| Showing all 9 reviews by Ubi | |
| Review of: Super-Multi-Coated Takumar/Super-Takumar 85mm F1.9 by Ubi on Wed July 12, 2023 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 162015
Reviews: 23
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I hate screw lenses, I love bajonets. I promised myself not to buy any more M42 lenses, never ever. And here I am. When I saw this jewel in pristine condition (I mean really like it just came of the shop, in spite of decades passed by), with the focus ring buttery, firm and precise (I mean better than my two Zeiss Distagons!), the mechanics incredibly tight, no sign of wobbling... the original all-metal cap and hood, etc. well, could I resist?
The lens is marked "Super-Takumar 85mm F1.9" and the minimal aperture is f/16. I have taken just a few shots, at f/1.9 and f/2 at close distance and f/5.6 and f/8 at a tower 200m away, more or less (let's say "infinity"). I did my best to carefully focus and the results are impressive, much beyond my expectations.
The optic is very sharp in the centre even at f/1.9 and surprisingly sharp at APS-C corners in both scenarios, and that's unusual since often lenses are better at short distance or far distance, not both. Sorry I cannot say about full-frame performance.
The bokeh seems good, too, even though I haven't really checked the different cases.
There is some lateral CA but it's hardly noticeable. Alas, longitudinal CA is present.
Microcontrast is not strong, I'd say just "fair" (which is not bad at all), but it's something that can be easily dealt with at edit time, if you need more "pop".
But resolution is there.
More here: https://www.rustichelli.net/Hobbies/Photography/LensTests/85mm-Asahi-Pentax-SMC-f-1.9/85mm-Pentax-SMC-M42-f-1.9.php
All in all, optically and mechanically there is nothing to complain, this lens is a jewel.
The main problem I see comes form its weight and bulkiness. The Fujifilm XH-1 is not a small camera like its siblings and yet this 85mm is a bit on the heavy side for it, I think it'a a better match for a full-frame camera or a heavier camera.
I will probably resell this lens just because I still hate the screw mount, but it's a really tough decision.
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| Review of: SMC Pentax 50mm F1.4 by Ubi on Mon November 15, 2021 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 227715
Reviews: 43
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This lens is a joy to use, I sold it just because I own many 50mm and it's not the absolute best in terms of sharpness, also I'm not an expert and I don't know if thoriated lenses can damage digital cameras in the long term, and this can be a radioactive lens -some, all of the K 50/1.4 are? Don't know...
This lens has some very strong points.
Mechanically it is fantastic, like many K lenses.
I like the contrast, the colours and the bokeh.
At f/1.4 it is soft but not unplesantly nor terribly soft, and some sharpness can be regained with a minimal elaboration.
Since f/2, it is a great lens, I can't give it a 9 because there are better glasses at f/1.4.
If I hadn't 50/1.4, maybe I would have kept it anyway, who knows!
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| Review of: SMC Pentax 24mm F2.8 by Ubi on Mon October 25, 2021 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 234904
Reviews: 34
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I have used a Pentax-K 24mm for a week, handling is excellent and the focal length is very versatile with APS-C.
That said, it is softer than I expected, and checking images from it and the Vivitar 24mm (from Cosina) casts a much better light on the latter.
The Pentax also shows some relevant lateral CA.
Anyway, for 30 dollars (25 euro) it's a decent glass, fun to use, but there are better choices.
Some more here: https://www.rustichelli.net/Hobbies/Photography/LensTests/24mm-looking-through/looking_through_24mm_on_APSC.php | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-M 85mm F2 by Ubi on Tue March 16, 2021 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 254541
Reviews: 47
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There is something very pleasant in this lens, so that I was tempted to give an overall score of 10, I really like it. But a few issues prevent me from doing so, especially the blue haze in high contrast areas, but the 9 is well deserved, especially for the excellent bokeh.
I have tested this lens (against the Sonnar 85/2.8) here:
https://www.rustichelli.net/Hobbies/Photography/LensTests/85mm-Pentax-M-and-Zeiss-Sonnar/85mm-PentaxM-vs-Zeiss-Sonnar.php
It is worth to see were it excels and where it has some weak spot. A longer focus throw, a shorter min focus distance may be something you want.
Softness at f/2 may prove useful for portraits, it is not necessarily a con.
Good reading!
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-A 135mm F2.8 by Ubi on Fri January 11, 2019 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 216867
Reviews: 39
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The Pentax-A 135mm f/2.8 is a nice glass, though a bit a delusion af f/2.8: the Auto-Chinon 135mm f/2.8 does better at full aperture, but being a (rare?) M42 lens, I would still recommend the Pentax-A.
From f/4 it is quite a lovely lens and better than the Pentax-M 135mm f/3,5.
Here, I posted a comparison of the three lenses here (sorry for the crop images do not tell the whole story beacuse thay are automatically generated):
http://www.rustichelli.net/Hobbies/Photography/LensTests/legacy-135mm-on-24MP-APSC/135mm-lenses-test.php | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-M 135mm F3.5 by Ubi on Fri January 11, 2019 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-A 50mm F1.7 by Ubi on Tue March 20, 2018 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 567634
Reviews: 143
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This 50mm/1.7 lens is a classic little jewel, like most legacy 50mm, indeed. On APS-C it is just a bit soft wide-open but improves almost immediately.
Manual focus with an APS-C camera is always an hazard, but with focus-peaking you can do good. The focus ring of my lens is a bit soft, yet precise. I must say the lens has definitely been used a lot.
In search for a portrait lens, I have pitted the Pentax-A 50mm versus the Nikkor 50/1.8 and the Nikon series E 50/1.8, and my overall preference went to the Pentax, here: http://www.rustichelli.net/Hobbies/Photography/LensTests/the-good-old-primes-on-FujiX-APSC/legacy_lenses_on_APSC_camera.php | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F2.8 Macro by Ubi on Fri June 9, 2017 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 190636
Reviews: 45
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Bought for 90 euros in mint condition (I mean, really mint. Seems to have just been unboxed), a real steal. Enough giggling!
This lens is definitely super-sharp, I struggled to find some softness in the extreme corners at f2.8, I must say I could find a bit but it's really hard to notice; at f4 the lens is PERFECT on APS-C and 16MP.
The bokeh is very good even though not exceptional while the aberrations are essentially negligible.
I found some purple borders where a strong light reflection hits a surface but again, I'm really looking for the smallest flaws.
This glass is awesome!
Autofocus is somewhat noisy and sometimes not so precise.
One reason why I bought this lens is to combine it with a slide duplicator tube... and slides duplication is going very very well! Believe me, it is not an easy thing to accomplish this with any lens, you really need something like this jewel: it can focus so near (and without curvature issues) that I can work with a slide duplicator intended for full frame cameras and fill the APS-C frame with the slide image.
I also changed my mark on autofocus, an 8 is proper, 7 was too punishing in spite of some inconsistencies.
I hope I can find the time to test the lens on my Fuji XT-20, ruling out the anti-aliasing filter and raising the bar to 24MP, stay tuned!
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| Review of: Pentax-F 70-200mm F4-5.6 by Ubi on Thu April 27, 2017 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
