EPIC CAMERAS Save crap lenses. view test.

[Jeremy Wiles]

Choosing the right f/stop can be more important than choosing the right type of lens when you want a sharp image.

[Sami Sinervä]

Check +.

This is my "Reserve" set. The set i'm saving for that one project..... that just needs the charm. These have been accumulated over the course of 15 years, with dozens of lenses bought and sold till i found the right ones. Each has a specific defect that makes it absolutely perfect.



In order clockwise starting from the upper right:

1: 135mm Telisar F4.5 - Has the most bizzare halo, which when flaring turns into a ghostly bright spot in the middle.
2: 58mm Helios 44-2 F2.0 - My shining little star. Perfect portrait length, with a stunning vignette, softness while maintaining enough of the good resolution, and the most beautiful yet bizzarre bokeh i've found to date. Looks like a Dream.
3: Soligor 2x M42 Tele extender, amplifies the flaws in each of the lenses, while turning each lens into 2. The medium wides become tele, and the tele lenses become super Tele.
4:Asahi Super Takumar "Yellow Glass" 28mm F3.5. This lens is the famous radioactive Super Tak. Its elements are yellow, however it doesn't seem to turn the image yellow. It is sharp and has a very slight barrel distortion wich makes it feel wider than it is. Very interesting looking with architecture. The best part......the flares are ACID yellow, HUGE, Pentagonal, but without a major loss in contrast. This is one of my favorite lenses ever.
5: Rikkenon 50mm F2.8 - This odd little lens has a ghostly low contrast veiling flare. Wide open, It seems to diffuse the light in the lens, which makes it feel like there is a net behind the lens, or a heavy promist filter in play. Stop down to a F5.6 and it cleans up nicely.
6:Asahi Super Takumar "Yellow Glass" 50mm F2.0 - Another of my favorites. Not as Flare happy as the 28mm, but is VERY sharp, but still has a certain intangible beautiful quality to it.
7: Zenitar MNP-24M 35mm F2.0 - I dont know much about this lens, but its an old Zenitar. It has classis 1970's feel, the lens is very classically bad. Soft corners, veiling flare, and hazy look wide open.
8: Sankyo Koki "Tokyo Kumara" 105mm F3.5 - This lens is quite cool, scary sharp, relatively neutral, but has 16 oddly shaped iris blades, so its bokeh resembles a mix between the Cooke S4/iPanchro flower, and the Panavision Buzzsaw bokeh from 25 years ago on the old Primos. I like this lens as it behaves well in the traditional sense, but has that weird bokeh.... always a reminder....
9: Zenitar Jupiter-9 85mm F2.0 - This is another rather interesting lens. Its optical qualities are just bizzare, neither sharp nor consistent, what it lacks in perfection it makes up for in character. Extremely contrasty, it stands out from the crowd because unlike most old lenses, it has a VERY deep and rich contrast and color rendition, so it appears very sharp at first glance, but it has some of the oddest donut shaped bokeh, and out of focus image rendition. Its bohek looks almost in focus.... like it was artificially done in post, with a instagram "donut" gimmick.

Mark, The spot looks awesome. Love the light in the bar. Definitly use the SSmkI's again!

Love those old lenses and that's an awesome collection. Inspired me to start my own; have a few m42s already but haven't tested them at all. I guess it is time to do so!

[Sami Sinervä]

Choosing the right f/stop can be more important than choosing the right type of lens when you want a sharp image.

Totally agree with that. Often end up in discussions with director's about that aspect; they want the crazy bokeh but I tell them that with certain lenses with such wide aperture it's gonna look slightly soft.