Search Results for: 50mm

lenses, photography, Projects

Projector Lenses – Part 2 – Adapting Old Petzval and Projection Lenses to Modern Cameras

Image 10 Comments

The best thing about life is that sometimes there is a cat. A close second is characterful lenses to depict it. The Kowa 50/1.3 is a more common optical design than old Petzvals, thus its rendition is closer to, say, a Canon 50/1.4 M39 or FD, but with busier bokeh.

As many readers asked for and looked forward to a follow-up to the Projector Lenses article—one that explains how Mark carried out the conversion and offers some hints and guidance so you can try it yourself—he kindly put together this second piece on the subject. All photos and text are by Mark; the article design and layout are by me, Martin.

So, I’ll hand it over to Mark…

Meyer Görlitz 50mm f/1.6

Welcome back! This post seeks to introduce you to the possibilities of adapting old 16mm-film projector lenses to Evils, SLRs and even Rangefinders. The aim is using these old treasures for creative photographic expression. But whilst the charm lies in the resulting pictures more than the resulting object, feel free to wake your inner fine mechanic! Mine has definitely been fast asleep, and yet, through immersion, I graduated from first putty attempts to a solid interchangeable mount setup, the recipe of which I’ll share.

So here we go, I guess.

Sample Images

Meyer 50 1,6
Meyer 50 2,2
Meyer 50 1,6

Continue reading Projector Lenses – Part 2 – Adapting Old Petzval and Projection Lenses to Modern Cameras →

Accessories, Accessory, lenses, Manual Photographers, Manual Photographers series, Vintage, Zeiss

Projector Lenses – Reviving the Joy of Old Petzval Lenses (Guest Article)

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Introduction Martin recently reviewed Lomo’s replica of a Petzval lens. I commented, perhaps slightly snidely, that vintage Petzval lenses are still around, often for less money, and often with better centre sharpness – and certainly with a vast choice of models and thus rendition nuances. Martin suggested I share my knowledge in an article. And … Continue reading Projector Lenses – Reviving the Joy of Old Petzval Lenses (Guest Article) →

Review, Sigma, Sony E-mount

Review: Sigma 135mm 1.4 Art DG – The actual Bokeh Master

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Introduction The Sigma 105mm 1.4 DG HSM Art was one of Sigma’s last flagship lenses designed for DSLRs and one of the few that hasn’t seen a successor designed for mirrorless cameras yet. If you read my review, you know it is an impressive lens, but I still had some reservations calling it the “Bokeh … Continue reading Review: Sigma 135mm 1.4 Art DG – The actual Bokeh Master →

Analogue, Color Reversal (slides), MS-Optics

Analogue Adventures – Part 45: Fujichrome Provia 400X (expired)

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In 2025 no one makes slide film faster than ISO100 anymore, but that wasn’t always the case. Back in the day there were several different higher ISO options available and Fujichrome Provia 400x seems to have been one of the more popular ones. As it went out of production a long time ago, today people … Continue reading Analogue Adventures – Part 45: Fujichrome Provia 400X (expired) →

Review, Sony E-mount, Viltrox

Review: Viltrox AF 85mm 2.0 FE Evo

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Introduction The “Evo” series is a new lineup of Viltrox lenses positioned between the “Pro” and “Air” lineups. This series seems to combine the build quality and controls of the “Pro” lenses with a slightly slower maximum aperture like the “Air” lenses while maintaining very high image quality – similar to the Voigtländer Apo-Lanthar series … Continue reading Review: Viltrox AF 85mm 2.0 FE Evo →