Scott Clark Offline Upload & Sell: On
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p.1 #1 · 1914 Kodak Anistmat meets Canon digital... | |
Hey guys,
Here's a project from last weekend...I built it using this $12 ebay find:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160165944004&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=006
I'm pretty sure this is the oldest lens I've seen here. I removed the lens/shutter assembly from the board by unscrewing the locking collar...didn't have a spanner, but a hollow ground screwdriver bit worked pretty well. I modified an old Vivitar 12mm M42 extension tube to mount it to. I had to file the face of it, and grind a couple of spots to clear screws on the back of the shutter, but it came together amazingly well. By pounding the little "baffle" inside the tube up toward the front of it, I was able to just use the original locking collar to retain the lens to the tube. It was pure luck the dimensions all worked out, but it came out really nice.
Didn't have much time to play with this stuff last night, so please forgive the lousy pics of my rig .
Here it is, the mighty Kodak Junior mounted on an M42 tube. These were made from 1914 to 1924.


It's a pretty clean setup. Here's a couple of pics I should have just cropped...front and back:


It's really weird, but everything I shoot with it comes out like this (!!!)

Just kidding. I did manage to upload a bunch of my example pics though. The first shots I took with it were off my kitchen table. I finished this project at 11:00 at night, so it was too dark to really shoot much. I did try it out as a macro lens with the bellows at full extension. Not off a tripod, but I used my sweatshirt as a bag. MLU, remote, ISO 100, wide open (F 7.7). The lens is a Zeiss Tessar (Exakta mount) so it's pretty small to start with.



It captures a surprising amount of detail. There was NO post processing (other than a WB tweak). These are jpegs right from my 10D. No sharpening or anything . I think it's at least 1:1...maybe more. It would be easier to get more magnification with a couple of tubes stuck on the bellows. Also took these with it:


The next morning I got these inside th house. Early morning, direct sunlight:


I under exposed these a bit, but you can still get an idea of just how low the contrast with this lens is. There's more shadow detail hiding in there than you would get with a coated (or multi-coated) lens. Remember, that's direct sunlight shining on there . Pretty cool. Ignore the dust on the TV...
Outside that morning I took a bunch more shots. Here's some examples:






All of those are straight from the camera, no PP at all. I did B&W conversions on a couple for fun:



I shot pretty much everything wide open with this lens, but I shot a couple at F11. I made a mental note about this shot being stopped down:

Again, notice that there's actually detail in the white flower. This is direct sunlight...getting detail in both the green of the plant and the white of the flower is quite a feat (at least I think). Didn't notice a giant leap in sharpness between f7.7 and f11 though...
I also put this rig on my 1Ds for a couple shots at lunch yesterday. I had to put an extension tube on the end of the bellows to clear the vertical grip, but other than that it worked fine. Here's an outside shot...first is wide open, second is f11:


Peeping at both, there is a slight increase in sharpness stopped down, but it's really not that much. Sorry no crops...
I also took a shot of the cat (hey, who hasn't tested a lens on the cat?). Shot hand held, wide open, ISO 100. Guess I got the focus right on this one...

Here's a crop of his ear...this one put a smile on my face:

This is a straight RAW conversion, with NO PP. No sharpening!! The detail (to me anyway) is striking for a lens that dates to WWI. This is probably a testament the 1Ds as much as the lens, but still...I was pretty impressed.
Anyway, that's all I have hosted right now. This is a fun lens to play with! It LOVES bright sunlight. It can focus from macro to infinity, which is nice. The low contrast makes for a very different "look" than most lenses. The biggest drawback is just that's it's so slow. You either need a TON of light, or tripod/MLU/etc.
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