Broken beyond repair: the FOCAL MC AUTO 1:2.8 135mm

Cost: 10$ (average market price $32 - for different variant)

Focal was a trade mark for K mart photographic products in the 1980's and seem to have a reasonable reputation for a no-brand. But I can tell you, finding specific information on a lens brand as "FOCAL" is a tough thing to do. You can imagine that googling for "Focal" will give you a lot of hits, but not the ones you are looking for.

I did find information on a lens of the FOCAL brand with the same specs but one: a filter size of 58mm instead of 52mm. That probably points to a different manufacturer, so likely a completely different lens. This lens has MC in green, while the more common one has MC in orange. I do have a suspicion, based on looks and specs, that the lens was originally manufactured by Kominar.

I bought this specific lens at a flea-market, a few minutes before closing time, as it looked like a lens worthwhile playing with. And it shows that last minute impulse buys are not always a good decision. On closer inspection at home, I noticed a scratch on the front lens, and more important, that someone had removed the complete aperture section of the lens. The aperture ring was there, but the section itself was gone... so a good opportunity to test if a broken lens, with parts missing, could still be used to take decent pictures. And to my surprise, it could!!!

Of course, with no aperture section, all photo's are taken at maximum aperture, or wide open. That resulted in a very shallow DOF (Depth Of Field, nice round bokeh, and a lot of flare when taking pictures in the direction of the sun. But I had some really decent pictures amongst a lot of bad ones... The lens is OK in sharpness when dialed in properly, and the color quality was excellent. Focus was smooth and stable. Build quality is solid, and the looks are there, even with a missing rubber grip. I believe that if the lens was complete, it would have been an great addition to my collection.

MC or Multi Coating: a multiple of chemical coatings for lens surfaces with minimum light loss. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 135mm

Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Pentax K
Optics: unknown
Blades: unknown (possibly 6)
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 150cm
Maximum Magnification: unknown
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 320g
Length: 72 to 90 mm
Production: 80's
Serial Number: K8512984

More information on Focal

Samples: Pictures taken with Mitakon PK to Sony E Turbo Adapter Mark II

1/320s - ISO1600 - Handheld

1/640s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/320s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/500s - ISO100 - Handheld

1/320s - ISO160 - Handheld

1/250s - ISO100 - Handheld

Sources:
Camera Wiki: Kmart