My garden is currently in full bloom. Everything is blue, yellow and green with bluebells and daffodils. So I took out my new Meyer Lydith, and returned with a bunch of photos. Then I got one lens, and then the next one. In the end I had the Lydith, the Oreston, Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar and Flektogon. I also threw in a Pentax F50 1.7 and the FA43 Limited, and finally a Carl Zeiss Biometar 80mm 2.8 for Pentacon six.

Unfortunately I don't have the K1, so all pictures are K3 on APS-C. (It would have been amazing to do the full frame tests... if you have a spare K1, feel free to send it my way though and I'm happy to take new photos...)


Pentacon (Meyer Lydith) 30mm 3.5

This thing renders beautifully and has crazy, painting-like bokeh. I can get quite close to the flowers, but not as close as with the Flektogon.












Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon MC 35mm 2.4

The Flektogon renders more neutrally, and the bokeh is less crazy and more smooth. I can get crazy close to the flowers.










Pentacon Electric (Meyer Oreston) 50mm 1.8

Again, the Meyer has a crazy bokeh and good colours.














Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar MC 50mm 1.8

The colours and the rendering of the Pancolar are excellent and the bokeh is smooth. I can get quite close, but not as close as with the previous.














Finally, let’s compare it to some more modern lenses:


Pentax F50mm 1.7

The rendering is more neutral and smooth, but I can't get as close as with the other fifties. I think I will sell this one soon. (too many lenses...)










Pentax FA43 1.9 limited

They are surprisingly neutral, though some of the bokeh shots show the FA43's unique rendering, which is similar to the Oreston at times, although not quite as spectacular.










And the joker:

Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar 80mm 2.8 (Pentacon Six).

It does beautiful bokeh, but it's not very good for close ups.

[Tonytee]

Very awesome series. Wonderful work here. What is so amazing to me regarding this site is that almost on a daily basis I am learning brand names of equipment. Keeps life interesting.

Thanks a million,

Tonytee

[slowpez]

Interesting comparison of lenses. Thanks for sharing the info. You have a beautiful garden and some gorgeous flowers.

[antipattern]

Thanks for the kind comments. I'm glad it's useful. I do have to say that the differences between lenses seem rather small, but there are often minor things to pick up on.

Today, I also did a quick test shot with the Helios 44-2:

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