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Showing all 8 reviews by kh1234567890

Review of: Cosina Cosinon Auto MC 135mm F2.8 by kh1234567890 on Sat March 30, 2013 | Rating: 8 View more reviews 
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Views: 42543
Reviews: 4
Another eBay impulse buy. Nicely built, well damped long throw focus, built-in lens hood. My copy has quite a lot of flare when wide open, which makes it appear quite soft at this aperture with plenty of fringing. Things improve considerably when stopped just one click down at f4 or more - it sharpens up considerably. Very nice bokeh. Some flare. Contrast can be quite poor requiring some post-processing. Hardly any CA or distortion. Not at all bad for £12. The first shot is at f2.8. The second and most of the others are at f5.6.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8405/8604132540_0a8872a173_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8259/8603033041_0cac7ef455_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8603029169_60a3a540db_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8604126638_4a8a533cc8_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8126/8603023527_ce06c8cc7c_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8539/8604121364_a832a4c205_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8252/8604131630_a1118ab79e_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8265/8604130262_e3f1b16a40_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8253/8603023077_8183105a99_m.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/badge/user/set-72157633124251973/recent/shuffle/medium-tiny/ffffff/333333/20564446@N00.jpg

Review of: Miranda 75-300mm F4.5-5.6 by kh1234567890 on Wed February 29, 2012 | Rating: 7 View more reviews 
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Views: 18830
Reviews: 2
I picked up this weighty beast on eBay for £10 not expecting much. Took it to bits, cleaned off years of grime, fixed a slipped aperture actuation lever and stuck it on a K-7 body. Then I discovered that the wise ancient Mirandians had fixed the mount with four screws instead of five, placing one of them just where the usual aperture contact pins are. A quick bodge with some tinfoil around and over the offending screw soon fixed that. I then took it for a quick spin outside, immediately cursing its weight. It is not bad. Quite resistant to flare, but susceptible to purple/blue fringing. Focus varies with zoom quite considerably but the focusing ring has a long spin and is well damped. Aperture ring detents are at whole stops only (the first is at f4.5, then f5.6 .. f22). Bokeh is reasonably pleasant. Colour rendering is a bit on the cool side. As with most push-pull zooms there is zoom creep - not surprisingly, given the weight of the thing. Inside it is an all aluminium (including the mount) construction and the lens disassembles easily. All of the glass is multicoated. Aperture diaphragm has eight blades. I understand that Miranda lenses were sold in the 80's by UK retailer Dixons who'd bought the name. It would be interesting to find out who actually made them - this one has serial of PK9331xxxx. If you come across one of these going cheap and you fancy a rock bottom all manual budget 300mm telephoto for occasional use, grab it - I've seen worse. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/6795535892_70a1c28370_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/6795478422_46b9b502a5_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7070/6795521828_e5c5bd6d50_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7186/6795554134_c5c8534ded_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/6941581813_6724990472_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/6941664127_2ecfc85ea7_m.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/badge/user/tag-miranda75300mmf4556/interesting/shuffle/medium-tiny/ffffff/333333/20564446@N00.jpg

Review of: Chinon Auto MC 50mm F1.4 by kh1234567890 on Mon January 30, 2012 | Rating: 9 View more reviews 
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Views: 65751
Reviews: 6
This is a well built, all metal lens. Aperture ring has precise half stop detents (whole stop ones at 1.4-2 and 16-22), focus ring is smooth and has a long, about 240 degree throw. Despite its name, it functions only as an all manual lens on a Pentax DSLR. Fully open it is soft, resulting in a sort of dreamy, hazy rendering (halation) as the third photo below shows. This disappears at about f1.7 (half a click on) and perceived sharpness improves considerably from f2 onwards, the lens becomes quite sharp by f5.6. Chromatic aberrations and distortion are quite low. Colour rendering is somewhat on the cool side. Bokeh is smooth and pleasant - there are eight curved aperture blades. The more I use this lens the more I like it - as long as you avoid opening it up above some f2. Use a good and deep lens hood, especially when shooting wide open on APS sensors, it does make a lot of difference. Or, even better, use a 49-28mm step-down ring as a hood ! And some images : http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6801715453_d3e61d20eb_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6789871597_bd66eeea5d_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6789849243_540296d8ca_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7184/7081829311_56764f6fbb_m.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5279/7081136345_07797b543f_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/6935045666_59f8ce612e_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7049/6935024602_551222090b_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7227/7237270902_b85a37cc5b_m.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/6935099764_5ef3619a3e_m.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/badge/user/tag-autochinon50mmf14/interesting/shuffle/medium-tiny/ffffff/333333/20564446@N00.jpg

