Yashica 42-75mm f3.5-4.5

September 28, 2014 by Howard Dale Posted in Flowers, Lenses Leave a comment

The lens on my Sony Nex 5N.

I was reading something on one of the web forums (I don’t remember what) and this lens came up with generally positive reviews. I saw one going for very little money and thought about buying it. However, something stopped me. Then a little later I was going through some of my earlier purchases and I came across a Yashica FX-3 with three lenses (and a bunch of other goodies) that I’d bought for, as I recall, $26. And lo and behold one of the lenses was the 42-75mm f3.5-4.5. Sometimes when I’m looking for a lens it’s cheaper to buy the lens and the body together rather than buying the lens separately. In this case I was looking for a Yashica body and wasn’t paying much attention to the lenses. So I almost bought a lens I already had.

I decided to try it. Unfortunately my time was limited so I ended taking pictures of the usual suspects: things in our garden – mostly flowers.

It’s fairly small, but solid lens and fits nicely on the Nex 5N. It’s a little heavy though. I like the colors and it also seems to be quite sharp especially when stopped down a little. The only slight problem I had was with flare when pointed in the direction of a strong light source. I imagine a hood would help.

Purple Cornflower.

Coreopsis with bug.

Obedient plants (mostly).

Mixture of flowers.

Bird Houses.

Other pictures taken with this lens can be found here:

Old Waterworks at Pocantico Lake
Boat in the Mist

Canon 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 macro zoom

August 13, 2014 by Howard Dale Posted in Lenses Leave a comment

Sometime back in the 1980s I bought a second hand Canon AE-1 from a long departed photo store on 43rd and second avenue in New York city – I don’t remember the name of the store. I also bought a couple of lenses to go with it: a Canon FD Zoom 70-210 mm f4 and this lens: a Canon FD Zoom 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 macro zoom. I hadn’t used for decades but I’d acquired a Canon FD-Sony NEX adapter to use with some other FD lenses I had so I thought I’d give it a try – at least partly to check if, after all this time, it was still working. I tried it on the closest things to hand: flowers in our garden. The good news is that it’s working. The bad news is that it’s a somewhat mediocre lens.

I don’t remember much about why I bought it. I know I didn’t have much money so it must have been cheap. It’s slow and feels quite ‘plasticky’. Because of the crop factor it has an awkward 52-105mm zoom range. It also seems to be a bit soft (particularly around the edges) and contrast seems to be low. Most of this can be easily fixed in post processing though. It may also be that I need to use the lens more to understand its full capabilities.

It does have a couple of advantages though. It’s very small and light. As I get older I incline more and more to small, lightweight gear. Even though the adapter makes it a bit longer, and a bit heavier the combination of the NEX 5N body and this lens makes for a very easy to carry around package. It also has a macro (or at least close focusing) capability throughout it’s entire focal length range. Apparently the lens also has some historical significance: it had with world’s first three group zooming system, which allowed it to be smaller and lighter which still maintaining fairly decent optical performance.

Sears 28mm f2.8 – M42 screwmount

July 24, 2014 by Howard Dale Posted in Lenses Leave a comment

Red Milk Churns (I think)

I came across this lens in a Goodwill store. I’d already developed an interest in older Pentax cameras as well as a yen to try out M42 mount lenses, many of which seem to be good value for money. It was selling for $7.99 (with a nice leather case) so I figured that there was nothing to lose and I bought it. I also bought a nice looking black Spotmatic on ebay and an adaptor so I could use the lens on my NEX 5N.

The adapter came yesterday and I had a chance to try the lens. How do I like it? Frankly I’m astonished! I didn’t expect it to be ask good as it is. Maybe a little soft at f2.8 it’s extremely sharp from f4 onwards. There’s a little barrel distortion but nothing that isn’t easily correctible in post processing. I took a few shots into the sun and didn’t notice much flare. All things considered an extremely nice lens, particularly for what I paid for it.

The Spotmatic is another story. It looks great, but the mirror sticks every few shots and I can’t open the battery compartment (although I haven’t tried very hard yet). Neither of these seem to be insurmountable problems though. It didn’t cost much so I’m not too concerned. I’d like to get it work though.

Wagon Wheels

Canon on the Hudson Waterfront

Chest Detail

Lamps at The Depot

Hudson View

Meter on an abandoned gas station

Sigma AF 30mm f/2.8 EX DN for Sony e-mount (NEX)

July 18, 2014 by Howard Dale Posted in Black & White, Lenses Leave a comment

East 42nd Street

I’ve had this lens for a long time and I’ve posted quite a few pictures taken with it. But I can’t recall that I’ve ever said anything about it.

I like it a lot. It’s small and light and provides autofocus, but not unfortunately image stabilization. The autofocus is maybe a touch slow, but that doesn’t bother me much as I don’t usually take pictures of things that move quickly. It’s solidly built (something rattles inside when it’s not in use, but I’m led to believe that this is normal. The 19mm “rattles” too. When the camera is turned on it stops “rattling”). I used to feel that f2.8 was too slow, but after using a number of faster lenses I’m finding that I more and more incline towards the smaller aperture. The faster lenses are harder to focus (particularly with my aging/aged eyes) and the depth of field is very shallow. I’m sure that there are occasions where you need the extra speed, but most of the time I don’t. The focal length (equivalent 45mm) is one that I like. The lens is very sharp and contrasty – maybe a little too contrasty for my taste, but that’s easily fixed. The colors as also a bit too saturated for my taste, but that’s easily fixable too. I find the chromatic aberration to be a little high. As I write this it’s available for $169 – a great value.

Silos and Barn

In a Bar on 2nd Ave.

Inside the Alex

A house in Ossining,NY

Around Canopus Lake

November 10, 2013 by Howard Dale Posted in Minolta MD Rokkor-x 50mm f1.7, Places Tagged gallery Leave a comment

We’re lucky to live right on the border of Clarence Fahnestock State Park. In fact, with a little effort, it’s possible to walk into the park. I’m not that fond of the trails near the house though so I usually drive to another part of the park. In another post I mentioned that a neighbour had given me an old Minolta camera with a Minolta 50mm f1.7 MD Rokkor-X. The camera didn’t work (shutter won’t fire) so I decided to put the lens on my NEX 5n and take it, and the dog, for a walk in the park. First I went to some new (at least to me) trails along Canopus Lake and then I went around Pelton Pond. These pictures are of the walk along Canopus Lake.