AUTUMN THREE SIDED BOKEH BATTLE : NIKKOR AUTO-Q 135MM F2.8 vs SAMYANG 135MM F2.0 vs NIKKOR 135MM F3.5

 I shot these two clips on the same day, Nikkor 135mm f2.8 at f2.8 in the morning light and a new Samyang 135mm f2.0 at f2.8 then f2.0 in the afternoon on Sony A7R2 at 1080p resolution, might 4K at the next sunny bluesky day. Both clips were shot out of the front door.

Nippon Kogahu Nikkor Auto-Q 135mm f2.8 shot wide open at f2.8. Bought 20 years ago ar EUR30 from a bargain bin. A clip for Nikkor Auto-Q 135mm f3.5 is linked.

A brand new Samyang 135mm f2.0, a firm favorite amongst astrophotographers for a few years now, shot wide open at f2.8 then f2.0. Acquired a few weeks ago new at a quite fair bit more than EUR30.

For good measure I added this clip from Nikkor 135mm f3.5 shot at f3.5 on Sony A7R2. Lens acquired from ebay shipped from Japan. The clip was shot on a different day, on one of those diffused full cloud cover day ... giant diffuser in sky producing beautiful soft light.

I have also shot a few stills which I haven't look at yet, hopefully I'll have some time to do this weekend, will post it up here soonish!

ASAHI PENTAX SUPER TAKUMAR 135MM F3.5 M42 MOUNT

I received the Asaha Pentax Takumar 135 f3.5 this afternoon from aHitomi Misu all the way from Japan. A clean, perfectly working unit as per description. I was very pleasantly surprised by the size of the lens and immediately set it up on the Sony A7S and took it out in the garden for a quick test run. Here are some of the images and a short video on Youtube.  

Sony A7S, K&F Concept Adapter M42-Sony E, 10mm mactro tube, Super Takumar 135mm f3.5

with 10mm tube, f3.5

with 10mm tube, f3.5

@ f3.5

@ f3.5

shot above, cropped @ f3.5

Test clip of the Takumar 135mm f3.5 on Youtube.

As of this writing I have several versions of the Pentax 135mm:
1. Asahi SMC Pentax 135mm f2.5 (6 groups in 6 elements) K mount
2. Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 135mm f3.5 ... this lens in M42mount
3. Asahi SMC Pentax 135mm f3.5 K mount

4. Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 135mm f2.5 (6 groups in 6 elements) M42 mount.

I hope I don't go get more ... the first f2.5 do have a bit of fungus at the far edges of its front element!

SMC PENTAX 135MM F2.5 (6 ELEMENT) K MOUNT

One of the bokeh monsters I decided to get was the SMC Pentax 135MM f2.5 (6 element version, 35ft at infinity markings and aperture marking "4" at yellow triangle marker) by the Asahi Optical Company of Japan. This is a 6 element 6 group version, sharp corner to corner wide open, and apparently has a cult following. I am now officially a cult member!

This lens started production from 1975, now it costs around USD100 on ebay for a decent unit.

The 135mm came highly recommended by several connoiseurs of bokeh; it has a high repute as well built old school all metal construction with considerable sharpness corner to corner with high color fidelity. 

SMC Pentax 135mm f3.5 with K&F Concept PK-E mount adapter and a Nikon lenshood.

SMC Pentax 135mm f3.5

Shots from the front garden in late afternoon light, the sun was low on the horizon.

Fall colors in the garden wit SMC Pentax 135mm f2.5 (6 groupds 6 elements)

I love the bokeh shot wide open and the sharpness just bawled me over. I'm thinking of getting a second unit, a worthy keeper for an almost 60 year old lens.

SUPER TAKUMAR 28MM F3.5 ON MACRO EXTENSION TUBES

More images while pottering about in the living room due to crappy weather outside. I attached the Super Takumar 28mm f3.5 to a 10mm macro extension tube and shot with the Sony A7S + K&F Concept M42-Sony E adapter. I'm starting love this lens already ... definitely no regrets!

Shot fullframe @f3.5 ... I guess I could also go with APSC crop for an even tighter frame!

