So this is another batch of test photos, taken at Tanner Springs with yet another old film camera and a variety of lenses. This time the camera is a
Mamiya/Sekor 500 DTL, which I picked up at Goodwill for $10.
The top two photos were taken with an Auto Sears (= Ricoh / Tomioka?) 28mm f2.8. This is my first lens that wide, and I think I rather like it, so far. You might've noticed the overexposed stripe down the second photo -- it turns out that's the fault of the camera, not the lens, as the same thing showed up with other lenses.
Here's the culprit, which I only noticed after getting this roll developed:
Yep, there's a little hole in the shutter curtain. You can see a square area where a previous repair was attempted, probably with a square of gaffer's tape or something similar. It probably just got old and fell off, so I may try it again, or I may try some black fabric paint, which seems to be the preferred approach out on the interwebs. Yes, I realize the camera only cost $10, but the light meter works, which is really quite unusual for a camera of that age.
So here are the other test shots, and let's all agree to ignore the weird shutter artifacts, ok?
The next 3 are with something called a Kitstar 135mm f2.8. I gather "Kitstar" was/is the store-brand private label for the Kit's Cameras chain. So who
actually made it is anyone's guess. I'm kind of curious, though. Part of the fun of this antique camera stuff is trying to figure out where stuff came from, and when.
I don't know that Kitstar-branded lenses are overly well-thought-of by those in the know, but these pics turned out decent enough. Maybe I'm just not good enough at this, and it would be clearer whether this is a good lens or not if someone else had been behind the camera. It wouldn't exactly surprise me.
Ok, so the next two are with an Oreston 50mm f1.8, from
Meyer Optik of Gƶrlitz, East Germany. This wasn't the top of the line 50mm lens out of East Germany, although it was the top of the Meyer product lineup, and I gather some people out there consider it a "sleeper". Again, its' hard to say one way or the other based on the current evidence.
One thing I can say about it, though, is that it certainly
looks cool. I've got the early chrome & black "zebra" version. It's a fairly big chunk of metal for what it is, but it still comes off looking rather sleek and sophisticated. As far as lenses go, I mean. I'm not entirely sure how important it is to look fashionable, if the only other people who'll notice are fellow camera nerds.
Incidentally, the lens's "home town" of
Gƶrlitz sounds like an interesting place. Unlike most German cities, it wasn't bombed during WWII. After the war the eastern half of the city, on the east bank of the Neisse river, ended up in Poland, and is now known as Zgorzelec. These days the two halves get along fine, at least if Wikipedia is to be believed.
And a couple with the Auto Sekor 50mm f2 that came on the 500 DTL. I've already got a 1000 DTL with the slightly faster 55/1.8 Auto Sekor, so I suppose it wasn't absolutely necessary to get this camera & lens. But I figured they might be subtly different somehow, or something, plus you can't go wrong for $10. Plus... well, it's a sickness. I think at one point I promised I'd only buy one lens per focal length, and that I'd stick with just one M42 body, and various other rules and regulations trying to maintain some modicum of self-control. A lot of that's fallen by the wayside over time. I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing, but hey. I kept thinking I needed a hobby, and now I've got one, for good or ill.
