Fluffy sunset with this Pentax-lens

• Sold my S-M-C Takumar 300mm/f4
• How to remember your manual lenses without EXIF
• Review of Tele-Tokina 105mm/2.8 preset T2
• Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 on Pentax Spotmatic - beautiful old camera
• Autumnleafs with Yashica DSB 50mm/1.9

Icebubbles made with Asahi Opt.Co. Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8

• Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8 on Spotmatic
• In front of Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8
• Another portrait with cameralens Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8 (m42 screwmount)
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Flickr-set with images from the Auto-Tak 85mm

Something New

One thing that comes to mind, would anyone be interested in a long term group where we send cheap M42-lenses round to eachother for testing? I guess it would have to be a closed group where you exchange adresses and place trust in eachother. Well, the idea just popped in my mind…

• Yashica Guy (Joe Marcel Wolff) interview
• Review of Pentax Super Takumar 35mm/3.5
• About manual focus lenses in New York Times
• Batteries for your Yashica Electro
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42

Photograph of Sara made with Asahi S-M-C Tak 55mm f1.8

• Bohemian waxwings with Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5
• Factory with S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Portraits with Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5
• First test with Pentax Super Takumar 28mm/3.5 m42

Sara my wife

• Portrait of Sara with Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Review of the Auto Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.7 m42-lens
• First test with Pentax Super Takumar 28mm/3.5 m42
• Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8 on Spotmatic

Well, I needed a couple of images for different occasions. So late tonight I took out the cameragear and gave it a try.

• A chair
• Two constructionlights (500W)
• Tripod
• Camera with m42-lens Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8
• A piece of string
• Some Photoshopping

I tied the string to the tripod and stretched it to the chair. Sitting on the chair I focused on the tripod. Without touching the focus I put the camera back on the tripod. With the string I could tell where the focus in the image is.

I put selftimer on and ran back to the chair. Took the string to my eye (so it would be in focus). The lights were like I wanted them after several attempts. It’s a bit trial and error. I don’t have good flash or studiolights so I have to use whats available, but I think it turned out ok:

Selfportrait with Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8

• Factory with S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Exercise: manual focus the fastest thing around
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Review of MC Helios 44-3 58mm/f2

The purchase
I bought a Yashica J-7 here in Sweden with this lens on it. It is the camera I reviewed on YashicaForum and entered in EpicEdits $50-dollar camera challenge. Both the camera and lens are in great shape, no marks and great lenses. It has yellowed a bit but I haven’t noticed any impact on my images.

Yashinon-DX 50mm f1.7 m42

The lens
It’s quit an odd construction, with inner tube alu-metal and focusrings in black plastic. The aperturering is very thin, but has big notches so you can easily turn it any way. It has a manual/auto-switch, that works on old Yashica M42-cameras. The switch is under the lens and hard to use while looking through the lens - so it’s not usable as a shortcut to stopping down the aperture as you can do on some other lenses with such a switch.

Side of Yashinon-lens

This normal lens it’s avarage sized, maybe large, for a 50mm. It takes 52mm filters, which is good because it’s the same filtersize as my Yashica MLs, Helios and Canon EF.

Mount of Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.7

The lens has thorium in it, the radioactive substance that makes many old lenses turn yellow. If you get a yellowed one you can put it in the sun for a few weeks and the tint will go away. The radioactivity is not much to worry about, remember this are lenses constructed to be close to negative film in analogue cameras.

Glass of this Yashinon normal lens

Results
I should use this lens more then I do, because every time I get some great shots! Good soft bokeh, sharp where I want it to be, saturated colours. I feel it suitable for nordic blue dark november for some reason.

Images
Mounted on Canon EOS 350D:

Bumblebee with m42-lens Yashinon-DX 50/1.7

Yashinon Spider

Bumblebee

Leaf with bokeh

Swedish blue november woods

Mounted on Yashica J-7 with Tri-X 400:

Stockholm old town on Tri-X

Old town chair on Tri-X

Pros
+ Lovely bokeh and colours
+ Sharp
+ Big notches on aperturering, so you get a grip eventhough it’s thin and close to camera
+ Fast
+ Good buildquality
(+ On some Yashica SLRs the auto-function works)

Cons
- The yellowing by thorium
- Single coating (although I don’t really think that’s a big con)
- No easy “aperture-open-button”
- Actually, I can’t think of that many cons - it’s a great lens.

Reading
A Photo.net thread on Yashinon-lenses
My review of the Yashica J-7 with this lens
Full roll of Tri-X film with J-7 and this lens

• Scans from Yashica J-7 on Tri-X images
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Review of Yashica ML 50mm/2
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42
• Review of Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm/3.5 Zebra

Yashica ML 50mm/2 Front

The purchase
I got this lens from Richard for free - thanks :) I also bought one on swedish ebay Tradera, just because it was so cheap and I didn’t wan’t it to go unsold. They are easy to find, buy one if you can!

Side of the lens Yashica ML 50mm/f2

The lens
This is perhaps the most common Yashica ML 50mm lens, but there are other faster versions also f1.4, f1.7, f1.9. It is small in size. The build quality seems good - turning rings feels smooth and reminds me of the feeling with some Pentax-lenses. It is multicoated and fully manual (it has no auto/manual-swtich or preset or anything like that). It is Contax/Yashica-mount so you need such a camera or adapter. I have used the lens on a Canon EOS 350D, for which I bought an adapter from China.

Mount of this manual lens

Results
It’s very sharp. The bokeh is soft and wideopen it reminds me of some russian lenses, with almost a spinning feeling in the background. Good saturated colours. It gives a clear bright image in the viewfinder to focus on. Imagewise I can’t find anything to complain about with this lens.

Yashica ML 50 f2 from front

The Yashica ML 50mm/2 is small. The size feels nice but there is one thing that can be annoying sometimes: the aperturering is the most inner thing on the lens, that is it sist nearest the camerabody and can be hard to get a grip on. The focusring is easy to grip and feels very well built.

As mentioned above there are faster Yashica ML 50mm. However, I think many underestimates this lens because it’s the slowest in the series. In fact I think it can match many faster lenses I’ve tried.

Images

Bokeh example

Long exposure on water

Tree and branch

Autumn tree

Ice with bokeh

Post your Yashica ML 50mm/2 images on YashicaForum.com :)

Pros

+ Sharp, like most wide and normal ML-lenses I’ve tried.
+ Good bokeh, similar to some expensive russian lenses.
+ Saturated colours.

Cons

- Not the fastest 50mm lens, but f2 is often enough.
- Aperture ring very close mount (and therefore camerabody).

Reading & images
On pbase
My flickr-set

• Review of Pentax Super Takumar 35mm/3.5
• Review of the Auto Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.7 m42-lens
• Review of Tele-Tokina 105mm/2.8 preset T2
• Review of Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm/3.5 Zebra
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42

Mir 1V into sundown

Field portraied by this old russian lens

• Pekaboo-photograph with Mir-1V on the EOS-camera
• Review of the Auto Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.7 m42-lens
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Mir-1V russian lens photographed on Zenit and Canon
• Review of Yashica ML 50mm/2

Nice bokeh with Mir-1v

Pekaboo with Mir-1v, more nice bokeh

• Russian M42-lens Mir-1V photographing in the sundown
• Guestimages: Stockholm-images from the 50’s with Leica III S
• In front of Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Review of Pentax Super Takumar 35mm/3.5