OMG I won another one: Pen 20/3.5

In my view, Pen F lenses should be used on a Pen-F camera.
It has a different characteristics than when you put it in front of a digital sensor.

I've never used the 20/3.5, the widest angle I have is the 25/2.8 and it's a darn good lens as said above.
 
shadowfox said:
In my view, Pen F lenses should be used on a Pen-F camera.
It has a different characteristics than when you put it in front of a digital sensor.
Click to expand...

How many Pen-F owners are shooting their lenses often? A few I'm sure, but far more have the camera in a case or box which they admire from time to time. The glass was made to shoot and should go to who will use it.

I have alot of old glass and recently aquired a contax IIIa with a sonnar. What shocked me was how similar the lens rendered with the nex and the contax. The biggest difference by far was simply the film grain. But for wides with retro focus there are sensor issues on the edges which the M9 addreses better than anything else right now.

Are you also uncomfortable with M9 users shooting glass from the 50s?

🙂
 
shadowfox said:
In my view, Pen F lenses should be used on a Pen-F camera.
It has a different characteristics than when you put it in front of a digital sensor.

I've never used the 20/3.5, the widest angle I have is the 25/2.8 and it's a darn good lens as said above.
Click to expand...

I'll bite.
I agree with you. Certainly, you'd have to like long focal lengths, given the bias of the pen lineup.
However, the pen macro lens has to be one of the best options for its purpose in digital. And you have a bit more likelihood of getting the shot you want than the lens on it's native camera (due to potential shake).
 
I should find a Pen-F body, for fun. What's the best value?

How about film, developing and scanning?

Regards to digital: I have more or less 50 manual focus lenses--about 20 are RF or Pen. I use them all with my aps-c nex-5. Aps-c is very close to the pen frame. There are 2 serious issues: CA with longer lenses--varies tremedously and goes away by 5.6 in nearly all cases; and corner smearing and/or colorshift with retro focusing lenses like the cv skopars.

My best 20 is an nFD 20/2.8, which is fantastic. My cv 21/4 is pretty darn nice, but shifts colors--and I suspect smears a bit in the corners. It will be very interesting to see how the Pen 20 performs.

Conrner smearing itself can come from two reasons: the sensor can't deal with the sideways light; or, the lens itself has spherical aberation; or a possible combination of both.

I now wonder if the rear element diameter also plays a roll. The pen wides have very small rear elements---my 25 is smaller the canon or cv mentioned above and shows strong SA: but neverthless I love it:

6009859163_6b0ce14971_b.jpg

dang, need to bring that exposure up--sry
Beyond the above mentioned issues the difference between digital and film is not greater than the difference between velvia 50 and ilford 3200, and with the Pen, one could argue its less than with 35mm glass if youare using aps-c, since ther is a 1.5x crop.

I'm even more convinced of this now that I am shooting film again with my colordial. And what 90% of digital users do not realise is that ultimately, film still reigns supreme in optical performance starting at 645. Well, perhaps that new 10k MF camera can compete.

best to all
 
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uhoh7 said:
How many Pen-F owners are shooting their lenses often? A few I'm sure, but far more have the camera in a case or box which they admire from time to time. The glass was made to shoot and should go to who will use it.

I have alot of old glass and recently aquired a contax IIIa with a sonnar. What shocked me was how similar the lens rendered with the nex and the contax. The biggest difference by far was simply the film grain. But for wides with retro focus there are sensor issues on the edges which the M9 addreses better than anything else right now.

Are you also uncomfortable with M9 users shooting glass from the 50s?

🙂
Click to expand...

It's just a comment reflecting my preference.
What does it have to do with being comfortable or not?

I put old glasses on my digital cameras also, in fact that's *how* I know there's a difference for certain lenses.

