A Kodak Moment: Kodak Anaston 51mm 1:4.5

Cost: $15 for Kodak Pony 135 Camera (average market price $7)

This is the second Kodak Pony Camera I borrowed the lens from and my third Franken-lens. Slightly less cool looking than Kodak Anastar 44mm, and slightly less quality, but still overall a decent lens. And is there a better way to take pictures with this 60 year old lens then a walk in to the old historic center of Vancouver, Gas Town.

The pictures were a little flat, but that had more to do with the heavy smog from the recent forest fires, than the quality of the lens. Not super sharp, and some color fringing on the edges, but not to bad for a lens this old, and for a lens that was never the top of the line.

Focussing was pretty easy, using the helicoid it was mounted on. Possibly some better tuning for sharpness would have been possible if I also used the focus mechanism of the lens itself, but hey, I was lazy and it seems the grip itself was missing from my lens. As the lens has no coating, do remember to take pictures away fro the sun, in order to preserve clarity.

In order to use this lens on a digital camera, it first needs to be removed from it's donor. Pretty easy to do... a few screws, and non-destructive to the camera. Once removed, it shows the small and efficient design of this lens.

As we do not want to use the shutter mechanism of the lens, I blocked the shutter with a little piece of plastic.

I used a M32 lens cap where I drilled a hole with a step drill bit. This allowed to mount efficiently on a M32 to NEX helicoid.

The result looked great, even when it's a little cumbersome to change the aperture as it was very close to the lens cap. You don't want to play with aperture anyway due to the loss of sharpness.

In summary, not a bad little lens, but it does show it's age and mediocre origin. Then again, it made the pictures look like they were shot for a 60's magazine. Very unique!

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 51mm
Maximum Aperture: F4.5
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: na
Optics: 3 elements
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus:2.5ft
Filter Size: na
Weight: na
Length: na
Production: 1950-1954
Serial Number: na

More information on Kodak

Original Camera: Kodak Pony 135
The Kodak Pony cameras are a series of Bakelite bodied small format cameras designed by Arthur H Crapsey for Kodak. They were slotted into the Kodak lineup between the roll film Brownie and the high quality 35mm Signet series.

Like the Brownie series cameras, the Pony cameras have simple viewfinders. They featured midrange Anaston lenses until the later Kodak Pony II with the four element Anastars. Knobs are used for film advance and rewind. The Kodak Pony 135 originally sold for $34.75.

Kodak Anastigmats, a 3-element Cooke triplet type, were manufactured in a variety of focal lengths and apertures and usually mounted in front-element-focusing mounts. In the late 1940s, Anastigmats were rebranded as Anastons.

Old Commercial for Kodak Pony 135
Old Commercial for Kodak Pony 135

Samples:

1/80 sec - ISO200 - Handheld

1/80 sec - ISO200 - Handheld

1/80 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/60 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/60 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/100 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/80 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/50 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/200 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/50 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

1/160 sec - ISO400 - Handheld

Sources:
Camerapedia Kodak Pony 135
Camerapedia Kodak Lenses
Wikipedia Kodak

What's in a name? Image 80-200mm 4.5 MC Zoom

Cost: 19.99$ (average market price unknown)

This lens was likely made for a local importer by a Japanese manufacturer such as Kobori. But with a brand name like that, try to find out... no information at all.

The lens looks good, as new, with a simple push'n turn zoom and focus. Clear interface with colorful lettering. It has smooth handling and nice weight for stability.

Quality wise, it's nothing special. It can take good pictures, but lacks the super sharpness or rich colors of the Vivitar and Tokina lenses I recently reviewed. So somewhere in the middle for image quality. And a little slow with a maximum aperture of 4.5.

So, conclusion... not a bad lens, not a good lens. I don't think I will keep it in my collection, and for $19.99, with a little bit of hunting, I believe you can find better and faster.

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 80-200mm
Maximum Aperture: F4.5
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: PK
Optics: unknown
Blades: 6
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 150cm
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 562g
Length: 131-143mm
Production: 1980's?
Serial Number: 1000760
Made In: Japan


Company:
Not much to find on the brand, but then again "Image" is likely to give many false search results. I expect Image is the brand name of a small lens importer, rebranding some of the know or lesser known manufacturers.

MC
MC stands for Multi Coated, a multi-layer lens coating process that cuts the reflection ratio down with as result a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images.


