[Ropuchy]

Hello!

As the title asks, what's the funkiest/strangest lens you've seen?
Could be anything!

I think the 'Tokina RMC 25-50mm f4' is pretty strange because it's got teal/blue text! Maybe that's a normal thing, but I usually think of it being orange, green, or white.

[DeadJohn]

I'm going to select an ordinary 400/2.8 lens. Strap 24 of them together. Why take 24 photos of the same thing? Astronomy studies of faint galaxies.

Dragonfly - Dunlap Institute

[Pentikonian]

Lens/ camera unit. The Boston Camera.

[Fogel70]

Here is a 6 month old thread with the same question.

Weirdest Lens Ever? - PentaxForums.com

[othar]

Hello!

As the title asks, what's the funkiest/strangest lens you've seen?
Could be anything!

I think the 'Tokina RMC 25-50mm f4' is pretty strange because it's got teal/blue text! Maybe that's a normal thing, but I usually think of it being orange, green, or white.

In the Internet I can find much stranger lenses, but the strangest one I've seen in real life is the Pentacon 300/4 with its 19 aperture blades.
Unfortunately I use it much too seldom because it's so freaking heavy

[Ropuchy]

I'm going to select an ordinary 400/2.8 lens. Strap 24 of them together. Why take 24 photos of the same thing? Astronomy studies of faint galaxies.

Dragonfly - Dunlap Institute

I see why they call it the dragonfly! Looks like a gigantic bug eyeball...

---------- Post added 08-29-18 at 12:09 PM ----------

Lens/ camera unit. The Boston Camera.

Oh, that's a bit of an oddity!
Film must be pretty expensive for it

---------- Post added 08-29-18 at 12:09 PM ----------

Here is a 6 month old thread with the same question.

Weirdest Lens Ever? - PentaxForums.com

Ah ok, thank you! I'll have to read through it a bit.

---------- Post added 08-29-18 at 12:15 PM ----------

In the Internet I can find much stranger lenses, but the strangest one I've seen in real life is the Pentacon 300/4 with its 19 aperture blades.
Unfortunately I use it much too seldom because it's so freaking heavy

Yeah, you can find some really odd ones if you look for them.
That's a lot of blades! Why would it have so many?

I don't take my 300mm out much either for that same reason. It's more convenient to run back to my house and grab it than to bring it along with!

[othar]

Yeah, you can find some really odd ones if you look for them.
That's a lot of blades! Why would it have so many?

I don't take my 300mm out much either for that same reason. It's more convenient to run back to my house and grab it than to bring it along with!

Same reason new lenses have rounded aperture blades, bokeh

[Ropuchy]

Same reason new lenses have rounded aperture blades, bokeh

Ah, so the blades aren't rounded at all?
Does it produce circular bokeh?

[othar]

Ah, so the blades aren't rounded at all?
Does it produce circular bokeh?

I might post an example on friday, unfortunately I don't have the lens nor a picture with me, but it's not far off from circular.

[kernos]

Here is a 6 month old thread with the same question.

Weirdest Lens Ever? - PentaxForums.com

Got in on that one. Saved me the trouble of looking it up.

[othar]

@Ropuchy;
Here is a picture of the aperture at f8 and f22

And the according bokeh for f8 and f22

[timw4mail]

In the Internet I can find much stranger lenses, but the strangest one I've seen in real life is the Pentacon 300/4 with its 19 aperture blades.
Unfortunately I use it much too seldom because it's so freaking heavy

There are a few old lenses with a lot of aperture blades, like the Soviet Tair-11, with 20 aperture blades.

[othar]

There are a few old lenses with a lot of aperture blades, like the Soviet Tair-11, with 20 aperture blades.

I know, that's why I said the strangest lens I have seen in real life.

[TwoUptons]

I don't think it's all that strange, but it is a weird design choice...
300mm f6.3 preset, with a tripod collar since you'll never be using it handheld with film...
This is a telephoto landscape lens, not really for birding or sports, I think...
Even though it 'only' has 12 aperture blades, they are curved a bit, and it does give nice bokeh circles...
It is horrible to use on most K-mount bodies as the prism gets in the way of the tripod collar, so mounting it is a pain.
Here's the lens set at f22 (shot with a M39, non-LTM Cassarit 45mm f2.8 at f16, I think. On the K-01 with full power flash while holding a paper towel in front of it...)



And bokeh circles at f6.3, wide open...



... at f11...



... and at f22...
I think the extra patterning on a couple of the lights may be from the jar they are in beginning to be in focus enough to matter to the bokeh circles at this aperture...



On second thought, maybe the Cassarit is weirder

And yes, the sensor is filthy... but I also need to make my annual statement that the little flap covering the card slot that everyone thought would be the first thing to fail on the K-01 is still attached...

-Eric

[Fogel70]

The huge number of aperture blades used on lenses for a period of time was just a natural evolution on lens design.

But then auto-aperture was invented, so the camera would automatically stop down to the selected aperture. As this must be done very quickly the huge number of aperture blades could no longer be used as it would be too slow.

Huge numbers of aperure blades was used during a period on lens design in 1950s and earlier. It was the ultimate design for aperture for a time when everyting was done manually on the camera, including stop down on aperture.