David Murphy
Veteran
Every now and then I pull some of my old stuff out of the closet and assemble some vintage LTM rigs to check things out or just have fun. Sometimes I think I'm one of the last people on earth to do this sort of stuff.
The tests described today are of a Tanaka Kogaku Tanar 5cm F2 H.C. and an Kyoei Acall 35mm F3.5. The latter lens is a bit better known than the former, but neither are exactly household words. The Tanar 5cm was sold with the Tanack rangefinder in the late fifties. The Acall was, apparently, a moderately popular aftermarket 35mm LTM in the 60's and up to the early 70's perhaps. You can find it listed for sale by New York camera dealers in vintage Popular Photography magazines of that era at pocket money prices. They sell today from about $80-$200 depending on factors such as the inclusion (or non-inclusion) of case, hood, finder, condition, and so forth. I have no idea what the market price of a Tanar 5cm F2 is -- there's not enough in circulation to gauge that.
The Tanar is fairly compact, but the Acall is really a tiny little gem. The Tanar construction reminds me somewhat of the Leica Summarit. My first LTM wide, which I purchased a few years ago, was an Acall and I'd recommend to any beginner in LTM who is looking for good performance, wide compatibly with most LTM bodies (which eliminates the LTM J-3 from consideration), and moderate cost.
Pacific Rim camera has a historical article with speculations about the Acall, suggesting it was made by Komura. I own a second copy of it branded by Telesar. This article makes an interesting read:
http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/copies/hlens.htm
First I show the Tanar on my Leotax S and three photos using Kodak Gold 200 processed and scanned at Walgreens. Next I show the Acall 35mm F3.5 on my "new" Leotax F with a Canon zoom finder, and some photos taken with Kodak Gold 100. The point of the photos is to make a casual evaluation of the lenses and also to check out the Leotax F (there's no art here!). The images were taken at mid to high f-stops, i.e. about F5.6-F16.
The tests described today are of a Tanaka Kogaku Tanar 5cm F2 H.C. and an Kyoei Acall 35mm F3.5. The latter lens is a bit better known than the former, but neither are exactly household words. The Tanar 5cm was sold with the Tanack rangefinder in the late fifties. The Acall was, apparently, a moderately popular aftermarket 35mm LTM in the 60's and up to the early 70's perhaps. You can find it listed for sale by New York camera dealers in vintage Popular Photography magazines of that era at pocket money prices. They sell today from about $80-$200 depending on factors such as the inclusion (or non-inclusion) of case, hood, finder, condition, and so forth. I have no idea what the market price of a Tanar 5cm F2 is -- there's not enough in circulation to gauge that.
The Tanar is fairly compact, but the Acall is really a tiny little gem. The Tanar construction reminds me somewhat of the Leica Summarit. My first LTM wide, which I purchased a few years ago, was an Acall and I'd recommend to any beginner in LTM who is looking for good performance, wide compatibly with most LTM bodies (which eliminates the LTM J-3 from consideration), and moderate cost.
Pacific Rim camera has a historical article with speculations about the Acall, suggesting it was made by Komura. I own a second copy of it branded by Telesar. This article makes an interesting read:
http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/copies/hlens.htm
First I show the Tanar on my Leotax S and three photos using Kodak Gold 200 processed and scanned at Walgreens. Next I show the Acall 35mm F3.5 on my "new" Leotax F with a Canon zoom finder, and some photos taken with Kodak Gold 100. The point of the photos is to make a casual evaluation of the lenses and also to check out the Leotax F (there's no art here!). The images were taken at mid to high f-stops, i.e. about F5.6-F16.
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