[cyberjunkie]

Nice picture. Beautiful colours.
Which lens did you use?
I see from the EXIF it's an 85mm stopped down to f/8, so I guess it's a PKA lens, unless you added the tags to the file.
All the pictures I post on this forum are tagged with the Lightroom plug-in Lens Tagger.
Being so interested in old lenses, and also paying so much attention to the way they render, I want to have a record about which lens shot which picture, and also have info about aperture (which is recorded only with PKA optics).
Since some time each and every photo I upload to Flickr is tagged, unless the lens itself provides the information.
Sorry for the pics that follow, were converted with Irfanview and lack the usual tags



I am shooting over and over the hibiscus flowers blooming on th same plant, just in front of my house.
The light changes, but the subjects are quite similar, so I'm trying to use these pictures as a non-scientific, empirical way to compare different optics.

Here is my last acquisition.
I've been waiting for some time to find a second example of the Soligor C/D P family, after the f/2 135mm I appreciate so much.
This is the f/2 28mm. Made by Tokina in 1974, exactly as the 135mm.
The C/D with the red "P" were top of the line optics made to compete with OEM lenses and Vivitar's Series 1. All were made by Tokina, early/mid seventies.


The first photo was shot at f/8, and shows very good sharpness. The overall performance at medium diaphragms is on par with the best lenses of the same vintage. The short MFD allows to get close to the subject, which means I can photograph the same flowers I used as subjects to try my A 4/100mm Macro. Surprisingly the macro does not thrash the Soligor.


This is shot at f/2 and shows acceptable sharpness and nice bokeh. I was afraid my expectations were too high, cause I've been spoilt by the 135mm. Now I'm starting to love the newcomer and I hope I'll like it as its big, stout sister

---

Last edited by cyberjunkie; 09-15-2018 at 12:31 AM.

[Kerrowdown]

Nice picture. Beautiful colours.

Thanks very much.

Which lens did you use?

That'll be my “Sweetheart” (Pentax-A* 85mm F1.4)

I see from the EXIF it's an 85mm stopped down to f/8, so I guess it's a PKA lens

It most certainly is... nearly all of my harem is of this ilk.

[mattb123]

K-1ii & Helios 44k-4

[cyberjunkie]

K-1ii & Helios 44k-4

Did you PP a lot?
I'm asking cause the swirl on the right seems different from the way it swirls on the left.
Could be just the way swirl is affected by different shapes in the background...

I answer to the Helios 44 call with a portrait Ive taken a few years ago.
No privacy concerns. It is a selfie
The picture has been converted to sepia, which reinforces the smoothness of the 44M wide open.
Although more "modern" (and sharper) than the original 44 or the 44-2, this photo confirms that the Helios-44M is perfectly capable of smooth portraits, leaving the iris fully open.
I do plenty of portraits, but I can't post for privacy reasons. So here is one of myself:

-- xposted from another thread --

Selfie, a few years ago

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

Revuenon 55mm f/1.2, at about f/2, with an extension tube. Cropped and PP in RawTherapee to give a high-key result. The fly was just a bit of luck, but didn't show up well enough at f/1.2. I may try merging it in, but I suspect it'll just look weird...

[cyberjunkie]

Revuenon 55mm f/1.2, at about f/2, with an extension tube.

Well done!
This lens has some magic in it.
A mix of sharpness with the right touch of glow, and a beautiful rendering of out of focus areas.
I found few others that have this touch of magic: the Summicron 2/90mm, the FA 77mm Limited, and maybe the Tamron Anniversary 2.5/180mm.
Each in its own way, they have something special.


Here is one concert shot, at night, in difficult lighting conditions, wide open:

SMC Pentax f/1.2 50mm

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

Well done!
This lens has some magic in it.
A mix of sharpness with the right touch of glow, and a beautiful rendering of out of focus areas.
I found few others that have this touch of magic: the Summicron 2/90mm, the FA 77mm Limited, and maybe the Tamron Anniversary 2.5/180mm.
Each in its own way, they have something special.


Here is one concert shot, at night, in difficult lighting conditions, wide open:

SMC Pentax f/1.2 50mm

Thanks. I think so too, though I still kinda hanker after the Pentax one, and your image doesn't help! I should give the Revuenon a proper test in poor lighting...

[cyberjunkie]

Thanks. I think so too, though I still kinda hanker after the Pentax one, and your image doesn't help! I should give the Revuenon a proper test in poor lighting...

Well, I still give a MINIMAL preference to the Revuenon/Tomioka, but the Pentax-K is well ahead of the Porst/Cosina.
It might be due to the experience with my specific examples, or the time I gave to each lens. Please don't take it as absolute.
The Revuenon does this:

Saturday night market, Chiang Mai, wide open:
Revuenon (Tomioka) f/1.2 55mm @f/1.2


and this:

Fruit market at night, Chiang Mai
Revuenon (Tomioka) f/1.2 55mm @f/1.2


and this:

Traffic police outside night market, Chiang Mai
Revuenon (Tomioka) f/1.2 55mm @f/1.2


But the Pentax does great as well.
The hair of the girl are sharp enough even at f/1.2, and the scene in the background is beautifully blurred

North Gate Jazz Club, Chiang Mai
SMC Pentax f/1.2 50mm @f/1.2

[cyberjunkie]

Another picture, shot with an unexpensive old lens.
It's an old chrome-nose Mamiya Sekor 2/50mm, typical Tomioka 6-elements/6-groups double gauss.
I missed the focus in the right spot, and being at MFD it's quite annoying.
I am posting this picture to remind myself that some cheap lenses are much better than what most people think.

Auto Mamiya Sekor f/2 50mm @f/2

[cyberjunkie]

Another one with the Pentax f/1.2 50mm.
Wide open it shows a visible amount of LoCA (bokeh fringing). In other pictures is way lower.

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

...from an 18th birthday party - yes, really! Actually, one's an empty and a couple of others seriously depleted, but still...
M120/2.8

[Kerrowdown]

Yet to qualify as a "Lady", the 40mm Pancake on date with the old Kerrowdown.

[Kerrowdown]

B&W always my first love.

[cyberjunkie]

Yet to qualify as a "Lady", the 40mm Pancake on date with the old Kerrowdown.

I am sure the hood looks a bit funny on top of the petite pancake, but I really like this kind of hoods!
Probably petal shaped hood are more efficient, however they don't look as nice to my eyes.
Might sound kind of silly, I enjoy owning and using "beautiful" lenses. They don't take better pictures, I know, I know

[Kerrowdown]

but I really like this kind of hoods!

A real retro feel about that hood... works well with an older potential "Lady".

Seems to raise an eyebrow whenever it's seen out in public... perhaps they think there's no lens behind it.

They don't take better pictures, I know, I know

She seems to be holding her own so far, maybe a bit on the cooler on the colour side of things... but bought for black & white "Street" work, to supplement my "Street Lady" (Pentax-A 28mm F2.8).