Playing With Lenses: Something old, something surprising: the Kodak Anastar Lens 44mm 1:3.9

Cost: $9 for Kodak Pony II Camera (average market price $7)

Now this was a pleasant surprise. I did not expect to much of this lens, as the camera was sold in the late 50's as a mid-range pocket camera. And when used wide open, it is indeed a horrible lens. But... when used closed, it reaches absolute heights in sharpness and color. I was amazed of the image quality, and would easily rate it amongst my better Pentax lenses.

Although online sources state that this lens get less sharp at the edges, it's not an issue on an APS-C type of sensor, due to the cropping.

And it looks pretty cool... almost steam punk. Pretty nice for my first Franken-lens!

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. This is a front element focussing design, so the whole lens will rotate when focussing.

Note that the lens does not provide aperture values, but is expressed in "Exposure Values", with some more explanation on this concept on a card that slots in the camera back. Not an issue on a digital camera, with the automatic exposure.

On the back of the lens you can see more of the aperture and shutter mechanism. Pretty simple but elegant and effective.

As we do not want to use the shutter mechanism of the lens (that only support one shutter speed), I placed a little piece of folder paper to block the shutter mechanism.
I also added some duct tape to make it fit nicely in one of current mount adapters.

The results look great, even when it's a little cumbersome to change the aperture. You don't want to play with aperture anyway due to the loss of sharpness.

Focus is smooth, but very sensitive. Peak focus is not always clear, and the scale is very compressed, resulting in many bad shots. But when the focus is right, oh my!

I liked this lens so much that I was actually considering not putting it back in the original camera, and keep it as a separate lens in my collection. Maybe someday... when creating a more final construction that isn't based on using duct tape.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 44mm
Maximum Aperture: F3.9
Minimum Aperture: unknown
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: na
Optics: 4 elements in 3 groups
Blades: 4 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus:2.5ft
Filter Size: na
Weight: na
Length: 14mm
Production: 1957-1962

Serial Number: na

More information on Kodak

Original Camera: Kodak Pony II
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 feature Kodak's better glass lenses like the four element Anastars. Knobs are used for film advance and rewind. The Kodak Pony II originally sold for $26.75.
Kodak Anastigmat Specials were made according to the most reliable optical formulas and the newest types of optical glass. They are usually mounted in front-element-focusing lens mounts In the late 1940s, current Anastigmat Specials were rebranded as Anastars. In the 1950s, Kodak labeled lenses of this class as Ektanars.

The Anastar used 4 elements in 3 groups, similar to the more famous Zeiss Tessar but with the rear element group reversed and has only a single shutter speed. The lens lacks traditional f/stops, but instead is marked with EV or exposure values. The aperture diaphragm has only four blades.

Old Commercial for Kodak Pony II
Old Commercial for Kodak Pony II
Old Commercial for Kodak Pony II
Old Commercial for Kodak Pony II