The lens
This is a slim little zoom. Filter threads are 52mm. The zoom is wide when you slide it out, tele when you slide it back – quite the opposit(?) to the normal, modern zooms which is tele when extended. The aperture range is from f 3.5 – f 22. My copy of the lens was in very, very good shape. In fact it feels new.

Rumours and guesses
According to (now removed) website cdegroot.com Fotomagazin had said “almost as good as Zeiss“. I also remember reading that it was made in the same place the similar Zeiss-lens, but I now I can’t find the source for that statement. Keep in mind that there are several simliar Yashica-lenses with just slightly different names, there are several versions in the same focal length.

My thoughts
I believe this to be a good lens. Sharp. But I rarely use it, since I’ve become used to fast primes with short minimum focus distance. This zoom is also a bit hard to focus, and my camera is not the easiest on this (the Canon EOS 350D has a very small viewfinder and I don’t use any focusing aids).

Still, I managed to get some very nice images with the Yashica zoom, the winter landscape (see below) is one of my favorites. As you might suspect, I’m not sure on my feelings towards this lens. But it is most certainly worth a try!

Pros

• Good sharp images
• Nice quality feeling
• Slim and lightweight

Cons

• Hard to focus on the Canon EOS 350D.
• Minimum focus quite long.
• Uncertain about the bokeh.

Images I’ve produced with this lens:
(clicking opens a new page with the image on Flickr)

Reading
Sadly most things I can find is my own posts on other forums ;) Here they are anyway:

• http://yashicaforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=163&p=720&hilit=zoom#p720
• http://yashicaforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=179&p=809&hilit=zoom#p809
• http://yashicaforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=185&p=841&hilit=zoom#p841
• http://yashicaforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=187&p=851&hilit=zoom#p851
• http://yashicaforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=224&p=1067&hilit=zoom#p1067
• http://yashicaforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=332&p=1544&hilit=zoom#p1544
• http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=12857&view=previous

• Review of Tele-Tokina 105mm/2.8 preset T2
• Review of Yashica ML 50mm/2
• How much is a Tele-Tokina worth to you?
• Review of Pentacon Auto 50mm/1.8
• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, angleview

The purchase
As usual with these old manual lenses it wasn’t that much hat I payed, £8.50 + shipping £9.00. Later on I also got a hood from ebay, it need an original hood – makes a lot of difference. The hood was £7.95 + shipping £3. So if you buy a lens like this, get a hood too. Since I bought from a good seller in UK, there was no problem with shipping or the purchase. Avarage price on Pentaxforums.com is set to $38.

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, mount

The lens
The Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 is a M42-lens, short telephoto prime. The production year I can find at the moment is 1966, but I guess it was made for several years. Construction is of metal and it feels very well built, like most of the Asahi-lenses from the 60′s.

I love the shape and the long focusring with a great grip. It has a switch for Auto/Manual and a small aperturepin – guessing that is for the Pentaxcameras. I haven’t tried it on my Spotmatic-camera, just on DSLR. The Auto/Manual-switch can be used to stopp the lens down/open it while focusing.

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, front

Results
My copy is sharp and has good very soft bokeh. Reading the opinions of others on the internet makes me think that there are quality difference in copies. Could also be an error behind the camera though, you never know for sure reading articles or posts on forums if it’s just a crap photographer ;) But as I said, I like the bokeh and sharpness. If you get the right depth of field this can be magic.

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, side

It is very easy to focus with, smooth and easy to see – which is great for a manual lens with f 3.5, slow manual lenses can often be hard to focus in a small viewfinder like my EOS 350D. The chromatic aberration is not that bad. It can be very sharp – wideopen it’s ok but stopped down even better.

I have this 135mm and a (Carl Zeiss) aus Jena Sonnar 135mm/3.5 in the Zebra version and have a hard time choosing. The Super-Takumar weighs a whole lot less comparing to the aus Jena, and is more tender built. I guess it’s mood of the day that decides which to go with. No doubt the buildquality in the Takumar is superior. I find it amazing how a 60′s lens can be in such good shape as ALL the Super-Takumar 135mm I’ve seen. The Pentax-people take care of their gear.

Images

Wood Cranesbill (Geranium sylvaticum)

Bohemian waxwings

Bohemian waxwing, 100% crop

Portrait

Midsommarblomster

Ice

Autumn road

Pros

• Easy to focus
• Sharp
• Good bokeh
• Nice colours
• Good construction
• Cheap (well… depends of your luck of course)
• Easy to find

Cons

• Definately needs a hood, preferably original of course!
• Contrast can be a bit lower then other Takumars in some circumstances, but that can be good thing.

Reading

Reviews on Pentax-forums
Review on MFlenses
PBase
Jens Jacob at Flickr

• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42
• Review of Asahi Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8
• Review of Pentax Super Takumar 35mm/3.5
• Review of Yashica ML 50mm/2

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

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 Asahi Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8
• Review of Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 M42-lens

Helios 44-3 front

The states of former Soviet union actually made a lot of good camera equipment, and what I’m going to write about now is a copy from a Carl Zeiss-factory that ended up in the Eastern block after the war and “moved” to russia. Helios is a Carl Zeiss Biotar-copy. Lets see how it handles…

My purchase
I won a Zenit ET camera, a flash and Helios lens on Tradera, swedish ebay, for SEK 100 (about £8.30). The advertisement said nothing about the lens and the markings on the lensfront was shielded by lenscap. After Google on camera model Zenit ET revealed that the camera had standard MC Helios 44-3 58mm / 2 (it could also have been equipped with Industar-lens). Since earlier I knew that Helios-lenses is appreciated internationally. So the bidding started… and I won :)

Zenit ET with Helios-lens

About the lens
MC Helios (ГЕЛИОС) 44-3 58mm / 2 was produced as mentioned at BeLOMO in Minsk (Belarus). It has M42-thread, and thus fits my adapter to EOS. Other Helios models was manufactured in (KMZ) Krasnogorsk / Moscow or elsewhere.

