Prakticar pentacon 135mm f2.8

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stupar

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Apologies if this is the wrong section bit I thought the film guys would know best.

I had the ability to purchase one of the these today for £9.99 but I was hesitant as I I'm not sure out of these old lenses which are a hit or a miss.

Any thoughts on the lens? I plan to try some legacy lenses on my Fuji.

Thanks!
 
Did it have 20 odd blades in it ?

One of the 135 pentacons has a big blade count and supposedly produces beautastic bokeh

I had an M42 mount Tair 11a with tons of blades, the highlights were perfectly round disks and the bokeh was lovely, not cheap neither, nor the pentacon
 
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joxby said:
Did it have 20 odd blades in it ?

One of the 135 pentacons has a big blade count and supposedly produces beautastic bokeh

I had an M42 mount Tair 11a with tons of blades, the highlights were perfectly round disks and the bokeh was lovely, not cheap neither, nor the pentacon
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Ha ha no sadly it wasn't the monster bokeh version with 15 blades otherwise I would have parted with my cash. No this was just a 6 blade version.
 
TBH at £9.99 for a 135mm f2.8, unless it's full of crud and fungus it's got to be worth a punt.
 
There was no fungus just some light dust. The aperture ring was smooth and clicked nicely and there was no oil on the blades.

Might just have to get myself back to the charity shop this weekend.
 
Well I visit a few forums and I haven't read any bad reviews of the optics, but on the mechanical side it is not as good as say a Nikon...I have the Meyer 135 f2.8 bokeh monster and believe the optics are the same as Pentacon (some sort of merger or whatever) and in my tests it's just short of razor sharp, but who cares as I've had some lovely results from the Meyer.
 
Well never made it to the charity shop but did end up at the car booty.
Walked away with a Helios 58mm f2 for £5 with a Zenit attached to it :D

Will ditch the Zenit and pick me up a m42 to Fuji x adaptor soon.
 
stupar said:
Well never made it to the charity shop but did end up at the car booty.
Walked away with a Helios 58mm f2 for £5 with a Zenit attached to it :D

Will ditch the Zenit and pick me up a m42 to Fuji x adaptor soon.
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I love the Helios 58mm had a few when I had my M4/3 gear.
 
Nice hammer and I'm sure you'll get some use out of the lens!

Can't remember which 135 I had many (many!) years ago but I have a feeling that there were a lot of iris blades in it. Can't comment on the bokeh it produced since I wouldn't have known what bokeh was back then. Vague memories of using it with pushed HP5/Tri-X in theatres but those negs vanished many moves ago and were grainy as hell anyway!
 
Nod said:
Nice hammer and I'm sure you'll get some use out of the lens!

Can't remember which 135 I had many (many!) years ago but I have a feeling that there were a lot of iris blades in it. Can't comment on the bokeh it produced since I wouldn't have known what bokeh was back then. Vague memories of using it with pushed HP5/Tri-X in theatres but those negs vanished many moves ago and were grainy as hell anyway!
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A 135mm is a defo for my next m42 lens
 
Well today I paid a visit to Poundland and picked myself up some Agfa Vista 200.
As you can tell the one open box means a roll has been loaded into the Zenit! :)

Looking forward to having a go with film and also full manual control
 
Not aware of that mod. I have the version of the Helios with the manual/auto switch, so as far as I'm aware if I put the lens in manual mode I will be able to stop down with the aperture ring
 
I have the CZJ 135mm f3.5. It's a nice focal length tbh, quite happy with mine. Have been looking at the Helio 135mm f2.8 also.


Sitting Pretty by David Raynham, on Flickr


Blossom by David Raynham, on Flickr

The focus peaking on the Fuji camera's make manual focusing a pleasure! Almost prefer it tbh. If you're in the market for a nice 35mm lens then consider the CZJ 35mm f2.4 Flektogon, that really is a special lens.
 
That is sharp lens you have there.

If I get a 135 then I would consider another lens and did think about a 28mm.

What's the 135 like on Fuji bodies given there is no OIS?
 
Got the Flek as well as two sonnars from my usual sources...the old m42 Pentax 135mm gives VG results for me in that like with the sonnar gives me a better chance of "pop" in depth which I like to see in mine (and anybody's) shots....I found the Vivitar (Komine) achieved this as well although I haven't used it much and might be a luck of lighting at different distances at the time.

This is what I mean pop in depth, and was using the Vivitar 135mm but the sun was low in the sky??? ...on my monitor it looks good:-

 
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So my M42 to FX adaptor arrived today and I couldn't wait to get the Helios 44/M 58mm f2 on the XM-1 body.

Here's a very quicky and dirty shot wide open at F2, ISO 800, no focus peaking (RAW converted in camera). I have missed the focus point of the eye (my excuse - 3 year olds dont sit still) but I am happy with the way the lens renders itself!
Colour and contrast both look to be really good

Fuji XM-1 coupled to Helios 44 58mm f2 by stuartpardue, on Flickr
 
The Helios 58mm lenses are known to be good as they are a Russian\East German copy of the Zeiss Biotar.
 
I am please with it. I've now switched focus peaking on and will fire of some shots again later closed down to f2.8 and see how it looks.
 
Ok take two with the Helios. This time stopped down to F2.8 and focus peaking peaking on. Focus was taken from the eyes.
I shot RAW and did a simple curves and levels adjustment in PS.

Safe to say I am happy chap for less than £10

Jessie by stuartpardue, on Flickr
 
Must say the Helios was my favourite on the Fuji's, (Xpro & XT1). I had the 44M like yours which I think is six blades. The focus was so smooth it was like butter one of the nicest lenses I have used for focusing.

Also get some extension tubes, as it's also a good macro lens.
 
My copy is an 8 blade aperture and like you say it is crisp to change and the focus ring smooth.

Hmm never gave extension tubes a thought, cheers!
 
minnnt said:
Looking good Stu. You can see the swirl in the rug/carpet behind your little 'un.

Mine should hopefully be here tomorrow! :D
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Cheers! Hope your looking forward to using yours when you get it.
 
minnnt said:
I'm more excited about the Helios coming than i was with the Fuji 35mm f1.4 :D
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..but to us filmies..we usually have two or three different cameras makes and don't have the problem of the digi guys in getting adapters and so e.g. can use an Olympus 50mm f1.8 which overall is superior to the Helios and goes for peanuts, e.g. 2 a Konica Hexanon 50mm f1.7 and e.g. 3 and so on.
 
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