Filter Hoya 49mm CS (Cross Screen)

OK, its not a lens, but I got this filter as part of a lens package, so I though it would be fun to try it out. I used it on the Pentax-A 1:1.7 50mm, that really shows off the effects as it is a very sharp lens. It's also a fast lens so my shutter speed was a lot higher than last weeks shots with the Minolta lens.

The filter adds a four-cross flare to very bright areas, giving a soft-focus effect. Ideal for photographs of ladies wearing jewelry or other objects with strong reflections or lights such as Christmas trees. The filter is also available as a six-pointed and eight-pointed star flare.

Good fun to play with, but don't think I will use it often. But good to have in your toolbox.

Filter Hoya 49mm CS (Cross Screen)

 

Samples:

2.5 sec, 100 ISO, without filter

2.5 sec, 100 ISO, with filter

2.5 sec, 100 ISO, with filter rotated slightly

 

2.5 sec, 100 ISO

2.5 sec, 100 ISO

5 sec, 100 ISO

 

Hoya Filters



Night Photography with the Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SG 1:3.5 28mm

Cost: 18$ - with Minolta SRT101 body (average market price $30)

Again a good find from a Salvation Army Thrift Store.

It's hard to do a photo blog if it is dark when you leave home, and dark when you go back home. And even worse if it has rained for a average of 28 days per month, for the last 2 months. So, it's the season for some night photography!

I really liked shooting with this lens. Butter smooth focus ring and even more smooth aperture ring (maybe a tad to smooth). And I really like the feel and look of the lens. Fully made of metal, resulting in a very solid feel, nicely detailed finish with a sophisticated looking aluminum aperture ring. Easy to find the aperture and focus ring, even in the dark when just working on touch.

Nice to use, easy to focus. It's not a fast lens with a 3.5 minimum aperture, so not that good to capture active scenes, but the slow speed makes it useful for night ocean landscape photography as the lengthy exposures makes the water look velvety.

The APS-C crop factor of 1.5 results in 42mm, providing a nice crop for city skylines from a reasonable distance.

However, that's where the good qualities stop. As a pixel-peeper, it becomes obvious that the lens is lacking in true sharpness, especially in the lower to mid range f-stops. Slightly better when fully closed, but not as sharp as most of my other lenses within that range. But, if you are not a pixel-peeper, you can take some really nice pictures.

This the second generation of the MC W.Rokkor-SG 28mm 1:3.5. with a smaller filter size than the original. In general, most users agree on sharpness problems. The 1:2.8 version of the 28mm of the same era had a much better reputation.

I will have to take this lens out again during day light some other time, to evaluate the color and bokeh features. 

Rokkor: The Rokkor and Auto Rokkor where Minolta's first generation of lenses, with Auto Rokkor being the more expensive one with novel automatic apertures. The Rokkor line was fully manual but priced lower. Quality of the Rokkor lenses was top notch though and remained as the entry level Minolta lenses long after the Auto Rokkor line was replaced.

W.Rokkor: Wide Angle Lenses with SR-Mount

SG: The letter code after the Rokkor name show the optical design of the lens. The code designated the number of groups and elements within a lens:
First Letter (no. of groups): T=3; Q=4; P=5; H=6; S=7; O=8; N=9.
Second Letter (no. of elements): C=3; D=4; E=5; F=6; G=7; H=8; I=9; J=10; K=11; L=12.

MC: Stands for Multi Coated. The MC Rokkor lenses were easily identifiable by the aluminium aperture ring.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 28mm

Maximum Aperture: F3.5
Minimum Aperture: F16
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Minolta SR
Optics: 7 groups, 7 elements
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 0.6m
Maximum Magnification: ?
Filter Size: 55mm
Weight: 245g
Length: 55mm
Production: 1968-1972
Serial Number: 1527223

Samples:

25 sec - ISO100

30 sec - ISO100

30 sec - ISO100

15 sec - ISO100

30 sec - ISO100

Sources:
Wikipedia - Minolta
Subclub.org
All Photolenses
Minolta.rokkor.de

SMC Pentax-F Zoom 1:3.5-4.5 35-70mm

Cost: 15$ (average market price $45)

This was a real find... 15$ and that included a film-era Pentax body. This time in an SPCA thrift store.

Image quality is excellent. Pretty sharp for an older lens, and nice Pentax SMC colors. But...

This is again a lens made completely from plastic. Combined with the green/gray color, it looks pretty cheap, although not really that light for such a small lens. On this lens, the aperture ring was difficult to move, but that might be the age and specific to the lens. The zoom was much looser, but did not have the typical Pentax smooth feel to it. But the biggest problem was in the focus ring. It was soft alright, but the with of the ring itself was very small, making it sometimes hard to find, and even when found, not practical to use.

The APS-C crop factor of 1.5 results in 52.5-105mm, making it a nice portrait lens. And I was pretty impressed with the image quality for portraits. Although it has a macro setting, I was not to impressed with the sharpness when in macro.

In summary, good color quality and sharpness when not used as Macro, but difficult to use due to the small focus ring (it is a manual lens after all). But if you can get it at a low cost, it's still a good deal.

It seems the community is giving this lens very good reviews, so my issues might be just my own taste... 

To combat partial reflection, Pentax developed chemical coatings for the lens surfaces with minimum light loss. SMC is "a remarkable seven-layer lens coating process that cuts the reflection ratio down to just 0.2% per lens surface. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images."
SMC was patented and first applied in 1971, when Pentax was still making screw mount equipment. The multi-coated lens lines changed from Takumar and Super-Takumar to Super-Multi-Coated Takumar and later on to SMC Takumar. SMC Pentax was used for the newly introduced K-mount lenses. Pentax's SMC is still today considered as one of the best lens coatings on the market.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 35-70mm
Maximum Aperture: F3.5
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Pentax K
Optics: 8 elements, 8 groups
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 32cm
Maximum Magnification: 0.25x
Filter Size: 49mm
Weight: 235g
Length: 50mm
Production: 1987 until 1991
Serial Number: 1318855

More information on Pentax

Samples:

1/320 sec - ISO640

1/250 sec - ISO100

1/60 sec - ISO250

1/80 sec - ISO100

1/60 sec - ISO100

1/60 sec - ISO500

1/125 sec - ISO400

1/1250 sec - ISO800

Sources:
Wikipedia - Pentax
Pentax Forums
The Northcoast Photographer
All Photolenses