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on Jun 9, 2020 11:19:25 GMT
Posted: Jun 9, 2020 11:19:25 GMT
It has taken years to get hold of one in top condition but at last - an Auto Yashinon-DX 100mm f2.8 lens.
100 f2.8 Auto Yashinon-DX
This is one of those 'Holy Grail' lenses from the Yashica stable, due to its rarity and exceptional quality.
I had to sacrifice one of my beloved ML 500s in order to afford it as it cost even more than I was anticipating. But it was worth it; this is a truly stunning piece of glass
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on Jun 9, 2020 12:13:09 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 9, 2020 14:33:58 GMT by xkaes
As hard as it is for me to understand your giving up an ML 500mm, I understand your appreciation for the DX 100mm. I love the 100mm focal length -- that most people pass over for an 85mm or 135mm.
I see the 100mm as a middle ground -- not too "short" like the 85mm, and not too "long", like the 135mm. Out of curiosity, I would guess that the front filter thread is 49mm or 52mm. Am I close?
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on Jun 9, 2020 17:50:31 GMT
Posted: Jun 9, 2020 17:50:31 GMT
A great find Graham, and in a cleanly designed package that still looks good today. The 100's have always struck me as a sensible length for lots of situations that, as xkaes mentioned, have traditionally been filled by the 85 and 135. If you're out walking without a preconceived idea of what you'll shoot, a 100mm can do a great job in the low tele range and keep the weight down for all-day outings if you'll have a 'shoot everything/anything' bag on your shoulder.
I can't remember off hand where I read it, but more than once I've seen mentions that designs of the 100-ish lenses were easier to keep consistant in exceptional IQ than any other focal lengths. It's unfortunate that people used the traditionally expected lengths without stepping outside the norms of the times (and sadly, I was one of them in my early days). There might have been a larger market for the 100mm's of the world, and there'd be more of these DX's to go around.
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on Jun 9, 2020 18:17:26 GMT
Posted: Jun 9, 2020 18:17:26 GMT
As hard as it is for me to understand your giving up an ML 500mm, I understand your appreciation for the DX 100mm. I love the 100mm focal length -- that most people pass over for an 85mm or 135mm.
I see the 100mm as a middle ground -- not too "short" like the 85mm, and not too "long", like the 135mm. Out of curiosity, I would guess that the front filter thread is 49mm or 52mm. Am I close? Hi xkaes,
Your are quite right - it's a 52mm thread.
I always liked the 100mm focal length as my early specialisation was gymnastics photography so you needed to be close but not too close and also needed fast lenses as you were reliant on indoor lighting most of the time - for obvious reasons, flash was rarely an option. I used the Zeiss 100mm f2, their 85 1.4 and 135 f2 in 1978-85 more than any other lenses, pushing Ektachrome by up to 2 stops to be able to freeze the action. Back then, I had not even heard of the existence of the Yashica 100 2.8 - indeed all Yashica's M42 and most of their C/Y lenses were not on my radar; I'm wiser now, thanks in large part to this Forum.
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on Jun 9, 2020 18:48:52 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 9, 2020 18:52:24 GMT by biggles3
A great find Graham, and in a cleanly designed package that still looks good today. The 100's have always struck me as a sensible length for lots of situations that, as xkaes mentioned, have traditionally been filled by the 85 and 135. If you're out walking without a preconceived idea of what you'll shoot, a 100mm can do a great job in the low tele range and keep the weight down for all-day outings if you'll have a 'shoot everything/anything' bag on your shoulder. I can't remember off hand where I read it, but more than once I've seen mentions that designs of the 100-ish lenses were easier to keep consistant in exceptional IQ than any other focal lengths. It's unfortunate that people used the traditionally expected lengths without stepping outside the norms of the times (and sadly, I was one of them in my early days). There might have been a larger market for the 100mm's of the world, and there'd be more of these DX's to go around. Hi lumiworx,
Your are right about the convenience of the 100mm as a small telephoto. I often used the Zeiss 100 f2 but it's no lightweight and has a long barrel for a short-telephoto; I never got along with their 100 f3.5 as I could not fathom its purpose if you already had the f2. Yashica was known for 100mm macro and specialist lenses - the ML f3.5, Bellows f4 and DX-100 f4 Medical.
Had it not been for this Forum and compiling the initial lens list (which continues to be refined - thank you everyone!) I would not even have known of the existence of this lens - and I'd have been the poorer for it. My initial impressions of its IQ are that it more than holds it own, albeit a little slower, against the Zeiss f2 and offers better edge-to-edge definition than their f3.5. And being only 7cm in length and weighing 330g, it is highly portable. Unfortunately, as was quickly discovered, it now costs a bit more than the Zeiss f3.5.
And you are quite right about the tendency to stick to the traditional focal lengths - one of the best lenses for street photography was/remains Konica's lovely 40mm f1.8 Hexanon and that is an unusual length.
There remains a mystery about the Auto Yashinon-DX 100mm - how many were made? Mine is no. 45 - I wonder what is the highest serial number that's been seen out there....? I have seen 399 on a photo on allphotolenses. Very few appear for sale - indeed a couple of commentators had doubted that it ever got to market, reminiscent of the much later, fabled ML 400 f5.6.
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on Jun 9, 2020 20:38:39 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 10, 2020 15:08:55 GMT by xkaes
"one of the best lenses for street photography was/remains Konica's lovely 40mm f1.8 Hexanon and that is an unusual length. one of the best lenses for street photography was/remains Konica's lovely 40mm f1.8 Hexanon and that is a7n unusual length.