There is nothing to be defensive about. You're among friends. 🙂
 
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TY shawdow fox 🙂

M_M I think it's because people are indoors more and not so fired up to get out and shoot. I saw this same lens go for nearly 400 in the summer, and all spring noticed prices rising on all sorts of lenses. Someone made the comment "prices always rise in the spring" I thought about it and now I really see it--i think. Of course there are always ups and downs between auctions, so I might be crazy (as well as defensive, hehe)

Anyway the marvelous little 20 came today, and i took both the 20 and the 25/2.8 out for some shots on the nex (original 5, not new much better 5n) These are croped with true edges (or close) on right and left, where SA can be seen on full size examples. They look pretty good at this size 🙂

6301092389_d238374fcd_b.jpg

20/3.5
6301092743_3c71a60d43_b.jpg

25/2.8

6301091665_2aea93907b_b.jpg

20/3.5 to see SA I'll link to full size--check edges
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55299472@N07/6301091665/sizes/o/in/photostream/

6301091949_0666d459d2_b.jpg

25/2.8 similar SA as the 20, yet sharper center--in fact, the centers on the 28 are incredible really
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6035/6301091949_a16a32bcab_o.jpg

at first I thought this was simply soft corners as can often be seen with retro wides and even the sony 16--sensor issues now far improved with the 5n. But then I started catching edges in perfect focus, below is not a terrible example

6301558700_fa9358afb8_z.jpg

note chrome rail on red truck. This is wide open at 3.5 with the 20. It is sharp (nearly) to the edge. Full size:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55299472@N07/6301558700/sizes/o/in/photostream/

I would love to see good scans of these same lenses on film to see if the SA is exagerated on digital: full infintiy landscape I think is the best test.

At any rate they are so impressive in the center of the frame 🙂 Wonderful builds too. Interestingly the 42/1.2 shoots just as sharp at f/8 with no apparent SA.
 
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Nice !!!

Nice !!!

uhoh7 said:
This one came as kind of a shock. I've watched a few of these go for big money--well around 400. Which of course is crazy.

I happened to catch this auction and as I do now, just dropped my high bid with Gixen: 235USD.

take a look:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120797480300&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:1123

now I just have to find a 60/1.5 and I'm done! (i have the 25/2.8 and 42/1.2)

there really are still deals to be had at the evil place. Especially this time of year.
Click to expand...

Congrats! You literally got a steal on that one. I've been following that particular lens and when it does show up it's not cheap!
Enjoy it...
 
WOW! I really like that second shot uhoh7! I think I might have to save an beg for the 25mm...

I recently won a Pen FT set on the bay, I was pretty stoked!

It set me back a few pennies but it included:
Pen FT
38/1.8
50-90/3.5 (apparently this is rare? I dunno, I really just wanted the Pen and 38)
150mm f4
Adaptor for Nikon lenses
Right angle viewfinder

plus case, all caps and a uv filter or two, very happy!!!!!!

Also I own a Nex5 and reckon its the bee's knees! Such a great little camera, people are amazed at how advanced they are. Not sure if I'll upgrade to a newer Nex (I'll dream of a Nex 7 for awhile haha).

Any recommendations on a adapter for Pen lenses on a Nex? I've used a few chinese cheapies and haven't had too many dramas.

Such beauty in such a small (expensive) package!
 
I just shot 72 frames on my newly aquired pen-ft with 38/1.8 on tmax 3200 out on the street & in and around a restaurant tonight for the '7 rolls in 7days' project. I'm curious as to how these shots will turn out.

I have a 20/3.5 in the mail too. I think these 2 lenses will be all I need. I love how the little pen feels in the hand, the portrait orientation and the lowlight focus wasn't a problem at all.

I'm starting to like it better than my r-d1 and m2 😱

It may just be the 'honeymoon' period...time (and results) will tell....
 
I have a PEN FT with the 38mm lens and a zoom. It is fun to use Pentax lenses on the PEN via an adapter. The cropping is similar to using some lenses on the M 4/3 system.
 
With credit to this thread, I went on a search for the 20mm f3.5 for my Pen FT. This morning, to my delight, managed to get a bundle of Pen FT + 20mm on the bay for 200usd.

Can't wait for its arrival!
 
My 20/3.5 arrived. I won it off ebay for just over $100, as it was hazy.

I pulled it apart and cleaned the elements. Haze wiped right off. It now looks pristine, inside and out. 🙂

Now to go take some photos with it....
 
I Love Film said:
rxmd said:
Don't announce too loudly that you're using a sniper, as that is against eBay's terms of service; if the guy who came second in line reads this thread and complains, you could lose your item and/or your eBay account.
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Total nonsense.
Click to expand...

Actually it's not. I'm registered on eBay Germany which disallows snipers to this day - they don't do much against them, but they won a lawsuit against the developers of Bid-o-Matic about this. At the time when I was writing the post you're criticising (almost a year ago!), I wasn't aware that this policy was different between different countries.
 
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