Originally posted by 5r82 CZJ 20mm f2.8 @f16
Beautiful pics, with one of the few vintage (extreme) wide angles that are not thrashed by modern designs.
I had it for a short while, back in film times.
Sold it (and the 4/20mm M) when I bought the Pentax-A.
I regret having sold them. Both.
Back then I saw optics only as picture taking tools, I didn't collect them as I do today.
Well, I had already started acquiring old large format lenses... just a few
I didn't need many lenses for my 35mm SLR cameras, just one for each main focal (or specific field of use). So I saw no reasons to keep more than one 20mm.
Now I don't have the same restraint
I like to experiment with old optics. I buy some of them because of their "weird" rendering, some others because I like the way they look.
The Flektogon 2.8/20mm looks gorgeous, with its huge front glass. To me it looks like the archetype of modern extreme wides.
Speaking of nice looking lenses... I used two of my recent acquisitions to shoot some pictures at the Flower's Festival in Chiang Mai.
Both look very aesthetically attractive to my eyes, and their look/construction was a consideration in buying them.
The first is a Sankor-made black/chrome zebra tele: Spiratone Tc 1:2.5 105mm (T-mount, bought a new PK ring for it)
The second is a Soligor 1:2.8 35mm in PK mount. Was advertised as Tokina, but I believe it was made by Sun. The large front (55mm filter thread) and the aluminium ring at the mount side, together with the good quality of the build, make this lens an interesting acquisition and a pleasure to handle.
Here is how they look on my K-1.
And these are a few pictures, shot with the two lenses at different apertures.
Spiratone Tc 1:2.5 105mm @f/2.5 Spiratone Tc 1:2.5 105mm @f/4 Soligor MC Wide-Auto 1:2.8 35mm @f/5.6
The Sankor 2.5/105mm has a divine bokeh, IMHO. I regret having shot just a few flower shots wide open.
Stopped down to f/4 it gets sharper, but the bokeh is still mellow enough to tell this optic apart from any modern lens.
I am starting o see why he comments I have found online are so positive!
I need to find a small metal hood of the right length. The foldable rubber hoods that I use with other optics are too bulky for this one. It would be great to find one that can be fitted reversed, for ease of storage/transport. Any suggestion?
The Soligor was used with the rubber hood shown in the picture. Fully extended i vignettes in the extreme corners. I had to crop the photos because of that.
This lens is no as great as the other. I expected a little more sharpness at f/5.6. The performance is more than decent, but contrast, sharpness, saturation of the colours need a little bump in PP.
The mechanical quality is very good, almost at Takumar level, however I see no reason to choose it over similar Pentax/Takumar options.
EDIT:
I use Lens Tagger to edit the EXIF of pictures taken with fully manual lenses.
This time I made a mistake. If you check the originals on Flickr you'd see that he last two pics are wrongly tagged. I'm too lazy to fix it... just be aware that the Soligor is a 35mm, not a 28mm.