M42 addiction?

Hi Andy!

So far I have received:

Pentax Super-Takumar 50mm 1:1.4:
Lovely. you can take shot in low light, at 100 ISO, at 1/50 sec. Only, shots are kind of yellish. But I can correct that in PS.

Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135/3.5:
Beautiful object. Sharper and more contrasted than my zooms.

Pentacon auto 50mm f1.8
Nothing special, but a nice lens. I will use for macro when I will receive the bellows.

Carl Zeiss Sonnar 200/2.8
Such a beautiful lens, that I would have bought it even if it had a not compatible mount! Just for the fun of holding his 1.4 kg in my hand! Haven't had a chance to test it, because I send it to repair. Focus was stiff.

As soon as I receive them all, I plan to spend one full day testing all of them, and doing the comparison with the EF lens that I have.

Ciao!

Tiziano

Well I ordered a Super Takumar 135mm f/3.5 for starters, plus an adaptor!

Next up... Probably a 50mm, such as the Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4, although I'm still set on getting the Pentacon 135mm f/2.8. because of the bokeh... The beautful bokeh!

I own 4 M42 lenses:

-Zeiss Flektogon MC 35mm f/2.4 - great lens. Extremely sharp wide open*, outstanding bokeh and contrast. Downsides : soft edges wide open, harder to focus due to the FOV.

-Zeiss Pancolar MC 50mm f/1.8 - simply stunning. I owned the Canon 50 1.8 and used the 50 1.4. All i can say is that this lens blows them away. As sharp wide open as the Canon @ f/2.8, fantastic bokeh and contrast. No reason to stop down. Love it. No downsides.

-Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 : nice lens, even better bokeh then the Zeiss Pancolar. Very slightly softer. Still beats the Canon 50 1.8 hands down.

-Jupiter9 85mm f/2 : The king of bokeh. Pretty soft wide open (dreamy glow) but sharp by f/2.8. Outstanding portrait lens. Downsides: lower contrast then the others but still great.

That said, I forgot where I put my 70-200 L 3 months ago.

Can I give a look for it?

Not worth it. Too dusty

I do not have any of these older primes, but I do have primes. I find myself hardly shooting anymore with my zooms. When I do it is at one focal length. I think my shooting style just fits better with primes than with zooms.

HaodaFu is going to love this thread.

Maybe I should start selling my Canon glass too. Quite frankly, I havent used my 85mm f1.8 in months; the 135mm is also almost totaly unused.
I *know* the 135L is sharper than any of my other 135s... but it's also 2 to 3 times the size (not even counting the hood you need to put "somewhere")... While I can put a pentax SMC 135mm f2.5 *anywhere* and it has a built in hood. In fact,I can easily hide the Pentax lens in the Canon hood!. Mind you it's plenty sharp too; not L sharp, but *very very* sharp...

Thats a dilemna, "uber sharpness" vs "size/weight/quality" ratio... In my case the Canon glass rarely wins it's place in the bag these days...

Yep, I'm officially an addict. Help.

It's spreading!!!!

i might just jump on the bandwagon.....


....$50 sounds much better than $350 for a 135mm!!!

I love my manual focus classics ...

About this.... I am struggling...:o If I have a lot of time, and a lot of light, I manage... otherwise...

I guess I need practise.... But I'll buy a split focus screen for my film camera!

tiziano wrote:
About this.... I am struggling...:o If I have a lot of time, and a lot of light, I manage... otherwise...

I guess I need practise.... But I'll buy a split focus screen for my film camera!

You need sharp eyes matey and a soft touch. The focus on these babies is tuned for the artists fingers not some clockwork USM/HSM motor I shoot a static subject shot in around 20-30 seconds not 20-30 shots in one second as many of the gizmo freaks do (trusting to luck more than craft!!) My keeper ratio and composition and exposure is thus pretty well guarenteed.

Light should be no problem. You can focus wide open through the viewfinder and then stop down to shoot.

Slow down and see it as an ADVANTAGE and not as a problem Split screen will help too. I do without currently but only because I've been waiting to buy a replacement body. It should be next in line depending on how the next body performs through the viewfinder.

Thanks Condyk! I see your point.... But it takes time! I have a shamefull past of P&S cameras, and then I moved directly to the EOS system... Now I am travelling back in time!