odklizec
PK
Hi folks,
Here are couple of comments and photos taken with the old Soviet-era pancake lens Industar-69 28/2.8 (42mm on APSC), originally made for the half-frame camera Chaika.
It's a M39 lens so you will have to get the M39 to M adapter ring to make use of this lens on the GXR M mount. I bought one from this ebay seller:
http://stores.ebay.com/carexi?_trksid=p4340.l2563
Be aware that not all M39 adapters from China are of the same build quality and tolerance! The previous (cheap) one I bought on ebay was slightly bigger and so useless with the GXR M.
What to say about this lens? It's a dirty cheap lens that will never win any sharpness contest Sharpness improves if stepped down. But you will have to go as low as f8-f11 for corner to corner sharpness.
On the other hand, it's ideal size lens for the M mount. And if you can find mechanically good and clean example, you will probably love it! The sample I bought on ebay is unfortunately not mechanically very good. The focus ring is loose so it's pretty hard to focus even with activated focus aid and enlarged part of the screen. Additionally, the lens coating is almost gone on my sample, but I guess it was very mediocre even in the case of new lens?
What's interesting on this lens (and what probably helped with its minimalistic design) is the aperture control available on the front-inner ring.
It's somewhat clumsy to control, small/tipped finger (or longer finger-nail) is required. Another surprising discovery is that the aperture ring does not click. So adjusting the aperture is not in the EV steps, which means you can set any aperture value between each EV step. This could be somewhat annoying, especially if you are a person who prefers precise aperture control
The aperture consists of 5 blades, so this lens is definitely not a bokeh monster. Despite of this drawback, bokeh is surprisingly good where it's supposed to be.
Because of no or very mediocre lens coating, the lens is not very contrast, which means it's not very useful for color photography. Definitely nothing for good for bright light conditions. But it works well for B&W photography (if you boost the contrast a bit)!
The lowest (reasonably) usable aperture value is in my opinion f4. So this is definitely not a low-light lens. Most of the below shots were taken at f4, except the outdoor daylight shots. These were taken at f5.6.
I bought this lens for 39USD (incl. s&p). And I just ordered another one for 38USD. Just to check if they are all the same rubbish?
There is probably no other similarly small and cheap pancake lens for the M mount. It's good lens for those who like to play with the 40mm focal length and who are not obsessed about the per-pixel and corner to corner sharpness. But it's definitely not good for anyone who expects the GR/LM lens quality. Those people will have to look for Ricoh GR 28/2.8 lens. But this lens costs about +1000USD. Another alternative could be Canon 28/2.8 L39, but also this lens cots between 600-800USD. I'm not aware of any other pancake-like 28/2.8 lens suitable for the M mount. Any ideas?
The full resolution versions of below photos can be examined here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/odklizec/s ... 395385046/
Here are couple of comments and photos taken with the old Soviet-era pancake lens Industar-69 28/2.8 (42mm on APSC), originally made for the half-frame camera Chaika.
It's a M39 lens so you will have to get the M39 to M adapter ring to make use of this lens on the GXR M mount. I bought one from this ebay seller:
http://stores.ebay.com/carexi?_trksid=p4340.l2563
Be aware that not all M39 adapters from China are of the same build quality and tolerance! The previous (cheap) one I bought on ebay was slightly bigger and so useless with the GXR M.
What to say about this lens? It's a dirty cheap lens that will never win any sharpness contest Sharpness improves if stepped down. But you will have to go as low as f8-f11 for corner to corner sharpness.
On the other hand, it's ideal size lens for the M mount. And if you can find mechanically good and clean example, you will probably love it! The sample I bought on ebay is unfortunately not mechanically very good. The focus ring is loose so it's pretty hard to focus even with activated focus aid and enlarged part of the screen. Additionally, the lens coating is almost gone on my sample, but I guess it was very mediocre even in the case of new lens?
What's interesting on this lens (and what probably helped with its minimalistic design) is the aperture control available on the front-inner ring.
It's somewhat clumsy to control, small/tipped finger (or longer finger-nail) is required. Another surprising discovery is that the aperture ring does not click. So adjusting the aperture is not in the EV steps, which means you can set any aperture value between each EV step. This could be somewhat annoying, especially if you are a person who prefers precise aperture control
The aperture consists of 5 blades, so this lens is definitely not a bokeh monster. Despite of this drawback, bokeh is surprisingly good where it's supposed to be.
Because of no or very mediocre lens coating, the lens is not very contrast, which means it's not very useful for color photography. Definitely nothing for good for bright light conditions. But it works well for B&W photography (if you boost the contrast a bit)!
The lowest (reasonably) usable aperture value is in my opinion f4. So this is definitely not a low-light lens. Most of the below shots were taken at f4, except the outdoor daylight shots. These were taken at f5.6.
I bought this lens for 39USD (incl. s&p). And I just ordered another one for 38USD. Just to check if they are all the same rubbish?
There is probably no other similarly small and cheap pancake lens for the M mount. It's good lens for those who like to play with the 40mm focal length and who are not obsessed about the per-pixel and corner to corner sharpness. But it's definitely not good for anyone who expects the GR/LM lens quality. Those people will have to look for Ricoh GR 28/2.8 lens. But this lens costs about +1000USD. Another alternative could be Canon 28/2.8 L39, but also this lens cots between 600-800USD. I'm not aware of any other pancake-like 28/2.8 lens suitable for the M mount. Any ideas?
The full resolution versions of below photos can be examined here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/odklizec/s ... 395385046/
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