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Super Carenar 200mm F3.5

Sharpness	9.0
Aberrations	8.0
Bokeh	10.0
Handling	9.0
Value	9.0

Reviews	Views	Date of last review
2	10,032	Thu April 29, 2021

Recommended By	Average Price	Average User Rating
50% of reviewers	$30.00	9.00

supersize

Description:	Film era manual focus M42 mount telephoto with manual/automatic aperture switch, made in Japan (in the 70s?), S/N 24XXXXX. Six rounded aperture blades, minimum aperture f16, approx. 330 degree focus throw, minimum focus 8 feet. Front element does not rotate while focusing; lens extends from 5-9/16" (141.3mm) at infinity to 6-1/8" (155.6mm) at minimum focus. 540 grams, 62mm filter. One of these lenses, with a serial number very close to my copy, sold on e-bay in September 2015 under the listing of 'Vivitar Super Carenar'. My copy does not say Vivitar on it anywhere. My guess is that the lens case in the sale was a Vivitar, and the seller assumed the lens and case were related. This lens was apparently also made in a K-mount version, S/N 22XXXXX, since in my research I found an old, ended e-bay Europe listing titled 'HC CARENAR 1:3,5 f=200mm No. 2222329 Pentax-K'. I do not know the optical formula or have a way to do a proper evaluation of the lens. I have added it to the database for historical purposes and in the hope that someone else can add additional info.
Mount Type:	M42 Screwmount
Price History:

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joe8

New Member

Registered: November, 2013

Posts: 14

Review Date: April 29, 2021

Recommended | Price: $30.00 | Rating: 9

Pros:	very good sharpness at f8-11
Cons:	some CAs visible wide open in the corners
Sharpness: 9 Aberrations: 8 Bokeh: 10 Handling: 9 Value: 9 Camera Used: K-5 k-s1 k-x k200 d, fuji x-e1, x-t100, panas.G-3

Optical design very similar to Tokina 3.5/200 and Vivitar 3.5/200

++ stopped down to f8-11 a really sharp lens

65 LP/mm - this is a nearly professional value.

++ neutral color rendition

++ nice bokeh

++ high contrast, stopped down to f 8-11

+/O visible flare only against the light (same problem as Vivitar and Tokina 3.5/200)

O/+ aperture wide open: visible CAs, especially in the corners

+ CAs better controlled at f 8-11

MY SPECIAL TIP: VERY IMPORTANT FOR MACRO PHOTOGRAPHERS:

++ achromatic front part very usefull as macro lens element on the top of a PORST auto N 2.8/135 (very rare, worse auto D's 2.8/135 are frequently available) plus macro ring with (self made of a 8x30 binocular front 2/1 element) integrated therein as a achromatic focus reducer. In result :

2/1 (achromatic front lens element of 3.5/200) + 5/4 elements (Porst auto N 2.8/135) + 2/1 elements = 9/6 macro lens for perfectly corrected 1,25:1 macro shootings. Photos of very small flowers are available. Naturally M42 with K adapter.

very inexpensive

+++ absolutely no more CAs at f11 and extreme sharpness with the a.m. triple construction. Try it !

Totally 8.5 points

and recommended - stopped down

PS. My favorite Carenar lens is 1.8/50 with 6/4 elements and nearly no CAs (similar to old Canon FD 1.8/50 nad Fujinon 1.8/55) - but some flare against the light because of few coating, too. But 80LP/mm resolution.