Adapter:

Lens Turbo II PK - Nex

Cost: $75, used on B&H PhotoVideo, new for $149

The Pentax K Lens to Sony E-Mount Camera Lens Turbo Adapter Mark II from Mitakon allows Pentax K lenses to be mounted on Sony E-Mount APS-C format cameras, increasing the angle of view by 0.726x and the maximum aperture of the lens by 1 f-stop.The four optical elements of the Lens Turbo adapter condense light from the Pentax K full frame lens and project it onto the camera's APS-C sensor allowing the sensor to capture all of the lens' transmitted light, negating the 1.5x crop factor and effectively producing full-frame coverage on non-full-frame sensors. A corresponding increase in the maximum aperture of 1 f-stop makes the lens more effective in low-light situations.

The Mark II version of the Lens Turbo features an improved design to produce sharper images. Its rectangular rear lens rests closer to the camera's sensor improving light transmission and an enhanced lens coating minimizes ghosting and flare. One extra-low dispersion (ED) lens element reduces aberrations for better delineated images. The adapter offers a sturdy metal construction and stainless steel mounts, it attaches to both camera and lens with little play and includes a front and rear protective cap. The Lens Turbo is a manual adapter offering no electronic communication between lens and camera.

Samples:

1/400s - ISO200 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO200 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO200 - Handheld

1/1250s - ISO500 - Handheld

1/800s - ISO500 - Handheld

1/60s - ISO500 - Handheld

To Be Or Not To Be (a Pentax): CPC Phase 2 CCT 135mm 1:2.8 MC Auto

Cost: 12.99$ (average market price unknown)
This lens was made by a Pentax subsidiary, specialised in Closed Circuit Television lenses. At some point, they decided to make SLR lenses, at a lower cost then the standard quality Pentax lenses. But was it based on real Pentax designs, with Pentax quality, or based on a cheaper, lower quality, design?

At first glans, the lens looks solid, with a nice build-in lens hood. It looks exactly how a decent lens should look like. Both focus and aperture rings work smoothly. The lens must have been well kept, as it looks pristine, fresh from the factory.

But how is the quality? Being a simple prime lens of Pentax heritage, it should be pretty good. Well, it was actually capable of taking good pictures, but often lacked true sharpness. Difficult to get it exactly in the right focus. Not bad, but not spectacular. An online source specifies that the Phase One lenses lack any coating, but does not seem to be the case for this one as it specifies multi-coating, and seems to get a nice color without to much color editing needed.
Bokeh is not bad, but sometimes a little busy...

So, conclusion... not a bad lens, but I would not go hunting for another one. For not much more, you can get a true Pentax lens that is just that much better. Then again, with $12.99, you can't go wrong!

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 135mm
Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F16
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: PK
Optics: ? elements in ? groups
Blades: 6
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 150cm
Filter Size: 55mm
Weight: 350g
Length: 73-85mm
Production: 1982 or earlier
Serial Number: 322699
Made In: Japan

From a 1982 magazine:

Company:
CPC, or Combined Product Corp. seems to be an importer/rebadger of Japanese lenses, mainly made by Cosmicar, subsidiary of Asahi Precision Co. Ltd, also the owner at the time of the Pentax brand. They seem to be very similar to Pentax design, but were sold at about a 20% lower cost than similar Pentax lenses. Questions is if they have the same quality or not. Some seem to have good reviews.

MC
MC stands for Multi Coated, a multi-layer lens coating process that cuts the reflection ratio down with as result a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images.

CCT
For many years Asahi Optical has been making closed circuit television (CCT) lenses in many forms, under the trade name Cosmicar. It is assumed that CCT provides the mark of a Cosmical produced lens, but this time for 35mm SLR.

Adapter:

Lens Turbo II PK - Nex

Cost: $75, used on B&H PhotoVideo, new for $149

The Pentax K Lens to Sony E-Mount Camera Lens Turbo Adapter Mark II from Mitakon allows Pentax K lenses to be mounted on Sony E-Mount APS-C format cameras, increasing the angle of view by 0.726x and the maximum aperture of the lens by 1 f-stop.The four optical elements of the Lens Turbo adapter condense light from the Pentax K full frame lens and project it onto the camera's APS-C sensor allowing the sensor to capture all of the lens' transmitted light, negating the 1.5x crop factor and effectively producing full-frame coverage on non-full-frame sensors. A corresponding increase in the maximum aperture of 1 f-stop makes the lens more effective in low-light situations.

The Mark II version of the Lens Turbo features an improved design to produce sharper images. Its rectangular rear lens rests closer to the camera's sensor improving light transmission and an enhanced lens coating minimizes ghosting and flare. One extra-low dispersion (ED) lens element reduces aberrations for better delineated images. The adapter offers a sturdy metal construction and stainless steel mounts, it attaches to both camera and lens with little play and includes a front and rear protective cap. The Lens Turbo is a manual adapter offering no electronic communication between lens and camera.

