as described. Still waiting to hear back from him.

Meanwhile, had another dud arrive this afternoon. Booo... no fungus this time (thank gawd) but it doesn't fit (!!!!) It's a Miranda 50/1.4 bayonet mount. It looks way too large and doesn't seem to click in. I asked to return that one and the seller was a bit rude, I thought. "It does fit pentax but apparently not yours". Um, whatever dude. And he won't pay return postage. But I paid $30 for that one. And the filter ring fell off (!) with no glass in the filter (!!). Absolutely no mention of this in the listing either.

Oh Hoanpham, under $15 lenses just aren't available here in Australia. Least I have yet to see any. Saturday week will have me trekking off to a Camera Fair though. Very excited about that. Want to see what's available. But really, I have all I need now....

Hey Jolepp, yes, gambling and shopping all combined. What a potent mixture!!!

[hoanpham]

Sure there is always cheap glass somewhere. I though that too for a while ago, but when I am looking outside ebay, outside regular places like photography clubs and outside the forums, they are there.

You may look into the local ad for garage sale, also old photographiy equipment in local ad. Looking and detecting ad that are several weeks old or unsold items by whatever reason: price too high, bad description, unclear ad... Just make contact with the seller find out more and give an offer. I have to admit that I lost some really good items just because I have not read about them. Many glasses are unknown for most. Risk is also relatively low for 15$. Like the Fujica lenses, the risk to get an usable lens is higher than nikkor lenses due to register distance and mount.

Regarding local ad, weekend is a good time to shop, time for flea market. There is alway another cheap, quality glass that will come - no rush to buy.
I got my SmcTak55/2 for 2$ - the seller was about to throw it in the trash bin. As far, those lenses are keep coming to my door but i dont have time to play with them.

[jolepp]

...
Hey Jolepp, yes, gambling and shopping all combined. What a potent mixture!!!

Somehow these lyrics seem relevant:

One little problem that confronts you
Got a monkey on your back
Just one more fix, Lord might do the trick
One hell of a price for you to get your kicks

(1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Street survivors", track 2, "That smell" ).

[wolfiegirl]

Sure there is always cheap glass somewhere. I though that too for a while ago, but when I am looking outside ebay, outside regular places like photography clubs and outside the forums, they are there.

You may look into the local ad for garage sale, also old photographiy equipment in local ad. Looking and detecting ad that are several weeks old or unsold items by whatever reason: price too high, bad description, unclear ad... Just make contact with the seller find out more and give an offer. I have to admit that I lost some really good items just because I have not read about them. Many glasses are unknown for most. Risk is also relatively low for 15$. Like the Fujica lenses, the risk to get an usable lens is higher than nikkor lenses due to register distance and mount.

Regarding local ad, weekend is a good time to shop, time for flea market. There is alway another cheap, quality glass that will come - no rush to buy.
I got my SmcTak55/2 for 2$ - the seller was about to throw it in the trash bin. As far, those lenses are keep coming to my door but i dont have time to play with them.

Yes, not many flea markets in my area. I live in a rural little village and most of the time it's either people selling tractors and sheep or mass made cheap stuff from China in the hope of making a buck. *sigh*

Having said that, there is a car boot sale on in November. Here's hoping someone wants to offload all their old film gear....

Wow... $2 for a smc Tak 55/2. That's niiiiiice. I'm still paying on average around $30-$40 per lens. But considering I probably own about 4 film bodies and over 10 lenses, that's not *that* bad a cop. Oh, and my second k100d body arrived today.... Dedicated M42 body here we come! ...If that adapter ever arrives that is I am soooo impatient... So many Takkies sitting on my desk at work, and no ability to play.. boooo....

[wolfiegirl]

Somehow these lyrics seem relevant:

(1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Street survivors", track 2, "That smell" ).

The only Lynyrd Skynyrd song I know is Sweet Home Alabama, and somehow I don't think it really applies to this situation..

[excanonfd]

A good copy of the Tair 11A is pure yum, sharpness, colour rendition, yum, bokeh, drool. A must have and seriously superior to the Jupiters, some would disagree, but they leave the Sonnars and Meyer derivatives as also rans in that focal range.
A personal opinion and don't expect to see mine on Ebay unless I'm due for eviction, a highly unlikely situation.