Cropped in post-processing shot @f3.5

 

VIVITAR 135MM F2.8 NIKON NON-AI MOUNT

I saw a review of this lens by zenography over on Youtube and immediately searched for it and immediately found it for sale on finn.no, what luck! My son helped picked it up for me from Oslo and mailed it over. It took a couple of days, it's finally here.

The lens is in very good condition and was sold for NOK500, there were no ugly marks, no fungus, scratches or balsam separation only small dusts which is normal for a lens this age; the exterior looks very nice for 40+ year old lens. Other than teh typical dusts, it looks good. I took the lens out for a spin in the living room through the double-glazed glass window since the weather outside has been dismal all week long.

The lens was shot with the builtin lenshood, lens attached to Sony A7S via K&F Concept NIK- Sony E adapter and the entire rig sits on a tripod. Focussing was smooth without any stickiness.

Vivitar 135 f2.8, a petite lens on Nikon Non-AI mount (Picture shot with Nippon Kogaku Auto Micro 55 f3.5 with two light sources.

Vivitar 135 f2.8 @f2.8

 The results at f2.8 looks very decent as already attested by zenography's review; my preliminary images here just confirms it. I did't bother shooting at other apertures since I intentionally bought this lens to specifically shoot at f2.8 and enjoy the beautiful soft bokeh balls.

When the weather gets better I'm looking forward to shoot the 135s out in the city one of these evenings ... hmmm ... I can already picture the shiny winter wet cobblestones and fuzzy bokeh-fied light sources in the background!

More images from Rokkor 85/1.7 attached to Sony A7S

I shot the 85mm through a double-glazed glass window (what a genius!) from the living room with the Sony A7S+Rokkor 85 combo attached to a tripod. The images are full frame, cropped 100% on a sharply focussed area and cropped 100% on an out of focus area.

The series were shot ar f1.7 progressing through f2.8, f4.0, f5.6 and f8.0 (I remembered to stop down this time) successively maintaining exposures as best I can by dialling in the appropriate shutter speeds as needed. Small exposure tweaks were added in CaptureOne to balance out the overall exposure.

Focussing is maintained throughout the images to assess sharply focussed areas, out of focus areas as well as the general look of these sections at different aperture settings.

The framing of the cropped images were kept similar as best as I can at 100% crop.

@f1.7

@f2.8

@f4.0

@f5.6

@f8.0

 You'll notice a whitish splodge on the top left of teh crop images, this could be reflection on the double-glazed glass window (possibly originating from a white light from my work desk at the back).

SUPER TAKUMAR 28MM F3.5 ON M42 MOUNT

 I have never shot using anything on M42 mount before. I have used Leica Screwmount L39 and I guess that was the closest I've ever got to M42. Little that I know that there are tonnes of great optics built for M42 screw mount.

One peculiar thing I realised at least with my K&F Concept M42 to Sony NEX Pro adapter is that after screwing the lens into M42 socket on the adapter the markings is not as center as I usually have it on other lenses, maybe that's normal. After attaching the M42 macro extension tube, the markings is on the "bottom" side. Most peculiar!

In any case today I managed to shoot a few frames as initial tests with the Takumar 28,mm attached to the Sony A7S. I also tested the 10mm M42 macro extension rings just to see how close is close. The lens focusses to 40cm ... and much much closer with the extension tube attached.

Sony A7S attached to the Takumar 29mm via a K&F Concept M42-Sony Nex Pro adapter, all flushed and snug. The lens is and hood came in super clean condition.

Uncropped at f3.5

Uncropped at f3.5

I shot at 16:9 aspect ratio at f3.5, this vertical shot feels too long, so I crop the bottom slightly.

Shot at f3.5 cropped.

With a10mm macro extension tube attached, focusing was real close at f3.5.

10mm macro extension tube attached, minimum focus distance on the lens @f3.5

10mm macro extension tube attached, focus at maximum focusing distance @f3.5

It's a nice nifty lens, clean without fungus and defects. The wide angle lenshood came with the lens which is great. Looking forward to shooting twith this lens, will try take out one of these clear nights and try shoot some stars with it. I saw some good images some people made with teh Takumar 35mms the other day, maybe this little guy is as capable!