A lens with character: UV Topcor 1:3.5 f=35mm Tokyo Kogaku

Cost: $20 (market price $20 or more)

   

After testing a few of the Minolta Maxxum auto focus lenses, it was a pleasure to play around with a manual lens again. And with the UV Topcor lenses, not having an aperture ring on the lens itself, but on the body or in this case the adapter, making it even more manual, as the adapter did not include any markings for f-stop. Most of the pictures were taken with the f-stop somewhere in the middle, like f8 or f12.

The lens itself is good looking, with a clean black and brushed metal look. I expressed my admiration on of the earlier reviews of UV Topcor lenses of the nice uniform look across the range.

The lens itself provides good image quality, something I did not see in the UV Topcor tele lenses. Rich colors, ok sharpness and some color aberration, but noting Lightroom could not fix.  

Bokeh is rather unique and nice, but what really set this lens apart is the flares when shooting in the light. Some will say this is very bad for a lens, but in this case, it was a very specific flare, giving this lens all the character it can handle. 

It's not a great lens, but it's interesting enough to have a special place when such flares are desired.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 35mm

Maximum Aperture: F3.5
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: UV Topcor
Optics: unknown
Blades: 5 blades
Focusing: Manual
Minimum Focus: +/- 0.35m
Filter Size: 49mm
Weight: 152g
Length: 40-45mm
Production: 1960's
Serial Number: 9636373

More information on: Topcon

Samples:

1/800 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/800 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/200 sec - ISO100 - Handheld - Cropped

1/250 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/160 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/800 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/800 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/320 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/2000 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/800 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

Sources:

All Photo Lenses