Site Supporter Registered: February, 2013 Posts: 456
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 14, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $32.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | extremely light, sharp throughout range, smooth bokeh, portrait color rendition | | Cons: | flares easily, ghosts when stopped down!, ca's in bright light, camera electrical contacts exposed, 5ft min focal distance | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K30
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I have the Weltblick version which seems to have the same 4/4 optical formula and 15 blades and 46mm filter ring. Mine is tmount to m42. There are other versions of the this lens branded as Sands Hunter and Soligor. The original was almost certainly the Tamron 860. One site indicates that the Weltblick version was made by Tomioka, but no one else says this and there is some evidence that the Soligors were made by Tamron because of the beginning T in the serial number. This site actually shows my actual lens down to the serial number :-).
This is an odd lens to categorize. Using modern concepts of photographic good, this lens is crap. But let's go beyond modern concepts for awhile. First it is really tiny and light for 135mm. Second, the build is very solid. Third, the aperture ring turns smoothly without clicks, giving some of pleasure to stop down metering. The only worrisome thing about this lens is that the base is so small that it exposes the K30's lens contacts - no shooting in the rain with this one.
As for image quality, it is situational. No this is not a camera to use in bright light. Strange purple shadow liners show up everywhere. Against all odds stopping down in bright light produces ghosts. Actually it does not even have to be that bright to ghost. It is actually better to risk flare at f5 or larger than to stop down in bright light.
Where the lens shines (so to speak) is in diffuse natural light portraiture, wide open or slightly stopped down. The lens is sharp wide open. This lens loves my wife at 5 feet wide open. While not nearly as versatile or sharp as a Tokina ATX 90mm macro on film, it has some of the same vibe. All shots below were in the f3.5 to f5 range
This example was shot with indirect light flowing for three directions. The colors surprised me in a good way.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13383244@N00/26396932545/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
This is an example of sharpness with only incandescent and north window midday light.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13383244@N00/26390940855/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
This is an example of bokeh.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13383244@N00/26301935462/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
The lens is cheap and really pretty good if you don't ask it to do things it can't do. At $32 plus an m42 to PK adapter (mine is a kipon with auto pin depressor) it provides a lot of amusement and some good pictures for not a lot of money.
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Forum Member Registered: October, 2007 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 78 | | Review Date: April 4, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $7.50
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | circular iris/creamy bokeh, solid build, sharp even wide open | | Cons: | low contrast, very prone to flare, some fringing at wider apertures, easy to unsrew lens from mount adapter while focusing, no coating? | |
My copy of this lens actually has the P&B logo on it, so I would guess it's pretty old. This lens falls into the Metal & Glass category, so it is relatively heavy, but I prefer my older lenses to feel substantial anyway. The bokeh is creamy as I hoped it would be, and much to my surprise, the lens is sharp even wide-open. Give it some or a better coating and I would prefer it to my Super Takumar 135/3.5.
Though there is some fringing at wider apertures , it seems gone around f/5.6; even wide-open I would consider it minimal (from what I've seen so far). Also, the lens will definitely lose contrast when there is a bright light source anywhere near the front of it. A hood would definitely help with this one, but I have yet to figure out if it would need a 48 or 46mm threaded hood (where's my ruler?!).
There is one thing I really do not like that I feel the need to point out: when focusing clockwise (closer focus), it is easy to make the lens unscrew from its mount adapter. This is because the lens utilizes what I've read to be the T1 mount (a precursor to the T4 or TX mount that is maybe more familiar to most). The lens screws into its mount adapter, so in my case, I have a lens screwed into a mount adapter, screwed into an m42 adapter. I see why they did away with that sort of adapter later on. Anyway, the unscrewing is a nuisance, but one I'm wililng to overlook. 
If you don't already have a 135mm lens and can find this one cheap, I say go for it.
Sample shots straight from camera, Natural, all sliders 0'd:
facing the sun (hence low contrast), wide open on moving bottles
wide open, same time/place as above but with sun to the right - much better contrast!
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