Review of: Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye CS by kh1234567890 on Sun November 13, 2011 | Rating: 8 View more reviews 
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Views: 88667
Reviews: 29
A well designed fisheye. As good, if not better, optically than the Pentax 10-17mm, with a better projection. Sharpness not too bad once set up correctly. At f3.5 it is quite soft, things improve by f4 and get best somewhere between f5.6 and f8. CA is low and predictable - much better than the SMC Pentax DA 10-17mm fisheye - and the lens is quite immune to purple fringing and flare. Colours and contrast are very good. On a K-7 it gets recognised as an auto aperture, manual focus lens and catch-in-focus works (not that you'll need it given the enormous depth of field of a 8mm lens). Build quality and 'feel' are good. There is no DoF scale, but since most of the time everything from a few inches to infinity will be in focus you won't miss it. The lens cap is a kludge but liveable with. As with all of these custom lens caps, if you break it or lose it be prepared for a hefty replacement cost. The focal length is probably just over 8mm on a K-7, wide enough to be able to do 360 degree panoramas in four shots plus a zenith shot. The projection used helps here as the frame edges are not as squashed as with the Pentax fisheye. Overall it is a fun lens to use, once you figure out which fisheye shots work and which don't. Unfortunately Samyang do not have any concept of QC. My copy was one of those where the distance ring was set so that best infinity sharpness was really when at 0.7m. Easily (and reversibly) fixed. Some sample shots : http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6702501395_dab3b5daeb_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7852399124_97ceb6c6c2_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7852581028_214a0b7fe1_m.jpg http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6213/6357980131_ceb9ed4b06_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8281/7851709078_fb795fc228_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6702558141_51f1c606c1_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7840310354_05d20b9595_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7217/7206579076_d9cc02b951_m.jpg http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6221/6363655351_a3f2d98113_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7840234838_0040989e76_m.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/badge/user/tag-samyang8mmf35/interesting/shuffle/medium-tiny/ffffff/333333/20564446@N00.jpg And some 360 degree panos here : http://www.360cities.net/search/@author-kh1234567890

Review of: Cimko ( paragon PMC, Beroflex, Ensinor, Clubman..) 28mm F2.8 by kh1234567890 on Thu September 29, 2011 | Rating: 7 View more reviews 
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Views: 41112
Reviews: 5
A Cima Kogaku (Cimko) made lens - the green diamond gives it away. Very solid, all metal construction with attention to detail - even the lens cap is metal ! Sharp on APS DSLR (K-7) except at f2.8 where some corner softness creeps in together with vignetting. Colour reproduction is good, slightly cool. Bokeh can be weird when opened wide, reasonable when closed up a bit, Can be picked up very cheaply and is an excellent bargain buy. Sample photos at different apertures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kh1234567890/sets/72157627778642740

Review of: Ohnar / Super-Paragon / Cambron / Optomax Mirror 300mm F5.6 by kh1234567890 on Fri May 27, 2011 | Rating: 8 View more reviews 
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Views: 26006
Reviews: 2
I'd always wanted a mirror lens, just to see if they were really as bad as some people make out - poor contrast, irritating bokeh, impossible to focus because of the shallow depth of field, hard to use, etc. Well none of that is true. I'm very happy with this lens - once you get used to its limitations. It is very susceptible to veiling flare and a good lens hood is essential. Focusing is not that hard, after all it is only a 300mm. Sharpness leaves a bit to be desired but does not seem to vary much across the frame. Colour rendering is fine and the doughnut bokeh is sort of cute. Being a mirror there is no CA. I doubt that this lens is a f5.6, more like f6.3 or less. Another myth is that you need a rear filter fitted, even if it is just a skylight one. With this lens it does not seem to make any difference whatever. Being physically short, it does not spook people as much as a long telephoto pointing at them would. A keeper. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5109/5776370917_aec52912c8_m.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6089/6129674875_ca00568c62_m.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6200/6130341067_fc5bdf0c47_m.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5765544187_332905c437_m.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7170/6841769995_431d24a282_m.jpg http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6013/5873442425_70b5296a57_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8034/8064093783_3315f83bb4_m.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/8064101655_55201aa109_m.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5021/5738084434_58234d8141_m.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/badge/user/tag-superparagon300mmf56mirror/interesting/shuffle/medium-tiny/ffffff/333333/20564446@N00.jpg

Review of: Sigma UC II 70-210mm F4-5.6 by kh1234567890 on Thu December 16, 2010 | Rating: 3 View more reviews 
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Views: 56263
Reviews: 7
Could not resist it when I saw it on eBay going for about $20. So I might be looking at a bad specimen. However I also have the Pentax DA 50-200 ED WR and comparing the two there is really no contest. The Sigma is heavier, bigger and lacks the intangible 'precision' feel. Ergonomically it is also pretty poor - why have a wide prominent focus ring on an autofocus lens ? It is not really that bad, although a bit unsharp at 210mm wide open and contrast is not all that wonderful. Works perfectly with a K-7. I am yet to test it properly in anger, but I don't think that I'll be keeping it. Update : I just could not get to like this lens. Mercifully it is now gone to some other eBayer. It was cr*p. Sample photos are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/kh1234567890/collections/72157626443077020/

Review of: Sigma Autofocus 75-200mm F3.8 by kh1234567890 on Wed November 17, 2010 | Rating: 9 View more reviews 
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Views: 64710
Reviews: 17
All metal build - a solid Carl Zeiss Jena East German design. Very sharp even at f3.8 throughout the zoom range. Good colour reproduction. Great bokeh. All auto functions work perfectly with K-7 (except that f3.8 shows as f4). Autofocus speed is on par with other screw drive K mount lenses, not particularly slow. Being a push-pull zoom there can be some zoom creep due to its weight when pointing up or down. The front element rotates with focus which might be an issue with polarisers. It is not the lightest of telephoto zooms but is well balanced on a K-7 body. A keeper :D http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6169/6144255894_e3aa956c98_m.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6156/6144277126_56b6777e66_m.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5218506254_33994d3f77_m.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1032/5190158454_efd09ff219_m.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5067/5607017125_a5930fd486_m.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5283/5375360811_acc6436858_m.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/badge/user/tag-sigma75200mmf38af/interesting/shuffle/medium-tiny/ffffff/333333/20564446@N00.jpg



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