I wish I had one, for sure. For some reason, I'm stuck with a 35mm and a 45mm. They are great, but I would love a 40mm. So I normally use a 35mm, and do a little cropping in the darkroom.
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on Jun 10, 2020 23:35:03 GMT
Posted: Jun 10, 2020 23:35:03 GMT
"one of the best lenses for street photography was/remains Konica's lovely 40mm f1.8 Hexanon and that is an unusual length. one of the best lenses for street photography was/remains Konica's lovely 40mm f1.8 Hexanon and that is a7n unusual length. I wish I had one, for sure. For some reason, I'm stuck with a 35mm and a 45mm. They are great, but I would love a 40mm. So I normally use a 35mm, and do a little cropping in the darkroom. They seem to have cooled down in price lately, so it might not be a bad time to take a peek at what's for sale. Don't forget to watch ShopGoodwill for these too. If it's something you can use on a working Konica body that you already have, or just to adapt to digital... they are quite sharp, and extremly small and light. They give the Zeiss 45mm pancake a worthy competitor, with only the MM versions having a slight edge over the Konica AR. Now... if I could only find a Yashinon 100mm at Goodwill... !
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on Jun 11, 2020 17:59:04 GMT
Posted: Jun 11, 2020 17:59:04 GMT
Hi lumiworx,
Lovely to see that T4 with the 40mm Hexanon! Nicely balanced piccie too...
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on Jun 12, 2020 21:45:09 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 20, 2020 16:16:04 GMT by lumiworx
Thanks biggles3 ... Oddly enough, it might be the one lens that brought me back to Yashica/Contax lenses in C/Y mount. It's performance is terrific, and between it and the amazing 50mm 1.7, the only other Konica AR I'd found to match them was the 100mm f/2.8. The 85mm is great at classic portraits, but that's not what I shoot these days. The rest were okay or above average, but there weren't any 'Wow' lenses, to my eyes. I wasn't interested in the big ticket and rare UC wides, if there wasn't a full line I'd be happy with at the end of it all. While the jump into digital and being able to adapt most mounts to mirrorless is great, trying to juggle a bag full of different mount adapters wasn't a winner either. I was more interested in what single mount I could concetrate on, that gave me the ability to have some stunners at any focal length I needed, without having to constantly swap mounts and adapters. I certainly wasn't going to spend the cash to put a NovoFlex/Metabones adapter on every lens, and have a matching film body ready with each and every mount if I wanted to capture on film. Cheap adapters have their place too, but I prefer the tighter tolerences of the better ones. I only knew one mount from my own personal and professional experience that would keep my eyes happy, and fill in the blanks for lenses I didn't have hands-on time with. The other side effect was that it revived my interest in acquiring some better film bodies to go along with them.
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on Jun 19, 2020 21:15:29 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 19, 2020 21:17:25 GMT by bp_reid
For the 40mm focal length Olympus is hard to beat. As well as the OM 40/2, I think the 40/1.7 in the 35 RD and DC compact rangefinder cameras is absolutely stellar. Sample shot Of my friend Philip, from my 35DC here. www.flickr.com/gp/bpreid/z5641b
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on Jun 19, 2020 21:54:39 GMT
Posted: Jun 19, 2020 21:54:39 GMT
“My initial impressions of its IQ are that it more than holds it own, albeit a little slower, against the Zeiss f2 and offers better edge-to-edge definition than their f3.5”
That is really impressive. I like the Zeiss 100/3.5 a lot as a compact short tele. In fact I much prefer it over the 135/2.8, a lens I just don’t get on with (maybe because I used to have Canon’s superb FD 135/2).
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on Jun 19, 2020 22:28:10 GMT
Posted: Jun 19, 2020 22:28:10 GMT
For the 40mm focal length Olympus is hard to beat. As well as the OM 40/2, I think the 40/1.7 in the 35 RD and DC compact rangefinder cameras is absolutely stellar. Sample shot Of my friend Philip, from my 35DC here. www.flickr.com/gp/bpreid/z5641bThat really is a superb image. More than sharp, and with a gritty contrast and range that's perfect in B&W. Well Done!
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on Jun 20, 2020 20:34:37 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 21, 2020 12:59:27 GMT by xkaes
Well let's not forget about the Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII and the Canon Canonet QL17 G-111. They all are very similar cameras to the Olympus 35 RD with 40mm f1.7 lenses, with the Canon having the most features and being the largest and heaviest -- and the Minolta at the other end. Read a comparison at: www.subclub.org/minman/leanmean.pdf
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on Jun 21, 2020 7:36:11 GMT
Last Edit: Jun 21, 2020 7:37:58 GMT by lenslover
I am using this Hexanon 40/1.8 AR with my Konica FC-1 since the 80s. I do mostly shoot 35mm, 2nd is 40mm.
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on Jul 10, 2020 13:04:23 GMT
Posted: Jul 10, 2020 13:04:23 GMT
That DX is surely a rare lens, I came more often to a super yashi-r 100 (preset) than a dx 100 one.
However, my experience with 'exceptional' or 'highly regarded'... lenses is not so good: they seem to be often just OK and nothing more. I have here few of different in 100 (canon, fuji, meyer ..) and Im not sure why are they so overly exceptional. It could be just my taste. Im for sure not all about the sharpness.
This Hexi 40/1.8 high-jacked the thread somehow but I do agree it a wonderful street lens. On an aps-c format and is a tad narrow but I can live with that. I have compared this lens with Leica CL 40/2 lens and the outcome is as good as identical (and price difference ~ 450 €).
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