[robissme]

Looking for something else I recently ended up buying a very strange lens for almost nothing just because it was odd. It is not a zoom, but yet have three adjustable rings! Besides the focus and aperture rings, there is a macro ring in the front marked "macro 1:7, 1:6 and 1:4.5". This is a Makinon 135/2.8 "macro".



This lens is built by Makina Optical Co., Ltd. (own by Doi ?) in Japan. Some are marked KR others KM, versions are built with Minolta, Olympus, Rollei, Canon and Pentax M42 mounts. Makinon presumably used the concept with a separate ring to adjust "macro" on several lenses, but I have not seen them. Obviously the macro mode is reached by turning the front ring clockwise and thereby moving one or several of the lenses in the first lens group. In the macro mode it does not focus on infinity. Makinon built Vivitar lenses, but not this lens, the Vivitar 135/2.8 macro is a totally different lens. Makinon have a bad reputation. Searching the net for this lens I found these general statements: “Et makinon, c'est tout juste de jolis presse papier...” and “Stones make better doorsteps”. Still I bought it.

There were preciously little information available on the Makinon lens at the web, but while looking for it, I found much more hits on another strange lens. The Sears 128/2.8 macro. “It has a three step macro function (1:7, 1:6, 1:5).” “The macro feature is operated like this. Turn the main focus ring until the minimum focus distance is attained. Then turn the objective lens end clockwise (as when pointing the camera). It will turn in three steps, each attaining a decreasing focus distance until the minimum of about two feet is reached.” Does it sound familiar? Does it look familiar?



The Sears lens is supposedly built by Samyang Optical Industrial Co. Ltd., Korea. To me it appear very unlikely that two different manufacturers would develop such a strange optical solution independently. This must be the same lens within. I have however not been able to find any link between the Makina and Samyang or Makinon and Sears. Would be interesting to know the real story behind this. If one of them constructed this, what made the other one think they needed it on license? Any Sear owners want to comment this? Am I completely lost in my assumption. Anyone owning both lenses?

Back to my copy of the Makinon version. Full open it lives up to the bad reputation of Makinon, and becomes extremely soft, enough to destroy the photo, unless used as an effect.



But closed down two steps it is quite OK.



Here is a sample of the flowers on our plum tree, still at f=5.6. Not so bad, right?



And if cropped by 200%, looking at the corner of the picture, it is still sharp.



So I think my end conclusion is that if one is aware of the week sides of the lens and avoid them, it is possible to take at least technically OK pictures with it. Don't know yet what I will do with it, how much I will use it, or sell it again, but I won't use it as a doorstep or paperweight.

I just bought one.
Is it possible to let my camera. (Pentax K-5 II) to dial the aperturering? I know there is no auto(A) mark on the ring. Maybe a stupid q, but anyway.

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Last edited by robissme; 02-28-2013 at 01:25 PM.

[Sagitta]

I just bought one.
Is it possible to let my camera. (Pentax K-5 II) to dial the aperturering? I know there is no auto(A) mark on the ring. Maybe a stupid q, but anyway.

The easiest way is to just look at the mount and see if there are contacts. If there are contacts, then it has an A setting hidden somewhere even if its not clearly marked.

Odds are if there is no A, then the aperture control is strictly manual though. Unless your lighting is changing drastically its really not a huge bother since you can set it and forget it for the most part. Stop down metering isn't all that difficult once you get the hang of it.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

The easiest way is to just look at the mount and see if there are contacts. If there are contacts, then it has an A setting hidden somewhere even if its not clearly marked.

Odds are if there is no A, then the aperture control is strictly manual though. Unless your lighting is changing drastically its really not a huge bother since you can set it and forget it for the most part. Stop down metering isn't all that difficult once you get the hang of it.

These two lenses this old thread was about were never made with A contacts. You could of course make your own contacts on it like many have done on various lenses, but the problem remain that the aperture on pre KA-lenses responds logarithmicaly, while all lenses with KA mount and later autofocus mounts responds linearly, hence all cameras with A contacts, from the Super-A to your K-5, will anyway expose incorrectly in at least part of the aperture range.