Softest, Flariest, Weirdest Old Lenses

[v3cron]

I currently have a DR Summicron and a 35 pre-asph Summilux, and I'm quite happy. I want to explore further the look I get from the DR wide open. It's got no contrast and is very dreamy and strange. I'm looking for old, inexpensive lenses that can do this and other weird stuff. LTM and third party lenses that can be adapted are also ok. Thanks in advance!

 

[Pherdinand]

get one with a scratched-up front glass. It will be "dreamy"!

 

[v3cron]

I've considered the sandpaper method, but that's an expensive experiment!

 

[Pherdinand]

it doesn't have to be. Just get a lens in bad shape from ebay. Or a cheap Industar "body cap". A cheap canonet 28. Something like this.

 

[Austerby]

I came into Leica by this route - picking up an M3 with a distressed collapsable Summicron on it. In my ignorance I didn't realise the lenses were renowned for their sharpness, but I liked seeing these new images so different from digital files. I now have a modest set of the older 50mm lenses - Elmar 3.5, Summar, Summitar, Summarit and the collapsing Summicron - none perfect, all cheap and all giving wondrously dreamy images a world away from the modern hyper-sharps (of which I do have some as well).

 

[mfogiel]

Another cheap option, is to get an UV filter and some vaselline - you smear the vaselline on the filter and here you are. I did something similar 30 years ago on my green filter to get this effect - just one delicate smear across the glass:

If you smear more in a circular way, you will get a soft effect.

 

[colyn]

The Summar with scratched front element fits the bill perfectly..

 

[v3cron]

I'm looking at Summars. Do they lose their extreme behavior when stopped down, like the Summicron?

 

[Ronald M]

Hair spray on the back side of a UV filter

 

[rlouzan]

f/90

http://www.leicagoodies.com/spins.html

http://flickr.com/photos/lochkamera/101527056/

http://www.geocities.com/westmarkwa/PL39.htm

http://www.pinholeresource.com/shop...page=flypage.tpl&product_id=75&category_id=14

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=+leica+pinhole&m=text

 

[peterc]

My 'dreamy' Summar 50/2.

 

[retnull]

My 'dreamy' Summar 50/2.

Ooooh scary! I like it.

 

[Andrew Howes]

get a cheapy and grind the coating off. for soft focus unscrew the front element a bit. Actually not sure what that would do with RF focus as I have not tried it yet. I am going to try some experiments with diffraction softness with a thick aperture behind the lens, I think that would mess with bokeh too. I think the mamiya 150 sf used muliti hole discs along these lines but I am no expert, just a chronic meddler. Or you could use a zoneplate instead of a lens.

 

[mh2000]

Summar 50 with "cleaning marks" and some haze... unbelievable... and I paid $100 for it! (And sold it for $125!!).

 

[Tom A]

This is probably the flariest and most uncorrected lens you can fit on a M. It is a 90mm f1.0 ELCAN, designed for reading off CRT screens. Focussing distance was 773 mm! It came with a non-M mount, but some "hack saw" work and a 90mm mount solved it.
Pretty useless lens - but a project that used up my last batch of AGFA pan 25!

 

[Tom A]

It was rather impressive looking. But even if it had had a focussing helicoil it would have obscured the rangefinder and the viewfinder anyway! I gave it as a Christmas present to a friend in Japan.

 

[jan normandale]

who knew Tom A was "a wild and crazy guy!"

;D

 

[Rayt]

I have been trying out an uncoated 75mm f/3.8 Tessar Jena from a Standard Rolleiflex - Very low contrast, smooth tones and really cool and understated colors. I am hooked.

 

[cjm]

My advice, find a lens with fungus, haze, deep scratches, etc. You'll get a low contrast picture with a little flare (or "glow").

This is from a Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM I found for $40 (BIN) off ebay. It had visible fungus and lens separation in the center of the rear element as well as deep scratches across the front:

This was from a Leica Summar with deep scratches. The scratches on the picture are due to the lab's crappy scan and the contrast was increased a little in post processing:

 

[nksyoon]

Have you seen the work of James Whitlow Delano? He gets some very dreamy, soft focus images, although some say it comes more from the darkroom than his choice of equipment or film:

http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0705/delano_thumbs.html

Tom A writes here that Delano uses a Summaron 35/2.8.