Samples:

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/40s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/40s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/125s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/800s - ISO100 - Handheld

Bojidar Dimitrov's Pentax K-Mount Page

All Photo Lenses

Article by Herbert Keppler

A Centenial: Kodar 131mm 1:6.3

Cost: 25$ for the Donor Camera in an Antique Store

Now that was a fun project! Taking the lens from a 91 year old folding camera, and mount it on a new digital camera to see how good these old lenses really were. And looking awesome wile taking the pictures! I had a lot of other camera-guys give me a second look when parading this concoction on the street. Pretty cool!

The Kodar 131mm lens is an achromatic meniscus lens with a maximum aperture of f/6.3 and a Kodex 1 shutter with four speeds: time, bulb, 1/25, and 1/50. In my case, I could use the T setting (shutter stays open in the level is pressed again), so I could use the electronic shutter of the Sony. The bellows make for smooth focussing. So smooth that I wonder why this is not used more often... I will for sure use the bellows again with some other lenses.

Of course, you can not expect the same quality as today's lenses, but I was pleasantly surprised. A little bit of focus smear when pixel peaking, but little color fringing. As there is no lens coating, taking pictures in the direction of the sun is out of the question. Sharpness was not that bad, for a lens this old. I did like the awesome bokeh this lens produced, as proven by the flower pictures below.

Of course, I did have to figure out how to mount this lens on the Sony camera. Looking bad, once I had the right tools (the Pentax bellows, a metal M42 camera body cap and a step drill bit - from eBay), it was fairly easy to do.

Removal of the camera system from the main body, for easy access to the lens.

Removal of the lens and shutter unit by using a lens spanner.

Use a stepped drill bit to make a hole in the metal body cap, the size of the screw mount of the shutter system.

Use the adapter ring of the original camera to mount the shutter system on the body cap. and screw it on the bellow. Done!

Fun project, already looking out for the next Franken-lens project!
Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 131
Maximum Aperture: F6.3
Minimum Aperture: F45
Image Format: 116
Lens Mount: Screw Mount
Optics: 3 elements
Blades: 9
Focussing: Manual via Bellows
Minimum Focus: ??cm
Filter Size: na
Weight: na
Length: na
Production: 1926
Serial Number: na

Made In: USA

More information on Kodak

The No.1 Pocket Kodak was introduced on 1926 and uses Kodak’s short-lived autographic 116 film which allows you to use a metal stylus to write information about the photograph you just took by opening the squat T-shaped window on the rear panel of the camera. It was also possible to use regular 120 film. A rotating waist-level viewfinder can be found diagonal from the lens and focusing is achieved via worm screw on the user’s right side of the front panel with a focus distance scale on the left. The Pocket Kodak also features two tripod sockets: one just behind the worm screw for portraits and one on other side of the winding key for landscapes.

Although it was not a high end camera at the end, it's nicely art-deco decorated, and looks awesome of the shelf. I haven't tried but expect the camera is full working order. No worries, nothing got damaged during this test!

Kodak's economical group of achromatic lenses included the Kodak Kodar, Twindar, and Bimat Lenses, utilizing the front element method of focusing for subjects as close as five feet from the lens. These lenses and shutters, within their limitations, will produce decent pictures. Cameras had the advantages of lightness of weight, simplicity of operation, and were inexpensive.
It should be noted that in the 1920s and early 1930s, the Kodar was usually a triplet design of decent performance. In later years it was often a doublet design of lesser quality. This name has been used for various lenses until the present time.

Adapter: Honeywell Pentax Bellows II - M42
Cost: can't remember :-) - on eBay

What can I say, it's a bellows adapter. Well made, smooth focussing. good markings. There is only one minor issue when mounting on the Sony camera with an adapter ring. It's impossible to just mount the whole bellow on the camera, as the rail system, when being mounted, is blocked by the camera body. Luckily, you can take the mount piece itself from the bellow, mount it separately on the camera, and slide the bellows back on. Easy to do...

Samples:

1/125s - ISO400 - Handheld

1/80s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/200s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/160s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/320s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/125s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/125s - ISO800 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/200s - ISO100 - Handheld - Cropped

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/400s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/125s - ISO400 - Handheld

1/50s - ISO100 - Handheld

Sources:
CameraPedia - Kodak Lenses
Vintage Camera Lab
Mike Ecman Dot Com