Walking Limerick City

[robin0112358]

Shot with Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm. Processing done in-camera with the Lumix S5 "photo styles." Cropping in post.

rooftops

silhouette

north-west

 

[robin0112358]

bingo

communication

corner

 

[robin0112358]

zigzag

snake

congregation

 

[robin0112358]

sheath

hedge

horse

 

[robin0112358]

Lens conclusion: the Jena Pancolor 50/1.8 is a rubbish lens, unusable at F1.8 and still very smeary at F2.8, the maximum aperture used here. The photos taken at F5.6 are starting to look decent but I am not fond of the bokeh. The Pentax-M 50/1.7 is a far better cheap fifty. I basically knew this already but needed to try the lens out for myself.

Personal conclusion: the lens doesn't matter. Just take photographs.

 

[inspiredtimothy]

Lens conclusion: the Jena Pancolor 50/1.8 is a rubbish lens, unusable at F1.8 and still very smeary at F2.8, the maximum aperture used here. The photos taken at F5.6 are starting to look decent but I am not fond of the bokeh. The Pentax-M 50/1.7 is a far better cheap fifty. I basically knew this already but needed to try the lens out for myself.

Personal conclusion: the lens doesn't matter. Just take photographs.

The Jenas always have seemed to me like kind of a trap investment, for those who want the Zeiss name but not the Zeiss look

 

[Travis Butler]

The Jenas always have seemed to me like kind of a trap investment, for those who want the Zeiss name but not the Zeiss look

The history of the Jenas is weird. ^^;; In a sense, they're the most legit Zeiss of all, but then there's the way the Soviets eviscerated the factory and spun off their own 'Zeiss' heritage lines with the Helios/Industar/etc...

 

[robin0112358]

This is the first lens from the DDR I have ever used, so it was worth it for that experience. I paid a little over the odds to ensure getting a good copy. The prices are already inflated by any standards.

Many of the extant photos with this lens are the "flower in the foreground with swirly bokeh" type thing, which makes this a one-trick pony. And there are better lenses for that look anyway.

Despite limited expectations, I was surprised how unsharp the image was, which also made it annoying to nail focus.

It's not like I need another 50mm lens, since I have a Pentax 50/1.2, Pentax-M 50/1.7, and Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50/1.4... all of which are clearly superior to this lens after one day of use.