Figure 1 : Bee shot taken with K5, Pentax 50mm /f1.4 vintage lens
Recently I started to take macro tube shots of bees in my area. This is quite an addicting facet of photography, I must say. I’m a rank beginner at this task, but so far have managed a few semi-interesting shots. The picture in figure 1 is one of my favorites thus far (clicking on the photo will show it enlarged on smugmug).
Is Over.
Well, I kick-started my photography hobby for a second time recently after a hiatus of about 37 years. I bought into the theory that I could populate my lens arsenal with vintage stuff and save a bundle. In short order I had over a dozen lenses in my possession, none made after the date they want to check on driver’s licenses in order to purchase hard whiskey. Some were made not only that many years ago – but multiples of that many years.
My vintage lens collection is growing by leaps and bounds. I have gotten some good results from some of the lenses, and in some cases I find that they equal or exceed a number of currently available (newly manufactured) lenses.
However; not every vintage lens can be used safely on every camera. I think the old film cameras must have had larger registration distances between the mirror and the rear of the lens barrel. Certain lenses, when they are focused at some point in the direction of infinity on the focus ring, protrude from the rear of the lens mount.
I’ve been collecting quite a few vintage lenses, and I consider some of them to be very good lenses, while others seem lacking. I’ve decided to create a “Sharpness list” for these old lenses (most are older than 30 years old, and some are over 40 years old).
I should mention the methods I’m using to determine what is (at least according to my eyes) a sharp lens. I am using an image focus comparison chart (a “fine resolution” spoked star chart), affixed to a wall, and illuminated with daylight.
Figure 1: The K5 is shown with a Tokina lens from the 1980s.
I started shooting with a bridge camera about two years ago (the FujiFilm s8600). This was an attempt to bootstrap a photography interest of mine that had started in the early eighties (with an Olympus OM-1) – but which never managed to progress past the level of a novice, and hasn’t to this day. There was always something more important to do, other than to teach myself to use a camera. Now retired, I am devoting a lot of time to the task of catching up with the post millennium photography world.
A Storm Of Photons 