Old Glass and Natural Light

[amk1977]

A few photos I recently took shot on an old preset aperture Pentacon 135mm f/2.8 and Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D. All shot at f/2.8 using natural light only. Certainly easier with the Nikkor, as the Pentacon won't meter with the Nikon D90.


Pentacon 135mm @ f/2.8



Pentacon 135mm @ f/2.8



Nikkor 35-70mm @f/2.8



Nikkor 35-70mm @ f/2.8

[markgozz]

Amk

Could you tell us which lens was used on which image because there are two distinctive finishes but I don't know if that is down to PP or the lens , it's great to see that these older lenses are capable of producing great looking photos as I have been thinking of picking up a couple of older less sort after lenses .

You've got a great model there and he's produced some great shots although he does look a bit uncomfortable in the final image .

Mark

[amk1977]

Hi Mark,

Many thanks for your comments. I added labels to the photos so that you can now see what each photo was shot using. The finishes are due to split tone experimentation within Photoshop. I got the Pentacon for £18 delivered. Fantastic lens, built like a tank and the bokeh on it is awesome at every aperture due to its 15 blade diaphram. Its also sharp wide open, which is a bonus.

Jo is a cute little thing although is an absolute bloody nightmare to photograph. He fidgets like you cannot imagine, which is infuriating with a manual focus lens. The last shot was taken to test out the 35-70mm f/2.8D. I think he was slowly losing the will to live with all the photographs as he wanted to go play outside. I had to promise him "pennies for sweeties" so he'd sit moderately still lol.

[karenoliver]

Gorgeous shots , Aaron :-) I love number 1 and 3 especially as the processing really suits your lovely nephew. Number 2 is maybe too dark for me.

Karen

[markgozz]

£18 I just spent more than that on a Chinese take away .

I'm a bit of a heathen when it comes to lens manufacturers and have never heard of Pentacon before so will have to put in a search for them and see what I can find . Thanks for the extra info .

Mark

[DigiDiva]

He is gorgeous, so, so cute, he will be a stunner when he is older..lock up your daughters! I think they are are great, quality shots. Well done.

[amk1977]

Originally Posted by karenoliver

Gorgeous shots , Aaron :-) I love number 1 and 3 especially as the processing really suits your lovely nephew. Number 2 is maybe too dark for me.

Karen

Many thanks, Karen. Jo is such a gentle little soul and I wanted to reflect that in the processing as much as possible. I agree number two is a little bit dark. Unfortnately I couldn't push exposure any higher without noise really degrading the IQ. Keep hoping for a small lotto win so I can upgrade from the D90 to either the D7000 or possibly full frame, so that noise becomes a virtual non entity. (Keeps dreaming lol)

Originally Posted by markgozz

£18 I just spent more than that on a Chinese take away .

I'm a bit of a heathen when it comes to lens manufacturers and have never heard of Pentacon before so will have to put in a search for them and see what I can find . Thanks for the extra info .

Mark

Yup, at £18 it was quite a bargain. The lens is pretty old and made before the fall of the Berlin Wall. There are a several versions of it. The later designs have fewer aperture blades but are multi-coated, fairing better against sun glare and also have an auto switch on the diaphragm. The one that is sought after and often referred to as "the bokeh monster" is the older 15 blade version.

It has a preset aperture, meaning that the lens isn't held open until you press the shutter release. A slight inconvenience but, simply focus wide open and stop down afterwards. I was pleasantly surprised at the optical quality. Sharpness is very good wide open and the bokeh remains beautifully blown out up to about f/5.6, when the background just begins to get a little more noticeable.

They are M42 mount (although also come in Exacta PB bayonet, so be careful not to get the latter). You'll require an adapter to use on your camera body. If its a Nikon, you can't achieve infinity focus the lens but, no big whoop. You can still focus up to about 20m away. There are adapters that have an additional element in them to correct this problem but, they are cheap and cheerful. I don't see the point of putting some excellent quality glass on a camera, only to have that diminished by some cheap tat out of China. I use the lens for portraits so am never that far away from my subject anyway.

Look for the Pentacon 135mm f/2.8. If its got "electric" or "auto" then its the later version. Earlier incantations of the lens were made by Meyer Optik Gorlitz Orestegor. A few companies were merged together to create Pentacon. If you can get one for around the £20-£25 mark, then do so.

My copy has some slight traces of fungus around the outer edge of the front element and a speck of gunk near the rear. The coating has also been cleaned right off the rear element too. Doesn't seem to affect image quality a bit, although point it facing the sun and its ghost galore, lol. Fantastically well made, solid metal and glass. You wouldn't want to drop it on your foot, put it that way lol. The aperture blades alone are something to marvel at. A thing of beauty in their own right.

Edit - Thanks Chris. Yeah, he's a lovely little fellow. I'm sure he will break a few hearts when he's older lol.

[markgozz]

amk

Can't thank you enough for your time and expertise , I have printed off your response so that I have all the details to hand because there is no way I will remember all of this and it is going to be so useful . Like you I have the D90 and the infinity limits of these lenses don't bother me one bit but I am quite excited to be able to get back to basics with good quality glass .

Thanks again for your help .

Mark