A fast 35mm lens which is very sharp, has nice bokeh and is also small? This sounds too good to be true but the Voigtländer Ultron 1.7/35 VM is all that. Of course there is are also a few issues but all in all it’s a pretty great lens.
Continue reading Review: Voigtlander Ultron 1.7/35mm – punches way above its weight
The Pentax SMC 4/100 Macro is a small and affordable macro lens from the 70’s. In this review I check if it can still deliver on today’s 24 Megapixel Sony a7.
f/5.6
Diameter: 75mm
Length: 89mm
Filter Thread: 55mm
Weight: 600g
Max. Magnification : 1:2
Close Focusing Distance (from the sensor/from the front of the lens): 45cm /27cm
Number of aperture blades: 6
Elements/ Groups: 5/4
Price: (February 2015): 90-150€ in good condition at ebay.de or $110-170 at ebay.com (affiliate links)
i want to thank Marc for borrowing me the lens to write this review!
Continue reading Minolta MC / MD Macro Rokkor 100mm 1:3.5 – Review
Despite it’s age of more than 45 years the Minolta MC 2.5/100 is a very good lens with great built quality and bokeh for a very affordable price.
This blog is mostly about manual lenses which are usually 30 to 50 years old. And while most of them are surprisingly reliable the are a few things you should check before or after buying a lens.
This checklist is based on the experience I gained from buying more than a hundred lenses since I discovered how much fun it is to use them on Sony’s Alpha cameras.
If you have additional info about a defect not listed or disagree with my assessment please leave a comment!
Use a large light source like a window and place the lens between you and the light so that you can see the colorful coating of the lens.
Scratches are seldom a problem in the real world but they lower the resale value of a lens. In theory they could reduce the contrast of a lens or cause some flare but I have never seen that happen.
You can’t really do anything to restore coatings but it sometimes makes sense to fill larger scratches with black paint to avoid light scattering.
Continue reading Defects in Manual Lenses and lens buying advice