Have you done any direct comparisons between Tair 11A and other 135s in your arsenal (same shots, same set up)? Specifically, with other Sonnar copies? Btw, your Tair 11A is another Sonnar copy, cutaway view of the lens Tair-11a Lens Review | Jezza's Photography Stories confirms that (4 elements, 3 groups).

[xjjohnno]

No direct comparisons done between the Tair 11A and other lenses. I'm not really big on doing lens comparisons.
The Soviet lens thread has heaps of samples of what the lens is capable of though.

[wolfiegirl]

Right. Let's update this baby, shall we?

My M42 adapter has just arrived. Which means all my Christmases have come at once. I still haven't done that spreadsheet to know how much I've spent (maybe I unconsciously know that I'll faint from shock and horror if I see the hard facts), but my desk is literally littered with lenses atm.



It's not that I'm messy (oh alright, I admit it, I'm messy) but it's just that I've just unearthed all my lenses (although the Jup and a few others are at home) and am madly trying them all on.

I have very quickly gotten overwhelmed. How on earth am I supposed to test all these babies? Do you have any particular tips or tricks?

I'm discovering some of these lenses have lots of funky quirks too.

Here is the full list of M42s in my possession at work (not including the ones at home)

1. Makinon Mc 28-80 zoom 1:3.5 Auto, 72mm.
This little baby has 4 dials on the lens to turn (!)

The front one for zoomy range, the middle for focus, then one for A and M, with m possibly meaning macro? because there's the word macro above the m on the second ring... But maybe it means manual vs auto?

and then lastly the ring closest to the camera body is the aperture.

There's a listing for one that's very similar in the database but it's a 3.5-4 something or other aperture. Mine is a fixed 3.5...

2. Soligor Telephoto 1:3.5 180mm
This only has 3 dials to turn, one of which has 0 on the right and C on the left. No idea what that means...

The lens review database says it's a preset (!) I don't know anything about presets except they're sposed to be awesome. Another learning curve!

3. And then here come the Takkies...

SMC Tak 1:3.5/35
Super Tak 1:1/8/55
SMC Tak 1:1.8/55
SMC Tak 1:1.8/55 hrmm.. just realised that's a double. well least that'll stop me from having to test out both...

Well, writing it all out it doesn't look so bad?

Although.. I'm also pretty sure the three lenses I'm picking up this evening will also be m42s... *head exploooodes*

heeeeelppppp...!!

[creampuff]

Wolfiegirl, why are you spending money buying junk?

[systemA]

Here's hoping there's some method to the madness...

After my LBA phase, the last two m42 lens standing for my film kit are: Zeiss Flektogon 35/2.4 and Jupiter-9 85/2

[wolfiegirl]

Wolfiegirl, why are you spending money buying junk?

Is that in reference to the list above creampuff?

I bought a lot of this before I knew what I was buying.

I should test everything out first though before I get rid of them...

I thought the Taks were fairly well regarded?

The three lenses I have coming - one is on a Pentax body, another I'm hoping is a helios on a body but who knows what it'll be and the last I have no idea whatsoever. The plus side is I only paid $17.50 for all three?

[Just1MoreDave]

2. Soligor Telephoto 1:3.5 180mm
This only has 3 dials to turn, one of which has 0 on the right and C on the left. No idea what that means...

The lens review database says it's a preset (!) I don't know anything about presets except they're sposed to be awesome. Another learning curve!

I bet O is open and C is close. Probably so you can focus wide open, then close down to the preset aperture.

3. And then here come the Takkies...[/B]

SMC Tak 1:3.5/35
Super Tak 1:1/8/55
SMC Tak 1:1.8/55
SMC Tak 1:1.8/55 hrmm.. just realised that's a double. well least that'll stop me from having to test out both...

I like the Takumar 55mm, pretty much the same optics from the early 60s through the K version. I just counted - over four years I have owned 17 of them. I have at least 4 at the moment.

I'm not taking a picture of my desk. A few months ago I was surprised to see two Pentax-M 50mm f1.7s on it. I forgot I had two.

My wife has actually said, "Whatever you want to do with those lenses is fine by me." So no hiding is required, but she does ask me to sometimes pick up the photo studio. She thinks it's a spare bedroom.