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But oh, the disappointment! After reading online reviews, raving about excellent sharpness and color, my expectations were mile-high. This is a big and sharp lens, equipped with a retractable hood.
The SX series lens was manufactured by Mamiya for Mamiya "SX" cameras, enabling open aperture metering with Mamiya MSX/DSX camera's where a small pin transmits the selected aperture value to the camera.
To use this camera on any other M42 mount camera or adapter, you need to press the aperture pin in order to get the aperture blades as chosen on the aperture ring. If the pin is not pressed, the lens remains wide open. Most adapters for M42 will push the pin correctly and so was mine.
However, when testing the lens, it became obvious very quickly that the blades are stuck. As I do not have the correct tools, and without a manual on how to open the lens, I was forced to take all shots wide open, possible reducing the sharpness.
Additionally, due to how the lens is constructed, the aperture ring is hanging over the mount base, causing the aperture ring to get stuck against the adapter. Due to this aperture ring overhang, I was also not able to fully reach infinity focus. So the samples below will show the worst the lens can do.
Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 135mm
Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: M42
Optics: 4 elements, 4 groups
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 1.5m
Maximum Magnification: ??0.15x
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 520g
Length: 108mm
Production: unknown
Serial Number: unknown
More information on Mamiya
Samples:
Sources:
Wikipedia - Mamiya
The Unofficial Homepage for Mamiya NC Series Cameras
All Photo Lenses
aflenses.net
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| Taken with this lens on Pentax SV (35mm film) over 30 years ago... |
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| 1/1000 sec - ISO-100 |
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| 1/1000 sec - ISO125 |
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| 1/1600 sec - ISO100 |
Wikipedia - Mamiya
The Unofficial Homepage for Mamiya NC Series Cameras
All Photo Lenses
aflenses.net
I just picked one of these up at a flea market for about $13. My aperture ring was also stuck, but I unscrewed the 4 screws on the mounting bayonet and got in there and took out the ring that controls aperture, moved it around a bit, then reassembled the lens, not tightening the screws so much to allow for some play in the aperture ring. Now it works fine. Not sure if yours has it, but mine has the A/M switch for aperture, which engages and disengages the pin (which by the way is untouched by the adapter I use), so manual aperture is now perfectly functional. I look forward to playing with this lens, which I got for next to nothing. Anything I get will be a bonus.
ReplyDeleteGood find! I believe this to be an excellent lens.. I think mine is a little older then yours. It's M42 mount instead of bayonet, and has no screws to take the aperture ring. It also does not have the A/M switch. Does yours have a problem with an overhang of the aperture ring? It's stopping me from reaching infinity focus...
ReplyDeleteI had this problem with my adapter too for this lens. What I did is take the hook side of velcro with self-adhesive backing, and I cut out a ring of it that I stuck onto my adapter--a sort of gasket that allowed the adapter and lens to contact each other, but was cut undersized enough to allow the aperture ring to not contact it. This gave me enough distance that the aperature ring moved freely while the lens and the adapter made good solid contact with each other. I would have preferred using a very thin rubber for the gasket, but the velcro is all I had, and it works and doesn't allow light in.
DeleteIf you look at the silver portion of the adapter in the photo in this blog post, that's what I covered with the gasket. It allowed the aperture ring to slide around the gasket and rotate freely.
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