Helios 44-3 58mm/f2 from behind

It is a preset lenses, which means that it has two rings to deal with the aperture. No wonder it can be confusing before you know how it works. You set the aperture before taking the picture, but when you focus you would like to have more light (right?) and then you can open up completely with the other aperture ring. Robust, good minimal focus distance, flexible rings. On the EOS the focal length equivalent is (58mm * 1.6) 92.8 mm.

Side with presetrings on Helios 44-3

Somehow this lens makes me to think of Russian tanks from the Second World War (like the T-34), built to hold through the Russian winter and functioning before the feature (as opposed to the German tanks which froze in the snow). This lens is sharp, durable and does what it should.

Opinion
I have used this for quite a while now, actually. I have tried it in many different situations, I find it sharp with very good bokeh. Colours are most often good, only encountered some very bright light when colours feelt a little washed out (but in that circumstance, it could have been the case with any lens). I think it’s a good idea to usse a lenshood.

Images
The images are shot over time since march this year. I’ve tried to make a set which show different motifs for the lens. I often use it at big aperture because I really like it’s bokeh. The blue window image uses a high grade polarizer.

My wife and daughter

Roses at Nikolai

Glasses on wall

Japanese cherry

Blueberries

Golden straw

Blue birdtower-window

Plus

• Sharp
  
• Good bokeh
  
• Robust
  
• Good contrasts in backlight.
  
• The system of aperture ring / preset
  
• Inexpensive

Minus

• Not sure if it has been steady saturation?
  
• If you do not get an explanation how the aperture work, it was confusing
  
• Not the same number of apertureblades as some in this series from Helios.

Links

• Helios 44 on flickr
• My topic on mflenses.com
• “Helios differences” on Manual Focus forum 
• About Helios 44-2 on povlab

• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42
• Review of Yashica ML 50mm/2
• Review of Tele-Tokina 105mm/2.8 preset T2
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Review of Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm/3.5 Zebra

Pentacon 29mm with camera Praktica EE2

My purchase
I bought this lens attached to a camera on Tradera (swedish ebay). It was about 20$, with the camera. A lot of old stuff is cheaper in Sweden then on international ebay, there are not so many buyers. Did I make a bargain? Well, lets find out…

The camera attached was a Praktica EE2. The reason I bought the kit was that I wanted some prime lens close to wide angle. I had mostly landscape photography in mind.

Back of Pentacon 29mm/2.8

Pentacon Auto 29mm/2.8, the lens
This version is a M42 screwmount. As you might have noticed it’s an odd focal length, 29mm. The 1mm difference from the more usual 28mm is not something you notice much. On a crop-camera like my Canon EOS 350D this 29mm lens becomes a 46,6 mm lens.

Everything on the lens is manual, although there is a aperture-pin for some auto function on the Praktica. All in good condition, focus and aperture rings worked ok. The lens fitted my Canon-camera good.

The reputation for this line of lenses from Pentacon is not great (with the exception of the 135mm). But lets take a close look at this little 29mm-lens.

My impression of the lens
My first impression of this lens came from a portrait of my daughter, which was fantastic. It was shot indoors, in good light and from above (my daughter looking up). Sharp where it should be and soft bokeh, war colours.

Portrait

When it came to landscapes my first test was in swedish forest with dark, hard contrast and some harsh backlight. The images was ok, but nothing special at all. It seemed it had a hard time dealing with the big contrast, but to be honest so did my new Sigma AF-zoom.

Landscape over Tysslingen

Later landscape images with lower contrast and more summer and colourful has turned out ok, I think. Higher performance then reputation lead me to believe.

Pros
+ Nice colours in right conditions
+ Sharpness achievable
+ Nice build quality
+ Good for warm and close-up portraits

Cons
– No real wideangle with sensor crop, closer to normal focal length.
- The aperturering is close to the camera, which can cause problems.
- Unreliable performer, sometimes dark colours go weird

Recommendation
If you can not get something really good in that range (like a Yashica ML), get this Pentacon instead an play with it for a while. Maybe it’ll surprise you.

Lannafors lanthandel

Gärdsgård

Junk car

The company Pentacon and Prakticas
VEB Pentacon was an East German camera- and lens maker formed in 1964 and was closed in 1991 after the fall of the east block. It made Praktica-cameras and a lot of them has Carl Zeiss-lenses (”aus Jena”) so keep an eye out for these cameras. My EE2-version has a very distinct ”klonk” when pressing the exposure-button, which is a little bit charming.

Reading

• Canon EOS 350D with Pentacon MC 2.8/29mm
• pbase.com
• Praktica Collector

• Review of Pentacon Auto 50mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42
• Review of Auto Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.7 m42-lens
• Review of Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 M42-lens
• Review of MC Helios 44-3 58mm/f2