The Pentacon auto 50 mm f/1.8 Multi Coating is a small and very cheap 50 mm lens with an unusually close focus distance of 33 cm. Is this “nifty fifty” worth adapting to a modern full frame camera?
Pentacon 50 mm f/1.8 @f/1.8Pentacon 50 mm f/1.8 @f/1.8Pentacon 50 mm f/1.8 @f/2.5Pentacon 50 mm f/1.8 @f/1.8Pentacon 50 mm f/1.8 @f/1.8Pentacon 50 mm f/1.8 @f/2.5
The Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* (C/Y) 35-70mm f3.4 was a standard zoom lens designed for the Yashica and Contax series of film SLR cameras. It was, perhaps, the first standard zoom of truly decent quality throughout its range. You could use it an any focal length and not really have any compromise relative the prime lenses of the time. That cliché “a tube full of primes” was (for once) true of it: at least in its day.
It’s since acquired a kind of cult reputation. Some think it remains the finest standard zoom you can get. But how much of this reputation is due to it being so amazing by the standards of when it was designed in 1982, and how much because it still deserves a place in the kits of some modern photographers? Read on to find out!
Specifications
Diameter
70mm
Length
80.5 mm
Filter Thread
67 mm
Weight (w/o adapter)
475 g
Minimum Focusing Distance
0.7m
Maximum Magnification
1:2.5
Number of aperture blades
8
Elements/ Groups
10/10
The Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* (C/Y) 35-70mm f3.4 can be purchased used on eBay.com here.
The Nikon 35mm f/2.8 (affiliate link) is a relatively small 35 mm legacy lens. Although it has some weaknesses it is currently one of my favorite lenses. In this review I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this lens. Most sample pictures can be found in this Flickr album.
Jannik started his year with the quest for a replacement for his Sony a7II which couldn’t keep up with his son anymore. After trying the Fuji X-T2 and Nikon D750 he ended up with the Sony a7III and sold most of his manual lenses to replace them with AF lenses like the GM 1.4/24, ZA 1.4/50 and Tamron 2.8/28-75 which was our most popular review in 2018.
A big thank you to all of you! I am a little proud that this blog remains a passion driven resource in a very profit driven environment and this wouldn’t be possible without you contributing your own experience and time.
At Photokina 2018 we also checked out some other lenses and cameras not directly connected to E-mount which we will cover in this article.
Zenit
Zenit M with Zenitar 1.0/35
The russian lens brand “Zenith” now belongs to the Shvabe group which apparently decided to do a little more than just keep producing old Helios lenses.