malykh.com notes

2023-11-09

Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6: My experience [2/3]

All images were taken with the Sony a7c (FF, 24MP).

The f/5.6 aperture of the Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6 is quite slow. With a focal length of 85mm, the background is blurred, but not very much. Also, the minimum focusing distance is just under 1.5m, which is quite a lot.

The background blur is not very strong with rather large subjects.

No triplet "soap bubbles" here. Under certain conditions you can see the center spot in the circles of confusion.

See also related notes:

Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6: My experience [1/3] (2023-11-07)

Image albums:

Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6

2023-11-07

Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6: My experience [1/3]

The Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6 lens was made for Braun rangefinder cameras, but it can now be used with adapters. I shoot with it on the Sony a7c camera (FF, 24MP).

The resolution at f/5.6 is not ideal by today's standards, but good for the wide open aperture of an old lens (it's from the 1950s).

The f/5.6 aperture is definitely suitable for landscape photography.

There is a slight pincushion distortion.

At f/8-f/11, the lens does not produce clear sunstars.

Like many older lenses, it is prone to flare.

This also affects the contrast:

Slightly different framing increased the contrast:

I consider this to be a "single aperture" lens. I only shoot at f/5.6.

See part 2, part 3.

See also related notes:

Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6: My experience [3/3] (2023-11-11)
Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6: My experience [2/3] (2023-11-09)

Image albums:

Staeble-Telexon E 85/5.6

2023-11-05

Angarsk: quality of the 1986-1987 photo card set

I wasn't expecting really good quality, but the severe misregistration (color misalignment) of my copy of the 1986-1987 photo card set disappointed me.

So I found another copy of the set from the same year:

The condition of the set is a little worse. But its quality is already better, which can be seen even with the naked eye.

(old - new)

The difference is especially noticeable in the scans:

(old copy)

(new copy)

(old copy)

(new copy)

This is a typical low quality product from the USSR, you will have to search for an acceptable copy.

See also related notes:

Angarsk: 16 photo card set from 1986 (and 2023) (2023-07-01)

Image albums:

Angarsk

2023-11-03

Lens spanner wrench

It is inconvenient and even dangerous to remove lens retaining rings with a Vernier caliper. So I bought a special lens spanner wrench:

So far I have had no problems using it.

Image albums:

Tools

2023-11-01

SZ Viewer A1-2023-11-01 (Android)

SZ Viewer (Android) changes:

1. It is now possible to select some units of measurement: speed (km/h or mph), temperature (°C or °F), tire pressure (bar or psi).

See also related notes:

SZ Viewer: общая информация (2014-02-15)

Image albums:

On-board diagnostics

2023-10-31

Panoramas of the Kitoy River (September 2006)

Panoramas of the Kitoy River. September 2006.

Pentax *ist Ds (1.5x crop factor, 6MP) + unknown manual focus lens

Image albums:

Kitoy

2023-10-29

Cheecar FF 35/1.4 II: My experience [3/3]

(see part 1)

More examples of background blur on the Sony a7c (FF, 24MP) with the Cheecar FF 35/1.4 lens at f/1.4.

I'm not sure if the claimed f/1.4 aperture is real (but it's clearly faster than f/1.8-f/2). Overall, I see this inexpensive (that's important) lens as a demo version of a reasonably fast 35mm lens. It allows you to evaluate whether such a lens is needed.

See also related notes:

Cheecar FF 35/1.4 II: My experience [1/3] (2023-10-25)

Image albums:

Cheecar FF 35/1.4 II

2023-10-27

Cheecar FF 35/1.4 II: My experience [2/3]

(see part 1)

All of these examples were taken with the Sony a7c (FF, 24MP) using the Cheecar FF 35/1.4 lens.

These shots with the Cheecar were taken at [claimed] f/1.4. The lens is quite capable of that.

It is possible to shoot landscapes, as I have already shown:

On the contrary, it is possible to shoot small subjects:

Moreover, the aperture allows you to shoot quite large subjects with blurred backgrounds. This looks interesting together with the wide angle.

Of course, there are chromatic aberrations at f/1.4. But for such an inexpensive lens, I think the result is good.

See also related notes:

Cheecar FF 35/1.4 II: My experience [1/3] (2023-10-25)

Image albums:

Cheecar FF 35/1.4 II

2023-10-25

Cheecar FF 35/1.4 II: My experience [1/3]

I use the Cheecar FF 35/1.4 lens on my Sony a7c (FF, 24MP).

Unlike the OEM 50/1.1, this lens is less versatile. It is not so easy to shoot landscapes even at closed apertures (f/8, for example). Infinity is not at the hard stop of the focusing ring, and the field curvature is also a strong effect (also when focusing).